Climate change
Edexcel GCSE Geography revision on Climate change. Aligned to the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography B 1GB0 specification. This bank has 10 practice questions on this topic.
Sample questions (3 of 10)
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Question 1
Which of these is a NATURAL cause of climate change?
- A) Burning fossil fuels
- B) Deforestation
- C) Volcanic eruptions
- D) Cattle farming
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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.
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Question 2
Milankovitch cycles relate to changes in...
- A) Earth's rotation speed
- B) Earth's orbit
- C) Solar flare frequency
- D) Ocean currents
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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.
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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
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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?
7 more questions on Climate change — plus mistakes tracking and spaced repetition across the whole Geography spec.