Week 14

 

  1. The big question addressed in the lab, and a description of what you did.

Our big question this week in the lab was, how do greenhouse gases work? The greenhouse effect is when gases in the Earth’s atmosphere traps heat from the sun and this is what keeps the planet warm. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be cold. This is the “cycle”:

  1. Sunlight comes in and warms the Earth’s surface 

  2. The earth gives off some of the heat as infrared radiation 

  3. Greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) trap some of the heat and stop it from escaping into space 

  4. This is what keeps the planet warm. 

We looked at lots of graphs that showed us how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere. One of the graphs I found very interesting was the one from West Branch, Iowa. The graph shows data points starting around 2008 and going up to 2022. We see in the graph that carbon dioxide levels get higher and higher every year and then they don’t go low. The data points go up and down in a squiggly line due to seasons. We can also see less data points towards the end of the graph because there is so much less funding for this research then there used to be. 


  1. A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. 

We continued our learning on climate change during this week's lecture. This week we learned about albedo. Albedo is referring to heat reflecting and absorbing. When there is a dark surface, heat will be trapped making it hotter. When there is a white surface, heat will reflect off which cools things down. A real-word example would be a dark colored shirt and white colored shirt. The dark colored shirt is going to observe more heat while the lighter colored shirt will reflect the heat. Color has a major influence on albedo. Albedo 1 (White) completely reflects radiation. Albedo 0 (black) completely absorbed radiation. Albedo has positive and negative feedback loops. These feedback cycles affect the ice caps and glaciers. Positive feedback loops amplify while negative feedback loops negate effects. We also discussed ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. One of the examples of solar systems on our houses. While it might be expensive at first, you're actually going to be making more in the long run and not putting out so much carbon emission. 


  1. Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading:

  1. What did you learn?

This week's textbook reading was all about global climate change. Climate change is human caused. We are relying on fossil fuels for energy. Fossil fuels release a lot of greenhouse gases. Due to the state that climate change is in we are seeing more extreme temperatures, more extreme weather events, melting sea ice, glacier retreat, sea level rise, and ecosystem destruction. 

The textbook also talks about positive feedback loops. A positive feedback loop is a process where one change triggers the next in a continuous cycle that encourages the initial change. An example from the textbook was, as temperatures warm, more sea ice melts into water which absorbs solar radiation and causes temperatures to warm even further. 

  1. What was most helpful?

I would like the video from NASA about Greenland ice to be very helpful and help me better understand sea level rising and ice melting. I found all of the pictures and graphs to be helpful as well. 

  1. What do you need more information on?

nothing

  1. What questions/concerns/comments do you have?

Nothing


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