Monday, January 6, 2014

Mailbag

大家好！

Class email messages are posted below in the comments.

再见！

杰慕
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5 comments:

OnymousGuy said...

Ciao, everybody

Welcome to the NW LC course CHEM 120 Chemistry in the atmosphere this January.

This will be a very goal-oriented class, in which we will attempt to reduce Linfield's carbon footprint.

I've attached a copy of the course syllabus - I apologize ahead of time for all the boilerplate in it, but that is the way it is with these things.

Here are some specific learning goals. I hope that we all will
(1) learn about the earth's energy budget and the chemistry of burning carbon
(2) learn about climate change up till the present
(3) learn what the future is likely to bring (including an examination of the recent fifth assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
(4) learn about climate policy and what we can do to avoid the worst aspects of climate change.

Here are a few more aspects that I hope will appeal to you:
* We will be learning together how to calculate carbon budgets at the national, state, local and individual level.
* We will learn together what sustainability might mean in the context of a community carbon budget in a climate changing world.
* We will work in teams investigating Linfield's Greenhouse Gas Inventory and attempt to suggest methods of reducing our carbon footprint.
* We will send the best of our proposed methods of reducing Linfield's carbon footprint to the President’s Advisory Committee for Environment and Sustainability (ACES).

This class will meet MTuWed 10:00-12:00 and 13:00-15:00. There will be an emphasis on group investigation and discussion.

We will be using the book The Climate Crisis: An Introductory Guide to Climate Change by David Archer and Stefan Rahmstorf (there is a $33 Kindle version for those who don't want to chop down trees).

Here's the catalog copy;
CHEM 120 Chemistry in the Atmosphere – Basic concepts of chemistry in the atmosphere including the periodic table, chemical reactivity, and spectroscopy, with particular emphasis on the study of pollution, the formation of the ozone hole, global warming, and the relationship between human activity and atmospheric chemistry. Not applicable to Chemistry major or minor. Not for General Science majors. Prerequisite: MATH 105 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Offered spring. 4 credits. (NW)

I hope we get a lot done in January!

Our first task tomorrow will be to introduce each other, learn about our interests and backgrounds, discuss our own personal goals, and make some plans.

If you have a laptop, please feel free to bring it to class.

Please have a notebook for class. We will need to write down things routinely.

I am looking forward to meeting each of you tomorrow.

Best wishes,
Jim

January 6, 2014 at 8:41 PM
OnymousGuy said...

ciao, amici!

Check out our blog.

I. Summary of things we learned today:

1) Chemical compostion of the atmosphere
a) major species [N2, O2, Ar]
b) water vapor [quite variable - from dry to as much as 5%]
c) minor species [CO2, CH4, NOx, inert gases He, Ne etc]

2) Some Physical Properties of fluids and gases
a) hydrostatic equilibrium - no flow <==> no forces
b) density increases with pressure
c) atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude
d) Surprising example:
The ocean surface is full of vortexes
(or vortices, if you are OCD)
e) phase diagram of a simple pure substance
f) vapor pressure of a liquid increases with temperature

3) Structure of the atmosphere
a) troposphere - bottom of troposphere warm from earth surface
b) tropopause
c) stratosphere - top of stratosphere warm from O + O -> O2 + heat
d) stratopause
e) mesosphere - top of mesosphere is cold!
f) mesopause
g) thermosphere - top of thermosphere warm from ion recombination
e- + X+(g) -> X(g) + heat

Miscellaneous things we like:
* stories about explorers like Ernest Shackleton
* movies from satellites
ocean currents
ocean currents with sea surface temperatures
weather satellite loops

II. Things we want to have done for tomorrow
1) Read Chapter 1 of "The Climate Crisis" and be prepared for discussion
1. Retrospective: what we knew and when we knew it
2) List three ideas from the chapter that are new to you.
3) List three ideas from the chapter you want to know more about.

ciao,
Giacomo

January 6, 2014 at 9:28 PM
OnymousGuy said...

ciao, everybody

Check out our blog.

I. Summary of things we learned today:

1) Blackbody radiation
a) wavelength of maximum = λmax
b) "Wien's displacement law"
λmax * T (in K) = constant
c) "Stefan's law"

radiation energy density ∝ T^4

2) The greenhouse effect
a) properties of greenhouse gases
transparent in visible portion of spectrum
absorb in IR
b) absorbing IR increases energy of earth
"radiative forcing" - quantitative measure of that energy increase
c) important greenhouse gases have radiative forcings of about 1W/m²

3) The energy budget of the earth
average intensity Iaverage = Iincident/4
at TOA (top of atmosphere),
Iincident = "solar constant" = 1362 W/m²
Iaverage = 341 W/m²

II. Things we want to have done for tomorrow
1) Re-read Chapter 1 of "The Climate Crisis" and write your summary
2) Read Chapter 2 and be prepared for discussion
2. Earth's energy budget
3) List three ideas from the chapter that are new to you.
4) List three ideas from the chapter you want to know more about.
5) Think about 5 blog posts for the week. Lots of things to read!

III. Things we like
1) The Keeling Curve (see what it looks like!)
2) dissing Dillin's food
3) writing kewl-looking blog posts

ciao,
Giacomo
ciao,
J.

January 12, 2014 at 8:36 AM
OnymousGuy said...

ciao, everybody

I've attached a grading rubric for the presentations on Monday.

Since I've given you two examples of chapter summaries so far, I think you have a pretty good basis for writing your own summaries. I see that everyone has submitted the summary for Chapter I to Turnitin. Keep it up.

I think I set things up so late submissions are OK. Let me know it they are not working.

Don't forget to get your five blog posts for the week written by the start of class on Monday!

Here's a kewl onbline resource reported by David Appell;
http://davidappell.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-link-for-later-when-scoffers-complain.html

We will read and discuss Chapters 3-6 of our text this coming week:
3. Climate change so far
4. Snow and ice
5. How the oceans are changing
6. The past is the key to the future

I am looking forward to week 2.

I will have some fruity things to nibble on at 10 on Monday. See you then.

ciao,
Jim

January 12, 2014 at 8:36 AM
OnymousGuy said...

Ciao, everybody

Here are links to news and science articles that might make a good blog post:

Skeptical Science
2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #2
Posted on 11 January 2014 by John Hartz
America's forest carbon sink is shrinking
Australia’s 2014 heat wave picks up where 2013 left off
Carbon emissions: coal reliance puts Australia second on OECD's dirt list
Can global warming be real if it’s cold in the U.S.? Um… yes!
Cold weather snap fuels misinformation over climate change
Concerns about sea level rise and the New Jersey shore grow
David Cameron right to link floods and global warming
Discovering a legal tool to curb climate change
In much of U.S., extreme cold is becoming more rare
Lessons from the 1960s?
Polar vortex in U.S. may be example of global warming
Polar vortex over US brings abnormally mild weather to Scandinavia
What is this “polar vortex” that is freezing the U.S.?
Why Canada sucks on climate change
The Guardian Environmental blog
(many stories)
The Guardian Climate Change blog
(many stories)

ClimateProgress
(many stories)

Quark Soup by David Appell
(many stories)

US EPA
Climate Change
(many stories)
Climate Change Research
(many stories)
Climate Change for Students
(many stories)

NOAA
Climate.gov News & Features
(many stories)
National Climatic Data Center
(many stories, but you have to dig for them)

As you can see, there is no shortage of things to write about. Pick one small link and blog it!

ciao,
Jim

January 12, 2014 at 8:37 AM

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