Global Warming Team 10 "The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening.

Global WarmingTeam 10

"The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences."-Al Gore

By: Kharthik, Meraz, Parmeet, Teji, Viven and Garav

IntroductionGlobal warming has been a problem for many years now and it is worsening each and every day. There are many causes to this problem and various solutions have been made; but these solutions mean nothing if they are not implemented by the world society. If we continue to live on as wedo now, the world soon may end up looking like this.

Causes of Global Warming

• Mining and emission of fossil fuels o Gasolineo Coal

• Several heat-trapping gases  o Carbon Dioxideo Nitrous Oxideo Methane o Chlorofluorocarbons

• Deforestation

Fossil Fuels

• Industrial Revolution in late 18th century marked beginning of combustion of fossil fuels for energy

• When these fossil fuels are burned they release a gas called carbon dioxide

• The process is called internal combustion• By 1990 the Earth's atmosphere had 25 times more CO2 in

the atmosphere

How Greenhouse Gases Lead To Global Warming

1) Solar radiation from the sun makes it's way down to earth in the form of visible light. 2) The majority of the radiation is absorbed by the Earths surface. 3) However some radiation is reflected by the earth and the atmosphere4) some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere, and some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules. As a result, earth's surface and lower atmosphere warm up significantly (global warming).

Greenhouse Gases of the Atmosphere

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)• Nitrous Oxide (N2O)• Methane (CH4)• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

CO2 in the Atmosphere

• Produced by many internal combustion engine locomotiveso Carso Trainso Airplaneso Ships

• CO2 in the atmosphere acts as a blanket • When the CO2 in the atmosphere thickens it traps more heat• When more heat is trapped, the Earth becomes warmer

Average Carbon Concentration

Nitrous Oxide Emissions

• Causes of Nitrous Oxide emissions include:o Soil Management In Agriculture

Synthetic fertilizers o Production of Nitric Acid

By-product in the process of making Nitric Acid o Human sewage

N2O may be generated during nitrification and dinitrification

o Manure management of livestock Decomposition of nitrogen in organic manure 

o Mobile & stationary sources of fossil fuel combustion Emitted in all automotive vehicles

• Humans are responsible for 96% of N2O emissions

Methane Emissions

• Methane (CH4) is known to be another significant greenhouse gas

• Concentration of methane has doubled since the last 200 years

• The gas is produced through relatively unavoidable causeso Organic compounds caught in waterlogged soils 

Rice Paddy fields

o Rotting waste beneath soil Landfills

o Cattle farming due to the digestion

Average Methane Concentration

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

• Modern day uses include:o Chemicals used to propel the air from aerosol canso Cooling agent for refrigerators and air conditioners

• Became popular in the industry since the 1970s• 10,000 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping

heat• Play a role in depleting the ozone layer

Deforestation

• Rain forests are important because:o They hold half the animal species in the worldo 90,000 of 250,000 known botany derive from the rain

forests o Have great biodiversity & represent 60 million years of

biodiversityo One in four chemists will have chemical compounds

derived from the rain foresto Botany of rain forests provide for many medicines such

as antibiotics o 3,000 plants have anti-cancer properties in which 70 per

cent are grown in the rain foresto By-products of tropical forests include essentials such as

oils, latex and gum • Only 7 per cent of global landmass is the rain forest

Why is deforestation relevant?

• Trees are carbon banks• Trees absorb CO2 and release O2

• 6CO2 + 6H2O        C6H12O6 + 6O2

• Therefore, through the process of photosynthesis, glucose and oxygen gas are the reagents of CO2 and H2O

• Not only do trees remove CO2 but they produce O2 in order for life to be sustainable

Greenhouse Effect

• Green house effect is introduced by trapping by gases in the atmosphere of radiation emitted by earth

• Energy from the sun warms the Earth, therefore sustaining life on earth

What happens to radiation that sum emits?• Amount of energy radiated by a body depends on its surface

area A, absolute temperature T and the properties of the surface:

P = eδAT4

δ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant and equals5.67 * 10^-8 Wm^-2K^-4e is the emissivity of the surface(varies from 0 – 1)

Black Body• The special case from the equation P = eδAT4, where the

emissivity surface e is 1 is known as black body• Black body represents a perfect emitter• Darker Surfaces have values of e closer to 1

Surface Emissivity

Black Body 1

Ocean Water 0.8

Ice 0.1

Dry Land 0.7

Vegetation Areas 0.6

The Sum maybe considered as a perfect emitter.

