Energy and the Environment: Infographic
Energy and the Environment: Critical Consumer of Science
Critical Consumer of Science
Source Ranking: Based on reliability and information
Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary
Variability, trends, and predictability of seasonal sea ice retreat and advance in the Chukchi Sea
The main authors for the article are Mark Serreze, Alex D. Crawford, Julienne C. Stroeve, Andrew P. Barrett, and Rebecca A. Woodgate. The article was published in the journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans. Published on October 4th, 2016.
The main points of the abstract talk about how over the time period from 1979-2014 the Chukchi Sea has a linear trend of −0.7 days per year. They also explain all the variables that could have played out during the experiment. They then go on to say how the retreat date is most strongly correlated with the April through June Bering Strait heat inflow.
Post-Project Reflection
I believe that to be able to understand climate change and the greenhouse effect, you must first know what combustion is and how it happens. To put it simply combustion is the process in which fossil fuels are used and burned for energy. While we all love energy, during this process heavy amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) along with plenty of other greenhouse gasses are released into our atmosphere and end up getting trapped. When this happens sunlight and radiation seep into our Earth though the harmful rays aren’t able to escape or reflect back into space due to the heavy buildup in greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, this then warms up the Earth which can be very problematic not only will sea levels rise, but weather patterns will switch due to a changing jet stream. All of this falls under the term climate change. A major problem we are all tasked with facing.
In today’s day and age scientists and engineers play a big role in society. The first thing that comes to mind is the medical advancements that we have made due to science, which of course benefits life as we know it for the better. Everyday we all use things science has created, cars, phones, computers, all of this has helped contribute to an easier and better life. Though it hasn’t happened yet, artificial intelligence is the only way I see scientists and engineers causing life as we know it to take a turn for the worse. Yes of course we need scientists to develop nuclear weapons for example which could bring chaos to the Earth, but in a way they are protecting us. Because in this day and age we are always involved with new technology I can see a time when we have developed A.I. strong enough, and smarter than the average human, though overall I believe that we all need scientists and engineers in our lives.
The problem that I identified and looked into further happened to be about the Arctic and how it has been reaching record lows when it comes to sea ice extent. This is of course causing problems in many ways. For many years people have asked, “What is causing Arctic sea ice to decline?” To which a common answer was how temperatures rise in the summer and how massive sea ice loss was caused in part by natural variations in weather. Though while climate model simulations have shown that sea ice will decline, Arctic ice has declined faster than models predicted, leading scientists to believe something else is going on. So they looked for different possibilities as to what is going on, and essentially asked the question and explored the possibility that ice loss was leading to more ice loss. Because the ice located in the Arctic and pretty much all ice has a high albedo, it means that most of the radiation and sunlight that strike the ice is reflected back into space. So it can be dangerous when the ice melts and reveals that dark ocean beneath. When this happens the radiation and sunlight strike and instead of reflecting it back into space, the ocean actually absorbs up to 90 percent of it causing further warming of the ocean, which of course leads to more melting.
As of now, not much is known as to what can be done to mitigate the problem. Of course, renewable energy can help, though because the Arctic is melting so quick and will continue to speed up, we as a world would need to act fast. Another solution that many people believe will work is by covering up the melted area with a layer of something that has a high albedo, such as Styrofoam. The problem with this is that we would need to produce 2.6 million square kilometers of Styrofoam, there would also be a large environmental impact if we were to put this much Styrofoam in the ocean. This is all without thinking of the amount of emissions we are putting out creating that much foam.
Source Ranking: Based on reliability and information
- http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/climate-time-machine - I rank this source at #1 because I believe out of all the sources that I used, NASA is the most credible as they have been monitoring sea ice with satellites since 1979.
- https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/seaice.html - I rank this source at #2 because NSIDC or the National Snow and Ice Data Center is focusing on specifically snow and ice as well as all things related to sea ice.
- http://www.worldwildlife.org/ - I used this source for the “Biological Habitat” section of my infographic and would personally rank it at #3 because, they are devoted to conserving nature and reducing the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.
- http://www.greenfacts.org/ - I would rank this source at #4 because they are a large non profit and have an independent scientific board. Greenfacts claim that they publish clear, faithful, and verified summaries of existing scientific reports on health, the environment and sustainable development.
- http://www.the-m-factory.com/ - I would rank this source last because it was used only for an image, and I am not familiar with the source and am not quite sure what they do as an organization.
Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary
- http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/climate-time-machine - This is a primary source because it is coming from NASA themselves and provides accurate information.
- https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/seaice.html - This is also a primary source because it is coming from NSIDC themselves and provides accurate information.
- http://www.worldwildlife.org/ - This again is a primary source as it is work from WWF themselves and provides accurate information for the topic I needed, which focused on Arctic wildlife.
- http://www.greenfacts.org/ - This is a secondary source as they talk about and cite the WWF in many areas.
- http://www.the-m-factory.com/ - This source is a secondary source as they use and cite information and images from NSIDC.
Variability, trends, and predictability of seasonal sea ice retreat and advance in the Chukchi Sea
The main authors for the article are Mark Serreze, Alex D. Crawford, Julienne C. Stroeve, Andrew P. Barrett, and Rebecca A. Woodgate. The article was published in the journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans. Published on October 4th, 2016.
The main points of the abstract talk about how over the time period from 1979-2014 the Chukchi Sea has a linear trend of −0.7 days per year. They also explain all the variables that could have played out during the experiment. They then go on to say how the retreat date is most strongly correlated with the April through June Bering Strait heat inflow.
Post-Project Reflection
- Explain your understanding of the relationship between combusting fossil fuels, the greenhouse effect and climate change in a manner that would be appropriate for teaching a middle school student.
I believe that to be able to understand climate change and the greenhouse effect, you must first know what combustion is and how it happens. To put it simply combustion is the process in which fossil fuels are used and burned for energy. While we all love energy, during this process heavy amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) along with plenty of other greenhouse gasses are released into our atmosphere and end up getting trapped. When this happens sunlight and radiation seep into our Earth though the harmful rays aren’t able to escape or reflect back into space due to the heavy buildup in greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, this then warms up the Earth which can be very problematic not only will sea levels rise, but weather patterns will switch due to a changing jet stream. All of this falls under the term climate change. A major problem we are all tasked with facing.
- What is the role of scientists and engineers in society? In what ways is life as we know it better (or worse) because of their work either in basic scientific research or the development of implementable technologies?
In today’s day and age scientists and engineers play a big role in society. The first thing that comes to mind is the medical advancements that we have made due to science, which of course benefits life as we know it for the better. Everyday we all use things science has created, cars, phones, computers, all of this has helped contribute to an easier and better life. Though it hasn’t happened yet, artificial intelligence is the only way I see scientists and engineers causing life as we know it to take a turn for the worse. Yes of course we need scientists to develop nuclear weapons for example which could bring chaos to the Earth, but in a way they are protecting us. Because in this day and age we are always involved with new technology I can see a time when we have developed A.I. strong enough, and smarter than the average human, though overall I believe that we all need scientists and engineers in our lives.
- How significant is the climate change related problem you identified? What are its root causes? What, if anything, can be done to mitigate the severity of the problem or are the outcomes inevitable?
The problem that I identified and looked into further happened to be about the Arctic and how it has been reaching record lows when it comes to sea ice extent. This is of course causing problems in many ways. For many years people have asked, “What is causing Arctic sea ice to decline?” To which a common answer was how temperatures rise in the summer and how massive sea ice loss was caused in part by natural variations in weather. Though while climate model simulations have shown that sea ice will decline, Arctic ice has declined faster than models predicted, leading scientists to believe something else is going on. So they looked for different possibilities as to what is going on, and essentially asked the question and explored the possibility that ice loss was leading to more ice loss. Because the ice located in the Arctic and pretty much all ice has a high albedo, it means that most of the radiation and sunlight that strike the ice is reflected back into space. So it can be dangerous when the ice melts and reveals that dark ocean beneath. When this happens the radiation and sunlight strike and instead of reflecting it back into space, the ocean actually absorbs up to 90 percent of it causing further warming of the ocean, which of course leads to more melting.
As of now, not much is known as to what can be done to mitigate the problem. Of course, renewable energy can help, though because the Arctic is melting so quick and will continue to speed up, we as a world would need to act fast. Another solution that many people believe will work is by covering up the melted area with a layer of something that has a high albedo, such as Styrofoam. The problem with this is that we would need to produce 2.6 million square kilometers of Styrofoam, there would also be a large environmental impact if we were to put this much Styrofoam in the ocean. This is all without thinking of the amount of emissions we are putting out creating that much foam.