Carbon dioxide and the environment rev1
- 1. Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere and its Effect on Worldwide Environment. [email protected] 2013
- 2. World Human Population Growth. The growth of CO2 emissions from human activity, e.g. industrialisation and travel, is probably similar.
- 3. Wikipedia quote: The present level of carbon dioxide (0.04%) appears to be the highest in the past 800,000 years and likely the highest in the past 20 million years, but well below 10% of its 500-million-year peak.
- 4. Natural gas (methane, CH4) and other fossil fuels are organic. They were created by plants and animals dying millions of years ago, locking away the sun’s energy underground. They form carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) when burnt in air. For example: CH4 + 2O2 = 2H2O + CO2 + heat Other fossil fuels have more complex chemistry, but they all form CO2 when burnt. Not all the heat generated by boilers and engines is converted into desired warmth and power. The excess hot gases are discharged from industrial and domestic chimneys and vehicle exhausts. Aircraft jet engines discharge most of their heat into the exhaust gas stream to generate thrust. Centrally-heated buildings and homes lose heat through walls, doors and windows to cool air in the surrounding environment. Air conditioning systems transfer heat from an interior space to the surrounding warm air.
- 5. Photosynthesis in plants and phytoplankton converts CO2 in the atmosphere and dissolved in the oceans to carbohydrates for their growth and oxygen. Quote from:http://www.climateemergencyinstitute.com/teacup_griffin.html “When phytoplankton (and the sea creatures that eat them) die, they sink to the ocean floor, removing huge amounts of CO2 from the ocean surface and acting as an effective carbon sink.” Similarly, land-based plants and the animals (including humans) that eat them, act as a carbon sink. The ability of photosynthetic organisms to adapt to an atmosphere containing 0.04% CO2 compared to 0.03% CO2 without adverse consequences is under study.
- 6. Extract from Oxford Weather Station (142 year change). The Met Office data (examples below) consists of: Mean daily maximum temperature (tmax - day) Mean daily minimum temperature (tmin - night) Days of air frost (af) Total rainfall (rain) The data shows that 1868 was significantly warmer than 2010, but single year comparisons are not reliable to show a trend. yyyy mm tmax tmin af rain degC degC days mm 1867 12 6.2 0.1 18 35.7 1868 1 5.9 1.7 11 87.2 1868 2 9.8 3.3 5 42.3 1868 3 11.1 2.9 6 38.7 1868 4 14.1 4.6 5 39.7 1868 5 20.4 7.8 0 14.9 1868 6 23.6 9.4 0 23.6 1868 7 25.8 12.7 0 47.5 1868 8 22.1 12.5 0 85.8 1868 9 19.7 9.4 0 101.3 1868 10 12.7 5.0 3 57.0 1868 11 7.9 2.6 7 30.7 1868 12 10.4 5.2 2 105.3 1869 1 8.2 3.0 5 96.3 1869 2 10.5 5.1 1 55.2 yyyy mm tmax tmin af rain degC degC days mm 2009 12 6.8 0.8 12 89.9 2010 1 4.7 -1.0 17 56.4 2010 2 7.1 1.3 7 79.8 2010 3 11.3 3.2 8 47.6 2010 4 15.8 4.9 0 25.5 2010 5 17.6 7.3 0 28.6 2010 6 23.0 11.1 0 34.5 2010 7 23.9 14.2 0 17.9 2010 8 21.4 12.1 0 146.2 2010 9 18.8 10.3 0 52.5 2010 10 14.5 7.4 2 43.4 2010 11 8.2 2.9 10 38.6 2010 12 2.7 -2.2 25 32.7 2011 1 7.0 1.9 12 58.8 2011 2 10.4 4.4 1 49.3 Source: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/oxforddata.txt
- 7. Oxford Weather Data - Years 1853 to 1902 1963 to 2012 Change Annual average tmax degC 13.54 14.23 0.69 Annual average tmin degC 5.75 6.70 0.95 Average Days of Air Frost per Year 52.86 38.36 -14.5 Average Monthly Rainfall mm 53.64 54.63 0.99 Oxford (UK) weather data for the last 160 years allows averages to be derived for the annual daily max/min temperatures for the first 50 years (1853 to 1902) and the last 50 years (1963 to 2012) with an average span of 110 years : i) Average daily maximum temperatures have increased by 0.69C. ii) Average night minimum temperatures have increased by 0.95C. iii) Average numbers of days with air frost have fallen by 14.5 days (27.5%). iv) Average monthly rainfall has increased by 1mm (1.8%). If this trend continues, UK residents with gas-fired central heating should benefit from gradually reducing gas consumption in future years.
- 8. School of Geography and the Environment. Quotes from: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/climate/rms/intro.html “The Radcliffe Meteorological (Oxford Weather) Station is situated in Woodstock Road in the garden of Green Templeton College beside the old observatory building, adjacent to the old Radcliffe Infirmary site. It possesses the longest series of temperature and rainfall records for one site in Britain. The annual volumes of Radcliffe observations contained more and more meteorological results from 1853 onwards, when the daily readings were first published.” “An interesting fact is apparent from the Radcliffe temperature time series: In the 20th century temperatures were generally higher than in the 19th century. This is thought to be an effect of the urban heat island. The development of the city (population 31,000 in 1851 growing to 244,000 in 2011, with associated buildings and roads) acted to change all aspects of the climate of the city, air temperature being affected particularly strongly. Urban heat island effect is the most common example of inadvertent climatic modification.”
- 9. Arctic and Antarctic Ice Cover Notes from the United States National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)
- 10. ‘In 2013, Arctic sea ice loss was held in check by relatively cool and stormy(?) conditions. September 2013 ice extent was 1.72 million square kilometers (664,000 square miles or 32%) higher than the record low for the month that occurred in 2012.’ Daily Mail comment: Only six years ago, the BBC reported that the Arctic would be ice-free in summer by 2013, citing scientist Professor Wieslaw Maslowski in the US who claimed this was a ‘conservative’ forecast. 2013 a better year for polar bears Quote: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2013/10/a- better-year-for-the-cryosphere/ October 2013
- 11. The forecast of no summer sea ice in the Arctic by 2013 was made in December 2007 following the 4.1 million km^2 low in the previous September. Thin summer ice can be broken up fairly easily by storm wave action, giving rise to greater variation of ice area in summer than in the winter. Winter ice is relatively constant at around 15 million km^2.
- 12. Another record high in the Antarctic Antarctic sea ice extent for September 2013 was 19.77 million square kilometers (7.63 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic South Pole. Overall, Antarctic September sea ice extent is increasing at 1.1% per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. Quotes also from: United States National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)
- 13. Records of northern and southern hemisphere sea ice areas show trends to: i) an 18% reduction in summer Arctic ice below the 1981 to 2010 average, with a slowing rate of reduction since 2007, and ii) a 3.5% increase in Antarctic ice. ~90% of world’s 7 billion human population (2013) live in the northern hemisphere. Questions: 1. Is the reduction in summer Arctic sea ice more due to the ‘greenhouse effect’ of CO2, or to a northern hemisphere ‘heat island effect’, i.e. heat released by human activities – industry, buildings and travel. 2. Can plants and phytoplankton absorb increased concentration of CO2 with no ill effects, for example Ocean Acidification? 3. Can the world human population limit emissions of CO2 and heat (nuclear power generates heat) to a level that causes no ill effects? It must be beneficial to limit the growth of world population, and for people to live in well-insulated buildings, drive fuel-efficient cars, reduce long haul flights, etc..