General Phenomena

• Black surfaces, absorb better than light surfaceo We wear dark colored clothes in the winter to absorb

radiation from the sun• Light surfaces are good reflectors

o We wear light coloured clothes in the summer

Albedo• Ratio of the power of radiation reflected or scattered from

the body to the total power incident on the body• Snow has a high albedo (0.85) meaning that snow reflects

most of the suns radiation whereas charcoal has a low albedo (0.04 meaning that it absorbs most of the suns radiation

• Average albedo for earth is o.3 (depends on the surface)

Energy Balance• Earth has constant temperature and behaves as black body• Energy input into earth must equal energy output by the

earth

Mechanism Intensity Out

Reflected from Surface 5

Reflected from atmosphere 25

Radiation from clouds and atmosphere

65

Radiation from no atmospheric window

5

Total for Entire Earth System 100

Mechanism (For Surface) Intensity

Reflected From Surface 5

Convection and Evaporation 30

IR Radiation 106

Radiation from Atmospheric Window

5

Total for Earth’s Surface 146

Energy Balance on Earth

The Greenhouse Effect

The Greenhouse Effect

• Solar radiation reaching earth is mainly radiation in visible spectrum

• 30% of this radiation is reflected back into spaceo Rest arrives at earth’s atmosphere and surface

Warm them both• Earth’s surface radiates back as all warm bodies do

The Greenhouse Effect (cont'd)

• Infrared radiation is strongly absorbed by various gases in the atmosphereo These are called Greenhouse gases

• This radiation is reradiated by the gases in all directionso This means that some of this goes back to the earth’s

surface, making it even warmer• If it weren’t for the greenhouse gases, all radiation would go

back into space and earth would have temperatures 32K less than now

Earth

reflected

incoming Radiated back into space

Absorbed ir radiation reradiated back to earth

Greenhouse Effect

Sources of Greenhouse Gases

• Water Vapor  o Evaporation

• Carbon Dioxide  o Forest fires, volcanic eruptions

• Methaneo Wetlands, oceans, lakes and rivers

• Nitrous Oxideo Forest, ocean, soil and grassland

Anthropogenic Sources of Greenhouse Gases• Water Vapour

o None• Carbon Dioxide  

o Burning fossil fuels in power plants and cars• Methane

o Flooded rice fields, farm animals, termites, processing of coal, natural gas and oil, and burning biomass

• Nitrous Oxideo Burning fossil fuel, manufacturing cement, fertilizers,

deforestation

Sinks

• Greenhouse effect is a natural consequence• More warming can harm the earth• Increase in gas quantities are due to human activities• Planting trees can absorb the carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere• Methane is destroyed in the lower atmosphere by chemical

reactions involving hydroxyl radicals• Nitrous oxide is destroyed by photochemical reactions

Surface Heat Capacity

• Energy required to increase the temperature of 1 meter squared of the surface by 1 K

• Amount of thermal energy is given byo Q = ACsT

Where A is the area Cs is the surface heat capacity T is the increase in its temperature

Increase in concentration of greenhouse gases leads to global warming.

Effects of Global Warming

1) Diseases are spread. 2) Disruption of the ecosystems.3) Water temperature increases. 4) Increased chances of droughts and heat waves.5) Economic downturn.6) The polar ice caps melt. 7) Changes in biodiversity.

