Global warming
Thermal capacity
Thermal capacity on land is smaller than of water. Due to high thermal capacity of large water bodies, the water bodies will have a moderating effect on temperatures. (Irvine, 2009).
Heat is transferred through various processes that include:
Radiation
This is the transfer of heat through radiation without using any form. Example of radiation is getting heat from a fire when standing at a distance.
Conduction
Conduction is transfer of heat in solid substances .example is heating of water in a pot.
Convection
Convection involves transferring heat through gases and liquids. For instance, heat spreads in a room through convection.
Major regions of light spectrum
Major regions of the light spectrum are Radio waves, infrared wavelengths, visible light, ultraviolet radiation-rays and the gamma rays. Radio waves are related to lower temperatures and they are the longest. Radio waves have the lowest power and are found all over. Infrared have an average of 710 nm.At the peak intensity of 900nm, human bodies release infrared. Visible light stretches to an average of 550 wavelenghts.Eyes see this form of electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation is between 10-310nm and they are produced by stars. X-rays have wavelengths of 0.01-10nm mostly generated by superheated stars. Lastly, Gamma rays have the least wavelengths, < 0.01 nm. Sources of Gamma rays are nuclear reactions.
Fractionating tower
The solar system
The solar system consist of several planets. The innermost planets are known as terrestrial due to their solid surfaces. The inner planets are composed metals. These planets are smaller and lack heavy atmosphere. Lastly they have warm temperatures.
The composition of the earth’s atmosphere
Nitrogen gas molecular structure
Oxygen
O=O
Ozone
Methane
Water vapor
Carbon dioxide
A greenhouse has three atoms or more. This allows it to catch the infrared radiation hence prevent it from escaping from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Ozone are greenhouse gases. Nitrogen and Oxygen are not green house gases.
Layers of the atmosphere
Troposphere is at lowest part of the atmosphere and is bonded with troposphere. Troposphere separates troposphere from the stratosphere. It is enlarged at the pole. It is the largest part of the atmosphere with the highest amount of atmospheres water vapor. The troposphere contains nitrogen, oxygen and argon with some traces of hydrogen.
Stratosphere on the other hand is so dry and its air contains minimal amounts of water vapor. Since it contains very few traces of water, clouds are found here.
Latent heat
During water cycle, are starts with precipitation, then the water travels to the ocean and then evaporates back to the atmosphere. Solar radiation converts water into water vapor.
Hydrologic cycle takes place through plant growth. Evaporation rises and falls with temperatures. Hydrological cycle also involve cycling of materials.
Carbon cycle
The process of carbon cycle begins with Absorption of carbon by plants from atmosphere where carbon is present as carbon dioxide.the the carbon moves from the plants into the animals .From living things, carbon moves into the atmosphere through respiration. Some of the carbon moves from the living things into the land through death and decay. Carbon changes from the fuels into the atmosphere through burning. Eventually, carbon moves from the atmosphere into the ocean inform of cabondioxide.As a result of this, the amount of carbon in the environment remains constant.
Milankovitch cycle
It relates to how the earth moves around the sun. It includes eccentricity which is the measurement of the shapes deviation from being circular.Axil tilt causes night and day during a maximum tilt, there is hottest summers and coldest winters (Perryman, 2010).Precession is caused by tidal forces from the sun and moon. Both precession and tilting causes long nights and long days sometimes.
Forms of fossil fuels
Coal
Coal is found in large quantities and is also the dirtiest fuel. Burning coal releases carbon dioxide since it contains carbon.
Natural gas
Natural gas is very clean since it produces very few harmful chemicals. Natural gas reduces production of green house gas when compressed. It’s very expensive since for it to be transported it has to be in liquid form.
Petroleum
Petroleum occurs naturally and it contains very harmful chemicals that pollute the air.
Emissions from power plants
Countries with the highest emissions from power plants are USA and China.
Per capita use of energy
Countries with the highest per capita use of energy are Qatar and Bahrain. These countries are rich in energy sources.
Proxy measurements
Proxy measurements are direct measurements of a given process. Proxy measurements all contain non climatic signals as well as climatic signals. They are responsive to climate features. Proxy measurements include Human proxies and natural proxies. Human proxies entails documentary evidence e.g. newspapers. This information is much less helpful than instrumental data. They are mostly used in judging earthquake intensity.
Natural proxy includes tree ring, corals, and ice cores. Tree ring can yield information on seasonal temperatures and warm or dry conditions.
The most memorable thing learnt in this course is that:
Global Warming is the increase of Earth’s temperature resulting from greenhouse gases. The green house gases come from different sources including carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. The green house gases deplete the ozone layer hence causes melting of ice in the oceans hence leading to floods, the x-rays also cause skin cancer to human beings.
Opinion about global warming
Global warming is a threat to mankind since it affects water supply, increases wildfires, storms, flooding, vulnerability of local species and impacts the economy through poor agriculture
References
Global warming. (2009). Irvine, CA: Saddleback Educational Publishing.
Perryman, M. (2010). Making of history’s greatest star map. Heidelberg: Springer
Wigley, T. M. L., & Schimel, D. S. (2005). The carbon cycle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.