Module 7.2 Weather And Climate Analysis

Chapter 7
2. Concept: Key factors that influence an area’s climate are incoming solar energy, the earth’s rotation, global patterns of air and water movement, gases in the atmosphere, and the earth’s surface features. It is important to understand the difference between weather and climate. Weather is a set of physical conditions of the lower atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and other factors, in a given area over a period of hours or days. Weather differs from climate, which is the general pattern of atmospheric conditions in a given area over periods ranging from at least three decades to thousands of years. In other words, climate is the sum of weather conditions in a given area, averaged
over a long period of time. Ocean currents are mass movements of surface water driven by winds blowing over the oceans. These currents help to determine regional climates and are a key component of the earth’s natural capital. Three major factors affect the circulation of air in the lower atmosphere. Uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Air is heated much more at the equator, where the sun’s rays strike directly, than at the poles, where sunlight strikes at an angle and spreads out over a much greater area. These differences in the input of solar energy to the atmosphere help explain why tropical regions near the equator are hot, why Polar Regions are cold, and why temperate regions in between generally have both warm and cool temperatures. The intense input of solar radiation in tropical regions leads to greatly increased evaporation of moisture from forests, grasslands, and bodies of water. As a result, tropical regions normally receive more precipitation than do other areas of the earth. Rotation of the earth on its axis. As the earth rotates around its axis, the equator spins faster than the regions to its north and south. As a result, heated air masses, rising above the equator and moving north and south to cooler areas, are deflected in different ways over different parts of the planet’s surface. The atmosphere over these different areas is divided into huge regions called cells, distinguished by the direction of air movement. The differing directions of air movement are called prevailing winds—major surface winds that blow almost continuously and help to distribute heat and moisture over the earth’s surface and to drive ocean currents. Properties of air, water, and land. Heat from the sun evaporates ocean water and transfers heat from the oceans to the atmosphere, especially near the hot equator. This evaporation of water creates giant cyclical convection cells that circulate air, heat, and moisture both vertically and from place to place in the atmosphere.
3. As energy flows from the sun to the earth, some of it is reflected by the earth’s surface back into the atmosphere. Molecules of certain gases in the atmosphere, including water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , and nitrous oxide , absorb some of this solar energy and release a portion of it as infrared radiation (heat) that warms the lower atmosphere. Thus, these gases, called greenhouse gases, play a role in determining the lower atmosphere’s average temperatures and thus the earth’s climates. The earth’s surface also absorbs much of the solar energy that strikes it and transforms it into longer-wavelength infrared radiation, which then rises into the lower atmosphere. Some of this heat escapes into space, but some is absorbed by molecules of greenhouse gases and emitted into the lower atmosphere as even longer-wavelength infrared radiation. Some of this released energy radiates into space, and some adds to the warming of the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface. Together, these processes result in a natural warming of the troposphere, called the greenhouse effect. Without this natural warming effect, the earth would be a very cold and mostly lifeless planet.
4. As the drier air mass passes over the mountaintops, it flows down the leeward slopes (facing away from the wind), and warms up. This increases its ability to hold moisture, but the air releases little moisture and instead tends to dry out plants and soil below. This process is called the rain shadow effect (Figure 7-6), and over many decades, it results in semiarid or arid conditions on the leeward side of a high mountain range. Sometimes this effect leads to the formation of deserts such as Death Valley, a part of the Mojave Desert found in parts of the U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Cities also create distinct microclimates. Bricks, concrete, asphalt, and other building materials absorb and hold heat, and buildings block wind flow. Motor vehicles and the heating and cooling systems of buildings release large quantities of heat and pollutants. As a result, cities on average tend to have more haze and smog, higher temperatures that make them heat islands, and lower wind speeds than the surrounding countryside.