Spread of Diseases

• Malaria has spread among Peru• 40 years ago malaria was eradicated from Peru; but now,

due to global warming and deforestation, the disease has spread with more than 64,000 cases 

• The unseasonal rain leaves puddles containing larvae • Logging and deforestation also cause mosquitoes and

larvae to spread because the trees which house these insects are cut down then the logs are moved to other areas in which the disease is taken along with it, therefore affecting that area as well

• This way, the disease is slowly and unexpectedly spread by us humans alone

Mosquitoes possibly carrying diseases such as the Dengue Fever, Malaria and the West Nile Virus.

Disruption of the Ecosystems

Due to the rise in temperatures:• Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct due to

the water wiping out their habitat and food sourceo The Adélie penguins in Antarctica have decreased in        

breeding pairs from 32,000 to 11,000 in the past 30          years    

o Polar bears have less ice to fish and live on, they are        therefore decreasing drastically in numbers

• Species are increasing in numbers o In Alaska, spruce bark beetles have increased in number

over the past 20 years and in turn, they've eaten up 4 million acres of spruce trees

Coral bleaching is one of the effects of global warming on ecosystems. 

Sea Level

• Sea level is always varying• Climate change affects sea level• Changes in sea level affect the amount of water that can

evaporate and amount of thermal energy that can be exchanged with the atmosphere

• Temperature of the earth’s surface affects the sea level

Water Temperature Increases

• As ocean water temperature increases, so does the number of natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunamis) 

• We've seen this happen in the past decade when:o Hurricane Ivan struck in Florida in 2004 producing a

stunning 117 tornadoes over three dayso Indonesia was also struck by a tsunami later on in 2004,

produced by a massive 9.1 magnitude earthquakeo Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in 2005 when it struck

along the Gulf Coast• These natural disasters due to global warming have become

and soon will be known as global disasters

Destruction by a hurricane. Literally wiping out peoples homes.

Temperature Pattern

Pattern is similar to Carbon pattern

Average  Global Temperatures

Increased Chances of Drought and Heat Waves• Although many areas of the world will be suffering from

floods due to global warming, others such as Western USA, Middle East, Central Asia, Australia, Africa will be suffering from a scarcity of water and massive heat waves

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report claims droughts have been more prominent in the past 25 years

• Irrigation water in California is expected to dry up leaving 60,000 people unemployed and 1 million acres of farmland unused

Huge, violent dust cloud in Southern Africa.

Economic Downturn

• Due to the increase in many natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, there will also be a huge increase in the money spent to redevelop the affected areas

• Also, as more diseases spread throughout nations, they will need more money to treat the infected people as well as finding a cure and stop the diseases from becoming a pandemic

• Furthermore, droughts are a huge economic blow to farmers o In California, the Central Valley produces over half of the

US' fruits, vegetables and nuts. Due to the drought, the number one farming area in the nation is drying up, which could cause a deficit of over $36 billion per year. 

Melting of Ice

• Temperature is higher, then ice will melto Land ice melting will cause sea level increaseo Sea ice melting will not cause sea level increase

• Lands could be filled with water, if the sea level is too high (especially coastal areas)

Polar Ice Caps Melt

• If global warming continues at its alarming rate, the polar ice caps will continue to melto By the end of the century, they are expected to rise

between 7 and 23 inches and if the poles continued to melt, it could add 4-8 inches

o National Snow and Ice Data Center declared if all the ice caps, glaciers and snow (5,773,000 cubic miles of water) melted today, the sea level would rise by 230 feet

• By the ice caps melting, all the fresh water entering the oceans would desalinate the water which would ruin the global ecosystem, ocean currents and global temperatures 

• Moreover, as temperatures rise, the geography of the land will change causing endangerment to many species of animals in which only the adaptable will survive

Polar Bear stranded on a small piece of a glacier. This shows us as their habitat melts away, slowly

ours will too.

Polar Ice Caps Melt (continued)

• Due to the ice caps melting, there is less area for the sun to reflect light off back into space - cooling the Earth further. But, as the ice caps decrease in size, the sun rays will be forced to hit the dark ocean which would instead trap the heat and warm the Earth instead. 

