In this installment of "Appreciating our Global Heat and Moisture Distribution Engine" I focus on videos about our atmosphere's life sustaining insulating abilities and the molecules that make it possible. This won't be as pretty as my previous installment, which had those gorgeous NASA data driven animations to look at and ponder.
This is a bit more along the lines of classroom work, particularly my first video featuring the high school teacher Mr. Kemp who does a nice job of describing the various layers of our atmosphere using a cool space station photo of our planet's horizon. Then a 9 min video by Professor Richard Alley explaining how we know CO2 is responsible for current global warming. Followed by an 8 min video by PICSClimateInsights reviewing aspects of greenhouse molecules.
Then comes Ricardo Esplugas's visualization of greenhouse molecules in action, followed by Iain Stewart's demonstrating CO2's infrared capturing abilities and finishing up with Dan Miller demonstrating what 280 ppm looks like.
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Layers of the Atmosphere
0:00 - Describing the various layers of the atmosphere using a profile picture taken from the Space Station of Earth's atmosphere.
2:00 - diagram
2:15 - Stratosphere, Ozone layer, ultra-violet radiation absorption
3:50 - Troposphere, surface warming
4:50 - Temperature profile through the atmosphere
5:20 - Troposphere, mixing layer, air circulation, convection
7:00 - Stratosphere, temperature gradient,
7:45 - ozone absorbing ultraviolet light leading to temperature inversion
8:30 - Mesosphere, "shooting stars" burn up here
8:45 - Thermosphere, air very thin, feels cold, but individual atoms extremely hot (high kinetic energy).
10:35 - Ionosphere, overlaps Mesosphere and Thermosphere, where auroras happen
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Check out this power point.
It could be the best summation for someone at my level I've seen:
Greenhouse Gas and Climate Science Measurements
The SIM Metrology School October 28 – November 1, 2013
James Whetstone
Special Assistant to the Director for Greenhouse Gas Measurements
National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
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Who says it's settled physics?
CO2 & the Atmosphere
Air Force research on missiles and the story of Ice Ages both reveal the effects of carbon dioxide.
