Cold snaps, heat
waves, rolling black outs, droughts, floods, pictures of floating polar bears.
Seems like climatology is on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. It didn’t
always used to be like that. I remember a time when people would laugh in your
face when you told them the black smoke coming from the back of their Diesel
powered Super Truck was actually bad for the environment.
Ha ha, yeah…I also
remember when smoking was supposed to make you look cool too.
I’m not saying run
out and buy a pack of Marlboro’s, what I am saying is you should pay more
attention to the environment. And no that doesn’t mean you have to run out and
buy a Prius, stop eating meat, and only wipe your posterior region with 100%
recycled T.P., but it does mean you should start paying a little closer
attention.
While climate
change probably won’t actually cause the entire melting of the polar ice caps
or the middle of the globe to spontaneously combust, it does have the potential
to make life here very volatile and quite difficult for us. What we really need
are ways to fix it, to right the damage we have already done. But how? Where do
we start?
By cleaning up our
messes first and foremost. We need to admit some of our “green” technology
isn’t as clean as we would like it to be. Earlier last week, the Israeli people
showed us how they made a desert bloom (To Make A Desert Bloom) by coming together and working as
one. They showed us when an ecology is damaged we can fix it. So why don’t we
rip a page from their script and break down exactly what it is I’m talking
about.
This week at
TI&IT we’re going to discuss climate change, starting with the biggest
offenders, the greenhouse gases. We’re going to talk about natural and
unnatural ways these are dispersed within the environment. We’re also going to
talk about hydroelectric power and why this is actually a major contributing
factor, and we’re going to talk about how to move forward with our energy
demands in order to cut down our Carbon footprint.
Let’s start with
the biggest question you’re probably all asking right now. Just what’s up with
that pretty looking gem in the picture above?
Hydro-Problems? Just
Barium
The ocean is a
dangerous place for single-celled organisms. On the surface of the ocean is
this material known as phytoplankton. It’s basically a collection of
microscopic plant like material, and this tiny substance forms the key to the delicate
ecosystem of oceanic life. Animals big and small, from whales to starfish, rely
on phytoplankton for their dietary needs.
Sometimes
phytoplankton doesn’t get consumed however; sometimes it just runs its
lifecycle and dies. When this happens it begins to sink and bacteria in the
ocean take over breaking it down. As a byproduct of the breakdown a mineral
known as barite (Barium Sulphate) is produced.
Barite is used in
drilling fluid, rubber manufacturing, and certain cements. It’s widely varied
colorful spectrum and geometric formations are highly sought after by
collectors. But there is another thing about Barite that is extremely important
to note, something that makes it worth discussing in detail in this article
today.
It may contain the
key to telling us how we can fix our runaway climate.
But before we
analyze a solution, it’s paramount that we understand the problem.
The Great Greenhouse
Trap-osphere
That’s exactly right Admiral Ackbar! The
atmosphere works like a giant bowl that traps the greenhouse gases within its
shell. Unless these unpredictable molecules punch holes in our humble defenses
and break through they wreak havoc in other ways, namely by making our summer’s
a little hotter.
Greenhouse gases are naturally given off as
byproducts of the environment. Carbon Dioxide for example, the gas you exhale
after your lungs have consumed all the oxygen after each breath. The trees and
other flora on the planet use this gas to produce energy for themselves, but
not all of it gets captured by plants. Some of it has always risen to the top
of our atmosphere and gets trapped by what’s known as the ozone layer. The sun
bounces off of these gas and water molecules creating the illusion of a blue
sky but more importantly warming the planet for us less hairy bipeds.
So if these gases are produced naturally why
should we be worried? Well because we produce a significant amount more than
the environment has ever given off as a byproduct through natural means.
Through various human activities we have increased the amount of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere at an exponential rate, because of this we could be
approaching another period of time that Al Gore has been complaining about for
decades.
In the words of rapper Nelly, “It’s gettin’
hot in here.”
