18 Oct Global warming” refers to an increase in Earth’s annually averaged air temperature near the surface.

Introduction. “Global warming” refers to an increase in Earth’s annually averaged air temperature near the surface. Thermometer readings are collected from many thousands of weather stations around the world—over land and ocean—and then used to produce a global average temperature for each year. The resulting series of annual averages of global temperature from 1880 to 2012 show that Earth has warmed by 1.5°F (0.85°C) Most of that warming has occurred since 1976. “Climate change” is a broadly inclusive term that refers to a long-term (decades to centuries) change in any of a number of environmental conditions for a given place and time—such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, cloudiness, wind and air circulation patterns. (reproduced from U.S. NOAA, https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understandin…

Assignment. For this assignment you are to use two sources of information only (except when I guide you to a third).  Use this news article from BBC (What is climate change? A really simple guide https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24021772 (Links to an external site.)) and also material that is listed in the individual problems from your course textbook (Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2nd Edition, 2014

(I do not want you to google other sources of information for answering these questions)

Read the BBC news article and refer to the book materials to answer the following questions.

Problem 1. (also review Table 2.4).  a) List six greenhouse gases (GHGs).  b) Why should we be concerned about emissions of GHGs that are not carbon dioxide (CO2)?

Problem 2. In your own words, write a paragraph that explains how release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causes more heat to be retained by the Earth and global temperatures to increase.  Make sure you also demonstrate in your paragraph your understanding of applying a simple energy balance performed on the entire Earth as the control volume (also review Figure 4.12 and Applications 4.3 & 4.4)

Problem 3.  For Problem 3, Read the BBC’s “A Brief History of the Earth’s CO2” (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41671770 (Links to an external site.)).  a) What was the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere (ppm) prior to the Industrial Revolution?  b) What was the concentration (ppm) in 1960? (refer to Figure 4.14 for your answer to part (b)) c) What concentration was recorded in 2015? d) The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has been rising at a rate of ____% per year.

Problem 4.  a) What two countries are the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world?  Report your rankings in total megatonnes of CO2 per year (mega refers to 1 million, a metric tonne is 1,000 kg).  b) After you identify the two larger emitters, report your rankings on a per capita emission basis (units are megatonnes of CO2 per person per year (assume the population of China is 1.39 billion and the U.S. is 327 million).

Problem 5.  a) Is the Earth’s global land and surface temperature going up or down? b) The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports the world is ___ oC warmer before widespread industrialization.   c) The 20 warmest years on record all occurred in the past ____ years.

Note, Did you know that Tampa experienced its warmest month of September in 2019 and October was the warmest month in the past 100 years?  (reported in Tampa Bay Times)

Problem 6. a) What is average sea level rise (units of mm/year) over 2005-2015?   b) What is the reason for most of this previous sea level rise?  c) what is the reason now thought to cause most of rising sea levels.

Problem 7. a) What is the Earth’s average temperature (this is temperature record and then averaged that is taken at hundreds of locations throughout the world), b) What temperature do the majority of scientists and policymakers suggest the global temperature increase should be limited to? c) in the article and Figure 4.15,  list 4 items regarding how climate change may affect us and the world.