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Food & Climate

2. Predicting the future - more

Worksheet 2: The influence of CO₂ on plants and climate

1. Exercise

Chemical reactions influence what happens in the air and, as a result, affect our climate.

Have another look at the text "What are the effects of climate change on plants?". Carbon dioxide levels in the air are rising as we burn more and more fossil fuels for energy and transport. Carbon dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. It also affects how plants grow. Carbon dioxide is needed so that plants can photosynthesise. More carbon dioxide means that plants grow well.

Have a look on the internet to find out more about carbon dioxide and its impact on our climate and on plant growth. There are a collection of useful links at the bottom of this page.

Can you answer the following questions?

1) The chemical formula CO₂ is an abbreviation for ...

a) nitrogen oxide
b) carbon
c) carbon monoxide
d) carbon dioxide

2) How high was the CO₂concentration in the air around 1900?

a) 240 ppm (parts per million)
b) 300 ppm
c) 370 ppm
d) 420 ppm

3) How high is the CO₂concentration in the air now?

a) 240 ppm
b) 300 ppm
c) 370 ppm
d) 420 ppm

4) How is CO₂ removed from the air?

a) by plant photosynthesis
b) by burning biodiesel
c) by using catalysts
d) by driving fast cars

5) How does CO₂ affect our climate?

a) higher concentrations lead to less rain globally
b) higher concentrations lead to snow and frost at the equator
c) higher concentrations lead to global warming
d) higher concentrations lead to global cooling

6) What do plants produce when they photosynthesise?

a) glucose
b) water
c) nitrogen
d) carbon dioxide

7) How can CO₂ emissions be reduced or prevented?

a) travel by planes instead of cars
b) heat flats and houses using only oil
c) produce electricity from coal or gas.
d) produce electricity using solar or wind power.

Attention: This quiz is optimised for internet explorer or new versions of Netscape!
If the little solution window disappears, just reopen it from the task row!

2. Exercise

As our energy use increases our emissions of carbon dioxide also increase.

Ask your parents how much oil, gas, petrol and electricity your family uses and then calculate how much carbon dioxide your family emits using the formulas below.

a. Heating oil Formula:

litres of oil used per year (litre year^-1) x 0.0027 = tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year (t year^-1)

b. Natural gas Formula:

volume of gas used per year (m³year^-1) x 0.0002 = tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year (t year^-1)

c. Petrol/diesel Formula:

kilometers driven by car per year (km year^-1) x litres of petrol/diesel used every 100 km travelled (litre 100 km^-1) x 0.000027 = tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year (t year^-1)

d. Electric current Formula:

kilowatts of electricity used per year (kW year^-1) x 0.00069 = tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year (t year^-1)

e. Aeroplane kerosene Formula:

kilometers travelled by aeroplane per year (km year-1) x 0.00025 = tonnes of carbon dioxide emiited per year (t year^-1)

Now print out the following worksheet and calculate your CO₂ emissions!

Download

1. Clipart from: Hemera - Big box of art.

4. Linklist

CO₂ and climate change:

http://www.co2science.org/center.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange

Calculating CO₂ emissions

http://www.co2.org/calculator/index.cfm
http://www3.iclei.org/co2/co2calc.htm

About this page:

author: B. Wohlhöfer - University of Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
educational reviewing: Dr. Helmut Schrettenbrunner and Julia Heres - University of Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
last update: 2003-12-17