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 Next up is some basic chemistry. What we call “natural gas” is a molecule with one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms; gasoline is a larger molecule with eight or so carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen. When we combine it with oxygen and give it a spark to separate the chemical bonds, the oxygen atoms combine with the hydrogen atoms to make water vapor, and the carbon atom combines with oxygen to make carbon dioxide, the same gas that keeps the heat on Earth from passing straight out into space. This is a more abstract lesson, since it involves atoms too small to see, but a molecular modeling kit can help, and the same reactions happen when a candle burns, so the presence of water and carbon dioxide can be shown experimentally. Again, there is no scientific or political controversy about this part of the lesson. Next up is some basic chemistry. What we call “natural gas” is a molecule with one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms; gasoline is a larger molecule with eight or so carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen. When we combine it with oxygen and give it a spark to separate the chemical bonds, the oxygen atoms combine with the hydrogen atoms to make water vapor, and the carbon atom combines with oxygen to make carbon dioxide, the same gas that keeps the heat on Earth from passing straight out into space. This is a more abstract lesson, since it involves atoms too small to see, but a molecular modeling kit can help, and the same reactions happen when a candle burns, so the presence of water and carbon dioxide can be shown experimentally. Again, there is no scientific or political controversy about this part of the lesson.
 + * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tkDK2mZlOo
  
 Now we get into some more challenging material, but it is based upon the uncontroversial carbon cycle. The atmosphere is a mixture of many different gases, but it is the oxygen molecule that animals need to breathe in, and the carbon dioxide molecule is the one they need to breathe out. Plants, on the other hand, absorb the carbon dioxide and use the carbon to build their fibers, “breathing” out the extra oxygen. It is a beautiful cycle of life, and without a shred of scientific or political controversy. This balance has been maintained for millennia, with humans gaining carbon compounds (like sugar and starch) from plants, and exhaling the carbon dioxide that can go into the crops of the next season. We can show that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere go down during the growing season (because the plants are using the carbon atoms to grow) and go up during the fall (because the plants are dying and decaying).  Now we get into some more challenging material, but it is based upon the uncontroversial carbon cycle. The atmosphere is a mixture of many different gases, but it is the oxygen molecule that animals need to breathe in, and the carbon dioxide molecule is the one they need to breathe out. Plants, on the other hand, absorb the carbon dioxide and use the carbon to build their fibers, “breathing” out the extra oxygen. It is a beautiful cycle of life, and without a shred of scientific or political controversy. This balance has been maintained for millennia, with humans gaining carbon compounds (like sugar and starch) from plants, and exhaling the carbon dioxide that can go into the crops of the next season. We can show that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere go down during the growing season (because the plants are using the carbon atoms to grow) and go up during the fall (because the plants are dying and decaying). 
 + * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtyieNg18O0
  
 The climate change issue arises when we combine the idea that a natural growing/decaying cycle has been supplemented by the combustion of fossil fuels. The carbon atoms that make up these fossil fuels have been buried in the Earth for millenia, and we are now adding them to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. This fact, again, is beyond any scientific controversy. The controversy begins when we examine these hypotheses: that the carbon dioxide we are adding to the atmosphere cannot be absorbed quickly enough by plants, so the carbon dioxide levels will rise significantly, and that this excess carbon dioxide will trap enough heat to change the Earth’s climate.  The climate change issue arises when we combine the idea that a natural growing/decaying cycle has been supplemented by the combustion of fossil fuels. The carbon atoms that make up these fossil fuels have been buried in the Earth for millenia, and we are now adding them to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. This fact, again, is beyond any scientific controversy. The controversy begins when we examine these hypotheses: that the carbon dioxide we are adding to the atmosphere cannot be absorbed quickly enough by plants, so the carbon dioxide levels will rise significantly, and that this excess carbon dioxide will trap enough heat to change the Earth’s climate. 
  
 In order to test this hypothesis, there needed to be a reliable way to measure the carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, and to compare it to levels in pre-industrial eras, when fossil fuel consumption was unknown. Many decades of research has refined our measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and ice core samples have allowed us to determine the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the preindustrial era. Although it has taken time and diligent efforts to create this data, there is a near-universal consensus that the current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are unprecedented. I have not seen any “climate change skeptics” who question these findings.  In order to test this hypothesis, there needed to be a reliable way to measure the carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, and to compare it to levels in pre-industrial eras, when fossil fuel consumption was unknown. Many decades of research has refined our measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and ice core samples have allowed us to determine the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the preindustrial era. Although it has taken time and diligent efforts to create this data, there is a near-universal consensus that the current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are unprecedented. I have not seen any “climate change skeptics” who question these findings. 
 + * https://climatedata.imf.org/pages/climatechange-data
  
 The questions arise when we try to match carbon dioxide levels with planetary temperatures. It is hard to take the temperature of a planet. Because of the tilt of the Earth, half will experience winter, while the other experiences summer. Because of wind patterns, some areas will be hotter in the summer than others, and some will be colder in the winter than others. Still, after refining methods of measurements and averaging, it is a near-universal consensus that the planet is warming. Cold days in some places do not challenge this conclusion, since a planet’s temperature has to be averaged over time and space. When someone claims that the latest snowstorm disproves the climate change hypothesis, they are simply misunderstanding (or obscuring) the issue. The conclusion that the Earth is warming and the ice caps are shrinking is not a controversial claim. The questions arise when we try to match carbon dioxide levels with planetary temperatures. It is hard to take the temperature of a planet. Because of the tilt of the Earth, half will experience winter, while the other experiences summer. Because of wind patterns, some areas will be hotter in the summer than others, and some will be colder in the winter than others. Still, after refining methods of measurements and averaging, it is a near-universal consensus that the planet is warming. Cold days in some places do not challenge this conclusion, since a planet’s temperature has to be averaged over time and space. When someone claims that the latest snowstorm disproves the climate change hypothesis, they are simply misunderstanding (or obscuring) the issue. The conclusion that the Earth is warming and the ice caps are shrinking is not a controversial claim.
  
carbon_cycles.1741202687.txt.gz · Last modified: 2025/03/05 19:24 by scox

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