FOR STARTERS:
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
The issues:
1.Are humans responsible for most of the global
temperature rise of the past century or so, or is the increase just a typical
fluctuation in global temperature?
2. If most of the temperature rise can be attributed
to increases in anthropogenic CO2 emissions, what are the likely consequences if
no action is taken to curb these emissions?
What is the evidence? Is it compelling?
§What is the scientific consensus?
§Climate models and their predictions
§Consequences of the predictions
§Strategies for change
Chemistry we need to learn
§The Earth’s energy balance - the greenhouse
effect
§The shapes of molecules - valence shell electron
pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory
§Molecular vibrations – how they absorb IR
radiation
§Masses and moles - weighing to count molecules
Earth’s atmospher
a) The Earth is
about 33OC warmer than
expected if we consider only the amount of solar energy received and reflected.
b) Trace
atmospheric gases, H2O and CO2, trap
infrared radiation that would otherwise be
re-
emitted into space.
c) This effect is
known as the Greenhouse Effect the mechanism that keeps greenhouses hotter than we might expect.
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