Understanding Greenhouse Gases and CO2 Levels

Greenhouse Gases

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted from burning fuels like coal, gas, oil, waste, and trees, and is absorbed by plants.
• Methane (CH4) originates from fuel production, farming, and waste decay.
• Nitrous oxide (N2O) is released from farming, industry, fuel burning, and wastewater treatment.
• Earth is covered by a layer of gases referred to as the atmosphere.
• The sun's rays pass through the atmosphere and warm Earth during the day.
• At night, Earth releases heat back into the atmosphere as its surface cools off, with more CO2 leading to more atmospheric movement.
• Greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat.
• The balance of greenhouse gases is crucial for sustaining a stable temperature suitable for life on Earth.
• Greenhouse gases facilitate the absorption of infrared radiation (heat) emitted from Earth's surface.

Carbon Dioxide Pumphandle - 2024

• Parts per million signifies a million molecules per quantity.
• Increasing CO2 levels are causing Earth to get warmer and intensify the greenhouse effect.
• Increased CO2 levels may eventually cause no more snow or ice, resulting in seasons becoming irrelevant.
• The levels are rising to 440ppm when they never rose above 278ppm.

Ice Age

• The CO2 graph used to oscillate up and down but has never risen as high as demonstrated in recent years.
• CO2 levels have never exceeded 278 in the past, but recent levels are approaching 440 and are still climbing.

70's

• There was a significant push for energy conservation during this time.
• OPEC is an organization made of oil-polluting countries.
• Jimmy Carter installed solar panels at the White House.
• Seasonal changes cause the northern hemisphere to oscillate up and down.

1979

• Free trade is advantageous for countries. Burning fossil fuels to obtain necessary resources has global consequences.

80's

• Oil companies took solar panels off to benefit from added profit
• The US had it's own national space station at this time.

2000

• The concept of climate change and it's potential negative imapcts was better understood around this time.
• There are endeavors to monitor and regulate climate alteration.
• Conversations about limiting CO2 to mitigate climate change have been ongoing for 26 years.
• There is no plans to reduce use of fossil fuels.
• The pursuit of money often takes precedence, even if it harms the planet.
• Societal need for money prevails, even if people are exploited to produce inexpensive goods.

2010

• Climate change is worsening, surpassing the 400 line instead of the 330 line.

2024

• Snow is porous. Ancient air trapped within snowflakes can be analyzed for CO2 levels by drilling into deep ice blocks.
• Drilling deeper into blocks of ice exposes the older air and CO2 levels trapped within ice sheets from snowflakes.
• The current process may not remain viable if the same trend continues.
• The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in climate change, leading to a sharp increase in the graph.
• Air samples have been collected.
• Carbon diminished at this time.
• Seawater containing salt rock can bind CO2 into a liquid.
• Missing summers led to the graph's previous dip due to decreased temperature was 17 times more than that drop

Biodiversity + Genetics & Energy

• Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life on Earth.
• Key components for earth's stability include genes, species, ecosystems and their interactions
• The primary factor contributing to biodiversity loss is human activity, resulting in species extinction.
• Habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation of resources are major contributors to biodiversity loss.
• Long-term consequences of the biodiversity crisis threatens human species, with biodiversity declining rapidly (100x worse over the past 10 years).
• Genetics is looking at heredity process
• Heredity occurs via traits are passed down from parents
• Genetic diversity enables populations to adapt and change to new environments, critical for survival and preventing extinction and leading to evolution.
• In ecosystems, energy transfers via direct contact/consumption, convection, and electromagnetic waves from the sun.
• Producers, such as grass, are at the base of the ecological pyramid, with primary consumers (insects) above them, secondary consumers (small mammals) above primary, and tertiary consumers (owls) at the top.

Ecological Succession

• Pioneer species help start enviroments in the process of succession.
• Examples of pioneer species include grasses, mosses, and lichen.
• Ecological succession involves changes in an ecosystem over time, categorized into primary and secondary succession.
• Primary succession occurs in environments devoid of living organisms or soil.
• Secondary succession occurs in environments altered by natural disasters.
• During the Pioneer stage, species able to endure harsh environments begin to inhabit the area.
• More diverse plant and animal species become established during the intermediate stage.
• Complex communities will eventually reach Climax Stage when the ecosystem reaches a stable and balanced state.
• Nonliving factors, referred to as abiotic factors, contribute to the development of an ecosystem (air, humidity, sunlight etc).
• Nonliving parts of ecosystems are Abiotic Factors like light, water, and space
• Succession replaces one type of community with another.
• Pioneer Species include, grasses and other species that are the first to live or grow in an area
• Primary Succession is the growth of a small community in an area where living things have never grown before; community slowly develops from bare rock to a community of organisms
• Secondary Succession occurs when humans, animals or a natural disaster destroys a community; natural communities can reform if soil exists, as such, new growth happens in these regions.
• Climax Species include, when a community has one well-adapted plant species.
• Biodiversity is more likely to include numerous species in a community.