8. Tropical rain forests (Figure 7-13, top photo) are found near the equator (Figure 7-9), where hot, moisture-laden air rises and dumps its moisture (Figure 7-3). These lush forests have year-round, uniformly warm temperatures, high humidity, and almost daily heavy rainfall (Figure 7-13, top graph). This fairly constant warm, wet climate is ideal for a wide variety of plants and animals. Tropical rain forests are dominated by broadleaf evergreen plants, which keep most of their leaves year-round. The tops of the trees form a dense canopy (Figure 7-13, top photo) that blocks most light from reaching the forest floor. For this reason, there is little vegetation on the forest floor. Many of the plants that do live at the ground level have enormous leaves to capture what little sunlight filters down to them. Rain forest species occupy a variety of specialized niches in distinct layers, which help to enable these forests’ great biodiversity (high species richness). Vegetation layers are structured, for the most part, according to the plants’ needs for sunlight, as shown in Figure 7-14. Much of the animal life, particularly insects, bats, and birds, lives in the sunny canopy layer, with its abundant shelter and supplies of leaves, flowers, and fruits. To study life in the treetops, ecologists climb trees and build platforms and boardwalks in the upper canopy. The second major type of forest, the temperate deciduous forest, is the subject of this chapter’s Core Case Study (see middle photo of Figure 7-13). Because they have cooler temperatures and fewer decomposers than tropical forests have, these forests also have a slower rate of decomposition. As a result, they accumulate a thick layer of slowly decaying leaf litter, which becomes a storehouse of nutrients. On a global basis, temperate forests have been degraded by various human activities, especially logging and urban expansion, more than any other terrestrial biome. However, within 100–200 years, forests of this type that have been cleared can return through secondary ecological succession. Cold or northern coniferous forests (Figure 7-13, bottom photo) are also called boreal forests or taigas (“TIE-guhs”). These forests are found just south of the arctic tundra in northern regions across North America, Asia, and Europe (Figure 7-9) and above certain altitudes in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain ranges of the United States. In this subarctic climate, winters are long and extremely cold; in the northernmost taigas, winter sunlight is available only 6–8 hours per day. Summers are short, with cool to warm temperatures (Figure 7-13, bottom graph), and the sun shines as long as 19 hours a day during mid-summer. Most boreal forests are dominated by a few species of coniferous (cone-bearing) evergreen trees such as spruce, fir, cedar, hemlock, and pine that keep most of their leaves (or needles) year-round. Most of these species have small, needle-shaped, wax-coated leaves that can withstand the intense cold and drought of winter, when snow blankets the ground. Plant diversity is low because few species can survive the winters when soil moisture is frozen. Beneath the stands of trees in these forests is a deep layer of partially decomposed conifer needles. Decomposition is slow because of low temperatures, the waxy coating on the needles, and high soil acidity. The decomposing conifer needles make the thin, nutrient-poor topsoil acidic, which prevents most other plants (except certain shrubs) from growing on the forest floor.
9. Concept: Human activities are disrupting ecosystem and economic services provided by many of the earth’s deserts, grasslands, forests, and mountains. According to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and later updates of such research, about 60% of the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably, as the human ecological footprint gets bigger and spreads across the globe. Many settings are being deforested, degraded, and unsupplied. Considerable scientific evidence indicates that human activities are likely to raise the average atmospheric temperature by during this century, mostly as a result of human activities. This will likely change the sizes and locations of many biomes and alter the ecological map of the earth’s land areas. These changes could also wipe out many species and degrade important ecosystem services. If these scientific projections are correct, such changes will take place within 100 years or so, instead of within thousands of years as they have in the past. This gives us and other species very little time to deal with such projected changes.
Critical Thinking
1.I think this is because the world will always need wood and where else is better to get this wood then from these forests which is ultimately destroying large habitats, killing ecosystems and their populations.
Chapter 18
3. Concept: Pollutants mix in the air to form industrial smog, primarily as a result of burning coal, and to form photochemical smog, caused by emissions from motor vehicles, industrial facilities, and power plants. Scientists classify outdoor air pollutants into two categories: Primary pollutants are chemicals or substances emitted directly into the air from natural processes and human activities (Figure 18-3, center) at concentrations high enough to cause harm. While in the atmosphere, some primary pollutants react with one another and with other natural components of air to form new harmful chemicals, called secondary pollutants. With their high concentrations of cars and factories, urban areas normally have higher outdoor air pollution levels (Figure 18-1, right) than rural areas have. But prevailing winds can spread long-lived primary and secondary air pollutants from urban and industrial areas to the countryside and to other urban areas. Long-lived pollutants entering the atmosphere in India and China now find their way across the Pacific where they affect the West Coast of North America (Core Case Study). Even in arctic regions where very few people live, air pollutants flowing north from Europe, Asia, and North America collect to form arctic haze. There is no place on the planet’s surface that has not been affected by air pollution. In 2008, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the results of a 7-year study of the effects of the South Asian Brown Clouds (Core Case Study) carried out by an International team of scientists led by climate scientist V. Ramanathan of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego (USA). According to these scientists, the South Asian Brown Clouds have been a factor in the gradual melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which are the source of water for most of Asia’s major rivers. The researchers hypothesized that soot and some of the other particles in the brown clouds absorb sunlight and heat the air above the glaciers. Black soot falling on the white surface of the glaciers also decreases their ability to reflect sunlight back into space. The glaciers then absorb more solar energy, which adds to the warming of the air above them and also increases the rate of glacial melting. The very slow melting of some Himalayan glaciers and of many other mountain glaciers is taken as a sign of atmospheric warming and climate change (which we discuss fully in Chapter 19). But the UNEP study also pointed out that the South Asian Brown Clouds, in addition to contributing to such warming, have helped to mask the full impact of global atmospheric warming. This occurs because certain types of particles in the clouds reflect some incoming sunlight back into space, which has helped to cool part of the earth’s surface beneath them. The net effect is that during this century, the South Asian Brown Clouds have helped to slow atmospheric warming and the resulting projected climate change. At the same time, this severe case of air pollution has had numerous harmful effects on water and food supplies in Asia and is directly linked to the deaths of at least 380,000 people a year in China and India.
