Lesson 3.1.1.4

3.1.1.4 Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.1.4, Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which gas is the main greenhouse gas whose atmospheric concentration is most closely tied to the carbon cycle?

    • Oxygen, which is produced by photosynthesis but has very little effect on infrared radiation
    • Nitrogen, which makes up the largest share of the atmosphere by volume but is not a greenhouse gas
    • Argon, which is a noble gas that is chemically inert and does not absorb infrared radiation
    • Carbon dioxide

  2. What is the relationship between atmospheric water vapour and temperature?

    • Water vapour content is independent of temperature and is set only by wind speed and direction
    • Cooler air holds more water vapour than warmer air because cold air has more room for moisture
    • Warmer air holds more water vapour, so warming can strengthen the atmospheric water cycle
    • Warmer air holds less water vapour because higher temperatures slow down the evaporation of water

  3. Which is an example of a positive feedback between the water and carbon cycles?

    • Increased cloud cover reflects sunlight back to space and so cools the surface beneath it
    • Vegetation growth increases interception and reduces the amount of water that runs off the land
    • Greater ocean uptake of carbon dioxide reduces the amount of carbon dioxide left in the air
    • Warming increases water vapour, which traps more heat and causes further warming

  4. Which is an example of a negative feedback in the carbon cycle?

    • Increased plant growth under higher carbon dioxide takes up more carbon, slowing the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide
    • Thawing permafrost releases stored carbon, which warms the climate and thaws more permafrost
    • Drier soils release more carbon through faster decomposition of organic matter in the ground
    • Melting ice reduces albedo, which increases the absorption of solar energy and warming

  5. Which human intervention is designed to influence carbon transfers to mitigate climate change?

    • Clearance of rainforest for pasture, which removes a major store of carbon from the land
    • Increased use of coal-fired generation to meet rising demand for electricity in the region
    • Carbon capture and storage at power plants
    • Drainage of wetlands for farmland, which releases stored carbon from peat soils into the air

  6. What is afforestation?

    • Cutting down forest to clear land for agriculture, which removes carbon stored in the trees
    • Draining peatland to increase soil aeration, which releases carbon held in the peat
    • Planting trees on land that has not recently been forested, increasing carbon stored in biomass
    • Burning fossil fuels in forested areas to clear land quickly for new development

  7. Which best describes a key life-supporting role of the carbon and water stores?

    • They regulate climate and supply the water and nutrients that ecosystems depend on
    • They are fixed and unaffected by biological activity, so they do not respond to living systems
    • They prevent all precipitation from reaching the ground, keeping soils completely dry at all times
    • They store only energy and have no role in ecosystems or the supply of nutrients to plants

  8. Which intervention would most directly reduce carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere from energy use?

    • Clearing peatland for fuel extraction, which releases stored carbon as the peat is drained and burnt
    • Switching from coal-fired generation to wind-generated electricity
    • Increasing cement production for new construction, which releases carbon during the chemical process
    • Expanding coal mining for export, which increases the supply of fuel for burning abroad

  9. Which change in climate would most likely increase soil decomposition rates?

    • Colder and drier conditions that limit microbial activity and slow the breakdown of organic matter
    • Warmer and wetter conditions that favour microbial activity
    • Permanently frozen ground with no unfrozen water, which keeps decomposition at a standstill
    • Waterlogged, oxygen-free conditions that stop all microbes from breaking down any organic matter

  10. Which feedback could be triggered by rising temperatures in the Arctic?

    • Rising temperatures cause the ocean to absorb permanently less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
    • Melting sea ice lowers albedo, so more solar energy is absorbed and warming accelerates
    • Melting sea ice raises albedo, which reflects more energy back to space and cools the Arctic
    • Warming increases ice cover, which reduces the energy absorbed and so limits further warming

  11. The Clausius-Clapeyron relation implies roughly what increase in the air's water-holding capacity per degree Celsius of warming?