Remote Sensing

• The process of gathering data about Earth's surface from a distance using satellites, without physical contact.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Vibration of charged particles generates electromagnetic energy.
• Waves transmit electromagnetic energy through the vacuum of space.
• These waves varying in wavelengths and frequencies are the only energy visible to human eyes.
• Terrestrial features reflect, absorb, and transmit electromagnetic energy in varying degrees based on wavelength, which is used to identify the amount of different rocks and mineral types
• The differentiation a researcher can find between materials is determined by the number of spectral bands

Spectral bands

• Spectral bands are different ranges of wavelengths detected by satellite sensors.

Orbit

• Space-based platforms circle Earth in three main orbit types.
• Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) is commonly used for polar-orbiting platforms (cover the entire globe, including polar regions; Sun-synchronous orbits, like NASA's Aqua).
• Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) platforms utilized by the ESA Galileo system require approximately 12 hours for an orbit, mainly for GPS and telecommunications.
• High-Earth Orbit (HEO) platforms such as NASA/JAXA GPM Core Observatory can cover specific latitudes, in non-polar low-Earth orbits
• Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) platforms are at 35,786 km, can be tilted and cross the equator at points
• Geostationary orbit at this altitude allows constant coverage of specific areas (ex: NASA/NOAA GOES weather satellites.
• Geostationary platforms orbit in the same plane as the equator and catch similar views of Earth, providing near-continuous coverage.

Types of Waves

• Radio Waves possess the longest wavelengths and are utilized in astronomy(the Sun's corona) and radio communications
• Microwaves can penetrate clouds, dust, smoke, and rain, useful for satellites and scientific instruments
• Infrared Waves are slightly beyond visible light and useful for heat sensing and remote controls.
• Reflected Near-Infrared Waves are studied for vegetation health and soil composition.
• Visible Light: The only component of the electromagnetic spectrum that that humans can see
• Ultraviolet Waves: Used by scientists to study Earth's atmosphere and galaxy's to observe stars, galaxies while being blocked by earths atmosphere
• X-rays: High-energy waves seen from space galaxies and stars are protected by Earth's atmosphere
• Gamma Rays: Made by highest energy waves

Sensors

• Various instruments collect data across different spectral wavelengths.
• Band specifications include; the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 collects data (0.433 to 0.453 micrometers) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Band 1 captures data (0.620 to 0.670 micrometers).
• OLI has 9 bands, and MODIS has 36 bands, each measures the spectrum's different regions
• Combining these bands creates composite imagery that reveals insights on landscapes and regions being studied.
• The electromagnetic energy occupies from long radio waves to short gamma rays, and plays a vital part in daily life.
• Electromagnetic Waves are made of changing electric and magnetic fields that transport energy around space.

Wave Behaviors

• Light waves exhibit behaviors that include transmission, reflection, absorption, refraction, polarization, diffraction, and scattering.
• Energy to Image: Satellites process data and observe electromagnetic energy into images and information from visible and non-visible zones

Passive vs. Active Satellites

• Passive Satellites: reliant on reflecting existing signals, like sunlight.
• Active Satellites: amplifies transmitted signals before rebroadcasting them.

Trees and Forests

• Only 20% of Earth's forests remain.
• Paper pulp production is a major cause of deforestation.
• Land clearing for infrastructure and agriculture is a great contributor to deforestation.
• Logging and construction, as well as slash and burn tactics, threaten global forests.
• Forests are preserved with logging, road building, and minimum-impact camping regulations.

Cattle

• Growing cattle has a high impact with 10-20% of it comprising of greenhouse gases emitted by the production of beef
• In the US, 47% of land is used for the production of food while 70% is used to grow cattle feed, which leads to 32.9% of land in the U.S. used to produce cattle food.
• Since a methane molecule equals to 23 molecules of CO2 as a effect of greenhouse gas, the enormous amount of methane produced by cows will also cause massive greenhouse gas emissions.

