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GEOL 1330 Name: Carolina Lopez Global Warming Lab #3 Due October 1 1. (20 points) Use the link below to watch a video about greenhouse gases. List the main greenhouse gases found in our atmosphere and summarize how they absorb heat radiation and what distinguishes them from the major gases in our atmosphere (N2 and O2). https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=132&v=sTvqIijqvTg The greenhouse gases are water, ozone, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane. Water, ozone, and nitrous oxide are all electrically lopsided, they absorb infrared radiation. The molecules aren't motionless, they crash into each other billions of times per second, knocking each other in different directions. Both carbon dioxide and methane spend most of their time “shaking it” in electrically lopsided ways, allowing them to absorbed infrared rays and help insulate the earth. The vast majority of our atmosphere can’t absorb infrared radiation, because it’s made of nitrogen and oxygen, which don't get lopsided even when they are vibrating. 2. (30 points) The more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are present in the atmosphere; the more heat radiation is trapped in the atmosphere. The graph below shows measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the Mauna Loa observatory on Hawai’i. Source: https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/

How much does the amount of CO2 vary over the course of one year? For a close-up look at one year go to the link listed above. The amount of CO2 seems to be increasing from October 2020 to May 2021, but seems to decrease June 2021 to September 2021. The highest amount of CO2 was in May 2021(about 420 ppm) and the lowest was in October 2020 (about 411 ppm). It varies from about 9ppm from lowest to highest. Describe the pattern of this variation in one year. What might be the reason for this pattern? Over the variation of this one year, the ppm kept increasing or even decreasing the slightest. The highest amount of CO2 was in May 2021(about 420 ppm) and the lowest was in October 2020 (about 411 ppm). It varies from about 9ppm from lowest to highest. May is the turning point between all the decomposition in winter and photosynthesis that occurs with the return of leaves in the trees. The CO2 measurements all over the globe reflect on this pattern of the peak of CO2 occurring each May. What is the total change in the average CO2 concentration since the beginning of this recording (1957) until now? In 1957, the level of CO2 concentration is about 315 ppm and the current CO2 concentration is about 420 ppm. The difference between the both of these is 105 ppm. 3. (30 points) We need to examine the past to find out to what extent CO2 levels have changed over time. We can use ice cores from Antarctica to understand past variations in trace gases. As snow falls it traps small amounts of air in the spaces between the snowflakes. Some of this gas forms small bubbles as the snow changes into glacial ice. The graph below ( https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/ ) shows the carbon dioxide concentration based on ice core data through the last approximately 400,000 years.

What are the maximum and minimum CO2 levels before “0” years ago, and what is the “natural range” (difference between max and min) in CO2 during that time? The maximum levels of CO2 is 300 ppm (375 thousand years before today) and the minimum level of CO2 is 180 ppm (about 25 thousand years before today). The natural range is 120 ppm (300-180). What is the minimum number of years it has taken in these past 400,000 years to change from a high CO2 level to a low CO2 level? The fastest time it took to change from high CO2 to a low CO2 level is from 225 thousand to about 180 thousand of years (about 260-highest and about 180-lowest). What is the difference between the current CO2 level and the maximum level of CO2 before the year “0” (= before human industrialization)? The current CO2 level is about 400ppm and the maximum level of CO2 before the year “0” is 300 ppm. The difference between these two is 100ppm (400-300=100). 4. (20 points) EXPLAIN the greenhouse effect with the graph of a glasshouse below. Draw arrows of the direction of radiation in and out of the greenhouse and label incoming short-wave radiation QSW and outgoing long wave radiation QLW on the arrows.

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