coal formation

Coal is basically old dead plants. 300-400 million years ago some dead plants fell into a swamp and started to become buried in the swamp. With the absence of oxygen the dead plants began to form peat rather than just rot away. Through time, heat and pressure the peat turns to lignite, the lignite turns to bituminous coal, and the bituminous coal turns to anthracite coal. From one stage to another the carbon concentration and heat value continues to go up.

Surface temperatures vs percent transmissions

When looking at these graphs one would notice for the most part when percent transmissions go up surface temperature go down and vice versa. The first part and last part of the first graph contradicts this for some reason though,and I'm not sure of the reason behind this. One would also notice the AOT and surface temperatures go hand and hand.

Aerosols and Climate Change

Aerosols most definitely can affect the climate change. They can do so both directly and indirectly. The direct way aerosols can affect climate change is by just being in the atmosphere. When a big quantity is in the atmosphere they can really cool down the temperature of the surrounding area by reflecting sunlight. The indirect way aerosols can affect climate is by helping the formation of clouds. Aerosols act as "seeds" to start cloud formation. The more aerosols in the cloud the bigger the cloud droplets and a bigger amount of light is reflected and scattered causing cooler temperatures.

Aerosols

Aerosols are fine airborne particles. The main sources of aerosols in the atmosphere would be industrial pollution ( sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, organic carbon, elemental carbon ), wind-blown dust ( mineral dust),  the ocean ( sea salt), and volcanic eruptions ( soot).  Aerosols have a few impacts on the climate changes.  Certain aerosols themselves can reflect or absorb sunlight. Sea salt particles reflect sunlight back out into space. Black carbon particles from burning of wood or fossil fuels absorb most of the sunlight that hits them. Aerosols also help clouds form. The millions of little droplets of water that make up a cloud each need a little particle, like an aerosol, to condense upon. More aerosols can create more clouds. Clouds reflect incoming solar radiation back out to space. Aerosols are also harmful to our health. The most obvious harm to us would be in respiratory problem since they are in the air we breathe every day. This is the main reason we are trying to get rid of aerosol contributing sources. Getting rid of aerosols helps our health, but accelerates the rate of global warming.

http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap02/aerosol&climate.html

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/cli_aerosols.html

ozone

There is ozone found in two areas. One is in the upper regions of the atmosphere and the other area is the ground level. They are both made up of O3, but the ground level is made from chemical reactions of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Both of these chemicals mostly come from the burning and evaporation of fossil fuels like gasoline, natural gas, and coal.The ozone in the upper regions of the atmosphere protects us from the harmful rays from the sun, but the ground level ozone is the main reason for smog. The ground level ozone is very harmful to elderly people, young people, and people with respiratory problems. It can also contribute to producing a respiratory problem. The ground level ozone is also harmful to sensitive vegetation and ecosystems, including forests, parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas.

http://www.epa.gov/glo/basic.html

http://www.airinfonow.org/html/ed_ozone.html
http://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/pn_1257_e.pdf

Group Evaluation

1. got everything finished
2. everyone contributed in some way
3. no arguing

this was a project that was easy to work together on and we all worked on it greatly. there are no problems.

scientific method

We all use the scientific method on a regular basis and do not really notice it. It is basically our brains using common sense to make decisions. Some simple decision and others thoughtful decisions. It could vary from a simple choice you make, like what kind of cereal you like the most, or some big science experiment that could find the cure to some deathly disease.

One specific time that I have used the scientific method would be when I'm standing in Walmart trying to decide what cereal I want.

Problem/Question   What type of cereal should I get?

Observation/Research   There are quite a few cereals to choose from and I like so many of them, but the best few would be rice krispies, fruit loops, and honey bunches of oats.

Formulate hypothesis   I will probably choose honey bunches of oats

Collect and analyze results   The best cereal out of my three choices is honey bunches of oats because they are tasty and have some good nutrients.

Conclusion   I walk out of Walmart choosing honey bunches of oats as the cereal I want.

Communicate the results   I share the cereal with my family and they start to see the greatness of honey bunches of oats.