Earth's Spheres

1. Earth's Spheres

2. ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? Can you name Earth's spheres?

3. Atmosphere Lithosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Can you name Earth's spheres?

4. Which sphere of the earth is missing in this picture? Why does the monkey (and all living things) need this sphere. What could happen to bring this sphere to him?

6. Why is the sky blue? • The atmosphere is composed of many tiny particles (gas molecules, dust, water droplets, etc.) with a lot of empty space in between. These particles tend to scatter the light waves travelling through the atmosphere, dispersing the light in all directions. • The amount of scattering is much higher for shorter wavelengths of light (blue light) than for the longer wavelengths (red). • This is why the sky, which is lit by scattered light, is blue. • Note that when the sun or moon is on or near the horizon, they appear orange or reddish in color. The dust in the atmosphere scatters the long red wavelengths of light. (We are looking through more atmosphere when we are looking towards the horizon than when we are looking straight up, so we are looking through more dust particles.)

7. Atmosphere Outer Space Exosphere Atmospheric Pressure Auroras & Space Shuttle Meteors Jet Planes & Ozone Weather Average sea-level pressure is 101.325 kPa (1013.25 mbar)

8. Note to self: go to NASA powerpoint

9. Ozone Depletion (Hole in the Ozone) The hole is huge. It covers 9.8 million square miles. "That's very big," said Paul Newman, an atmospheric physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. That area would just about cover the entire North American continent. DNA

10. Climate Change (Global Warming) "In my view, climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today -- more serious even than the threat of terrorism." -David A. King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the British Government

11. Give five examples of how Global Warming is interaction of the spheres. The ‘radiation budget’ accounts for these energy flows. Is our budget balanced?

12. Global Warming: Interaction of Spheres Humans Live - Biosphere Humans mine oil and burn it & greenhouse gases such as CO2 enter atmosphere - Biosphere and Lithosphere Greenhouse gases raise global temperatures and sea levels rise - Atmosphere and Hydrosphere 4. Risings sea levels flood New York and they all die & some become fossils - Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, biosphere

13. As a further illustration of the interrelationship among the Earth systems, human activities can be shown to have an impact on the atmosphere. Certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat. This phenomenon is referred to as the greenhouse effect. Without the thermal insulation of the natural greenhouse effect, Earth would be covered by ice, and life as we know it would not exist. The fairly large input of carbon dioxide (CO2) from human activities can significantly affect the amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere. The following things can cause carbon dioxide levels to rise: 1. Burning of wood and fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) 2. Decrease in photosynthesis as a result of: 1. Cutting trees for development (deforestation) 2. Burning tropical rainforests to clear land for agriculture 3. Wild fires (which may be set on purpose or accidentally by humans, as well as by lightning) 4. Sewage and pollution, killing photosynthetic algae and single-celled organisms in the oceans 5. Acid rain (as a result of industrial pollution), destroying foliage and life in lakes and waterways 3. Volcanic outgassing The total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by about 25% since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The accumulation of CO2 over the last 100 years has added as much heat to the Earth's climate system as would a 0.5% increase in the sun's energy output. Since the late 1800's, the mean global temperature has risen by about 0.3° - 0.6°C, and over the last 45 years, the temperature has increased by about 0.2 - 0.3°C. Recent years have been among the warmest on record. The increase in CO2 is projected to increase the Earth's natural greenhouse effect and lead to global warming. Possible consequences of global warming include: 1. Increase in ocean volume due to thermal expansion of the water 2. Melting of glacial ice and sea ice 3. Global rise in sea level * Flooding of low-lying areas * Loss of land for agriculture * Migration of coastal populations inland (a large percentage of the world's population lives in coastal areas) 4. Northward migration of warm climate species of plants and fish 5. Change in the length of the growing season 6. Spread of tropical diseases to new areas 7. New weather patterns * Higher frequency and greater intensity of hurricanes due to warmer ocean temperatures * Shift in the paths of large scale cyclonic storms, affecting the distribution of precipitation and the occurrence of severe storms, such as tornadoes * More intense heat waves and droughts 8. Change in distribution of world's water resources (reduction in flow of some rivers and increased flooding in others) with implications for agriculture and drinking water supplies. Many uncertainties remain with respect to the exact consequences of global warming. Disappearing glaciers are one indicator or consequence of global warming, whether due to manmade or natural changes. Glaciers are retreating on every continent (except Australia, which has no glaciers), and the rate of ice loss has more than doubled since 1988. Alpine or mountain glaciers are present on several continents, but most of them appear to be melting rapidly. For example, in the past 100 years, the number of glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana, has declined from more than 150 to 37, and the Grinnell Glacier is retreating at more than 15 feet per year. At this rate, glaciers may disappear completely from Glacier National Park within 30 years. In Alaska, 99% of the named glaciers are retreating. Glacier Bay, Alaska was covered with ice when it was mapped in the 1700's, but since then, 95% of the ice has melted, over a distance of more than 60 miles; it is currently melting at about a half mile per year. In Europe, the glaciers in the Alps have shrunk by 50% since 1850. A glacier in the Andes Mountains of Peru (Quelccaya ice cap) is retreating at more than 500 feet per year. In Italy, Belvedere Glacier began to melt in fall 2001, forming a lake which is rising as much as 1 meter (3 ft.) per day, and is threatening to flood a nearby town. As the ice melts, things long entombed in the ice are exposed. For example, the mummified remains of a 5000 year old "ice man" clothed in animal skins with a copper ax were exposed in 1991 in melting ice in Italy near the border with Austria. In 1995, a frozen, mummified girl, at least 500 years old, was found in melting ice on Mount Ampato near Arequipa, Peru. Why is the glacial ice melting? Spring temperatures are arriving earlier, autumn is continuing later, summers are warmer and longer, more precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow, and most years, more ice melts than is replaced by winter snowfall. As a consequence, snowmelt in northern Alaska now occurs about 40 days earlier than it did 40 years ago, plants are growing larger and spreading across previously barren territory, permafrost is melting, and the melting of sea ice is causing shoreline erosion. In other areas, flowers are blooming earlier than ever before, trees are leafing out earlier and leaves are falling weeks later, and birds are laying their eggs earlier. In Britain, spring flowers have begun to bloom before the trees have lost their leaves in the fall. There is a systematic pattern of ecological changes seen in nearly all major habitats ranging from the poles to the tropics. We do not know how much of the global warming is due to the actions of humans, and how much is the due to other natural causes. But we do see plenty of evidence for global warming.

14. Create a Powerpoint • Explain the Effects & ‘Solve’ the Issue of Climate Change • 1 Mark: title page slide: title, class, date, names • 3 Marks: 2- 3 slides; Explain the causes of the problem • - Point form, graphic/slide required, human-activity focus • 3 Marks: 2- 3 slides; Describe the effects of the problem • - Point form, graphic/slide required, human-activity focus, but address other sphere(s) • 3 Marks Outline the solution(s) required to ‘solve’ the problem • - Point form, graphic/slide required, human-activity focus, • Required: last slide list all sources • 10 MARKS TOTAL