4. A photochemical reaction is any chemical reaction activated by light. Photochemical smog is a mixture of primary and secondary pollutants formed under the influence of UV radiation from the sun. In greatly simplified terms, the formation of photochemical smog (Figure 18-9) begins when exhaust from morning commuter traffic releases large amounts of NO and VOCs into the air over a city. The NO is converted to reddish-brown and this explains why photochemical smog is sometimes called brown-air smog. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, some of the, reacts in complex ways with VOCs released by certain trees (such as some oak species, sweet gums, and poplars), motor vehicles, and businesses (such as bakeries and dry cleaners). Sixty years ago, cities such as London, England, and the U.S. cities of Chicago, Illinois, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, burned large amounts of coal in power plants and factories and for heating homes and often for cooking food. People in such cities, especially during winter, were exposed to industrial smog consisting mostly of an unhealthy mix of sulfur dioxide, suspended droplets of sulfuric acid, and a variety of suspended solid particles in outside air. Those who burned coal inside their homes were exposed to dangerous levels of indoor air pollutants. Five natural factors help reduce outdoor air pollution. First, particles heavier than air settle out as a result of gravitational attraction to the earth. Second, rain and snow help cleanse the air of pollutants. Third, salty sea spray from the oceans washes out many pollutants from air that flows from land over the oceans. Fourth, winds sweep pollutants away and mix them with cleaner air. Fifth, some pollutants are removed by chemical reactions. For example, can react with in the atmosphere to form, which reacts with water vapor to form droplets of that fall out of the atmosphere as acidic precipitation. Six other factors can increase outdoor air pollution. First, urban buildings slow wind speed and reduce the dilution and removal of pollutants. Second, hills and mountains reduce the flow of air in valleys below them and allow pollutant levels to build up at ground level. Third, high temperatures promote the chemical reactions leading to formation of photochemical smog. Fourth, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from certain trees and plants (including kudzu; see Figure 9-10) in heavily wooded urban areas can play a large role in the formation of photochemical smog. A fifth factor—the so-called grasshopper effect—occurs when air pollutants are transported at high altitudes by evaporation and winds from tropical and temperate areas through the atmosphere to the earth’s polar areas. This happens mostly during winter. It explains why, for decades, pilots have reported seeing dense layers of reddish-brown haze over the Arctic. It also explains why polar bears, sharks, and native peoples in remote arctic areas have high levels of various toxic pollutants in their bodies. The sixth factor has to do with the vertical movement of air. During daylight, the sun warms the air near the earth’s surface. Normally, this warm air and most of the pollutants it contains rise to mix with the cooler air above and are dispersed. Under certain atmospheric conditions, however, a layer of warm air can temporarily lie atop the cooler air nearer the ground, and this is called a temperature inversion. Because the cooler air is denser than the warmer air above it, the air near the surface does not rise and mix with the air above. If this condition persists, pollutants can build up to harmful and even lethal concentrations in the stagnant layer of cool air near the ground. Two types of areas are especially susceptible to prolonged temperature inversions. The first is a town or city located in a valley surrounded by mountains where the weather turns cloudy and cold during part of the year (Figure 18-11, left). In such cases, the clouds block much of the winter sunlight that causes air to heat and rise, and the mountains block winds that could disperse the pollutants. As long as these stagnant conditions persist, pollutants in the valley below will build up to harmful and even lethal concentrations.
