Carbon Cycle
Carbon is naturally put out into the atmosphere by respiration and decomposition, the same amount is taken out of the atmosphere by plants by doing photosynthesis. Humans burn fossil fuel, when we burn those fossil fuels we put out 9 times more carbon into the atmosphere, plants take in 5 of that carbon, but 4 of that carbon stays in the atmosphere. all of that is put out every year. As you can see in the picture to the left,
Greenhouse Effect
There's gases that trap this infrared heat clos to the Earth's surface. The gases are called Greenhouse Gases and the trapping of heat near the Earth surface is called the Greenhouse Effect. the green house effect is good because if it wasn't for it life would not exist in this planet. The greenhouse acours naturally, but it increases more when we burn fossil fuels. some of this greenhouse gases are Water Vapor (H2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O) and Ozone (O3).
Credits: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/The_green_house_effect.svg
Credits: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/The_green_house_effect.svg
Economics
The average monthly electric bill for an American home is about $110.50. This might not seem like much for some, but during the course of a year it can add up to be over $1000. All that money could be used for other things like food or clothes. Anything that could help reduce the amount of energy used would be very useful for our current society.
Environmental Impact
Here in the U.S. the main way that we produce energy is by burning a fossil fuel named coal. natural gas and petroleum are other chemicals that we burn to generate energy. there are benefits to this because it does not cost to much and is cheaper, but there is bad parts to it too because when we burn fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil we put out to much of CO2 and methane.
Sun's Energy
Not all of the sun's energy comes down to the earths surface. The total energy from the sun that goes down to earth is 50%. 29% is carried to clouds and atmosphere by latent heat in water vapor. 20% of the suns energy is reflected by clouds. 64% of the suns energy is radiated to space from clouds and atmosphere. 3% is absorbed by clouds and 51% is absorbed by land and oceans. According to the physicist Hermann Von Helmholtz, the sun's energy is gravitational, and we only have about 20 million more years to use its energy.
Credits: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/images/carboncycle_jpg_image.html
Credits: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/images/carboncycle_jpg_image.html
Climate Change
Natural greenhouse effect is good, but we keep adding more CO2 to the atmosphere which creates more greenhouse gases and those gases trap more heat in near the surface of the Earth and higher temperatures. In the past 150 years we've seen an increase of 1 degree Celsius and it will be increasing more in the future. In the year from 2001-2011 are the years that were the hottest years that we have on the temperature records.
because of global warming is increasing oceans are increasing too because the ice in Antarctica and Greenland will flow into the oceans. This would cause the rising of sea level and will destroy many coastal communities and will cause more flooding.
because of the rising of climate the ice would melt and it's going to change the natural habitat and make it hard for animals and plants to keep surviving. The warming of the ocean water will change where certain species of fish and other kind of sea animals can survive.
Many of the storms that we get such as hurricanes get their energy from the heat of the water, if the water gets warmer the storms can pick up more energy and could do more damage to any land that it hits and can cause many other intense storms.
The amount of rainfall will change in different areas. Other areas that are not so prepared will receive more rain, and other places that are use to a lot will receive less.
Photo Link: http://www.keepbanderabeautiful.org/climate-change.jpg
because of global warming is increasing oceans are increasing too because the ice in Antarctica and Greenland will flow into the oceans. This would cause the rising of sea level and will destroy many coastal communities and will cause more flooding.
because of the rising of climate the ice would melt and it's going to change the natural habitat and make it hard for animals and plants to keep surviving. The warming of the ocean water will change where certain species of fish and other kind of sea animals can survive.
Many of the storms that we get such as hurricanes get their energy from the heat of the water, if the water gets warmer the storms can pick up more energy and could do more damage to any land that it hits and can cause many other intense storms.
The amount of rainfall will change in different areas. Other areas that are not so prepared will receive more rain, and other places that are use to a lot will receive less.
Photo Link: http://www.keepbanderabeautiful.org/climate-change.jpg
Solution
There are plenty of other ways to generate energy other than burning fossil fuel. One solution is solar energy which does not release any greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Since solar panels are powered by the sun nothing is required to be burned. The only problem is that buying the solar panels and getting them installed can be very expensive. However spending that much money at once will end up saving you a lot more money in the long run.
Extreme Passive Solar Home
The class decided to build a 10x10 home that is strictly powered by the sun. This structure will not be panels nor by fossil fuels. We will be angling the structure so that the will be hitting the windows for the entire time the sun is up. Insulation will hold the heat inside during the night. Windows will allow it to stay cool during the day. The classes will pick a location for the solar home on our school campus. Our passive solar home will get light and heat by the sun.
Photo Link: http://davidwrightarchitect.com/blog/?tag=publishedx
Photo Link: http://davidwrightarchitect.com/blog/?tag=publishedx