carbon dioxide co 2 wikipedia | gnu. what is carbon dioxide? co 2 a greenhouse gas responsible for...
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What is Carbon Dioxide?
CO2
A greenhouse gas responsible for blocking infrared radiation (heat) from striking Earth.
Remember the other GHG’s: Water Vapor Methane Nitrous Oxide Ozone
Wikipedia | GNU
Where is CO2 found?
Mostly in troposphere
Recall that the composition of the troposphere 78.09% nitrogen 20.95% oxygen 0.93% argon 0.039% carbon dioxide small amounts of other trace
gasesNASA
NATURAL ANTHROPOGENIC
(HUMAN)
Plant & animal respiration
Ocean-atmosphere exchange (both)
Volcanic eruptions (small rocks from deep in Earth’s crust)
Photosynthesis
Fossil Fuel combustion
Industrial production processes
CO2 capture and storage deep under ground
Deforestation
Sources and Sinks of CO2
What are ppm?Let’s put it into perspective … Here are a few examples of 1 ppm
One 3 oz. candy bar on a football field
One automobile in bumper-to-bumper traffic from Cleveland to San Francisco (~2500 miles)
Parts per million
Unit used to describe dilute solutions in chemistry
In this case, CO2 is the solute and the atmosphere is the solvent
Ppm is used because the concentrations of GHG’s is very small
Ice Core Data
Scientists can analyze differences in ice layers and the chemicals trapped in air bubbles in the ice to piece together the planet's climate history.
Ice cores and other indirect measurement objects are called proxies
NOAA accessed via Wikipedia
Recall that CO2 is a greenhouse gas
It acts as a blanket to trap in heat
This can lead to an increase in temperature
©1997-2011 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. All Rights Reserved
Current Research
Lean, Judith. “Living with a Variable Sun.” Physics Today v. 58 no. 6 (June 2005) pg. 36
What if … ?• We as people of Earth
stopped burning fossil fuels?
• Would the amount of CO2 decrease immediately and therefore would the temperature decrease?
What if … ?• The temperature just started
to decrease without any reduction in CO2 emissions?
• Could we then say that the temperature increase we observed was strictly due to a natural temperature cycle and had nothing to do with CO2 emissions?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
Established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Provides the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.
Reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.
It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters.
Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis
CO2 ProjectionsPossible CO2 emissions projections which limit the global temperature increase to 2˚C
Based on emitting 750 Gtons of CO2 between 2010-2050
Carbon Dioxide Concentration Simulation
The Copenhagen Diagnosis, 2009: Updating the world on the Latest Climate Science (1st Edition). I. Allison, N. L. Bindoff, R.A. Bindschadler, P.M. Cox, N. de Noblet, M.H. England, J.E. Francis, N. Gruber, A.M. Haywood, D.J. Karoly, G. Kaser, C. Le Quéré, T.M. Lenton, M.E. Mann, B.I. McNeil, A.J. Pitman, S. Rahmstorf, E. Rignot, H.J. Schellnhuber, S.H. Schneider, S.C. Sherwood, R.C.J. Somerville, K.Steffen, E.J. Steig, M. Visbeck, A.J. Weaver. The University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre(CCRC), Sydney, Australia, 60pp.
OCO-2
NASA satellite which will make precise time-dependent global measurements of atmospheric CO2
Launch is expected February 2013
NASA
IN ORDER TO REDUCE CO 2 EMISSIONS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES MUST BE USED
WHY DON’T WE JUST SWITCH EVERYTHING OVER TO SOLAR OR WIND RIGHT NOW?
Alternative Sources for Energy
Wikipedia | US Air Force Wikipedia | Creative Commons
• EARTH’S CLIMATE ALWAYS HAS AND CURRENTLY IS CHANGING
• CO 2 EMISSIONS HAVE INCREASED BECAUSE OF HUMANS SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS CURRENTLY INCREASING
• CAUSE OF CURRENT CHANGE:• Natural?• Anthropogenic?• Both?
For Your Consideration