Core climate science concepts and terminology such as the greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, and sea level rise, explained neutrally and conceptually, one term per card.
35 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- What natural process traps heat in Earth's atmosphere, keeping the planet warm enough to support life?
- The greenhouse effect
- What gas, released by burning fossil fuels, is the primary driver of human-caused climate change?
- Carbon dioxide
- What term describes gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor?
- Greenhouse gases
- What term describes the long-term rise in Earth's average surface temperature, largely attributed to human greenhouse gas emissions?
- Global warming
- What term describes the broader set of long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns, of which global warming is a part?
- Climate change
- What natural process moves carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, land, and living things?
- The carbon cycle
- What term describes carbon that has been stored for millions of years in coal, oil, and natural gas?
- Fossil carbon (fossil fuels)
- What is the process by which forests and oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
- Carbon sequestration (carbon sink activity)
- What term describes the melting of glaciers and polar ice contributing to a rise in ocean levels worldwide?
- Sea level rise
- What term describes gradual warming of ocean waters caused by absorbed atmospheric heat?
- Ocean warming
- What term describes the ocean becoming more acidic as it absorbs excess atmospheric carbon dioxide?
- Ocean acidification
- What term describes weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, and heavy storms, becoming more frequent or intense due to climate change?
- Extreme weather events
- What international agreement, signed in 2015, set global goals for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and warming?
- The Paris Agreement
- What panel of scientists, established by the United Nations, assesses and reports on climate change research?
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- What term describes energy sources like solar and wind that do not deplete natural resources or emit significant greenhouse gases?
- Renewable energy