Week 1

13 January

I am actually posting this in Week 2, based on notes made privately after the first session.

Summary

In Week 1, it was noted that the scientific principles of climate change began to be investigated nearly 200 years ag, and I wanted to know who first looked at these issues. I found a timeline at http://www.skepticalscience.com/cshistory.php 

While infrared radiation (heat) was described by Herschel in 1800, and Fourier described the role of earth's atmosphere in retaining heat from the sun, it wasn't until 1860 that Tyndall identified the role of CO2 in blocking the escape of heat from the earth's surface.

From previous studies, I knew about the roles of CO2, Methane and CFCs as greenhouse gases, but I wasn't so aware of the role of water vapour and Nitrous oxide. I know how clouds are formed, but need to understand more clearly how water vapour can form a positive feedback loop. The current well-documented shrinking of polar ice is an alarming positive feedback loop.

Reflection

Key Scientific principles:

Greenhouse gases absorb long wave radiations in the atmosphere, which are emitted when shortwave radiations from sun interact with biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere

Positive feedback cycles include water evaporation & ice melting, negative feedback cycles include rocks cooling

Themes

I already knew about climate vs weather, CO2 greenhouse gas, long wavelength radiation (heat) vs. short wavelength radiation (light)

Didn't know several scientific terms, water vapour as a greenhouse gas, percentages of radiation reflected & absorbed in IPCC FAQ 1.1

Researched history of climate science at http://skepticalscience.com, Fourier, Tyndall, Arrhenius et al.