Summary of Notes on November 8

Solar Radiation drives earth’s weather even though it is far away.  Our weather only occurs in the first 10 to 15 km of the atmosphere. Ground based smog has a huge impact on our lives because it can affect our climate and make it hotter, colder, wetter or drier. In the past 100 years, the levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides have risen because of the use of fossil fuels. These pollutants have built up over the years and have contributed to the Greenhouse effect which has led to climate change, smog, melting of the polar ice caps, and other disastrous effects.

Most of our weather is driver by warm or cold air currents and high or low pressure systems. Warm air leaves behind low pressure systems and cold air leaves behind high pressure systems. Warm air tends to follow cold air and this creates wind. Winds are horizontal air flows and they blow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Humidity isthe amount of water vapor stuck between the molecules in the air. The air's ability to hold water depends on the air temperature. Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor that is in the air compared to the amount that the air can hold.

100% means that the air is completely saturated.

Why Aerosols Should Be Studied

     Many people are familiar with aerosols. They are present in hair spray, air freshener, and some shaving creams. But what are they and what do they really do? Aerosols are a mix of tiny particulates of liquids or solids and suspended in air. Natural sources of aerosols are volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. Of these natural sources, only living vegetation and sea spray are somewhat harmless.

     Aerosols change the amount of incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial long wave radiation retained in the earth’s system. One example of how aerosols can affect climate is the many volcanic eruptions that have occurred throughout history. Many volcano eruptions can block out the sun and cause climate effects like global cooling and a shift in climate areas, leading to droughts, famine, and sometimes an increase in rain. Scientists believe that aerosols released by burning fossil fuels also contribute to these affects, though not in as great a scale as some of the worst volcanic eruptions in history.

     Aerosols should really be studied more. In addition to climate effects, it also affects health in humans and animals. The effects of inhaling particulate matter that have been studied in humans and animals include asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, respiratory diseases, birth defects, and premature death. Aerosol pollution is estimated to cause 22,000-52,000 deaths per year in the United States, according to a 2000 survey. If aerosols are harming us in such a negative way, they really must be studied enough to understand them and their effects on the climate.

Why Surface Ozone Should Be Studied

      Most people think of ozone as a good thing. In the Ozone layer, it protects us from harmful radiation. However, when it exists at the surface, it can be quite hazardous to our health. Surface ozone is made when burnt fossil fuels like gasoline give off oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds and then these compounds react with sunlight. One major source of these compounds is car exhausts. Even at low concentrations, ozone can cause eye and respiratory system damage. Sometimes, the damage is bad enough to kill.
     Oxides of nitrogen are molecules made of nitrogen and oxygen that are formed during combustion. They can also be toxic if they react with water to make nitric acid. Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary, room-temperature conditions.  An example is formaldehyde, a vapor from paint. VOCs include both human-made and naturally occurring chemical compounds. Many VOCs are not hazardous but there are a few that contribute to making surface ozone and thus, they can be quite hazardous. These VOCs can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some are even suspected of contributing to cancer in both animals and humans.

     Surface ozone should be studied because it presents a serious threat to our health. Surface ozone is higher in concentrations in areas where there is a big smog problem, which commonly occurs around larger cities. These larger cities contain much of our population and thus many citizens are at risk. Surface ozone should be studied so that we can work to prevent physical damage from exposure. Exposure to ozone and the pollutants that produce it is linked to premature death, asthma, bronchitis, heart attack, and other cardiopulmonary problems. Smoking tobacco is linked to similar problems and we have studied it, so why should we not study surface ozone?

Team Work

Our team was pretty good together. We worked slow, but we got it done. Isaiah didn't really do anything and I was absent when they were measuring the trees so Kati only got the angles done. We had to get the species from another group. Kati worked on the powerpoint and procedure while I did the ArcGIS, excel, and calculations. I finished sooner that Kati so I read a book but she asked me questions about it every now and then. We worked together well (me and Kati) and we got the job done. We didn't necessarily talk about everything we did. We separated our jobs into stuff for each of us but I ended up doing Isaiah's part because he just sat around doing nothing.
If I could improve it, I would have liked Isaiah to do his part so that we could put more effort into the powerpoint. It was an okay powerpoint but Kati had to work on it a lot outside of class so we didnt have a chance to put in much input. It would have been nicer with some animation and some graphs.

Procedure

First, we went out and measured off an area of 100m2 and numbered 6 trees. The next day, we measured the angles and looked up the tree species. We wrote all the information down on our sheet.
We started work by giving each person a job. Kati got the presentation and procedure, I got the calculations and excel, and Isaiah got the ArcGIS. The second day, Mr. Sharpe gave us the circumference of the trees and I worked on the calculations. I finished somewhat early on that and the excel and started working on the ArcGIS since Isaiah wasn't doing his job. I found the total area and calculated the cost. Then, I helped Kati with the powerpoint until we finished it friday. We posted the procedure and now I had to re-post it with a correction. We presented on tuesday October 2, 2012.

Conclusion

How do surface temperatures change from hour to hour and why? How does that affect climate change?

Depending on if it contains water, the color of the surface, what light it absorbs, and its albedo, a surface's temperature increases as the sun travels across the sky, producing solar radiation, and then decreases from dusk till dawn. Since concrete absorbs more energy than grass and cities contain much more asphalt than rural areas, more energy is released at night in cities in the form of long wave infrared radiation and heat. This creates a heat island effect where the greenhouse gasses prevents long wave infrared radiation from escaping the atmosphere and causes the area to become hotter than the surrounding rural areas. This greenhouse effect can cause the climate to slowly change to a warmer climate in that area. The energy that is absorbed and re-emitted is part of Earth's energy budget, or the amount of energy gained and given off by Earth.

How To Use The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method is a process used to solve problems. First, you develop a question or problem that can be solved through experimentation. Next, you make observations and research your topic of interest. The next step is predicting a possible answer to the problem. After that, you must develop and follow a procedure in which the outcome must be measurable. You may modify the procedure as needed. Confirm the results by retesting and includes tables, graphs, and photographs. Include a statement in your results that accepts or rejects the hypothesis. Make recommendations for further study and possible improvements to the procedure. Last of all, be prepared to present the project to an audience and expect questions.
We use the Scientific method every day when we make decisions. For example, if you are making a birthday cake and you are trying to decide what kind of mix to buy. Many people like butter flavored cake because it is the most common. Chocolate is good too but not everyone likes chocolate cake and chocolate icing together. You could choose strawberry cake but its not very common and not as many people like it. You decide to not get the strawberry or chocolate mix but there is more than one type of yellow cake. There is butter flavor, vanilla and yellow cake. Vanilla is too plain so you don't choose it. Yellow cake is mediocre so you vote no on it. So then you are left with butter flavored cake mix and the icing you picked out.
Making decisions is all about judging the pros and cons of each choice, much like the scientific method. You look at different answers and decide what is best. Thus, the scientific method is common sense mostly and is simplified for some circumstances. That is why you don't use every step just to decide on what to buy or what to make for dinner.