2. A Sea of Air Soot, Ozone & Climate Change

3. Atmosphere:Composition Nitrogen78% Oxygen21% Argon0.9% Carbon Dioxide 0.04% Neon, Helium, Methane, Krypton, Hydrogen, Nitrous Oxides, Aerosols 0-4%

4. Atmosphere: Layers Troposphere Stratosphere 99.9% of air

5. Air Quality Primary Sulfur Oxides Nitrogen Oxides Carbon Oxides Metals & Halogens Particulates Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Others Odors Noise Pollution Light Pollution Electromagnetic Radiation Secondary Photochemical Smog Acid Rain

7. Problems 1.Water Pollution 2.Visibility 3.Structural Damage 4.Human Health 5.Ecological Impacts 6.Ozone Depletion 7.Global Warming

8. Solutions 1.Control emissions a)Particulate removal b)Sulfur removal c)Nitrogen oxide control 2.Reduce emissions 3.Legislation What about CO 2 ?

9. Clean Air Act - Positive Results

10. Ozone “Good Ozone” “Bad Ozone”

11. Ozone “Hole” Theorized in 1970 Observed in 1985

12. “The Villain”: Ozone Destroying Chemicals Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) Carbon Tetrachloride Hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFC’s) Methyl Bromide

13. Why Antarctica?

14. Positive Results: Montreal Protocol, 1987

15. CFC Production Cl

16. Excellent example of the success of the “Precautionary Principle”

17. Climate Change: The big questions 1.What is the greenhouse effect? 2.What is the relationship between greenhouse gases and climate change? 3.Are greenhouse gases increasing? (Are they released by human activity?) 4.Is the climate warming? 5.Are humans causing climate change? 6.What are the potential impacts? 7.What does the future hold? 8.What can we do?

18. 1. What is the greenhouse effect? Greenhouse Gases

19. 2. What is the relationship between greenhouse gases and climate change?  water vapor (H 2 O)  carbon dioxide (CO 2 )  methane (CH 4 )  nitrous oxide (N 2 O)  ozone (O 3 )  halocarbons (CFCs, HFCs, etc.) Greenhouse Gases:

20. Venus: An Example Surface temperatures: Some greenhouse gases: Lots of greenhouse gases: No greenhouse gases:

21. Earth History Vostok Ice Core

22. Vostok and Methane

23. 3. Are greenhouse gases increasing? The last 50 years

24. The Last 1000 Years

25. Modern CO 2 compared to Vostok The last 500,000 yrs

26. Are GH Gases Released by Human Activity?

27. Washington Carbon Emissions

28. 4. Is climate warming?

30. Annual Mean Temp. Change (°C) 1965-1995

31. Earth’s Climate History

32. 5. Are humans causing global climate change? “The Earth’s climate system has demonstrably changed on both global and regional scales since the pre-industrial era, with some of these changes attributable to human activities. There is new and stronger evidence that most of the observed warming of the past 50 years is attributable to human activities” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 3 rd Report, 2001

34. 6. What are the potential impacts?

36. 7. What does the future hold?

38. In the context of history…

39. 8. What can we do? The time for change is now. Kyoto Protocol, 1997 Montreal Summit, 2005 Rio Earth Summit, 1992

40. Final Words of Wisdom… 1.Stay literate 2.Stay optimistic 3.Stay balanced & take small steps 4.Stay involved

41. “Never give up what you believe and don’t expect politicians, even good ones, do the job for you. Politicians are like weather vanes. Our job is to make the wind blow.” -David Brower

42. “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” Edward Abbey