9. One approach to reducing pollutant emissions has been to allow producers of air pollutants to buy and sell government air pollution allotments in the marketplace. For example, with the goal of reducing emissions, the Clean Air Act of 1990 authorized an emissions trading, or cap-and-trade program, which enables the 110 most polluting coal-fired power plants in 21 states to buy and sell pollution rights. Species and Ecosystem Services Under this system, each power plant is annually given a number of pollution credits, which allow it to emit a certain amount of . A utility that emits less than its allotted amount has a surplus of pollution credits. That utility can use its credits to offset emissions at another of its plants, keep them for future plant expansions, or sell them to other utilities or to private citizens or groups. Between 1990 and 2010, this emissions trading program helped to reduce emissions from power plants in the United States by 69%, at a cost of less than one-tenth of the cost projected by the industry. Proponents of this approach say it is cheaper and more efficient than government regulation of air pollution. Critics of this approach contend that it allows utilities with older, dirtier power plants to buy their way out of their environmental responsibilities and to continue to pollute. In addition, without strict government oversight, this approach makes cheating possible, because cap-and-trade is based largely on self-reporting of emissions. The ultimate success of any emissions trading approach depends on two factors: how low the initial cap is set and how often it is lowered in order to promote continuing innovation in air pollution prevention and control. Without these two elements, emissions trading programs mostly shift pollution problems from one area to another without achieving any overall improvement in air quality. An emissions trading program is also being used to control emissions. However, environmental and health scientists strongly oppose the use of a cap-and-trade program for controlling emissions of toxic mercury from coal-burning power plants and industries (see Chapter 17, Core Case Study). They warn that operators of coal-burning plants who choose to buy permits instead of sharply reducing their mercury emissions will create toxic hotspots with unacceptably high levels of mercury.
Critical Thinking
2. No, China should be more efficient and should learn to reduce co2 emissions. They can reduce more factories etc…
4. No, they should only be made efficient, losing these will hurt millions.
Chapter 19
3. Concept: Scientific evidence strongly indicates that the earth’s atmosphere has been warming at a rapid rate since 1975 and that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, have played a major role in this warming. The earth’s climate is strongly influenced by changes in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth. But a natural process called the greenhouse effect (see Figure 3-3) also plays a key role in determining the earth’s climate. It occurs when some of the solar energy absorbed by the earth radiates into the atmosphere as infrared radiation (heat) at various wavelengths. About 1% of the earth’s lower atmosphere is composed of greenhouse gases, primarily water vapor , carbon dioxide , methane , and nitrous oxide . Heat radiated into the atmosphere by the earth causes molecules of these gases to vibrate and release infrared radiation with longer wavelengths into the lower atmosphere. As this radiation interacts with molecules in the air, it increases their kinetic energy and warms the lower atmosphere and the earth’s surface. There are several greenhouse gases, but we focus here on three major gases and the ones that play varying roles in atmospheric warming because of their varying lifetimes in the atmosphere and varying warming potentials (Figure 19-6). Other greenhouse gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are used as refrigerator coolants, cleaners, and fire retardants. Ozone also has a warming effect. Water vapor, another greenhouse gas, accounts for about 66% of the earth’s greenhouse effect. However, it stays in the atmosphere for only about 1 to 3 weeks, on average, compared to years for the other gases (Figure 19-6). As the air warms, any given volume of air can hold more water vapor. Thus, the warming effect of other greenhouse gases can lead to a higher level of water vapor, which in turn amplifies the greenhouse effect. For this reason, scientists consider to be the main engine of the atmospheric warming related to greenhouse gases, while water vapor plays a secondary role in response to levels.
5.