    • About 70 per cent per degree Celsius, which would make the atmosphere saturated almost at once
    • About 0.07 per cent per degree Celsius, which is the rate of change near the freezing point
    • About 0.7 per cent per degree Celsius, which is a small change that is hard to detect in data
    • About 7 per cent per degree Celsius

  12. Why could rainfall falling as more intense storms increase flood risk even if the annual total is unchanged?

    • Intense rainfall always infiltrates more readily into the soil than gentle, prolonged rainfall does
    • Storms reduce overland flow by increasing evaporation from the ground before water can run off
    • Annual totals alone determine flood peaks, so the intensity of individual storms has no effect
    • Intense rainfall exceeds infiltration capacity, producing more overland flow and quicker peaks

  13. Which statement best evaluates human intervention in the carbon cycle as a mitigation strategy?

    • Its effectiveness depends on scale, permanence and whether the stored carbon is protected from re-release
    • Mitigation has no effect unless it applies to the lithosphere, where most carbon is stored
    • Mitigation is effective only if it removes all atmospheric carbon immediately, in a single season
    • Mitigation is effective whenever it reduces only natural emissions, regardless of human activity

  14. Which two linked outcomes would most likely result from increased deforestation in a tropical rainforest?

    • Increased evapotranspiration and reduced atmospheric carbon dioxide, because the cleared land absorbs more
    • Greater interception and reduced runoff, which lowers the amount of carbon dioxide in the air
    • No change in carbon or water fluxes because the soils of the rainforest remain intact after clearance
    • Reduced evapotranspiration and carbon release, which can lower regional rainfall and raise atmospheric carbon dioxide

  15. A climate model predicts warming of 2 degrees Celsius. Which water-cycle change is consistent with the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship?

    • Unchanged moisture because warming does not affect the rate of evaporation from surfaces
    • Less atmospheric moisture and fewer intense rainfall events, because warmer air loses its water
    • Lower evaporation because air holds less water vapour when it is warmed by the sun
    • Greater atmospheric moisture and more intense precipitation events

  16. Which is a key role of the carbon cycle in the atmosphere-ocean system?

    • Oceans prevent carbon dioxide from ever dissolving in water, which keeps all of it in the air
    • Oceans release all atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis by floating algae at the surface
    • Oceans store carbon dioxide only as gas bubbles trapped in the ice of polar regions
    • Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, dissolving it and forming carbonic acid and bicarbonate

  17. Which factor would strengthen the positive feedback from warming and melting permafrost?

    • Lower soil temperatures caused by an increase in winter snow cover that insulates the ground
    • Greater release of stored methane and carbon dioxide as previously frozen organic matter decomposes
    • Greater ice cover reflecting more solar energy back into space from the frozen landscape
    • Reduced microbial activity in thawed soils, which keeps organic matter from breaking down

  18. Which statement best distinguishes mitigation from adaptation in relation to climate change?

    • Both terms refer only to changes in land use, with no link to greenhouse gases or the climate system
    • Mitigation reduces greenhouse gas emissions or enhances sinks, while adaptation adjusts to the impacts of climate change
    • Adaptation removes carbon from the atmosphere, while mitigation adjusts communities to rising temperatures
    • Mitigation adjusts to flooding and drought, while adaptation is the reduction of emissions from industry

  19. What does carbon sequestration mean?

    • The dissolving of carbon in rainwater without any storage, so that it leaves the basin quickly
    • The long-term storage of carbon in biomass, soils, oceans or geological formations, removing it from the atmosphere
    • The rapid release of carbon through combustion of fuels, which returns it to the air within hours
    • The movement of carbon between plants and animals only, within the food chain of an ecosystem

  20. Which statement shows a link between the water and carbon cycles in the atmosphere?

    • Water vapour is the most abundant greenhouse gas, and its concentration responds to temperature that is partly set by carbon dioxide
    • Carbon dioxide is the most abundant greenhouse gas by volume in the atmosphere, well above water vapour
    • Water vapour acts only as a store and never absorbs energy, so it has no effect on the climate
    • Water vapour and carbon dioxide have no interaction in the atmosphere, because they act independently

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