Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Mission Plana. Analysis of the Problem1. History of the Problem

Some scientist’s have been concerned since 1896 about what might happen

if there

were 5.5 billion tons carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. In 1961 a British scientist did an

experiment showing that the carbon in the air was absorbing some of the sun’s radiation.

Afterward a Swedish scientist, Suante Arrhenius, found out if the radiation of the sun was

trapped in the carbon dioxide the temperature of the earth would increase by 1-2 degrees.

In 1988 James Hanson, a respected scientist, told the U.S. Congress "the greenhouse

effect is occurring now and it’s changing global climate."(1989 Koral). After the

1900’s

people started making factories and started using fossil fuels like coal, oil, and

aluminum.

It was the industrial revolution and overpopulation of humans that was the cause of the

environmental problems that we have today.

2. Human Activity Causing the Problem

The reason our Earth is getting hotter is that human activities are

emitting too

much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The radiation from the sun gets trapped in the

bag of carbon dioxide that surrounds our earth.

One main reason for the problem of global warming is the burning of

fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gases. We use these fuels to run factories, power

plants, cars, trucks, buses, air conditioning and etc. The people of the earth are putting

5.5 billion tons of carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide in the air every year! Seventy

five percent of this is fossil fuels.

3. Impact Causing Global Change

For many years, scientists have been predicting that our disregard for

Mother

Nature would make the climatic temperature of this Earth to increase greatly. There have

been arguments that the whole idea of Global Warming is a hoax, that the temperature

cycle is just experiencing an upward trend and will eventually come back down. Now,

however, we are starting to see the evidence of our behavior.

Remember the great heat wave in Chicago? That could have been a

consequence

of global warming. Nearly a hundred people died, and the city’s economy came to a

standstill. A much more tragic but less known heat wave smashed into India, causing

upward of 600 deaths.

Global Warming doesn’t only increase temperatures in hot areas. It also

decreases

temperatures in cold areas. An example of this has been the cold spell that struck the

midwest. In Montana, temperatures plummeted to 30 degrees below and stayed there.

The coldest weather ever recorded plagued our country’s heart for over three weeks, and

still hasn’t returned to normal. A related incident has been the blizzards of the east

coast.

Some places in New York State got over twenty feet of snow.

On a Native Island, where native tribes live, if the sea level rises

three fourths of a

meter then half of the island will sink. This will happen in many different islands around

the world and if the water keeps on rising as it is, then farming land near the seashores

will be flooded and the crops will be destroyed.

Like California and other states, we are adding CO2 and changing the

earth’s

weather. Some places are getting too little water which causes a drought and other places

get too much water which causes a flood.

In California, there was an almost permanent drought during the

eighties. This

was gone in the nick of time by the great rainstorms of 1995. We also experienced a

frightening cold spell in 1992.

The Road Ahead

With all these obvious scourges plaguing us now, it seems that things

cannot get

any worse. However, the current droughts, floods, and storms are just the tip of the

iceberg. If the greenhouse effect continues unabated, then the inhabitants of Planet Earth

have some surprises in store.

Scientists estimate that the global temperature will rise between 5 and

9 degrees

by the middle of the 21st century, accompanied by a sea-level rise of one to four feet.

Five

degrees may not seem like a drastic change, but in the last ice age at the beginning of

the

Quaternary period, the average temperature was only five degrees colder than it is now.

Thus, our actions our warming the earth enough to break out of an ice age.

Once the temperature reaches a certain threshold, the polar ice caps

will began to

melt. While those living in the Arctic may find that a welcome surprise, the implications

for the rest of the world are serious. Even a partial melting of the polar ice caps will

cause

sea levels to rise so much as to completely wipe out most coastal cities. This includes

such cultural centers as San Francisco and New York. Those cities that survive will be

battered down by hurricanes much more severe than anything seen in history. Of course,

inland cities are not immune either. Rather than floods, they will face drought. So while

half the world is swimming to work, the other half will be crawling on their knees with a

scorching sun beating against their backs.

When drinkable water is a scarcity, it will become a commodity that

represents

political power. The countries with water will be the countries with power. This means

there will be a political upheaval of global proportions. Life as our children know it

will be

completely different, and not necessarily for the better. With most of America’s lakes

dried up and its major trading ports under several feet of salt water, perhaps we won’t be

the economical leader.

If we don’t start trying to stop global warming from happening now,

there will be

many more consequences. Another consequence will be that there will be high raises in

temperature, affecting human life by causing skin cancer, damaging the human immune,

and causing cataracts. Raises in temperature will also affect agricultural and aquatic

life.

Also, many species will die off. And in the forests or maybe animals, there could be

medicines to cure some kind of disease. The way these cancers and diseases come to be

is because the sun deadly rays like UV rays, which mutate human cells.

b. Experimental Design1. Restate Problem Natural occurrences are not the only caused and influences of our

atmosphere

changing. Human activities also cause the atmosphere to change. Fossil fuels burning is

producing a worldwide increase in the atmosphere concentration of carbon dioxide. If

atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase at the present rate, studies estimate

that

the average surface temperature will rise 2 degrees Celsius by the middle of the next

century. This will be a climate change greater than any other ever experienced in history,

that we know of. The four main greenhouse gases are Carbon Dioxide (CO2),

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Methane (CH4), and Nitrous Oxide (N2O). With the

exception of CFCs, all these gases are found in nature. It is the recent explosion of the

human population that has caused an exponential increase in their atmospheric presence.

