used of original reserves one the decline 1970 s peak 1 st Law energy is not created or destroyed Conserved Transferred 2 nd law spontaneous changes increase the entropy degree of disorder of the universe some heat loss It relates to the second law of thermodynamics which disfavors the natural existence of life Living things must pump out disorder to maintain their complex orderly systems Quantifying Energy Flow R B lower more efficient GPP via photosynthesis near coast the NRG doubles bc of nutrients input and the upwelling zone Peak Oil Nuclear Power spitting of atom nuclear fission steam no CO2 or other pollution radioactive waste production of bomb grade materials harmful radiation no combustion The reasons that nuclear energy may not be a good choice even if good for climate change include long lived radioactive wastes the production of bomb grade plutonium as a product unknowns about decommissioning old nuclear power plants and concerns about malfunctions that could result in releases of harmful radiation into the environment Fuelwood Crisis primary source of energy for 2 billion mainly women and children 2025 doubling of demand Consequences Deforestation Habitat Loss Soil Erosion Using animal manure decrease in soil fertility Lung disease Responses Reforestation Community Woodlots clean burning stoves Agro forestry interplanting food crops with trees enhance fertility erosion control Legumes rapid growth burn w o toxic smoke source of N for soil food for people extreme soil conditions renewable Hydrogen lightest element easily burned oxidized water produced from natural gas CO2 naturally combined with other elements H Production natural gases CO2 and will run out Electrolysis of water splits H and O gases need electricity current Fuel Cells 2 5x more efficient than internal combustion engines H2 goes in atom split electrons go into motor O is added and water is the product transforms chemical energy to hydrogen gas to electricity Fuel Cell cars would lease to more water in the atmosphere but only 1 10000 as natural process The water vapor will not have any appreciable effect on global warming because the quantities emitted will be very small could say 1 10 000 th of the water vapor returned to the atmosphere through natural processes The change in primary pollutants would be from unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide could also mention carbon monoxide that come from the ICE to just water vapor from the fuel cell car The answer cannot include secondary air pollutants such as ozone smog and nitrogen dioxide from the ICE Water Vapor Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas that is responsible for 95 of the warming of the earth s atmosphere so that the the earth is 33o C warmer than it would be otherwise This means that most water is liquid rather than ice Positive feedback mechanisms are related to the fact that as the earth warms more water vapor is formed which in turn warms the earth more via the absorption of IR radiation which then causes more evaporation Human impacts on such a process would be minimal however Methane Methane exists in the atmosphere in low concentrations now and it has an IR absorbance per molecule that is more than 20 times that of carbon dioxide It lasts around 12 years so so in the atmosphere CO2 Carbon dioxide exists in the atmosphere at higher concentrations than methane 380 ppmv and it does not absorb IR radiation as strongly It may persist in the atmosphere fro 1000 years NO Nitrous oxide concentrations are very low relative to carbon dioxide and methane but it absorbs IR radiation 300 times more strongly than methane and carbon dioxide and may persist in the atmosphere for 100 years These differences among the gases can be integrated to establish their relative importance as greenhouse gases as shown in the IPCC table Carbon dioxide is first methane is second and nitrous oxide is third They need to make one two way comparison Troposphere 8 18km high in tropics low in poles weather zones 75 of mass mixed well hot air rises cool air sinks temp decrease to 60C tropopause then increases Statosphere 18 50 temp increase w altitude due to ozone absorption of UV radiation ozone peaks in the middle but temp is max at stratopause very dry 1 10000 of water as Trop 1000x higher ozone not mixed well because already hotter at the top Mesosphere 80km not a lot of ozone Thermosphere up to 160 km high temp due to solar and cosmic radiation few molecules Ancient Atmosphere mostly H and helium very light Volcanoes added CH4 H2D NH3 no O yet Photosynthesis added O about 3 5 billion years ago CO2 from combustion respiration and decomposition of CaCO3 Reactions in Troposphere CO2 methane and water absorb IR warms it by about 33C Earth would drop to 18C O3 Troposphere pollutant oxidant destroys cells smog damages lungs absorbs IR so can be a greenhouse gas from auto exhaust NO2 light O3 Stratosphere protector absorbs UV radiation ozone is destroyed but replenished naturally Ozone Hole over south pole and southern hemisphere up to a 90 loss skin cancer concern Winds move in a circular patter over south pole and O3 and CFC s Cl F C get sucked in to the vortex light causes CL to be released and destroy O3 Smog photochemical smog light involved obscured visability NO NO2 O3 and orgcanic compounds fromgas and PAN perxyactal nitrate causes crop damage and makes you cry Catalytic Converters CO to CO2 pollutant to non harzardous gases NO N2 Global Warming 22 of CO2 ppmv over 51 years The Hockey Stick Graph Very controversial Paleoclimatic Data Human History Coral Fossil Pollen warm weather has different plants Tree Ring Dry thinner Ice Cores Milankovitch Cycle 1 Tilt Obliquity less tilt cooler summers and less melting 2 Eccentricity circular colder 3 Precession how much the earth axis wobbles The three cycles relate to how circular is the orbit of the earth around the sun eccentricity the tilt of the earth axis obliquity and how much the earth access wobbles precession In combination the cycles influence insolation or solar energy reaching the earth and thereby influence temperature or could say affect summer melting of polar ice They may also say that the cycles influence the timing of glacial interglacial periods on earth and that we are in an interglacial now We are headed into another glacial period in a few thousand years Coriolis effect related to the bending of the flow of winds and ocean currents due to the rotation of the earth effects on flow of heat and