Atmosphere

0.000007%

Controls the ease with which water molecules can evaporate and escape from the water surface. With much lower atmospheric pressure, there would be no liquid water on Earth

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere

Any gases that are better at absorbing infared than the average for the atmosphere.

33°C colder than it is

• Combustion of fossil fuels and wood • Ploughing of soils • Drainage of marshes and bogs • Deforestation

• Anaerobic respiration by microbes in padi fields, landfills and the intestines of livestock • Ventilation of coal mines and leaks from natural gas fields and pipelines

Oxygen and nitrogen from the air react at high temperatures. • Released by exhausts • Fertiliser use can increase NOx emissions

• Aerosol propellants • Fire extinguishers • Refrigerant solvents • Expanded foam plastics

CO2 (1) Methane (25) Nitrous oxides (160) Tropospheric ozone (2000) CFCs (25000)

• Increased temperatures cause plants to grow faster • Plants that produce toxins begin plant growth earlier in the year • This would be at a time carerpillars emerge and they would be killed by toxins

• The animals hibrenation will be disturbed by warmer winters • This would cause them to use up more stored fat • They might starve before the Spring, when they could start feeding again

• They may colonise new areas more slowly than they disapear from their old range • Suitable new areas may not be available • Human land use may block movement • Species live in inter-dependent communities and all these species would not be able to move at the same speed.

• Gene pool would be narrower, making inbreeding more likely • It may not be possible for surplus individuals from other areas to repopulate an area where the local population has died out • Although the overall population may be large enough to be viable, the individual smaller population may not be

• Polar regions are warming faster than areas nearer the equator, so the temperature differences are smaller • The Northern jet streams are moving nearer the pole, more slowly and following a meandering path • The waves created by this meandering path are called Rossby waves and can carry unusually cold weather southwards and warm air northwards • The slower movements can cause weather systems to remain over an area, creating longer, more intense weather

• Meltwater from the surface of the glacier may flow down through the cracks in the ice to the bottom of the glacier • This lubricates the ice as it slides over the rock, causing it to melt more quickly

Ice covering an area over 50 000 km squared Only two ice sheets exist (Greenland and Antarctica)

Ice covering an area less than 50 000 km squared

• Droughts in NE Africa, S Africa and China • Fewer hurricanes in the North Atlantic • Fewer tropical cyclones in Japan

• More regions with temperatures higher than range of tolerance for humans • People with existing health problems may be more vulnerable to temperature extremes • Disease vectors may change in their distribution • Food poisoning may become more common as pathogens grow more rapidly on unrefrigerated food

High temperatures cause melting of the tar that holds stone chippings together on road surfaces, causing roads to deform

High temperatures can cause rail track to expand and buckle.

Ocean currents, namely their: 1. Temperature 2. Salinity 3. Current direction 4. Current speed

Low Earth Orbit satellites collect information of the whole of the Earths surface