1 / 23

Spaceship Earth: Our oasis in the emptiness of space.

Spaceship Earth: Our oasis in the emptiness of space. . *. *. *. o. 15 – 20 C. Our star, the Sun, has a profound influence on the climate on Earth. Here, a solar flare is shown, as well as “granules” on the Sun’s surface.

donkor
Download Presentation

Spaceship Earth: Our oasis in the emptiness of space.

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Spaceship Earth: Our oasis in the emptiness of space.

  2. * * * o 15 – 20 C

  3. Our star, the Sun, has a profound influence on the climate on Earth. Here, a solar flare is shown, as well as “granules” on the Sun’s surface

  4. The solar constant (the amount of radiation that reaches Earth) varies over the 11 year cycle of solar magnetic activity (X-ray view of 1991-1995 solar cycle).

  5. 1645 – 1715: The Maunder Minimum in Sun Spots Did it affect Earth’s climate?

  6. Rise in the amount of atmospheric CO2, measured on Mauna Loa. Summertime lows result from uptake of CO2 by vegetation.

  7. Temperatures and amounts of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 during the past 4 glacial-interglacial cycles.The present-day levels of CO2 and CH4 (dashed lines) are higher than anytime during the past 150,000 years!

  8. Layers of Earth’s atmosphere

  9. Southern hemisphere ozone (O3) hole

  10. Probable cause of ozone depletion in the stratosphere • Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant gases were introduced in the early 1930’s by General Motors engineers seeking a replacement for hazardous materials used in refrigeration such as sulfur dioxide and ammonia. The use of CFCs has experienced dramatic growth, for air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, but also in industrial applications, including: • Propellant for aerosol cans • Blowing agent for insulating foam • Foam padding in furniture • Halon fire extinguishers • Automotive air conditioning • Highly evaporative cleaning solvents • Inhalers for asthma sufferers.

  11. Tracking El Nino in the Pacific using satellites

  12. Global distribution of aerosols throughout the year

  13. More hurricanes? Hurricane Floyd and North Carolina Flooding September 7 – 19, 1999

  14. Replica of a Chinese seismograph from 132 AD. The original was 1.8 m in diameter.

  15. Schematic of the functioning of the ancient Chinese seismograph

  16. In an earthquake, P waves arrive first, S waves second, and L waves last

  17. Typical seismogram of a major earthquake

  18. Seismic waves from natural or man-made earthquakes can be used to study and decipher the structure of the interior of Earth. S waves do not travel through liquids, indicating that the outer core of Earth is liquid.

  19. Relationship between the thermal gradient (i.e., the increase in T with depth) and the melting point of silicates (mantel) and iron (core) as a function of increasing pressure in Earth with depth. Since the melting point of iron at the pressures between a depth of ~2,900 and ~5,200 km in Earth is below the temperature at these depths, the iron in the outer core must be molten (liquid).

  20. Summary

More Related