Heat and Climate Change

Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse Effect: Some of the sun's energy that reaches Earth is transformed from light to heat. The atmosphere traps the heat and keeps our planet warm. This is called the Greenhouse Effect.

Thermal Pollution Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only passed or converted from one form to another We use machines that burn fuel (cars, trucks, heating systems, power stations, large industrial buildings) that create heat and release gases such as CO2 (upwards of 75% of the energy is wasted to warm the atmosphere and environment)

Greenhouse Gases Even though carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the environment (we breathe out CO2 and plants require CO2), it, like anything is only good in moderation. When there is too much CO2 in the air, heat from Earth is unable to escape into space because it is trapped by greenhouse gases (which have a lot of CO2 in them) – scientist believe that this leads to GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.matter.greenhouse2/global-warming-the-physics-of-the-greenhouse-effect/

Global Warming When there is an increase in CO2 and greenhouse gases are trapping thermal energy – the Earth’s temperature increases rapidly. A few degrees doesn’t seem to affect us much, but to the Earth, it can make a huge difference. It can change climate zones, plant growing abilities, dry up rivers and lakes, and even melt polar ice caps

What is global warming? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrq1Na90-DQ&list=PLE0FC0C04871200EA

Cogeneration Sometimes negative effects can be turned into more positive effects – cogeneration uses waste from thermal pollution to produce electricity or uses the waste to heat buildings. FACT: when fuel burns in a thermo-electric power plant, only about 1/3 of its energy is converted into electricity – cogeneration is efficient because it uses some of the remaining 2/3 of energy