Ozone/Global Warming Notes; Climate Change Jigsaw Activity; Antarctic Ozone video

HOMEWORK CHECK: 38.Bozeman Climate Change vid notes

Course Final:
Part I - Tuesday, 4/30  100 multiple choice
Part II - Thursday, 5/2   2 FRQ's

Heading: Ozone Depletion/Global Warming/Climate Change Notes

Ozone Depletion
-Stratospheric ozone = "good" ozone (just above troposphere)
-we need the ozone layer to protect us from UV rays
-without any UV rays we would die, but too much causes cancer (everything in moderation)
-stratospheric ozone depletion is caused by chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) from aerosols and refrigerants combined with UV rays break apart ozone molecules
-does not result in increased heat
-can lead to skin damage due to an increase in UV rays hitting earth

Ground-level ozone (smog)
-caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX; don't confuse with 'nitrous oxides' in global warming!)

-needs vehicle emissions, heat, and little air movement to form

Now to the new stuff...

Electromagnetic spectrum: 2 different kinds of photons involved in ozone depletion & global warming

infrared photons   ('infrared & CO2')
-longer wavelength
-absorbed by greenhouse gasses
-felt as heat
-tropospheric
-trapped by carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which we feel as heat, resulting in global warming

UV photons     ('UV & ozone')
-shorter wavelength
-not hot
-absorbed by ozone in the stratosphere, protecting us from UV rays

global warming
-caused by greenhouse effect
-greenhouse effect alone not harmful; keeps earth at a livable temperature 
-problem lies when carbon emissions from human activities magnify the earth's natural greenhouse effect 

greenhouse gasses (GHGs)
-carbon dioxide (CO2)
-water vapor (H2O)
-methane (CH4)
-nitrous oxide (N2O)
-these molecules trap infrared radiation in our troposphere

There are  both natural and anthropogenic (human caused) sources of almost all the GHG 

Are CFCs a greenhouse gas? 
-Yes...but, their effect on heating the earth is negligible.
CO2 and methane have much more devastating effects on global warming.


CFCs and tropospheric ozone are greenhouse gasses

Note: CO2 is a very important GHG and a pollutant but since it is not a serious pollutant in terms of human health it is not considered a 'criteria pollutant' in terms of the EPA. Excess CO2 at a current levels won't harm a human at tropospheric levels, but will harm humans through the climate effects.

How does this happen?
-burning of fossil fuels, releasing CO2 & N2O
-animal agriculture contributes to methane production
-deforestation (reduction in # of trees that take in CO2)
-water pollution kills CO2 absorbing photosynthetic algae 

Burning fossil fuels releases both GHGs (causing global warming) and NOX and VOCs (causing tropospheric ozone/smog)...but does NOT contribute to ozone depletion.


Ozone Depletion/Global Warming Fact Sheet HERE

And what about 'global warming' vs. 'climate change'? 

According to NASA...

What is global warming? 

Global warming refers to the long-term warming of the planet since the early 20th century, and most notably since the late 1970s, due to the increase in fossil fuel emissions since the Industrial Revolution. Worldwide since 1880, the average surface temperature has gone up by about 1 °C (about 2 °F), relative to the mid-20th-century baseline (of 1951-1980). This is on top of about an additional 0.15 °C of warming from between 1750 and 1880.

What is climate change?

Climate change refers to a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends described by global warming, but also encompass changes such as sea level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flower/plant blooming; and extreme weather events.

Heading: Climate Change Jigsaw Activity

Learning Objective: I can research and share out information on climate change indicators in order to better understand global change.

Please arrange yourself into 5 groups. You will be assigned a climate change indicator at random in one of 5 categories:
weather & climate, oceans, snow & ice, health & society, ecosystems

You will need at least one computer per group to do your research. 

Go to the website at the top of your HANDOUT  (https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators) 

Also: A great video explaining the Antarctic Ozone hole HERE!

HOMEWORK: Study for your final! Use the resources on the blog! 
Search 'ScholarsAPES' on Kahoot for study sets!