Urban Heat Islands and GISS

• Urban Heat Islands form when buildings, concrete, and metal absorb significant heat, and don't give off moisture.
• Airports also increase the heat capacity.
• Aided with brightness indexes' scientists can analyze data from different places.
• A higher brightness index equals more urban and rural equals less.
• All cities are warming, as shown on the linear-increase trend graph.
• Baltimore/portland (near trees) warm faster than outlining areas; 60% of all data is increase
• The desert heats faster than cities due to greater green infrastructure which involves pumping water and adding trees.
• Temperature variations between urban and rural are dependent on the area's amount of metal and will cause it to burn up faster
• Lowering exposure/senstivity can have lower heat exposure, as well as greenhouse emissions such installing cool roofs
• GIS Example: Toronto's temperature grew .0967 between 1985 and 2000, proving that temperatures rise steadily over time.
• The temperature is rigid in Celsius, but varies in rural area of Egbert
• Toronto's slope is 0.006 in 2024, going up while Egbert goes down.
• Reducing heat in urban areas can reduce greenhouse emissions caused by electricity generation.
• Shade trees can reduce buildings exposure to high surface temperatures
• Green roofs and some cool pavements can reduce stormwater/flood damage
• Increasing tree canopies can also protect against floods.
• Low dependence on fossil fuels can cause cooling in urban areas.
• Growing trees can help agriculture and in turn reduce indexes.

Sensors

• Satellites and aircraft use instruments to measure energy, either from themselves or the sun.
• Those that use sunlight are called active, and those that don't, like thermometers and spectrometers, are called passive.
• Instruments that use sun light help measure land, sea temperature along with cloud and vegetation.
• They are only effective in areas when cloud is low.

Giovanni and Land Cover

• The map's reading showed that the albedo in the US is significantly lower than Canada.
• Canada tends to be colder than the U.S. because of this difference.
• Solar radiation is absorbed to the US due to having a lower albedo, indicating warmer temperatures
• Canada gets less solar energy due to having snow which attributes to the colder temperatures.

Animated Map (hourly)

• Certain aspects are always changing, as shown when parts of Canada's adlebo increased, while lower west parts of the US decreased.
• Natural elements also have a hand such the snow in Canada/land/cover.

Agriculture Study Guide

• Agriculture is used to produce goods, satisfy human needs, and provide employment to rural workers
• It is a necessary part of of the economy and takes up most of Earth's land than any other human venture.

Cow or no Cow (Land Use)

• 47% of the the USE is used for growing cattle/feed, while human fruits take up 1%
• Cows produces a lot of methane, 400gs a day, and are about 23x more impactful than C02.

New Agricultural Practices

• Digital tools are now being used to speed up processes with efficiency.
• Farming methods can reduce environmental impact which is why it's important to re-imagine.

Farming Methods

• Agriculture will be more automatic with the tools,drones, tractors, which has more efficiency per farming.
• Vertical Farming allows crops to be formed in layers, in door with hydroponics and no soil.
• Precision farming is like automation but is used precisely in where is need within a plant.
• The price range for a automation network is 50,00 to 60,00k, plus an additional 6000K annually.
• About 70% of large farms use efficient farming.
• These are used through signals, carrier waves and a base station to detect issues.
• Places that need it and decreasing food mileage is closer farming.
• Any farm in town is a urban farming practice, and makes it more accessing to healthy foods.
• This reduces heat/land issues
• Plants are able to thrive in this environment, along with raising livestock and provides access to a community.
• Plants will be grown in nutrient water instead because plants grow in nutrient-rich water than soil.
• It's used in an indoored set up in greenery areas.
• It provides a scarcity of the food and helps provide nutrients for other foods, with it being a new pricy practice.

Plant-Diet/Lab Meat

• Plant-based diets will reduce our damage toward the land, which will decrease deforestation and help keep the environment.
• Meat production has a big impact, especially caused by cattle.
• Plants make their own food
• Primary consumers eat plants.
• Omnivores eat plants and animals.
• Tertiary consumers eat other animals.
• Bacteria decomposes other objects.
• Energy is required to support species across the food chain
• The process through which one community shifts to another occurs during ecological succession. Succession usually takes place in the aftermath of an ecosystem disruption like flood or fire.