CE1205 GLOBAL WARMING

AND CLIMATE CHANGE

UNIT I - EARTHS CLIMATE SYSTEM
Role of ozone in environment-ozone layerozone depleting gases-Green House Effect,
Radiative Effects of Greenhouse Gases-The
Hydrological Cycle-Green House Gases and
Global Warming Carbon Cycle.

Spheres of Earth

Layers of Atmosphere

Ozone
Ozone (O3) is a pale blue distinctively pungent smelling gas found in the
atmosphere consisting of three oxygen atoms.
Ozone is formed in the atmosphere when energetic ultraviolet (UV) radiation
dissociates molecules of oxygen (O2) into separate oxygen atoms.
Free oxygen atoms can recombine to form oxygen molecules but if a free oxygen
atom collides with an oxygen molecule, it joins up forming ozone.
Ozone molecules can also be decomposed by ultraviolet radiation into a free atom
and an oxygen molecule.
Ozone is thus continuously created and destroyed in the atmosphere by UV
radiation coming from the sun. This highly energetic UV radiation is called UVC
(wavelength 280 nm) and is very harmful for human health. UVC is fully absorbed
in the atmosphere by oxygen and ozone molecules. Ozone also absorbs UVB
radiation, which is less energetic (wavelength 280 - 325 nm) but also harmful,
before it reaches the surface of the Earth.
In this creation/destruction process the amounts of ozone molecules created and
destroyed are roughly equal, so that the total amount of ozone in the atmosphere is
nearly constant. The absolute concentration of ozone in the atmosphere is very low.
Out of 10 million air molecules only 3 are ozone molecules.

Ozone layer
Discovery (1913) French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri
Buisson.
Dobson Developed simple spectrophotometer to measure
stratospheric ozone from the ground. Established worldwide
network of ozone monitoring stations (1928-58) that continue
operation till today.
Dobson unit Measure of the amount of ozone overhead.
United Nations General Assembly Designated September 16
as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone
Layer.

Wavelength of UV rays

Absorption of UV rays by ozone layer

Ozone formation

Ozone depletion
Since 1928, Chlorofluorocarbons have been
produced,
originally
as
nonflammable
refrigerants for use in refrigerators, and
eventually for use in fire extinguishers, dry
cleaning
agents,
pesticides,
degreasers,
adhesives, and as propellants for aerosol
products.
As these CFCs have been released into the
atmosphere, the level of ozone in the
stratosphere has decreased.
CFCs have an estimated lifespan of more than
100 years.

Ozone depletion by CFCs

Ozone hole
The ozone hole is defined as the area having less than 220
dobson units (DU) of ozone in the overhead column (i.e.,
between the ground and space).
Since the 1970s the ozone hole has been increasing in
size over the Antarctic.
For the first time, in September of 2000, the ozone hole
became so large it actually left populated areas of southern
Chile fully exposed to the effects of the Suns UV rays.

Ozone hole over the poles

Ground level Ozone Formation

Secondary Pollutant
VOCs+ NOx Ozone
In presence of sunlight
Ozone + NOX + HCs Smog (haze)

Ground level ozone

Photochemical Smog

O3

NO
CO,RH

NO2

CO

CO

PAN

HC

Haze

6:00AM 12NOON 3:00PM

Smog Sources

Sources of Volatile Organic

Carbons

Sources of NOx

Green house effect

The term greenhouse is used in conjunction with the phenomenon known as
the greenhouse effect.
Energy from the sun drives the earths weather and climate, and heats the
earths surface.
In turn, the earth radiates energy back into space.
Some atmospheric gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases) trap
some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat (like the glass panels of a
greenhouse).
These gases are therefore known as greenhouse gases
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature on Earth as certain gases in
the atmosphere trap energy.
Allowing short wave solar radiation into earths surface and retaining the
long wave infrared radiation reflected by the earths surface by greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere is termed as greenhouse effect.

Albedo

Albedo is the fraction of solar energy

(shortwave radiation) reflected from the
Earth back into space. It is a measure of
the reflectivity of the earth's surface.
Ice, especially with snow on top of it,
has a high albedo: Most sunlight hitting
the surface bounces back towards
space. Water is much more absorbent
and less reflective. So, if there is a lot
of water, more solar radiation is
absorbed by the ocean than when ice
dominates.
Albedo is not important at high
latitudes in winter: There is hardly any
incoming sunlight to worry about. It
becomes important in spring and
summer when the radiation entering
through can greatly increase the melt
rate of the sea ice.

Greenhouse gases
Six main greenhouse gases are:
1) Carbon dioxide (CO2)
2) Methane (CH4) (which is 20 times as potent a
greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide)
3) Nitrous oxide (N2O)
4) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
Flourinated industrial
5) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
gases
6) Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Water vapor is also considered a greenhouse gas.

Carbon emissions
Carbon dioxide, though not the most potent of greenhouse gases, is the
most significant one. Human activity has caused an imbalance in the
natural cycle of the greenhouse effect and related processes
Brown carbon:Industrial emissions of greenhouse gases that affect the
climate.
Green carbon:Carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems e.g. plant
biomass, soils, wetlands and pasture and increasingly recognized as a
key item for negotiation in the UNFCCC.
Blue carbon:Carbon bound in the worlds oceans. An estimated 55% of
all carbon in living organisms is stored in mangroves, marshes, sea
grasses, coral reefs and macro-algae.
Black carbon:Formed through incomplete combustion of fuels and may
be significantly reduced if clean burning technologies are employed.

Increasing and decreasing indicators of

climate change

Hydrological (water) cycle

Carbon cycle

Global warming
Global Warming is the increase of Earth's
average surface temperature due to effect of
greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels or from
deforestation, which trap heat that would
otherwise escape from Earth.
This is a type of greenhouse effect.

Impacts of global warming

1) Rising Seas--- inundation of fresh water marshlands (the everglades), low-lying cities, and
islands with seawater.
2) Changes in rainfall patterns --- droughts and fires in some areas, flooding in other areas. See
the section above on the recent droughts, for example!
3) Increased likelihood of extreme events--- such as flooding, hurricanes, etc.
4) Melting of the ice caps --- loss of habitat near the poles. Polar bears are now thought to be
greatly endangered by the shortening of their feeding season due to dwindling ice packs.
5) Melting glaciers - significant melting of old glaciers is already observed.
6) Widespread vanishing of animal populations --- following widespread habitat loss.
7) Spread of disease --- migration of diseases such as malaria to new, now warmer, regions.
8) Bleaching of Coral Reefs due to warming seas and acidification due to carbonic acid
formation --- One third of coral reefs now appear to have been severely damaged by warming
seas.
9) Loss of Plankton due to warming seas --- The enormous (900 mile long) Aleution island
ecosystems of orcas (killer whales), sea lions, sea otters, sea urchins, kelp beds, and fish
populations, appears to have collapsed due to loss of plankton, leading to loss of sea lions,
leading orcas to eat too many sea otters, leading to urchin explosions, leading to loss of kelp
beds and their associated fish populations.

El nino and La nina

El Nio and La Nia events are a natural part
of the global climate system. They occur when
the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it
change from their neutral ('normal') state for
several seasons.
El Nio events are associated with a warming
of the central and eastern tropical Pacific, while
La Nia events are the reverse, with a sustained
cooling of these same areas.