Climate Change and Nanotechnology Quiz

Global Issue: Climate Change

• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. This can be indicated by changes in average weather conditions or the variability of weather conditions.

Biodiversity

• Carbon footprint and online learning have a large carbon emission rate.

Climate Change

• Refers to alterations in typical weather patterns, which occur over decades or longer.

Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gases and Their Sources

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): Waste gases from refrigerators, aerosols, and air conditioning units.
• Methane: Byproduct of decaying agricultural, industrial, or suburban waste.
• Nitrous Oxide: Released from agricultural soil and fossil fuel burning.

Global Warming

• Global warming is the overall increase in Earth's temperature due to heat-trapping gases.

Global Warming and Climate Change: Connection

• Greenhouse gas buildup traps solar heat, increasing surface temperatures (global warming).
• This warming causes changes in climate patterns; these patterns will then cause more weather fluctuations and uneven seasons.

Layer of Greenhouse Gases

• Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide act as a thermal blanket; they absorb heat and keep Earth's surface at a liveable temperature.

Natural Greenhouse Gases and Their Sources

• Water vapor: From water bodies, plants through transpiration, and animals through perspiration/evaporation.
• Carbon Dioxide: From organic matter decay, water bodies, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires.
• Methane: From agricultural, industrial, and suburban waste decay.
• Nitrous Oxide: Released from agricultural soil and fossil fuel burning.

Sea Level Rise

• Sea levels have steadily risen since the 1870s.
• Melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of warm seawater contribute to the rise.

Ten (10) Evidences of Climate Change

• Ten indicators of a warming world are mentioned, although the specifics aren't fully explained: humidity, temperature over oceans, sea surface temperatures, sea ice, air temperature near the surface, glaciers, snow cover, ocean heat content.

Artic Sea Ice Minimum

• September Artic Sea ice shrinks to its smallest extent each year.
• Significant decline in Artic sea ice (13.2% per decade) relative to the 1981 - 2010 average.

Rising Land and Sea Temperatures

• Hottest years recorded between 1998 and 2014.
• Global warming has caused a steady rise in Earth's temperature since 1970.

Causes of Climate Change

• Volcanic emissions, sun's energy variability, Earth's reflectivity changes, ocean currents, large meteor impacts, human activities (deforestation, industrial activity, waste management, chemical fertilizer use, vehicle emissions).

Impacts of Climate Change

• In the Philippines, there are increasing occurrences of hot days and nights, and a decrease in cold days and nights. Maximum and minimum temperatures are frequently increasing.

Mitigation

• Reducing reliance on fossil fuels, promoting renewable energy (geothermal, wind, solar) and sustainable agriculture can help mitigate climate change.

Adaptation

• Adaptation involves adjustments to natural or human systems to respond to present or expected climate stimuli, mitigating harm and exploiting benefits..

International Efforts in the Arms Race Against Climate Change

• Kyoto Protocol (1997) aimed to reduce carbon emissions.
• Paris Agreement (2016) aims to limit global warming to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Biotechnology

• Biotechnology uses organisms or their parts to produce or modify products or improve plants, animals, or microorganisms.
• Ancient Biotechnology: Early use of yeast for bread and wine, and fermentation of food.
• Red Biotechnology (medical applications): Obtaining antibiotics, vaccines, new drugs, molecular diagnosis, and genetic engineering for diseases.
• White Biotechnology (industrial processes): Improving industrial processes via microorganisms, catalyst development, reducing hazardous chemicals, and creating biodegradable products.
• Green Biotechnology (agricultural applications): improving agricultural processes, plant resistance to various conditions, and improving production.

Modern Biotechnology

• Modifying one portion of DNA to get results that are desired.
• DNA markers, DNA recombination technologies, and DNA analyses are used.
• Improving plants and animals for better yields and disease resistance.

Cloning

• Cloning a microorganism: Multiplying a single cell.
• Cloning a plant: Separating, cutting, or grafting.
• Cloning animals: Twin pregnancies (identical twins), unfertilized eggs of certain animals like lizards, frogs, etc.

Nanotechnology

• Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter at an atomic, molecular, or supramolecular level, often at a scale of 1-100 nanometers.
• Using nanoparticles in medicine can deliver certain drugs/chemicals directly to diseased cells for treatment.
• Nanoparticles can be used in electronics for more efficient, lighter, and higher density devices.

Modern Biotechnology covers

• Technologies using recombinant DNA technology.
• DNA molecular markers.
• Genetic engineering of plants and microorganisms.

National Committee on Biosafety

• Oversees biosafety policies and guidelines.
• Ensures all genetic engineering activities and releases of genetically modified organisms are approved.

Nanotechnology: Applications & Goals

• Goal is to create new materials and devices with varied applications, including biomaterials, nanoelectronics, nanomedicine, nanomaterials for energy production.
• In medicine, it can be used to deliver drugs, heat, or other substances to diseased cells.

Human Flourishing

• A concept that encompasses intellectual virtue, character and various other elements leading to a good life.
• Includes positive emotions like happiness, contentment, self-regard, serenity, and cheerfulness.
• Involves engagement in meaningful pursuits, affectionate relationships with others, working towards a larger purpose, a sense of accomplishment, healthy lifestyle choices.

Test your knowledge on climate change, greenhouse gases, and the role of nanotechnology in environmental science. This quiz covers crucial concepts such as the causes of rising sea levels, the impact of nanoparticles in medicine, and the distinction between adaptation and mitigation strategies. Challenge yourself to see how well you understand these pressing global issues.