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September 9, 2008 Katye Altieri History of earth Systems

Faint Young Sun Paradox Part I. September 9, 2008 Katye Altieri History of earth Systems. Sun. Middle sized, middle aged, normal star Solar heating determines energy balance of Earth Core produces energy through nuclear reactions 4 H atoms fuse  1 He atom

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September 9, 2008 Katye Altieri History of earth Systems

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  1. Faint Young Sun Paradox Part I September 9, 2008 Katye Altieri History of earth Systems

  2. Sun • Middle sized, middle aged, normal star • Solar heating determines energy balance of Earth • Core produces energy through nuclear reactions • 4 H atoms fuse  1 He atom • Energy is transferred by electromagnetic radiation • Earth ~150 million km from the sun = perfect distance • Not too hot, not too cold, but why is that??

  3. Habitable planets

  4. Radiation • Electromagnetic waves move through space at a constant speed • c = ~ 3x108 m s-1 • Sunlight, microwaves, heat from a fire, radio waves, ultraviolet rays, x rays gamma rays

  5. Radiation cont. • The different types of radiation are distinguished by their wavelength λ • a = long wavelength less Energy • b = short wavelength more Energy

  6. Electromagnetic spectrum

  7. Blackbody radiation • Monochromatic emissive power (or irradiance) of radiation emitted by a blackbody is related to temperature (T) and wavelength (λ) • k = Boltzmann constant • h = Planck’s constant • c = speed of light in a vacuum

  8. Blackbody radiation cont. • Integrate over all wavelengths and the total emissive power (FB in W m-2) of a blackbody is •  = 5.671x10-8 W m-2 K-4, the Stefan-Boltzmann constant

  9. Blackbody radiation cont. • E=total amount of radiation emitted by an object per square meter (Watts m-2) •  is a constant • T is the temperature of the object in K • Simple relationship!

  10. Sun emits E as a blackbody at ~6000K

  11. Earth receives 1370 W m-2 S0 Solar constant Total Energy output of Sun 3.8x1026 Watts

  12. Albedo • Earth receives both short and longwave radiation from the Sun • Some radiation is reflected back to space • Albedo-global mean planetary reflectance • Clouds, air molecules, particles, surface reflection • Earth’s albedo  ~ 0.3 • 30% of the incoming solar flux is reflected back to space

  13. At equilibrium, In=Out • Incoming solar energy at the surface of the Earth Fs • S0 ~1368 Wm-2 • Earth as a blackbody emits longwave radiation FL

  14. Greenhouse Effect • Solve for no atmosphere • TEarth = 255 K (-18°C) • Actual surface emission gives: • TEarth= 288 K (15°C) • Greenhouse Effect =  ~ 33°C

  15. Earth’s Atmosphere • Nitrogen 78% • Oxygen 21% • Argon 1% • Carbon Dioxide 0.037% Greenhouse Gases in ppm H2O 0.1-40,000 CO2 380 CH4 1.7 N2O 0.3 O3 0.01

  16. Greenhouse gases

  17. Faint Young Sun Paradox

  18. Early Earth Atmosphere Methane and ammonia are even better GHG than carbon dioxide There could be early volcanic sources of methane and ammonia, but modern volcanic gases are primarily CO2 and N2 Without volcanic methane and ammonia, you are left with “weakly reduced” atmosphere that leads to a warm Earth

  19. Methane vs. Carbon dioxide CH4 • Currently, very short atmospheric lifetime ~ 10 years • With O2 present, methane is oxidized to CO2 • In the absence of O2, CH4 lifetime can reach ~50,000 years • No obvious large sources of methane pre-life CO2 • Negative feedback: changes in the rate of consumption by silicate weathering

  20. Summary • During Earth’s history somehow the amount of greenhouse gases adjusted relative to the amount of change in the radiative forcing. As the sun has warmed, the amount of the greenhouse effect has declined so that Earth’s water didn’t evaporate. • Are there other possibilities? Change in albedo perhaps? • Methane story isn’t over… • Zahnle, et al., Geobiology (2006), 4, pp271-283

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