• In Peru, the Quelccaya ice cap (containing fresh drinking water) will be gone by 2100 if it continue to melt at its current rate. This will leave thousands of people without water and electricity. 

Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina 1928 (top). Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina 2004 (bottom). 76 years of

climate change.

Biodiversity

• Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth and is commonly referred to as biodiversity.

• The numerous species of plants, animals, and the vast diversity of genes in these species along with the many different ecosystems are all part of our Earth's biodiversity.

The Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity        -all species have an important role

• more plant species means more variety of crops

• natural barriers against natural disasters

• resistance against invasive species

• pollination of plants• regulation of climate• nutrient and water

recycling• pollution control

Loss of Biodiversity Risks Humans

Change in ecosystems results in a major change in the food chain humans depend on.• water sources may change, recede or disappear• some species may mutate or become extinct• medicines will be harder to create since the plants they

derive from may reduce or disappear• choices will be limited for necessities such as food

o less diversity in plants means less variety in crops/food for us to eat

Change in Biodiversity

Changes in biodiversity can also affect other aspects of human well-being• Many cultures rely on ecosystems for their spiritual,

aesthetic, recreational and religious components• In developing countries, more than half of the energy is

fueled from wood • Communities will experience more natural disasters

o ie. Loss of coral reefs and mangroves as natural buffers against coastal floods and storms

Changes in biodiversity will alter the appearance of coral reefs.

Reducing Global Warming

• Use fuel efficient cars• Increase efficiency of coal-burning power plants• Carbon sinks• Nuclear power• Stop deforestation• Being energy conscious

Kyoto Protocol and the IPCC

• Cutting down greenhouse gas emissions was reached in 1997 in Japano Industries agreed to reduce their emissions by 5.2%o Endorsed 160 countrieso India and China are not bound by IPCC

• IPCC was created in 1988 and conducted research on scientific and socio-economical aspects of Earth

Simple Things you can do to Reduce your Carbon Footprint- Consider using your bike, feet, or mass transportation whenever possible

- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

-Reduce the need to copy and print. When you need to, copy and print on both sides of the paper - Turn off appliances and lights when not in use

- Use vegetable-based and biodegradable cleaning products

Works Cited• Gay K. 1992. Global Garbage: Exporting Trash and Toxic Waste. United

States: Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Dat. 144 p.• Kruus P, Demmer M, McCaw K. 1991. Chemicals in the Environment. Morin

Heights,Quebec, Canada: Polyscience Publications inc. 151 p.• Smyth A, Wheater C. 1990. Here Health: The Green Guide. Hertfordshire,

England: Argus Books. 140 p.• U.S.E.P.A. . 2010 [cited 2010 Dec 29].Nitrous Oxides. [Internet]. United

States: Environmental Protection Agency. Available from: http://www.epa.gov/nitrousoxide/sources.html.

• Simmons. [cited 2010 Dec 30]. 5 Deadliest Effects of Global Warming. [Internet]. Environmental Graffiti. Available from: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-warming/276. 

• 2010. [cited 2010 Dec 30]. Effects of Global Warming. [Internet]. National Geographic Society. Available from: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/. 

Works Cited (cont.)

• 2009 March 1. [cited 2010 Dec 30]. Heat waves and extreme drought will increase with climate change. [internet]. Optimum Population Trust News Watch. Available from: http://www.optimumpopulation.org/blog/?p=369.

• Tsokos, K. A. Physics for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print.

• US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. <http://www.epa.gov/>.

•  "Nuclear Energy." University of Michigan. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. <http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/nuclear.htm>.

• "Greenhouse Gas." Encyclopedia of Earth. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Greenhouse_gas>.

Works Cited (continued)

•  "What Global Warming Is and How Its Affecting Our Enivornment." Global Warming & Animals. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. <http://aljaljic.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-is-global-warming-doing-to.html>.

• Global Warming: Early Warning Signs. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. <http://www.climatehotmap.org/>.

• Pictures courtesy of:o http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/pollution/worst-effects-global-

warming10.htmo http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/03/7-terrifying-global-warming-

pictures.php?page=2