Global Heat Stroke
Around 55 million years ago it seems the
Earth went through a similar kind of issue. During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal
Maximum (Top right map) temperatures spiked dramatically and the Earth went
through an extreme warming. The good news is that the bacteria and
phytoplankton gobbled up the greenhouse gases and in a relatively short time
were able to correct the runaway train.
The problem is a relatively short time is
hundreds of thousands of years.
I don’t know how patient you are, but I know
the average human being can’t wait thirteen seconds for their Facebook page to
load, let alone a thousand years to stop burning to a crisp every time they
step outside in July. While letting nature run its natural course may not stop
the destructive patterns of mankind, a research team from the University of
California, Santa Cruz in the United States are looking into this strange time
period in our planet’s history.
Led by scientist Adina Paytan, the team
measured how much Barite was present in 12 seafloor sediment cores from around
the globe. When the bacterium produces the Barite it sinks to the ocean floor
and forms into the sediment deposits. By examining the Barite from that era,
they may be able to figure out how and what bacteria reversed this maniacal
meteorology.
There are skeptics to this however. A
geologist from UCLA is quoted as saying it’s “a really cool way to visualize
these biogeochemical processes,” but she questions the assumption that the
oceans of today work like the oceans of yore. 56 million years ago the
temperatures in the oceans were much warmer, creating a more proficient
environment for bacteria to do their thing. As the waters gradually cooled
bacteria production slows down, that’s just how things work.
Even if they found a way to slow down on
Carbon Dioxide there’s a bigger threat creeping out of every rock and crevice
on the planet. We expel it on a regular basis from our bodies, so do our
livestock. It’s found at the bottom of ocean coming out of the vents, even
found to comprise the atmosphere of celestial bodies in our solar system.
I’m talking of course about methane.
Silent But Deadly
That’s right. Flatulence is becoming a
leading cause of global warming, so stop farting America!
Actually that’s only partly true. The Methane
gas given off as a byproduct of flatulence is what’s contributing, and it isn’t
because our diet has made us a little gassier. It’s actually because of the
gases we’re displacing within the rock of our planet as we go about our
destructive patterns.
Methane is produced by a process called
Methanogenesis. The organisms responsible are called Methanogens (go figure.)
As they break down organic biomass this is the final product given off as a
result. The good news is there are organisms known as extremophiles out there
that are Methanotrophic meaning that they consume the methane gas and convert
it into less harmful byproducts more easily broken down by the natural
processes of the Earth.
But like Carbon Dioxide not all Methane is
captured and consumed. This excess methane is trapped within the crust of the
Earth as organic material decomposes into the soil. When the area around the
methane pocket is disturbed it’s nothing for the gas to seep to the surface. What
disturbs the surface you ask?
Fracking. Mining. Building.
In short. Humans.
Methanotrophs aren’t abundant enough to keep
up with our gross overproduction of this greenhouse gas. And it isn’t just
rocket powered cows and bacteria producing methane gas at alarming rates
causing this problem, it’s what we’ve done to let the gaseous monster out of
its beaker.
The problems we talked about above are just
to name a few, but one coming under fire in recent years that’s considered to
be a not so green approach anymore is what we’re going to talk about now. And I
have just one thing to say…
…dam it.
From Babbling to Bubbling Brooks
This may surprise
you, but it turns out clean hydro-power is a dirty business. Aside from the
fact that it abruptly disrupts the natural ecology of a region, dams can create
another big problem, one that we’ve been talking about this entire time. Are
you ready for it? Methane emissions.
When a region is
flooded the entire community of flora on the flooded side of the dam is blocked
in. This plant life begins to decay and sink to the bottom behind the dam. As
it does it begins to block oxygen and light from reaching the organisms on the
ground below. As a result, the organic material begins to decompose and form a
methane pocket. When the turbines of the dam are turned on, the methane is
released into the environment to cause heat waves the world over.
