Essay
In a well written paragraph, explain the relationship of global temperature vs. CO2
concentration argued in the movie “The Great Global Warming Swindle” as it pertains to
chemical equilibrium. Be sure to discuss the issue of cause and effect between
temperature and atmospheric CO2. Relate this to the oxygen availability for fish in a fish
tank at cool vs. warm temperatures.
In the documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, the misconception
that CO2 increases result in global temperature increases is challenged. The film explains
that this relationship is actually backwards – CO2 fluctuations are based on temperature
fluctuations, as seen by centuries of recorded temperature information. Temperature has
been seen to rise and fall over cycles of time, even when CO2 emissions by humans were
not especially high. The cause and effect relationship between temperature and CO2 can
be easily related to a fish in a fish tank. As the temperature in the tank increases, the level
of O2 in the tank decrease proportionally, as it is pushed up and out of reach of the fish.
Thus, if the temperature of the tank increases too much, the fish will eventually die.
(132 words) – Adam & Sarah
The ideas in the movie “The Great Global Warming Swindle” directly contradict the
generally accepted theory of man-made global warming. The video states that it is
increasing temperatures that are causing the oceans to release dissolved CO2 into the
atmosphere by way of equilibrium shift. The effect is delayed because of the sheer size of
the oceans. Chemical equilibria laws dictate that warmer water can have less dissolved
gases than cooler water. This effect is the same for any gas – thus explaining why fish
have less oxygen available to them when it is warmer. The video even proposes another
reason why the atmosphere is warming: sun activity. Regardless of the reason why our
atmosphere is warming, solid science supports that it is temperature change driving CO2
increase and not the other way around. Human production of CO2 may be negligible
compared to what the oceans produce.
(146 words) – model
Temperature increase in the atmosphere and CO2 levels have an inversely proportional
relationship where CO2 levels are dependent upon the rise in temperature. CO2 in an
aqueous phase will return to a gaseous phase when the temperature is increased. For
instance, CO2 levels in a fish tank will lower when placed in warm water, thus causing
fish to die. When the CO2 evaporates there is less O2 in the water for the fish to survive.
The CO2 in the fish tank has to achieve equilibrium because solubility of a gas decreases
when temp increases. This decrease in solubility of the gas is delayed when applied to a
larger mass of water. For instance, the ocean has a much greater mass of water than a fish
tank would. When applied to a greater mass the relationship between temp and CO2
increase would not be as direct because it would take a longer time to heat a larger mass
of H2O. This is seen in the 800 year lag of CO2 release as temp increases. This cause and
effect relationship could not be dependent upon the amount of CO2 released. The sun is
far away from the earth and wouldn’t bother sending out more energy if an increase of
CO2 were detected on earth. It would be silly to assume that the earth, which is so
dependent upon the sun to sustain life could become the “cause” in the relationship. As
global temps rise the oceans will release more CO2 thereby increasing carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere.
(256 words) – students from previous class