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Improve your geography skills in this quiz.

Carbon Footprint

Every activity leaves a carbon footprint, from heating homes to sending texts. This GCSE Geography quiz explores what it means and how it can be reduced.

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Fascinating Fact:

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas for electricity, heating, and vehicles is a key contributor to most carbon footprints.

In GCSE Geography, the term carbon footprint is used to describe the total climate impact of our actions. Pupils study how energy use, travel, food, and consumption choices release greenhouse gases and how these emissions link to climate change at local, national, and global scales.

Key Terms

Carbon footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by a person, product, or country over a set period of time.
Greenhouse gas: A gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, that traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contributes to global warming.
Fossil fuel: A non-renewable fuel like coal, oil, or natural gas, formed over millions of years from dead plants and animals.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is a carbon footprint in GCSE Geography?

In GCSE Geography, a carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by activities, such as heating buildings, travelling, buying food, and using everyday products.

How is a carbon footprint usually measured?

A carbon footprint is usually measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). This unit adds together different greenhouse gases to show one overall figure for climate impact.

What are simple ways to reduce my carbon footprint?

You can reduce your carbon footprint by wasting less energy at home, walking or using public transport more often, choosing reusable products, and cutting down on very high-impact foods and flights.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

A carbon footprint of a country is given in ...

millimetres

tonnes of carbon

litres of carbon dioxide

kilograms of carbon dioxide per person

A carbon footprint is only a good approximation as there are too many variables and unknowns to enable an exact figure to be calculated

2 .

To which environmental issue is the carbon footprint linked?

Acid rain

Background radiation

Climate change

Ozone depletion

It is a measure of the level of greenhouse gases emitted

3 .

Indirect carbon emissions are often overlooked when thinking about a personal carbon footprint. Which of the following is not an indirect carbon emission?

What you eat

Driving

Buying clothes

Packaging

Indirect carbon emissions are the release of greenhouse gases that have not been directly created by the person. Driving is a direct carbon emission, the others are indirect as they are created during the production of the items

4 .

Which of the following activities does not contribute directly to a person's carbon footprint?

Being driven to school

Growing

Taking a holiday abroad

Using a smartphone

Growing does not produce greenhouse gas emissions

5 .

Which of the following is not a method of reducing a carbon footprint?

Buying food that has been grown locally

Reducing the number of plane journeys

Building low-cost homes

Investing in renewable energies

Methods of reducing a carbon footprint involve the reduction of greenhouse gases

6 .

For which of the following can a carbon footprint be calculated?

All of the following

An individual

An Industry

A country

You can have a carbon footprint for an event, product, netball team, school etc

7 .

As a LEDC develops economically ...

its carbon footprint is likely to increase

its carbon footprint is likely to decrease

its carbon footprint will remain unchanged

its carbon footprint will go down slightly for a month then will rise up again

As the LEDC becomes more industrialised and the population has a greater spending power, the carbon footprint will increase

8 .

The Kyoto Protocol is ...

a geography book that has been made into a film

a system used to measure carbon footprints

an agreement made by governments to try to reduce their country's carbon footprint

a law about the quantity of greenhouse gases a country is allowed to emit in one year

It was first agreed in 1997 and expired in 2012. A new agreement was made in 2012 but does not involve all of the world's countries

9 .

The carbon footprint measures ...

the impact of humans on the environment

shoe size

the exact amount of carbon that a motor vehicle produces throughout its lifetime

the number of trees in a square kilometre of woodland

Reducing your carbon footprint will help the environment

10 .

When a government, company or individual does something that compensates for their carbon emissions, it is called carbon offsetting. Effectively this reduces their carbon footprint. Which of the following is not an example of a method of carbon offsetting?

Flue gas desulfurisation

Improved energy efficiency

Renewable energy

Tree planting schemes

The aim of carbon offsetting is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere. Flue gas desulphurisation helps to reduce acid rain

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Environmental challenges

Author: Kev Woodward (PGCE, Science & Chemistry Teacher, Quiz Writer)