1. Where have we been 1.Course Introduction 2.What is the environment 3.Examined in some detail weather disasters for 2010 and 2011 4.Touched on Scale 5.Touched on borders. Examples a)Air pollution from Asia b)Fires and Air and Water Pollution exchanges between WA and BC

2. Where are we going today? Some thoughts on geo-engineering What are systems? What are biogeochemical cycles? Why are they important? What is common about them? Carbon cycle (Today) Let’s make predictions for 2011 Water Cycle (Wednesday)

3. Geoengineering Playing with biogeochemical cycles Playing with energy budgets Seminar Series: Winter 2011 Geoengineering: Science, ethics and policy: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~rob wood/Geoengineering/ http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~rob wood/Geoengineering/

4. Lecture Outline What are systems? What are biogeochemical cycles? Why are they important? What is common about them? Carbon cycle (Today) Water Cycle (Monday)

5. What is a system? System: a collection of matter, parts, or components which are included inside a specified, often arbitrary, boundary. Example: Ecosystem Systems often have inputs and outputs. For dynamic systems, by definition, one or more aspects of the system change with time. –Example of a simple dynamic system: bathtub, a water heater, or your ‘bank’ account. The boundary of a dynamic system is chosen for convenience -- often the boundary is arbitrary Flux Electric Energy Cold Water Hot Water Flux Pool Heat Loss Output Input Outputs & inputs have fluxes Because of fluxes, pool states change

6. Carbon dioxide C-pool Sugar Night Systems:WatershedSubalpineFoliageTree Clump

7. Seconds Time Centuries Molecular Space Region OrganismOrganism Scaling: Movement between systems CO 2(atmos) ↔ CO 2(aq) + H 2 O ↔ H 2 CO 3 ↔ H + + HCO 3 - ↔ 2H + + CO 3 2- CO 2(atmos) ↔ CO 2(aq) + H 2 O

8. Where are we? 1. What are systems? 2. What are biogeochemical cycles? 3. Why are they important? 4. What is common about them? 5. Carbon cycle 6. Water Cycle (Monday)

9. What are biogeochemical cycles? Earth system has four parts –Atmosphere –Hydrosphere –Lithosphere –Biosphere Biogeochemical cycles: The chemical interactions (cycles) that exist between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Abiotic (physio-chemical) and biotic processes drive these cycles Focus on carbon and water cycles (but could include all necessary elements for life). N - cycle weakly touched on!

10. What is common amongst them? Each compound (e.g., water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus, mercury, etc.) typically exists in all four parts of the Earth System Biologically useful forms are often low There are –‘Pools’ –Fluxes in and out of pools –Chemical or biochemical transformations Transformations –are important –can lead to positive & negative consequences

11. Can discuss at multiple scales It is with scaling that we encounter huge problems - will illustrate with the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide C-pool Sugar

12. Transformations Examples of Transformations 1.Carbon cycle: Organic compounds to CO 2 (processes: respiration, decomposition, or fire) 2.Carbon cycle: CO 2 to organic compounds (process: photosynthesis) 3.Nitrogen cycle: N 2 to NO 3 (atmospheric nitrogen to plant utilizable nitrate) (process: N-fixation) 4.Nitrogen cycle: N 2 to NH 3 (plant utilizable ammonia) (process: Haber-Bosch Industrial N-fixation) 5.Water cycle: Liquid water to water vapor (process: evaporation and evapo-transpiration) 6.Water cycle: Water vapor to liquid water (process: condensation) Policy Issue: Trees capture carbon, Carbon is stored in trees Carbon can be released slowly (respiration, decomposition) Or Rapidly (fire) Policy Issue: Rapidly growing plants (trees or crops) need nitrogen fertilizer Fertilizer can come from organic and non-organic sources Organic sources are inefficient Inorganic sources are fossil fuel intensive

13. Where are we? 1. What are systems? 2. What are biogeochemical cycles? 3. Why are they important? 4. What is common about them? 5. Carbon cycle 6. Water Cycle (Monday)

14. Carbon Cycle 1 Gt = 10 9 metric tons = 10 15 grams 1 Gt = 40,000 aircraft carriers = 0.5 ppm

15. 2010 = 10

16. Changes in Atmospheric C0 2 http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/ http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/history.html

17. Key Aspects of the Carbon Cycle Carbon is the skeleton of all life. Foundation of the food chain or web Foundation of fossil fuels Foundation of ‘carbon-neutral’ based fuels –Ethanol –Cellulosic biofuels –Biodiesel Carbon dioxide is a critical gas: –Taken up by plants in photosynthesis –Released by plants and animals in respiration –Released during decomposition (and fires) –Greenhouse gas

18. Question: Photosynthesis is a flux or a pool? 1.Flux 2.Pool 3.Both

19. Fe fertilization would mainly affect the carbon cycle in the ocean 1.By changing pH 2.By increasing photosynthesis in phytoplankton 3.By changing the solubility of carbon dioxide in salt water 4.By increasing light penetration in a water column Pick the correct statement

20. Focus: System, Feedbacks & Scale Seconds Time Centuries Molecular Space Region Organism

21. System - 1 Let’s increase the down arrow! Plant trees Questions –Where –How many and who monitors –What happens with a fire –What happens when trees die

22. System - 2 Let’s recycle carbon Let’s have biofuels/biomass Need N

23. Is this recycling idea (e.g., biomass burning, biofuels such as biodiesel, ethanol, etc.): 1.Great idea 2.Ok idea 3.Sometimes ok 4.Poor idea 5.Never 6.Need more information

24. Feedback Positive CO 2 increase Temperature increases Respiration increases CO 2 increase Temperature increases Negative CO 2 increase Temperature increases ET increases Clouds form Sun energy reflected Temperature decreases

25. Discussion 1. Geoengineering 2. Biomass burning (or conversion & then burn) 3. Questions

26. Geoengineering Playing with biogeochemical cycles Playing with energy budgets Seminar Series from Winter 2011: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~robwo od/Geoengineering/ http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~robwo od/Geoengineering/ Shallin Busch’s lecture on later in the quarter: do any solve ocean acidification? We should be able to useTillman’s criteria to evaluate?

27. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cmb-faq/anomalies.html Figure illustrates yearly average, running average, and variation in annual values Questions: 1.Are we getting warmer? 2.Or are we actually leveling off, or getting cooler? 3.Why? 4.Is it natural or human-caused? 5.How do changes in global climate affect humans? 6.How does population, affluence and technology affect this? 2011 - data from December not analyzed yet; will be cooler La Nina year (1998, for example, was a very strong El Nino year) Solar radiation is low as we are near the bottom of a cycle Coal burning aerosol impacts (reflector) 2010 1998

28. Your prediction for 2011, the year that has just ended, global temperature average (land & ocean) 1.Coldest year in the last 10 years 2.Coldest year in last 20 years 3.Coldest year since 1900 4.About average for the last 10 years 5.Warmest year in the last 10

29. 58” snow bet. Jan 31 & Feb 28 45” snow

31. Where are we? 1. What are systems? 2. What are biogeochemical cycles? 3. Why are they important? 4. What is common about them? 5. Carbon cycle 6. Your predictions 7. Water Cycle (Wednesday)