Week 14

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 Week 14


Lab:

We began to discuss the Interview with an Elder and all of our findings. 

Overall Video Notes:

Droughts cause dried dead wood to fall causing massive mega fires to spread. 2020 was the year of the most mega fires.

Fossil Fuels are made of old plants, when we dig them up we release old Carbon 12 into the environment. This significantly shows us that the rise of Co2 in the environment is from the burning of fossil fuels. This is why the Carbon 13 in our environment is changing to Carbon 12. When we trap more heat into our atmosphere it causes a transfer of energy into extreme events increasing mega fires, sea level rise, etc. 

1. What is a greenhouse gas?

  • Gasses that trap heat, and makes earths temperatures increase. 
  • Some solar radiation is reflected by the earth and the atmosphere, it will either be absorbed or reflected of. 
  • Albedo is this affect, lighter colors will reflect them, darker colors will absorb them
  • Most of the radiation is absorbed by the earths surface and warms it.
  • The inferred radiation that is reflected out into the environment and gets stuck being held by the greenhouse gasses.

In the spring and summer plants come up and take in the Co2 in the environment lowering the levels, in the fall and winter the plants are decomposing which is increases the level of Co2 in the environment. 

2. How do we know it has changed over time?

The data that was gained in the carbon dioxide concentration in the air over time, as well as the ice cores that were drilled up, also the carbon ratios. They both showed an insane increase in Co2 levels. 

3. What data do scientists look at?

The carbon dioxide concentration in the air, they have taken samples over the years in all different locations all around the world. This shows us carbon dioxide levels are increasing.

Scientists also use ice cores that show us a window into the past, when it snows every year little packets of air get caught in between the snow layers. The farther they drill down the older the ice they can find. Trapped inside each of the bubbles is fossil air, and these bubbles allow us to study what greenhouse gasses were there in that time. 

Going back 800,000 years ago the Co2 levels were pretty regulated, then around the industrial revolution it started increasing, in the last 30 years we see the sky rocket of the levels of Co2. 

The rise in carbon dioxide is causing a global rise in temperature. 

4. In the past 450,000 years Co2 has not gone above 280ppm (parts per million), what is it now?

It is now 415. 


Photon Absorption:

H2o (water vapor), Methane (CH4), Co2, nitrous oxide (300 times the impact of Co2) - Are the greenhouse gasses These all react with the inferred light which is the solar radiation that is reflected back up 



Lecture

Solar and volcanic forcings are the two dominant contributors to climate change since the industrial revolution, nothing has changed in the environment since then meaning humans are the cause. 

Albedo:

Positive Feedback loop: Albedo changes which increases the absorption rate. A positive feedback loop means it makes it worse. When the white glaciers melt they turn into blue water, due to the albedo affect the darker blue water will absorb more of the light energy which melts more ice, and releases more water and so on. 












Old Blog Post

Lab:

Climate Change Article

Positive feedback loop means data or findings that are continuing the progression of climate change such as making the ice melt more. We talked about how as the ice melts in the Arctic the water becomes darker which attracts more sunlight melting the ice more. Increasing absorption rates.

Negative feedback loop would be data or findings that stop or reverse the progression of climate change, such as stopping the ice caps from melting or helping the ice grow. 

The greenhouse affect:

  • Some solar radiation is reflected by the earth and the atmosphere
  • Most radiation is absorbed by the earths surface and warms it
  • some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere. Some of it is absorbed and re emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules.
  • Certain gases in our atmosphere act like a blanket around the Earth
  • Light rays coming from the sun contain visible photons (energetic light particles)
Albedo Effect 
  • Surfaces without snow or ice absorb more heat, surfaces with snow and ice reflect more heat
  • A high albedo means something is more reflective, a low albedo means it is less reflective/will absorb more radiation. 
  • Albedo 0 means completely absorbed radiation
  • Albedo 1 means completely reflected radiation
Photon Absorption
  • The visible photons are absorbed by each of the atmosphere gases which means that light is just coming in
  • a greenhouse gas is a molecule that vibrates because of methane, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
  • A greenhouse gas is A gas that absorbs and re-emits infrared light
  • The earth absorbs visible light and needs to release some of the light and releases it as infrared light. The greenhouse gases all allow visible light to pass through but they absorb the infrared light trapping it and making

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