UNIT: Home and Away

THE BIOSPHERE- WHAT MAKES IT UP

The biosphere includes all parts of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere where living things exist. It consists of all
Earth’s ecosystems. The biosphere is where other spheres of the plane interact:

HYDROSPHERE:
- Is the total amount of water on a planet, includes water that is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in
the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. (frozen part is the cryosphere)
- Water moves through the hydrosphere in a cycle. Water collects in clouds, then falls to Earth in the form of rain or
snow. This water collects in rivers, lakes and oceans. Then it evaporates into the atmosphere to start the cycle all
over again.

LITHOSPHERE:
- Is the solid, outer part of the Earth. Includes the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, (outermost layers
of Earth’s structure)
- Tectonic activity is associated with the Earth’s lithosphere, describes the interaction of the huge slabs of
lithosphere called tectonic plates.

ATMOSPHERE
- Nitrogen and oxygen account for 99 percent of the gases in dry air, with argon, carbon dioxide, helium, neon, and
other gases making up minute portions.
- Water vapor and dust are also part of Earth’s atmosphere.
- Other planets and moons have very different atmospheres, and some have no atmospheres at all.

THE CARBON CYCLE:

Essential for life on earth as all living things are made up of carbon. The carbon cycle moves carbon between living
and nonliving things within the biosphere.

1. Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide from

respiration and combustion

2. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers to make

carbohydrates in photosynthesis.

3. Animals feed on the plant passing the carbon

compounds along the food chain. Most of the carbon they
consume is exhaled as carbon dioxide formed during
respiration. The animals and plants eventually die.

4. The dead organisms are eaten by decomposers and the

carbon in their bodies is returned to the atmosphere as
carbon dioxide. In some conditions decomposition is
blocked. The plant and animal material may then be
available as fossil fuel in the future for combustion.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEATHER AND CLIMATE:

Weather : Describes the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature, wind, cloud cover and precipitation.
Changes from day to day.
Climate : Long-term averages of weather conditions (usually over 30 years). The weather conditions prevailing in
an area in general or over a long period
 THE NITROGEN CYCLE:
Most living things cannot use nitrogen when it is
in the form of a gas (air is 78% nitrogen).
➔ Plants use nitrogen compounds from soil
➔ Animals are consumer that obtain nitrogen by
eating plants or other animals
Some bacteria like decomposers and nitrogen-fixing
bacteria make nitrogen available to other living
things
➔ They convert nitrogen into ammonia and then
nitrates that plants can use
➔ Denitrifying bacteria converts nitrates back into
gaseous nitrogen which is released back into
the atmosphere

IMPACTS OF NATURAL CHANGES:

Impacts Earthquakes Volcanoes Cyclones

Atmosphere Earthquakes release methane
due to tectonic movement which
contributes to the enhanced
greenhouse effect.
- Eruptions send large ash - Cause very heavy rain
clouds up into the atmosphere and large clouds and high
can produce heavy rain and wind speeds
spectacular lightning
- Polluted air is in the air which
can be a health risk to humans

Hydrosphere - Earthquakes out to sea may
cause tsunamis
- Change course of rivers,
create new lakes when
landslides blocked rivers
destroy dams releasing large
amounts of water
- Can cause acid rain which
affects marine life
- Heavy rain continues even
after the cyclone has
decayed → rivers flood
- Increases sea level
- Causes erosion of land →
Sediments enter the rivers
which block water

Lithosphere - Depending on the severity they - Explosive volcanic eruptions - When the sea level rises
can cause tectonic activity which may cause mountains and it causes floodings which
can make large cracks appear or islands to appear; lava on the erodes beaches and
land to increase in height. ocean floor can create islands. reduces soil
- Cause landslides and
mudslides → Tear down forests
and other vegetation →
destruction of ecosystems & loss
of habitat

CLIMATE CHANGE:
A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century
onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil
fuels and other human activities.

ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE:

Anthropogenic climate change refers to the production of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity.

GREENHOUSE GASES:
- Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases which
contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation.
- If greenhouse gases were removed from Earth, there would be nothing to trap the heat in the atmosphere causing
the planet's climate to be very cold. Humans nor animals would be able to survive
➔ Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Water Vapour and nitrous oxide

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

When the Sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is
absorbed by greenhouse gases, trapping the heat in the atmosphere. Through greenhouse gases, heat once again
radiates the Earth. The absorbed energy warms the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth. This process
maintains the Earth’s temperature, allowing life on Earth to exist.

THE ENHANCED GREENHOUSE EFFECT:

Human activities (eg. fossil fuels, agriculture, deforestation) are increasing amount of greenhouse gases released
into the atmosphere, trapping excess heat making the earth warmer than it needs to be.

1. Sun radiates onto earth's atmosphere, some is taken in and some is reflected back into space
2. The energy taken in is absorbed by land and heating the earth
3. Heat radiates from earth towards space
4. Some heat is trapped by greenhouse gases to earth warm enough to sustain life (the greenhouse effect)
5. Human activities such as fossil fuels,land clearing release carbon emissions
6. More heat is trapped causing temperatures to rise due to the enhanced greenhouse effect

Deforestation - When trees are cut down, and especially when they are burned, this carbon reacts with oxygen in
the atmosphere and becomes CO2. When more trees are cut down, then less carbon is absorbed by the trees
causing more carbon dioxide to be left in the atmosphere

Burning of fossil fuels - Coal burned in power stations contains carbon which combines with oxygen in the
atmosphere to form carbon dioxide

Agriculture - Methane (a greenhouse gas) is emitted from human activities such grazing livestock, because of the
increase of agriculture have causes increases of Methane into the atmosphere.

Livestock - Farming livestock contribute to increasing levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the
atmosphere

EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE:

Ice Cores:
- Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate
responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels.
- This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the
average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.
- Antarctic ice cores show us that the concentration of CO2 was stable over the last millennium until the early 19th
century. It then started to rise, and its concentration is now nearly 40% higher than it was before the industrial
revolution

Retreating Glaciers:
- Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies,
Alaska and Africa.
- Glaciers on Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro have lost over 60% of their area in the last century.
- A glacier that has retreated in the past is the Milk Lake Glacier which is now completely melted, now it is known
as Milk Lake. This glacier retreated away between 1988 and 1995.

Ocean Acidification:
- Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30
percent.
- The ocean absorbs about a quarter of the CO2 we release into the atmosphere every year, so as atmospheric
CO2 levels increase, so do the levels in the ocean.
- Since the beginning of the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of CO2 from the
atmosphere
- In the past 200 years alone, ocean water has become 30 percent more acidic

Rising Temperatures:
- Many regions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are also experiencing higher air temperatures, drier air, and
more severe or frequent droughts.
- Every one of the past 40 years has been warmer than the 20th century average.

Rising Sea Levels:

- Recently at least five reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise
- Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880
- Some small islands among the Pacific islands of the Republic of Kiribati have already disappeared beneath the
rising ocean.

Extreme Weather Conditions:

- Extreme weather events include heatwaves, bushfires, tropical cyclones, cold snaps, extreme rainfall and
droughts.
- High fire danger has shown a rapid increase in the late 1990s to early 2000s at many locations in south-eastern
Australia.

Ozone Layer Depletion

-In the Earth's atmosphere, there is a high concentration of ozone molecules. This part of the atmosphere is called
the ozone layer.
-The Ozone molecules in the atmosphere provide us with important protection from the rays of the sun.
-The depletion of the ozone layer can increase chances of getting skin cancer

Loss of Biodiversity
-Climate change has lead to the extinction of many species mainly because habitants have been flooded by water
-An increasing number of species are having difficulty adapting to the increasing temperatures