Nutrient Cycles and the Carbon Cycle Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the components of nutrient cycles, carbon storage, greenhouse gases, and the impact of human activities on the environment.

Nutrients

Chemicals required for growth and other life processes, including carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.

Short-term carbon storage

Carbon stored in aquatic and terrestrial organisms, $CO_2$ in the atmosphere, and the top layers of the ocean.

Long-term carbon storage

Carbon stored in middle and lower ocean layers, as well as coal, oil, and gas deposits in land and ocean sediments.

Fossil fuels

Carbon-rich fuels created from the decomposing remains of organisms buried deep in the ground.

Phosphorus

A chemical required for life that cycles in from sedimentary rock rather than the atmosphere.

Photosynthesis

The process by which carbon dioxide gas moves from the atmosphere into the biosphere.

Greenhouse gas

A gas, such as carbon dioxide, that absorbs solar energy in Earth’s atmosphere and traps heat.

Global warming

An increase in the average temperature of Earth’s surface.

Global climate change

A long-term change in Earth’s climate which can be caused by natural factors or human activity.

Bear Glacier

A glacier in northern British Columbia that retreated by several kilometres and decreased in height between 2002 and 2007.

Permafrost

Soil that releases methane gas, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere when it melts.

Ocean acidification

A change in ocean chemistry caused by the absorption of extra carbon dioxide, which can dissolve the shells of organisms and destroy coral reefs.

Water vapour

The most abundant greenhouse gas, produced from the evaporation of water and during cellular respiration.

Methane

A greenhouse gas produced by bacteria in bogs, wetlands, and the guts of animals like cows, and released from sources like melting permafrost.

Nitrous oxide

A greenhouse gas produced by bacteria breaking down nitrogen-rich compounds, which also enters the atmosphere when fertilizer is applied to crops.