How do changes in the earth’s carbon cycle affect global climate?
Before Beginning: Draw your best explanation of how changes in the carbon cycle affect global temperature and climate:
List some things that you need to learn to be able to refine your model:
After completing the POGIL, fill in the
following diagram :
Use the following terms:
Absorption/Diffusion
Respiration (x2)
Photosynthesis
Dead Organisms and waste
Fossil Fuel Formation
Sedimentation
Combustion and Emissions
Runoff
Now, answer the following questions…
What processes transfer carbon from the geosphere to the atmosphere?
What processes transfer carbon from the biosphere to the atmosphere?
What processes remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
Describe the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration in this cycle.
Places that store carbon for periods of time are called carbon stores or carbon sinks. IDENTIFY three carbon
sinks in this diagram.
Places that release carbon are called carbon sources. Identify two carbon sources.
How long does it take to create a fossil fuel? Why might this matter in terms of climate change?
The numbers represent relative amounts of carbon stored or released by different processes. Is the carbon
cycle balanced? Explain why or why not.
Watch ONE of the following videos to remind yourself about the characteristics of light!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUYeQa_-ojk
OR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXxZRZxafEQ
1. What are two differences between INFRARED RADIATION and VISBLE LIGHT?
2. What is one similarity between INFRARED AND VISIBLE LIGHT?
3. OPEN THE SIMULATION:
3. How would you explain what is happening with infrared (red dots) and visible light (yellow dots) in the
simulation? Use the concepts of energy transfer.
STOP: GET YOUR ANSWERS CHECKED BEFORE MOVING ON!
2. A Greenhouse Simulation
ANSWER: Hypothesis: Why do you think the inside of a car feels so much warmer than its surroundings
on sunny days?
DIRECTIONS: Complete this next USING THE GLASS LAYERS SIMULATION!
a. Add one glass pane.
b. **What do the sunlight photons do when they hit the glass from the top?
c. **What do the infrared photons do when they hit the glass from the bottom? Be specific.
d. What is the new temperature “inside the greenhouse?”
e. **Based on the observations of the photons, why does the temperature go up so much?
f. What happens to the temperature as additional glass panes are added?
Draw a model explaining why a greenhouse gets so warm on sunny days. . . Use red and yellow dots to
represent photons of light.
Cloudy Day
Sunny Day
3.NOW, click on the PHOTON ABSORPTION TAB!
Write how the following molecules interact with infrared and visible light by filling in the table
Gas
Interaction with infrared
Interaction with visible
Is it a greenhouse gas?
Does it “trap” or absorb
heat? YES OR NO?
Methane
Carbon Dioxide
Water
Nitrogen Gas
Oxygen Gas
What gasses had the biggest interaction with infrared?
Build the earth’s atmosphere (you will need to make sure that you have the concentrations correct!) Take
a picture of the earth’s atmosphere you created and insert it into the space below!!!! How does the
earth’s atmosphere trap heat? Use red dots to show what is happening with photons in your diagram.
Watch the video from below. Does it confirm what you learned in the simulation? Why or why not?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvqIijqvTg
Why do oxygen and nitrogen NOT capture sunlight?
Why do Methane and Caron Dioxide NOT act like nitrogen and oxygen, even though they are
symmetrical?
Does ALL of the infrared radiation get sent back to earth? Explain!
Why are cloudy nights often warmer than non-cloudy nights? Explain!
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
1. Go to the Greenhouse Effect Tab
2. Record the following information for each of the ages:
Time Period
Water (relative
Humidity)
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Nitrous Oxide
Temperature
NOW
1750
Ice Age
0
No Greenhouse
Gasess
LOTS of
Greenhouse
gases
max
0
max
0
max
0
max
1. What seems to have the greatest effect on temperature? WHY?
2. What happens if there are no greenhouse gases? Are greenhouse gases a bad thing?
3. What happens if there are too many greenhouse gases? Explain.
Last Bit of Data: Why Carbon Dioxide?
Read the following passage taken from the EPA’s climate change website:
“The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts
of different gases. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb
over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2). The larger the GWP, the
more that a given gas warms the Earth compared to CO2 over that time period. The time period usually used for
GWPs is 100 years. GWPs provide a common unit of measure, which allows analysts to add up emissions
estimates of different gases (e.g., to compile a national GHG inventory), and allows policymakers to compare
emissions reduction opportunities across sectors and gases.
CO2, by definition, has a GWP of 1 regardless of the time period used, because it is the gas being used as the
reference. CO2 remains in the climate system for a very long time: CO2 emissions cause increases in
atmospheric concentrations of CO2 that will last thousands of years.
Methane (CH4) is estimated to have a GWP of 28–36 over 100 years (Learn why EPA's U.S. Inventory of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks uses a different value.).
CH4 emitted today lasts about a decade on average, which is much less time than CO2. But CH4 also
absorbs much more energy than CO2. The net effect of the shorter lifetime and higher energy absorption is
reflected in the GWP. The CH4 GWP also accounts for some indirect effects, such as the fact that CH4 is a
precursor to ozone, and ozone is itself a GHG.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has a GWP 265–298 times that of CO2 for a 100-year timescale. N2O emitted today
remains in the atmosphere for more than 100 years, on average.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs),
perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are sometimes called high-GWP gases because, for a
given amount of mass, they trap substantially more heat than CO2. (The GWPs for these gases can be in the
thousands or tens of thousands.)
1. What is warming potential?
2. Is Carbon Dioxide the strongest greenhouse gas? Explain.
3. Examine the two charts on the left carefully. What does this
reveal about Carbon Dioxide and the other greenhouse gasses?
4. To the left(bottom) is a graph known as the “Keeling Curve.”
Why is carbon dioxide usually to blame for the enhanced
greenhouse effect? Use the graph, the lab, and your knowledge
from of the carbon cycle from the previous classes to explain your
answer.
Finally, go to the EPA’s website below. After going through the simulation and all of the activities, explore
some of the global and national effects on climate change. Write a response:
Should the United States be Concerned about Emissions? What surprised you about this data? What do you
notice from this website that you did not already know about climate change?
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
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