○If we dropoil we need to replace it by other things○The oil crunch•How dowe get people to use energy in a way that solar and windcould becomereliable•How doyou deal with the politics of all this•Energy Choices, Energy Problemsfind more resources at oneclass.comfind more resources at oneclass.com
Special Lecture: Sea Level ChangeVery complete slides withimportant diagrams•**Parts of Ch.18 & 19Thermal expansion•Ice sheets melting•Causes:Tide gauge sites: aroundmost populatedshorelinesFirst half of 20thcentury:0.8mm/yr•Second half of 20thcentury: ~2mm/yr•Continuingto rise since industrial revolution•Tide gauge recordTime required for wavesto bounce off ocean surface and come back to satelliteindicates sea level•Satellite altimetry record:Greenland: 7m•Antarctic: 57m•Ice sheets:Global warmingis fact•Correlated to CO2 in atmosphere○Air got cold for a while, butover last few decades, temperatures are higher thanthey've been in the last 2000 years•Amplified at the poles§Continuedrise in temperature○Unstableparts of ice sheets could retreat very rapidly once a certainthreshold is reached○What is to come?•Human Impacton the Earth Systemfind more resources at oneclass.comfind more resources at oneclass.com
Would lead tohuge sea level rise§threshold is reachedfind more resources at oneclass.comfind more resources at oneclass.com
Guest Lecture: The History of the Earth (PeterDouglas, Ch. 11)Uniformitarianism:the same natural laws andprocesses apply todayas in thepast•Catastrophism:we also know that there were crazy events that we have noanalogue for that we have totake into account•How dowe know what happenedin the past?Lots of small particles smashinginto each other and creating larger andlarger bodies○Hadean/hell onEarth§Lots of heat/energy in it: big ball of magma○Heavy bombardment○10 - formationof the Earth•One idea is that life came from another planet○Eventually surface of Earth became cool enoughto allowcondensationand the formationof bodies of water§Allowsfor the creation of organic molecules (atmosphere) whichare the building blocks forlife§Other idea forwhere life got its start□Over passed 10-15 yearsmayhave become best model□Deep sea vents:enough energy from heat of eruptions that chemo-autotrophstosurvive§Main idea: early Earth had lots of volcanosthat spilled out gas○9 - the origin of life•Key part of Earth's geology○Earth is fairly unique forhaving this○Maybe needed to maintain complex life○8 - beginningsof plate tectonics•Top 10 momentsin Earth historyfind more resources at oneclass.comfind more resources at oneclass.com
Maybe needed to maintain complex life○Early Earth basically onlyhad oceanic crust○Volcanic eruptions led to the creation of land masses withdifferentdensities○For multi-cellular life, oxygen is essential○Key player in creation: algae○Today whenwe have iron coming out of the ocean, theybecome oxygenated and deposit right where they are formed(iron oxide)□
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- Fall '09
- ALFONSOMUCCI
- Plate Tectonics
