Carbon Footprint

My estimated greenhouse gas emission are 12 tones of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which is below the U.S. national average.

-27 tons of CO2 equivalent per year=U.S. average per person

-5.5=world average person

Climate Saving Tips

-use ENERGYSTAR appliances (save 10-50 percent of energy)

-turn off/unplug electronic when they are not being used

-walk/use bike as opposed to using car

-carpool!

-recycle&reuse

-hybrid cars

Sustainability as GW Plenary

-website on sustainability, plans for university

Carbon Neutrality-zero carbon emissions 

-office set up, in process...

-GW not best when it comes to sustainability, probably in middle range? Found sources refuting this and claiming that we are in the worst five. ex; http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200809/coolschools/five.asp

-new recycling-color coding

-recycle with numbers 1 through 7

*no food,garbage, etc.

clear bags=recycling

black=trash

-water usually goes straight to sewer system then to potomac..GW making steps to create green roof to prevent this from happening, less air conditioning/heating needed, creates insulation

sustainability-responsibly, carry us into the future, environmentally, economically

-new lens, where did this come from? (bottle of water) etc. *ask questions* value chain

Class Notes 9/17

Fundamental Forces in Nature:          Strength Relative to the Strong Force:

-Strong (nuclear)                                          1.0

-Electromagnetic                                         10^-2

-Weak                                                            10^-13

-Gravitational                                               10^-38

*watched powers of ten video*

Force:the thing that compels an object to change its state of motion.

-from rest to motion

-from one speed to another

F=ma

[kg] [m/s^2] 

Energy and Power

E= F d

[kg] [m^2/s^2] Joules [J]

P= E/t

[Joules/sec] Watts

Energy:

Mechanical

Sound

Gravitational

Nuclear

Electromagnetic

Kinetic Energy <----> Potential Energy

Conservation of Energy

c (speed of light)

c=wavelength multiplied by frequency

*Greenhouse Gases

Gas: ability to fill any container

Greenhouse gas: absorbs infrared radiation

ex; H2o, CO2, CH4

Greenhouse Eeffect

-sunlight (visible spectrum) enters and warms

-greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation and keep heat in the atmosphere

Force- measured in newtons. 

-whatever can cause an object with mass to accelerate

-has magnitude and direction (vector quantity)

Energy-Joules

-the ability to do work

Power-Watts

-rate at which work is performed or energy transmitted

-P=w/t

*Why is CO2 a greenhouse gas and nitrogen not?

----Co2 is a green house gas because it blocks sunlight, radiation and heat

-it all depends on the composition of each element.

-needs to be monoatomic

-noble gases are not greenhouse gases

-nitrogen=diatomic molecule

**Project=Question Number 3: Global Solar Energy

-learned that 31 percent of incident sunlight is reflected and only 69 percent is used either on earth or functions within the atmosphere.

-drew the char illustrating that 45% is directly converted to thermal energy, 23% evaporated, 1% of the energy of winds and currents, and 0.08% used in photosynthesis

Sustainability

-capacity to maintain a certain process/state

-attempt to meet needs of present without compromising the future 

-use of natures resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally**

-maintain Earth's finite limits

-very general concept, presents difficulty when defining

"Green"

-environmentalism; philosophy and social movement

-concern for conservation, sustainability, and improvement of human treatment of the environment

-concern for nature itself + state of civilization

-treating nature with greater respect

Climate Change

-long term/significant change in average weather, atmosphere

-changes in average wind patterns, precipitation, temp, etc.

-can occur over millions of years typically, but can be facilitated by others circumstances to change in hundreds of years (extremely short period of time in relative terms)

-can occur from sunlight intensity

-recent issue-civilization's impact on change

-sometimes referred to as global warming in present age

-Non-climate factors contributing to climate change include: amounts of CO2, plate tectonics,  solar variation, orbital variations, and volcanism

-Human influence-fossil fuels, aerosols, land use, livestock,etc.

Concept of Energy

-different methods to power our world

Chapter 12: Keeping Warm: The Science of Climate

heating a house example-hotter indoor, greater rate at which house loses energy

Planet

-receives energy from source then loses energy to its environment

GG

-infrared, absorbing gases in atmosphere

-hard for earth to shed energy it gains from sun=Greenhouse Effect-keeps planet warm

EXAMPLE: Insulating Blanket:

-extra insulation, warmth

-causes new state of energy balance

-temp rises with increased insulation to ensure balace

NATURAL GE-earth would be chilly without it 

*As concentration of atmospheric GG rises, so must the surface temp

Albedo-fraction of incident sunlight thats reflected

Evapotransporation-moves energy from surface to atmosphere in form of the latent heat of water vapor

*Today: Energy Imbalance

-increasing GG concentrations due to FF consumption

-more energy coming in than going out

-excess energy warming planet

-surface moderated b/c excess E goes to oceans-cause sea level to rise!

Chapter 1: A Changing Planet

earth=about 4.6 billion yrs old

humans=about 2 million yrs

thermosphere

mesophere

stratospause

stratosphere

tropopause

troposphere

-temperature declines as you travel up the atmosphere

Aerobic Respiration-combines organic molecules + O2, produces CO2, water, and energy

-releases energy at a greater rate than Anaerobic respiration

-facilitated evolution

*Climate

-average conditions of atmosphere and surface

-ex; temperature, humidity, cloudiness

-different than weather (local and immediate, changes on diff scales)

-affected by 1. sunlight and 2. composition of earth's atmosphere

-sunlight warms planet and drives circulation of atmosphere and oceans

1. sunlight warms, bring energy

2. earth returns energy to space   (creates balance, maintains constant temp)

3. Greenhouse gases block outgoing energy and make earths temp higher than it would be otherwise

GG=water vapor, CO2

Climate depends on rate at which earth receives solar energy or concentration of atmospheric GG

*sun has become stronger but earth has been warmer at others points in history

Negative Feedback-earth warms and earth atmosphere system responds by countering warming. Earth cools and EAS responds by counter cooling

*predicted 4 snowballs=extreme changes

Earth's Energy Sources: Flows and Fuels

Flows: streams of energy, bring energy no matter what. ex; sunlight

Fuels-stored usually in molecules or atomic nuclei. stored until actively liberated

*solar energy quickly returned back to space (relative)

Thermal energy=heat

Geothermal energy=mix of primordial heat liberated in gravitational accretion decay of radioactive elements

*The temp difference of core and surface drive steady energy to surface

Tidal energy-motions of earth and moon

*Main energy=sunlight, geothermal, tidal

Fossil Fuels

-nonrenewable!

-supply vast  majority of energy for human society

-coal, oil, natural gas

-relatively new

-form at millx slower than we consume

Nuclear Fuels

-always have been on earth

-uranium

-thorium

-truly nonrenewable-no terrestrial process that can create them

*Hydrogen could supply us with 40 bill yrs, 10x longer than the sin will shine

-enourmous amts

-yet haven't learned how to use

Antropogenic-human caused