Concept: The projected rapid change in the atmosphere’s temperature could have severe and long-lasting consequences, including increased drought and flooding, rising sea levels, and shifts in the locations of croplands and wildlife habitats. Climate models indicate that, in the worst-case scenario, we could face floods in low-lying coastal cities, forests being consumed in vast wildfires, grasslands turning into dust bowls, rivers drying up, ecosystems collapsing, the extinction of up to half of the world’s species, more intense and longer-lasting heat waves, more destructive storms and flooding, and the rapid spread of some infectious tropical diseases. If the models are correct, we will have to deal with many of these disruptive effects within this century—an incredibly short time span in terms of the earth’s overall climate history. In anticipation of such possibilities, scientists have identified a number of tipping elements, or components of the climate system that could pass climate change tipping points—those thresholds beyond which natural systems could change for hundreds to thousands of years, with possibly catastrophic effects. One such tipping element is atmospheric levels. A number of scientific studies and major climate models indicate that we need to prevent levels from exceeding 450 ppm—an estimated tipping point beyond which we might experience large-scale climate changes that would last for hundreds to thousands of years. We have already reached 400 ppm, and without strong efforts to improve energy efficiency and replace fossil fuels with low-carbon energy resources, we could exceed 450 ppm within a couple of decades. Another tipping element is global average atmospheric temperature. Several findings related to atmospheric warming are leading some scientists to suggest that we can no longer avoid a global temperature rise of more than, the threshold beyond which many say climate change will be very dangerous. Several of the effects of climate
change that we will now examine could lead to these and other tipping points. Each summer, some of the floating ice in the Arctic Sea melts and then refreezes during winter. But in recent years, rising average atmospheric and ocean temperatures have caused more and more ice to melt during the summer months. Satellite data show a 49% drop in the average area covered by summer arctic sea ice between 1979 and 2012 (Figure 19-11, left). In 2012, scientists measured the largest loss of arctic sea ice ever recorded in 34 years of satellite measurements—an area of sea ice larger than the continental United States. Similarly, the volume of arctic sea ice has declined even more, due to dramatic thinning of the ice. In 2012, the total volume of arctic sea ice was less than one-fourth of what it was in 1979. Another effect of this warming cycle is faster melting of polar land-based ice including that in Greenland (Core Case Study and Figure 19-12). This melting adds freshwater to the northern seas, as could an increase in rainfall, which is another projected effect of atmospheric warming. Some scientists hypothesize that at some point, this additional water could slow or stop ocean currents that move heat around the globe, which could ramp up the warming in Greenland. Some scientists are dedicating much of their time to studying Greenland’s melting ice. According to a 2005 report by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society and a 2010 report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, rising levels of in the ocean have increased the acidity of its surface waters by 30% since about 1800, and ocean acidity could reach dangerous levels before 2050. This is because much of the absorbed by the ocean reacts with water to produce carbonic acid —the same weak acid found in carbonated drinks—in a process called ocean acidification (see Science Focus 11.2). Scientists warn that this higher acidity threatens corals, snails, oysters, and other organisms with shells and body structures composed of calcium carbonate, because it hinders their ability to build and repair such structures. Oceanographer Carl Safina notes that acidification will slow the growth and repair of damaged coral reefs and could begin to dissolve some reefs by the end of the century. Another problem is that increased acidity has been shown to decrease populations of phytoplankton that are the primary producer species of ocean food webs and that also remove from the atmosphere. Phytoplankton are at the base of the ocean food webs, which include the human seafood supply, and could be severely degraded and might possibly even collapse if these producer organisms decline dramatically. According to the IPCC, projected climate disruption is likely to upset ecosystems and take a toll on biodiversity in areas of every continent. For example, the Amazon rain forest could be devastated, even by moderate warming. According to a 2009 British study led by Chris Jones, up to 85% of this forest could be lost if atmospheric warming increases as projected. The scientists noted that this would involve extensive losses in biodiversity and other ecosystem services as the rain forest dries out and becomes more prone to burning and the resulting conversion to tropical savanna (see Chapter 10)—the result of exceeding an ecological tipping point. According to the 1997 IPCC study, approximately 30% of the land-based plant and animal species assessed so far could disappear if the average global temperature change reaches . This percentage could grow to 70% if the temperature change exceeds (Concept 19-5). The hardest hit will be plant and animal species in colder climates such as the polar bear in the Arctic (see Case Study) and penguins in Antarctica; species that live at higher elevations; species with limited ranges such as some amphibians (see Chapter 4, Core Case Study); and those with limited tolerance for temperature change. The primary cause of such extinctions would be loss of habitat. Several species, including the comma butterfly of Great Britain, the golden-winged warbler in North America, and the mouse-like pica of Yosemite National park, are known to have migrated northward or upward within mountain ranges in recent decades to avoid the warmer conditions of climate change. A 2012 study by University of Washington scientists found that as the climate warms, about 9% of the western hemisphere’s mammals (up to 40% in some areas) likely will not be able to move fast enough to find safe habitats that are cool enough for their survival. The researchers pointed out that while animals have moved to new ranges in the distant past to avoid climate change effects, today’s landscape includes vast areas of farm fields, four-lane highways, and urban areas that will prevent some species from reaching new ranges. One ecosystem that is already feeling the effects of climate change is the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic Peninsula. There, oceanographer Martin Montes-Hugo has been studying the phytoplankton that form the base of the Antarctic food web (see Figure 3-12). His team compared phytoplankton production during two periods, 1978–1986 and 1998–2006, and found that it had declined nearly 90%. They said the main reason for this drop was the net shrinkage of sea ice during this period, which has resulted in less freshwater on which the phytoplankton depend. The researchers see this as part of the reason for the drop in numbers of Adélie penguins (top consumers in this food web; Figure 19-18) of more than 80% since 1975. Other vulnerable ecosystems are coral reefs (see Chapter 8, Core Case Study), coastal wetlands, high-elevation mountaintops, and alpine and arctic tundra.
