Atmosphere and Earth’s Temperature Essay

Submitted By Nash00
Words: 440
Pages: 2

First, view the effects of heat-trapping pollution on Earth’s temperature in 1750, the current year, and 2050. Your goal is to help decision-makers see how as the blanket of pollution becomes thicker, more heat is trapped, which causes the average global temperature to rise. In the simulation yellow photons (sunlight) are entering the atmosphere. Red photons (heat) are being released from the Earth’s surface. Some red photons escape Earth’s atmosphere, but others are trapped by the blanket of greenhouse gases.

Complete the following steps:
1. Look for sources of greenhouse gases shown in the simulation in 1750. Then look for sources visible in the present and in 2050, noting how they change and what happens to the thickness of the blanket of heat-trapping gases.

2. Note the impacts of heat-trapping pollution on Earth’s temperature in each year. Note how many red photons are visible on the screen, the speed of temperature increase, and the final temperature.

Part 2
Click on the microscope icon (on the right), which allows you to “zoom into” the blanket and view the action of the top three heat-trapping pollutants. Complete the following steps:

1. Select CO2. Observe how it responds to the sun’s heat (red photons). What percent of red photons is it affected by (does it trap)? Repeat this exercise for CH4 and N2O.

2. Note of which molecules seem to be most and least frequently affected by infrared photons. The more powerful a greenhouse gas is, the more frequently it is affected.

Once you have completed the above steps, use your findings and the course’s readings to complete the lab questions below.

LAB QUESTIONS

1. Identify natural and human-made causes of climate change visible in the computer simulation. According to the computer model, how have