Carbon Dioxide
CO2
Wikipedia | GNU
Wikipedia | GNU
What is Carbon Dioxide?
 CO2
 A greenhouse gas
responsible for blocking
infrared radiation (heat)
from striking Earth.
 Remember the other GHG’s:
 Water Vapor
 Methane
 Nitrous Oxide
 Ozone
Wikipedia | GNU
Where is CO2 found?
 Mostly in troposphere
 Recall that the composition
of the troposphere





78.09% nitrogen
20.95% oxygen
0.93% argon
0.039% carbon dioxide
small amounts of other trace
gases
NASA
The Carbon Cycle
Wikipedia | Creative Commons
Sources and Sinks of CO2
NATURAL
ANTHROPOGENIC
(HUMAN)
 Plant & animal
 Fossil Fuel
respiration
 Ocean-atmosphere
exchange (both)
 Volcanic eruptions
(small rocks from deep in
Earth’s crust)
 Photosynthesis
combustion
 Industrial production
processes
 CO2 capture and
storage deep under
ground
 Deforestation
CO2 Concentration vs. Year
NOAA
Let’s put it into
perspective …
Here are a few
examples of
1 ppm
What are ppm?
 Parts per million
 Unit used to describe dilute solutions in
One 3 oz. candy
bar on a football
field
One automobile
in bumper-tobumper traffic
from Cleveland to
San Francisco
(~2500 miles)
chemistry
 In this case, CO2 is the solute and the
atmosphere is the solvent
 Ppm is used because the concentrations of
GHG’s is very small
CO2 Concentration from 400,000 Years Ago
Wikipedia | Robert A Rohde
Scientists can
analyze
differences in ice
layers and the
chemicals
trapped in air
bubbles in the
ice to piece
together the
planet's climate
history.
Ice cores and
other indirect
measurement
objects are called
proxies
NOAA accessed via Wikipedia
Ice Core Data
Why do we care about CO2?
NOAA
©1997-2011 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. All Rights Reserved
 Recall that CO2 is a greenhouse gas
 It acts as a blanket to trap in heat
 This can lead to an increase in temperature
CO2 Distribution for 2004
Courtesy of NOAA
Current Research
Lean, Judith. “Living with a Variable Sun.” Physics Today v. 58 no. 6 (June 2005) pg. 36
What if … ?
•
We as people of Earth
stopped burning fossil
fuels?
•
Would the amount of CO2
decrease immediately and
therefore would the
temperature decrease?
What if … ?
•
The temperature just started
to decrease without any
reduction in CO2 emissions?
•
Could we then say that the
temperature increase we
observed was strictly due to a
natural temperature cycle and
had nothing to do with CO2
emissions?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
 Leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
 Established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
 Provides the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of
knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
 Reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-
economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding
of climate change.
 It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or
parameters.
 Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of
the IPCC on a voluntary basis
Possible CO2
emissions
projections which
limit the global
temperature
increase to 2˚C
CO2 Projections
Based on emitting
750 Gtons of CO2
between 2010-2050
Carbon Dioxide
Concentration
Simulation
The Copenhagen Diagnosis, 2009: Updating the world on the Latest Climate Science (1st Edition). I. Allison, N. L. Bindoff, R.A. Bindschadler, P.M.
Cox, N. de Noblet, M.H. England, J.E. Francis, N. Gruber, A.M. Haywood, D.J. Karoly, G. Kaser, C. Le Quéré, T.M. Lenton, M.E. Mann, B.I. McNeil,
A.J. Pitman, S. Rahmstorf, E. Rignot, H.J. Schellnhuber, S.H. Schneider, S.C. Sherwood, R.C.J. Somerville, K.Steffen, E.J. Steig, M. Visbeck, A.J.
Weaver. The University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre(CCRC), Sydney, Australia, 60pp .
OCO-2
 NASA satellite
which will make
precise timedependent global
measurements of
atmospheric CO2
 Launch is expected
February 2013
NASA
Alternative Sources
for Energy
IN ORDER TO REDUCE
CO2 EMISSIONS,
ALTERNATIVE
ENERGY SOURCES
MUST BE USED
WHY DON’T WE JUST
SWITCH EVERYTHING
OVER TO SOLAR OR
WIND RIGHT NOW?
Wikipedia | Creative Commons
Wikipedia | US Air Force
For Your Consideration
•
EARTH’S CLIMATE ALWAYS HAS AND CURRENTLY IS
CHANGING
•
CO2 EMISSIONS HAVE INCREASED BECAUSE OF
HUMANS SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
•
GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IS CURRENTLY INCREASING
•
CAUSE OF CURRENT CHANGE:
•
•
•
Natural?
Anthropogenic?
Both?
Let’s Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
For tomorrow:
bring in your
households most
recent gas,
electric, or oil
bill(s)