6. Concept: We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the threat of climate disruption while saving money and improving human health if we cut energy waste and rely more on cleaner renewable energy resources. The problem is global. Dealing with this threat will require unprecedented and prolonged international cooperation. The problem is a long-term political issue. Voters and elected officials generally respond better to short term problems than to long-term threats. Most of the people who could suffer the most serious harm from projected climate disruption during the latter half of this century have not been born. The projected harmful and beneficial impacts of climate disruption are not spread evenly. For example, higher-latitude nations such as Canada, Russia, and New Zealand could have higher crop yields, fewer deaths in winter, and lower heating bills. Other nations such as Bangladesh could see more flooding and higher death tolls. Many proposed solutions, such as sharply reducing or phasing out the use of fossil fuels, are controversial because they could disrupt economies and lifestyles and threaten the profits of economically and politically powerful oil, coal, and natural gas companies. Some social scientists contend that humans are not “hardwired” to respond to long-term threats. Scientists and educators are frustrated by how difficult it is to convince the public that projected climate disruption could pose such a great threat to many people living on earth today, and even more so to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. There are two basic approaches to dealing with the projected harmful effects of global climate disruption. One, called mitigation, is to act to slow it and to avoid climate change tipping points. The other approach, called adaptation, is to recognize that some climate change is unavoidable and to try to reduce some of its harmful effects. Four strategies are too, Improve energy efficiency to reduce fossil fuel use, especially the use of coal. Shift from carbon-based fossil fuels to low-carbon renewable energy resources based on local and regional availability. Stop cutting down tropical forests and plant trees to help remove more from the atmosphere. Shift to more sustainable and climate-friendly agriculture. Some scientists argue that we could quickly slow atmospheric warming by focusing on reducing black carbon (a component of soot), methane, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), partly because these chemicals are short-lived in the atmosphere, compared to emissions, and because we have the technologies to accomplish such cuts fairly quickly. According to a 2011 study by the UNEP, major cuts in these greenhouse gas emissions could potentially reduce the rate of atmospheric warming in half by 2050, while also preventing up to 4 million deaths from air pollution and billions of dollars in crop losses every year. One way to increase the uptake of is by quickly implementing a massive, global tree-planting program, especially on degraded land in the tropics. A similar approach is to restore wetlands that have been drained for farming. Wetlands are very efficient at taking up. A third cleanup approach is to plant large areas of degraded land with fast-growing perennial plants such as switchgrass (see Figure 16-27), which remove from the air and store it in the soil. To be sustainable, however, this approach could not involve clearing existing forests. Along these lines, a fourth carbon sequestration measure that is getting more attention is the use of biochar. Scientists have rediscovered this fertilizer that Amazon Basin natives used for growing crops several centuries ago. Producing biochar involves burning biomass such as chicken waste or wood in a low-oxygen environment to make a charcoal-like material—a process that produces no smoke and no odor. The resulting carbon-rich biochar makes an excellent organic fertilizer that helps to keep carbon in the soil for as long as 1,000 years. While making biochar does release , burying it stores considerably more in the soil. Farmers could plant fast-growing trees on degraded land and use them to make biochar. They could then make money selling some of it as fertilizer. A fifth cleanup approach is to help the natural uptake and storage of carbon by preserving and restoring natural forests. In 2007, biologist Renton Righelato and climate scientist Dominick Spracklen concluded that the amount of carbon that we could sequester by protecting and restoring forests is greater than the amount of carbon in emissions that we would avoid by using biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. Another approach that has received a lot of attention is to remove from the smokestacks of coal-burning power and industrial plants and to store it somewhere. This approach is generally referred to as carbon capture and storage, or CCS. One problem with this approach is that it would take many years. The International Energy Agency estimates that we would need more than 200 CCS power plants by 2030 in order to keep atmospheric warming below , and currently, no commercial-scale CCS plant has been built. Also, it is becoming clear to scientists that stored would have to remain sealed from the atmosphere forever. Any large-scale leaks caused by earthquakes or other shocks, as well as any number of smaller continuous leaks from storage sites around the world, could dramatically increase atmospheric warming and climate disruption in a very short time. Some scientists doubt that we can develop the technology to guarantee that all such stored would remain safely sequestered without some of it leaking out. There are other serious problems. Removing all or most of the from smokestack emissions and transporting and storing it takes a lot of energy. This would greatly reduce the net energy yield and significantly raise the cost of burning coal to supply electricity. Also, these measures would do nothing to reduce the massive amounts of and other greenhouse gases emitted by using fossil fuels in transportation and food production. Nor would they do anything to curb land-use practices that add to the atmosphere, such as the cutting and burning of forests. Most worrisome of all too some scientists, CCS could promote more use of coal, the world’s most environmentally harmful fuel. Many scientists and engineers want to use strategies that fall under the umbrella of geoengineering, or trying to manipulate certain natural conditions to help counter an enhanced greenhouse effect. Some scientists reject the idea of launching sulfates into the stratosphere as being too risky because of our limited knowledge about possible unknown effects. For example, if the sulfates reflected too much sunlight, they could reduce evaporation enough to alter the water cycle and worsen the already dangerous droughts in Asia and Africa. Also, a 2008 study by atmospheric scientist Simone Tilmes indicated that chlorine released by reactions involved in this scheme could speed up the thinning of the earth’s vital ozone layer (see Chapter 18). Even if it worked, this approach would allow levels in the lower atmosphere to continue rising and adding to climate disruption and ocean acidification. Some scientists would deal with the latter problem by building a global network of thousands of chemical plants that would remove acid from seawater to reduce its acidity. But this would be quite costly and also could have unpredictable and possibly harmful ecological effects on ocean ecosystems.