Although nature has provisions for removing carbon dioxide, it does not

take into

account the human factor. The long, complicated carbon cycle can only keep up with

increasing human activity if the tree population increases proportionately. Due to modern

medicine and increased awareness of nutrition and health, the human race has managed to

extend its lifespan considerably, thereby releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere. This,

combined with an alarming rate of rainforest depletion and air pollution, leads to an

unmanageable amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Since its sources are both natural and

human, carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect, at 50%.

As far as CFCs, our only excuse is that "it seemed a good idea at

the time." When

they were first invented, they seemed to be the miracle chemical of the century. Because

of their low boiling point, CFCs could act as coolers in refrigerators, freezers, and air

conditioners. Also, they were used to make Styrofoam and as aerosol propellants. As it

turns out, they are as skilled at destruction as they are at refrigerating. Scientists

discovered in the 1970’s that CFCs destroy ozone, starting an international ban on their

usage. Later, it was determined that CFCs contribute to global warming as well, making

them a dangerous double whammy. CFCs are no longer used in aerosol and Styrofoam,

however most refrigerators still contain freon, a CFC. Fortunately, the freon can be

recycled. Contributing to 25% of global warming, CFCs are still a major problem, but at

least the U.S. and the other powers have recognized it as such. Methane, also known as a

natural gas, contributes 15% to the greenhouse effect. It is caused by cows and rice

paddies. The major American demand for so much beef urges foreign farmers to clear

forests for pastures. This also causes an increase in carbon dioxide, as well as a cow

population so high that the methane-rich burps of the complex digestive system are a

major contributing factor to the greenhouse effect. Add to that the methane released from

natural sources, and you have a very large problem. The ten percent that is left comes

from nitrous oxide, a common pollutant. It, along with carbon dioxide, forms the major

part of car exhaust. Half a billion cars drive the streets of the world today, a number

expected to double by 2030. N2O is also released by the burning of fossil fuels. Finally,

it finds its way into the atmosphere from nitrogen fertilizers, which are used heavily by

today’s modern farmers.

Overall there are many pollutants in our atmosphere, influenced by humans, and

by natural effects. In our opinion if any member of this country wants to live in a good

environment then they have to take charge and to make a difference even if you have to

become a vegetarian so there will not be CO2 from the animals.2. Hypothesis If we continue to pollute the air with methane gases and don’t do

anything about

it, then the average global temperature will rise and there will be many consequences.

Warming expands ocean water and may melt some glaciers. The sea level could rise one

foot in the next 35 years and two in the next 100. Hurricanes, tornadoes and other

extreme storms may become more frequent. Centers of large continents, such as the U.S.

Great Plains, may be drier even if the overall world rainfall increases somewhat. Heat

waves may be more common. Movement of just 1 percent of a future population of 6

billion people due to higher sea level, drought, or other climate change would produce 60

million migrants, many times the number of all refugees today. Impact mixed. Carbon

dioxide stimulates plant growth. However, heat increases demand for water. Growing

zones will shift if weather patterns change. Warming that expands the tropics will also

expand the range of tropical diseases such as malaria and other insect borne maladies.

Possible mass extinction may occur as conditions change faster than species can move or

adapt. Urban and agriculture development leaves few wilderness corridors for migration.3. EOS Satellite The Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

is NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth’s (MTPE) project to provide access to Earth Science

data. EOSDIS manages data from NASA’s past and current Earth science research

satellites and field measurement programs, providing data archiving, distribution, and

information management services. During the EOS era–beginning with the launch of the

TRMM satellite in 1997 EOSDIS will command and control satellites and instruments,

and will generate useful products from orbital observations. EOSDIS will also generate

data sets made by assimilation of satellite and in situ observations into global climate

models.

The instrument that we chose that monitors the impact of human activity

is

HIRDLS. HIRDLS is an infrared limb-scanning radiometer designed to sound the upper

troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere to determine temperature; the concentrations

of O3, H2O, CH4, N2O, NO2, HNO3, N2O5, CFC11, CFC12, and aerosols; and the

locations of polar stratospheric clouds and cloud tops. The goals are to provide sounding

observations with horizontal and vertical resolution superior to that previously obtained;

to observe the lower stratosphere with improved sensitivity and accuracy; and to improve

understanding of atmospheric processes through data analysis, diagnostics, and use of

two- and three-dimensional models.

HIRDLS performs limb scans in the vertical at multiple azimuth angles,

measuring

infrared emissions in 21 channels ranging from 6.12 to 17.76 um. Four channels measure

the emission by CO2. Taking advantage of the known mixing ratio of CO2, the

transmittance is calculated, and the equation of radiative transfer is inverted to

determine

the vertical distribution of the Planck black body function, from which the temperature is

derived as a function of pressure. Once the temperature profile has been established, it

is

used to determine the Planck function profile for the trace gas channels. The measured

radiance and the Planck function profile are then used to determine the transmittance of

each trace species and its mixing ratio distribution.

Winds and threatening tornados are determined from spacial variations

of the

height of geopotential surfaces. These are determined at upper levels by integrating the

temperature profiles vertically from a known reference base. HIRDLS will improve

knowledge of data-sparse regions by measuring the height variations of the reference

surface provided by customary sources with the aid of a gyro package. This level, which

is near the base of the stratosphere can also be blended downward using nadir

temperature soundings to improve tropospheric analyses.

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