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Climate Change

Climate Change . It’s all about carbon. What I need to know to understand climate. Structure of the atmosphere Heat-trapping gases The greenhouse effect. Structure of the Atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere is 372 miles thick (small compared to the size of the earth)

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Climate Change

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  1. Climate Change It’s all about carbon

  2. What I need to know to understand climate • Structure of the atmosphere • Heat-trapping gases • The greenhouse effect

  3. Structure of the Atmosphere • Earth’s atmosphere is 372 miles thick (small compared to the size of the earth) • Divided into four layers based on temperature (troposphere, tropopause, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere,) • Weather happens in troposphere = layer closest to the earth • Troposphere is the densest layer, holds 80% of water vapor

  4. OZONE • http://eo.ucar.edu/staff/rrussell/atmosphere/images/mesosphere_diagram_big.jpg HIPPO

  5. The atmosphere • Atmosphere = the thin layer of gases that surrounds Earth • Absorbs radiation and moderates climate • Transports and recycles water and nutrients • 78% nitrogen gas, 21% oxygen gas, 1% other gases • Its four layers differ in temperature, density and composition • Minute concentrations of permanent (remain at stable concentrations) and variable gases (varying concentrations) • Human activity is changing the amounts of some gases

  6. The atmosphere’s composition

  7. What is a greenhouse gas? • Turn to a partner and make a list of greenhouse gases

  8. Greenhouse Gases = Heat trapping Gases • CO2 GAS carbon dioxide • H2O VAPOR water vapor (humidity) • CH4 GAS methane

  9. Heat trapping Gases (are they all the same?) Ppb = parts per billion

  10. Water vapor (H2O) is a very powerful heat trapping gas

  11. The Greenhouse Effect - Atmosphere http://www.ecoslopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/greenhouse-effect-solutions-300x225.jpg http://www.sciencebuzz.org/sites/all/files_static/global_warming/greenhouse_effect.gif • The atmosphere = without it, the Earth’s temperature would be much colder • Earth’s atmosphere, clouds, land, ice, and water absorb 70% of incoming solar radiation

  12. WHAT IS THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT?

  13. SUN- EnergyBudget W/m2 Turn to your neighbor and spend 2 minutes explaining what you see.

  14. It’s all about carbon npr video clip on carbon

  15. CO2 causes temperatures to rise Over the past 425,000 years, cool periods have coincided with times when the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere was lower. When there is less CO2 in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect is reduced and the world cools. The blue and red line indicates the variation in average global temperature compared with the 1961–1990 average. The green line shows the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. (Pay close attention to the right-hand edge of the graph.) This graph shows four eras when the world was cooler than it is today. These are separated by brief warm periods, like the one we are now in.

  16. The carbon cycle

  17. How much is going into the atmosphere?arbon cycle

  18. Living sources and sinks of CO2 During respiration, energy stored in a glucose is used to perform cellular activities. sugar + oxygen CO2 + water + energy (to do work) During photosynthesis, energy from the sun converts carbon dioxide and water into glucose, an energy source. Oxygen is a byproduct of this process. water + CO2 + solar energy sugar + oxygen

  19. Modeling the carbon cycle Student represents Ball of yarn represents Sources and sinks Carbon RULES No one can get the ball twice until everyone has had it at least once.

  20. Tracking carbon

  21. CO2 Emissions by country

  22. CO2 Emissions by Activity

  23. Journal Prompt Write a short story from the perspective of a carbon atom as it travels through the carbon cycle. List the places you travel and how you move from place to place until you return to where you started.

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