6. No, they should handle it on their own.
8. Driving and using machinery. None because I wouldn’t give it up I would make it more efficient.

Vocab
Chapter 7
Weather: Short-term changes in the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloud cover, wind direction and speed, and other conditions in the troposphere at a given place and time.
Climate: Physical properties of the troposphere of an area based on analysis of its weather records over a long period (at least 30 years). The two main factors determining an area’s climate are its average temperature, with its seasonal variations, and the average amount and distribution of precipitation.
Greenhouse effect: Natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and other gases in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) absorb some of the infrared radiation (heat) radiated by the earth’s surface. Their molecules vibrate and transform the absorbed energy into longer-wavelength infrared radiation in the troposphere. If the atmospheric concentrations of these greenhouse gases increase and other natural processes do not remove them, the average temperature of the lower atmosphere will increase.
Rain Shadow effect: Low precipitation on the leeward side of a mountain when prevailing winds flow up and over a high mountain or range of high mountains, creating semiarid and arid conditions on the leeward side of a high mountain range.
Biomes: Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. Examples include various types of deserts, grasslands, and forests.
Permafrost: Perennially frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water there freezes. It is found in arctic tundra.
Chapter 18
Troposphere: Innermost layer of the atmosphere. It contains about 75% of the mass of earth’s air and extends about 17 kilometers (11 miles) above sea level.
Stratosphere: Second layer of the atmosphere, extending about 17–48 kilometers (11–30 miles) above the earth’s surface. It contains small amounts of gaseous ozone, which filters out about 95% of the incoming harmful ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun.
Ozone layer: Layer of gaseous ozone in the stratosphere that protects life on earth by filtering out most harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Primary Pollutants: Chemical that has been added directly to the air by natural events or human activities and occurs in a harmful concentration.
Secondary Pollutants: Harmful chemical formed in the atmosphere when a primary air pollutant reacts with normal air components or other air pollutants.
Volatile Organic Compounds: Compounds containing carbon atoms combined with each other and with atoms of one or more other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine, and fluorine.
Industrial smog: Type of air pollution consisting mostly of a mixture of sulfur dioxide, suspended droplets of sulfuric acid formed from some of the sulfur dioxide, and suspended solid particles.
Photochemical smog: omplex mixture of air pollutants produced in the lower atmosphere by the reaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides under the influence of sunlight. Especially harmful components include ozone, peroxyacyl nitrates (PANs), and various aldehydes.
Acid deposition: The falling of acids and acid-forming compounds from the atmosphere to the earth’s surface. Acid deposition is commonly known as acid rain, a term that refers to the wet deposition of droplets of acids and acid-forming compounds.
Clean air act: act made by president to lower emissions made in the air.
Chapter 19
Climate change tipping points: Point at which an environmental problem reaches a threshold level where scientists fear it could cause irreversible climate disruption.
Ocean acidification: Increasing levels of acid in world’s oceans due to their absorption of much of the emitted into the atmosphere by human activities, especially the burning of carbon-containing fossil fuels. The reacts with ocean water to form a weak acid and decreases the levels of carbonate ions needed to form coral and the shells and skeletons of organisms such as crabs, oysters, and some phytoplankton.