What’s worse is
that it’s renewable. In areas known as “Drawdown regions” the water gets shallow
as energy demand is increased and the dam begins to drain water. When this
happens plant-life begins to recolonize the shorelines, but as soon as the dam
is reflooded the cycle starts over again. These pockets of high methane
production are known as “hot spots.”
Unlike Carbon
Dioxide which is water soluble, methane can be released in two forms from
underwater. Directly as a gas or trapped in bubbles. Until a recent study published
by graduate student John Crawford out of the University of Wisconsin, these
methane bubbles weren’t being considered as a factor when budgeting the
greenhouse gases.
Because rivers and
streams are constantly moving the water is consistently replenished with fresh
oxygen. Where oxygen contents are high methane deposits are much more unlikely
to form, same with sulfur or nitrogen, it just doesn’t play well with others.
So for the longest time this important piece of the climate change puzzle was
ignored.
Crawford can’t
speak for the rest of the world but he has said the area in Wisconsin where he
conducted his research definitely warrants more study, and he encourages the
world over to do the same. With as many rivers, lakes, and streams that adorn
this world, accurate measurements from each water source for methane contents
and emissions may prove vital to understanding where we really need to cut back in our emissions.
So we’ve talked
about methane and Co2, but what are some of the other offenders?
Ozone You Didn’t
Oh yes we did
chemistry cat. Even though Carbon Dioxide and Methane are dangerous there are
other greenhouse gases out there that make those two look like sissies on the
scary scale. Co2 and CH4 are given off naturally and through agriculture,
transportation, electricity, and many other means. But what about the ones that
aren’t natural?
I’m talking of
course about the heavy-weight champion of the molecular world,
Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs for short. For the longest time CFC’s were
referred to by their manufactured
name of Freon. Freon was commonly used as a refrigerant for your kitchen
appliance by the same moniker and air conditioners.
Unfortunately CFCs
don’t break down very easily and they contribute to ozone depletion, or O3,
more commonly known as the stuff that keeps our atmosphere in check. (And I
sure do like my atmosphere.) So what do these molecular compounds do that is so
bad?
Well first of all
it’s a compound derived from the byproducts of our fossil fuel industry (yay!)
so you know it has to be great. It’s made from a fusion of Carbon, Chlorine,
and Fluorine. There is very little Chlorine in our atmosphere, and for good
reason, it’s a noxious substance in its gaseous state to the human body. In
fact it was outlawed to be used in weaponized form after the First World War
due to its devastating effects on the human body, both short and long term.
Well once CFCs
reach a certain height in the atmosphere the ultraviolet radiation from the sun
finally breaks them down. The Chlorine is free and it’s finally allowed to
start its rampage. It begins bouncing off of O3 molecules, knocking oxygen
molecules free and slowly depleting the ozone. Let me explain it like this.
You got that one
buddy that just can’t hold his liquor. He’s our CFC. You decide to throw a
party for a friend who just got back from overseas. You guys all enjoy a good
drink but nobody gets wild and crazy. The other guests are all O3 molecules.
Nobody invites CFC but one guy who’s not too bright Tweets about the party and
CFC shows up anyway, gets trashed, and sure enough all the guests decide it’s
time to leave.
While ozone doesn’t
have a consciousness to make those kinds of decisions it shouldn’t retract from
the point that CFC is a dick.
Luckily as I
mentioned above, for the most part CFCs have been phased out and replaced with
HFCs that break down into Co2 which as we know is more easily broken down and
doesn’t destroy the ozone layer. There are other ones too; Nitrous Oxide
(laughing gas) and even water vapor contribute to greenhouse gases. Just take a
look at the chart below.
While there is much
debate over the actual numbers represented on that chart above one thing is
certain; the environment is shifting polarity. If we don’t get on board, figure
out what’s wrong with her, and fix it, it may not matter what kind of world we
talk about leaving for our children.
They may not have a
world left at all.
-Ryan Sanders
Thank
you all for reading! As always if you want to know more about any of the topics
we discussed above today you can by visiting any of the links below. Happy
Learning everyone!
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