Science.8.11.A

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The student is expected to use scientific evidence to describe how natural events, including volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, abrupt changes in ocean currents, and the release and absorption of greenhouse gases influence climate;
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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Earth and space. The student knows that natural events and human activity can impact global climate.

In grade 6, students learned that Earth's climate system consists of the hydrosphere (water), the atmosphere (air), the geosphere (solid part of Earth), and the biosphere (the living components).  

Many factors can influence different components of the climate system, including greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can be released and absorbed in various ways.  Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees, and other biological materials and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or sequestered) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle. Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from livestock and other agricultural practices, land use activities, and the decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills. Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural, land use, and industrial activities; combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste; and treatment of wastewater.  Fluorinated gases (hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride) are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases that are emitted from a variety of industrial processes. Fluorinated gases are sometimes used as substitutes for stratospheric ozone-depleting substances (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and halons). These gases are typically emitted in smaller quantities, but because they are potent greenhouse gases, they are sometimes referred to as High Global Warming Potential gases.

the weather conditions prevailing in an area over multiple decades

gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, specifically carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorinated gases

result that occurs when a rocky, metallic, or icy body that had been orbiting the Sun passes through the atmosphere and hits the Earth's surface

horizontal and vertical streams of circulation in ocean waters that are produced by gravity, wind friction, temperature differences, and water density variation in different parts of the ocean; move in predictable patterns around the Earth

when ash, gas, and/or lava are released from a volcano—sometimes explosively