Geoengineering: Engineering dealing with levels of earth thongs like emissions.

Current events

Summary: NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) has provided scientists with five new findings into how the sun's atmosphere, or corona, is heated far hotter than its surface, what causes the sun's constant outflow of particles called the solar wind, and what mechanisms accelerate particles that power solar flares.
Story: NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) has provided scientists with five new findings. The new information will help researchers better understand how our nearest star transfers energy through its atmosphere and track the dynamic solar activity that can impact technological infrastructure in space and on Earth. Details of the findings appear in the current edition of Science. "These findings reveal a region of the sun more complicated than previously thought," said Jeff Newmark, interim director for the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Combining IRIS data with observations from other Heliophysics missions is enabling breakthroughs in our understanding of the sun and its interactions with the solar system." The first result identified heat pockets of 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit, lower in the solar atmosphere than ever observed by previous spacecraft. Scientists refer to the pockets as solar heat bombs because of the amount of energy they release in such a short time. Identifying such sources of unexpected heat can offer deeper understanding of the heating mechanisms throughout the solar atmosphere. For its second finding, IRIS observed numerous, small, low lying loops of solar material in the interface region for the first time. The unprecedented resolution provided by IRIS will enable scientists to better understand how the solar atmosphere is energized. A surprise to researchers was the third finding of IRIS observations showing structures resembling mini-tornadoes occurring in solar active regions for the first time. These tornadoes move at speeds as fast as 12 miles per second and are scattered throughout the chromosphere, or the layer of the sun in the interface region just above the surface. These tornados provide a mechanism for transferring energy to power the million-degree temperatures in the corona. Another finding uncovers evidence of high-speed jets at the root of the solar wind. The jets are fountains of plasma that shoot out of coronal holes, areas of less dense material in the solar atmosphere and are typically thought to be a source of the solar wind. The final result highlights the effects of nanoflares throughout the corona. Large solar flares are initiated by a mechanism called magnetic reconnection, whereby magnetic field lines cross and explosively realign. These often send particles out into space at nearly the speed of light. Nanoflares are smaller versions that have long been thought to drive coronal heating. IRIS observations show high energy particles generated by individual nanoflare events impacting the chromosphere for the first time. "This research really delivers on the promise of IRIS, which has been looking at a region of the sun with a level of detail that has never been done before," said De Pontieu, IRIS science lead at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, California. "The results focus on a lot of things that have been puzzling for a long time and they also offer some complete surprises."

2. Summary: Using instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft to measure the wobbles of Mimas, the closest of Saturn's regular moons, an astronomer has inferred that this small moon's icy surface cloaks either a rugby ball-shaped rocky core or a sloshing sub-surface ocean.
Story: Using instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft to measure the wobbles of Mimas, the closest of Saturn's regular moons, a Cornell University astronomer publishing in Science, Oct. 17, has inferred that this small moon's icy surface cloaks either a rugby ball-shaped rocky core or a sloshing sub-surface ocean. "After carefully examining Mimas, we found it librates -- that is, it subtly wobbles -- around the moon's polar axis," Radwan Tajeddine, Cornell research associate in astronomy and lead author of the article. "In physical terms, the back-and-forth wobble should produce about 3 kilometers of surface displacement. Instead we observed an unexpected 6 kilometers of surface displacement," he said. "We're very excited about this measurement because it may indicate much about the satellite's insides. Nature is essentially allowing us to do the same thing that a child does when she shakes a wrapped gift in hopes of figuring out what's hidden inside," Tajeddine said. The astronomy team used a technique called stereo-photogrammetry to interpret images taken by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem to measure the libration. In this technique, astronomers employ Cassini photographs of Mimas taken at different times and from various vantage points to build precise 3-D computer models of the locations of hundreds of surface reference points. From these, the researchers determined the moon's shape and were able to notice that the satellite didn't rotate smoothly but rocked back and forth a bit as well. The amount of the to-and-fro motion indicates that Mimas' interior is not uniform. These wobbles can be produced if the moon contains a weirdly shaped, rocky core or if a sub-surface ocean exists beneath its icy shell. Mimas is about 400 kilometers in diameter, and its possible internal global ocean is located under an icy crust ranging in thickness between 25 and 30 kilometers. The moon itself is thought to have been formed either by the slow agglomeration of ring particles (a gradual buildup of matter) or direct growth within the primordial planetary gas nebula. The odd-shaped core would favor gravitational flattening by nearby Saturn, Tajeddine said. The moon's relatively smooth and roughly spherical icy surface covers up whatever is underneath.