Lesson Y9-U03-L09

Y9-U03-L09 Causes of Climate Change: Natural vs Human Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 15

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U03-L09, Causes of Climate Change: Natural vs Human: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 15: Year 9: Weather, Climate and a Changing Atmosphere, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which of these is a natural cause of climate change?

    • Changes in the Sun's output.
    • Methane released from cattle farming.
    • Burning coal in power stations.
    • Clearing rainforest for farmland.

  2. Which of these is a human cause of climate change?

    • Burning fossil fuels for energy.
    • Wobbles in Earth's orbit.
    • Changes in the Sun's output.
    • A large volcanic eruption.

  3. What does 'anthropogenic' mean?

    • Caused by the Sun's cycles.
    • Caused by humans.
    • Caused by volcanoes.
    • Caused by ocean currents.

  4. How does a large volcanic eruption affect global temperature?

    • It makes the Sun shine brighter for many years.
    • It warms the planet, because ash traps heat like a blanket.
    • It cools the planet, because ash and gas block some sunlight.
    • It has no effect on global temperature at all.

  5. Which natural driver slowly caused the ice ages over many thousands of years?

    • Burning coal in factories.
    • The spread of cities across the land.
    • Slow wobbles in Earth's orbit.
    • Clearing forests for farmland.

  6. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo cooled global temperatures by about how much, for roughly a year?

    • About 15 degrees.
    • About 5 degrees.
    • About 0.5 degrees.
    • About 0.05 degrees.

  7. In climate science, what is 'forcing'?

    • The energy used to run a weather station.
    • Anything that pushes the climate to warm or cool.
    • A law that bans carbon emissions from factories.
    • Force applied to a glacier by its own weight.

  8. Since 1850, roughly how has atmospheric carbon dioxide changed?

    • From about 50 to about 100 parts per million.
    • From about 280 to over 420 parts per million.
    • From about 420 to about 280 parts per million.
    • It has stayed at about 280 parts per million throughout.

  9. Which gas does burning fossil fuels release the most of?

    • Helium, a light gas that is produced mainly by stars and nuclear reactions.
    • Oxygen, which the burning process uses up rather than releases.
    • Argon, a noble gas that makes up under one per cent of the atmosphere.
    • Carbon dioxide.

  10. Which human source of methane is mentioned in this lesson?

    • Wobbles in Earth's orbit.
    • Solar activity cycles.
    • Farming and waste.
    • Volcanic ash clouds.

  11. What is a climate 'fingerprint'?

    • A pattern that always proves the Sun is the cause.
    • A signature left by a scientist on each graph.
    • A unique pattern in the data that only one cause would leave.
    • The personal fingerprint of the person who built a weather station.

  12. Both day and night are warming, but nights are warming faster. Which cause does this pattern match?

    • Greenhouse gases, which is the human cause.
    • A large volcanic eruption.
    • The Sun's output changing over a natural cycle.
    • Wobbles in Earth's orbit.

  13. Since 1980 the Sun's energy has been flat or falling, while global temperature has risen steeply. What does this show?

    • The Sun's energy must be secretly rising to explain the temperature.
    • The Sun is the main cause, because both changed in the same decade.
    • Temperature and the Sun have no link, so the data is useless.
    • The Sun is ruled out as the main cause, because the two lines diverge.

  14. A friend says 'the Sun and temperature both rose, so the Sun did it'. What is the best reply?

    • You are right, because things that rise together always cause each other.
    • The Sun rose only in the 1900s, so the friend is right for every year.
    • Temperature always rises with the Sun, so nothing else needs to be considered.
    • Look at the years after 1980: the Sun fell while temperature rose, so the two diverge.

  15. Which evidence would most strongly suggest that humans, rather than nature, are the main cause of warming?

    • Carbon dioxide rising steeply in step with warming, plus faster night-time warming.
    • An increase in sunspots over a single decade, which by itself explains the whole modern warming.
    • A single cold winter following a warm summer, which shows the climate was stable that year.
    • A volcano that erupted in the 1990s and cooled the planet for a single year only.

  16. Between 1900 and 2020, carbon dioxide and temperature rose closely together. What does this suggest?

    • They are unrelated, so carbon dioxide has no effect on temperature at any time or place in the world.
    • Temperature rose because the Sun got hotter in every decade.
    • They rose only by chance, so the data cannot be used at all.
    • They correlate, which supports a human cause, although correlation alone is not proof.

  17. Which judgement about natural causes is best supported by the evidence?

    • Natural causes explain all of the modern warming, since the Sun has been steadily getting hotter for a century.
    • Natural causes only ever warm the planet and never cool it.
    • Natural causes have no effect on the climate at any time, whatever the size of volcanoes or the Sun's output.
    • Natural causes can nudge the climate in the short term but cannot explain the steep modern trend.

  18. A pupil claims that burning coal is a natural cause of climate change. What is the best correction?

    • Burning coal is neither natural nor human, since it is only a chemical reaction.
    • Burning coal is natural because the Sun heats the coal before it is burnt.
    • Burning coal is natural because coal was formed by nature over millions of years.
    • Burning coal is a human cause, because people release carbon that was stored underground.

  19. To what extent can natural causes be ignored completely when explaining modern warming?

    • Completely: humans have no effect, so natural causes explain everything.
    • Not completely: volcanoes and solar changes can nudge temperature, but they do not explain the steep modern rise.
    • Not at all: natural causes only mattered long ago and never affect the climate today.
    • Completely: natural causes never change the climate at all, so the warming must come from somewhere else.

  20. Why does ruling out the Sun not, by itself, prove that humans are the cause?

    • Scientists never rule anything out, so the Sun might still be the cause.
    • Ruling out the Sun proves humans are the cause with no other evidence needed.
    • The Sun cannot be ruled out, because it always controls every climate.
    • Other causes could exist, so the evidence must also show a fingerprint that fits humans.

All KS3 Geography quizzes