Climate change
AQA GCSE Geography revision on Climate change. Aligned to the AQA GCSE Geography 8035 specification. This bank has 50 practice questions on this topic.
Sample questions (3 of 50)
-
Question 1
Which of these is a NATURAL cause of climate change?
- A) Burning fossil fuels
- B) Deforestation
- C) Volcanic eruptions
- D) Cattle farming
Show answer
Answer: Volcanic eruptions
Natural: Milankovitch cycles (Earth's orbit), volcanic activity, solar variation. Human: burning fossil fuels (CO₂), deforestation (less CO₂ absorbed), agriculture (methane from cattle, rice paddies). For 6-mark answers, name + explain at least ONE natural and ONE human cause.
-
Question 2
Milankovitch cycles relate to changes in...
- A) Earth's rotation speed
- B) Earth's orbit
- C) Solar flare frequency
- D) Ocean currents
Show answer
Answer: Earth's orbit
Eccentricity (shape of orbit, 100,000-year cycle), obliquity (tilt angle 22-24°, 41,000-year cycle), precession (wobble, 26,000-year cycle). Together they vary how much solar radiation different parts of Earth receive — driving ice ages and warmer periods over geological time. Not the cause of recent rapid warming.
-
Question 3
The greenhouse effect describes how...
- A) Plants grow more in warm weather
- B) Certain gases trap heat in the atmosphere
- C) Greenhouses absorb pollution
- D) Sunlight reflects off snow
Show answer
Answer: Certain gases trap heat in the atmosphere
Sunlight enters → warms Earth → Earth emits infrared. Greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, water vapour, N₂O) absorb the infrared and re-radiate it, trapping heat. Naturally, this keeps Earth at ~14°C average. Extra emissions strengthen the effect — current global warming ~1.2°C above pre-industrial.
Want to test yourself on the remaining cards for this topic?
47 more questions on Climate change — plus mistakes tracking and spaced repetition across the whole Geography spec.