Lecture 1 and 2
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We live in a world of
matter, energy, forces, and motions
Around the periphery of the web of law of nature are?
Specific phenomena and objects in nature like DNA, climate change, earth, organisms, and human health
In the center of the web of law of nature are?
A few overarching and fundamental big ideas like gravity, thermodynamics, atoms, and electromagnetism
What are the 4 challenges of the 21st century?
Population growth, water, energy, and climate change
How is the population growing?
Expontentially
In 2023, there were how many people? How many people were there in 1800?
8 billion people, and 1 billion people
What were the effects of the increased population?
Urbanization, and people being pushed to live in areas with a higher risk of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and landslides, and increased demand for water and energy resources
Why is water more limited than energy?
It can’t be produced from other materials, and there is no alternative.
Where does the majority of water come from? Why is this a problem?
It comes from the ocean, and because it is salt water you can’t drink it or use it for agriculutre or industry.
How much freshwater on Earth is usable, and where does it come from?
2.8% coming from lakes, streams, groundwater, the atmosphere, and the ice caps.
Where does the majority of freshwater come from?
Ice caps and glaciers
How much usable water is there?
0.65% and that number is shrinking due to climate change
What are the energy sources on Earth?
Coal, petroleum, natural gas, wood, nuclear, hydroelectric, and other renewable resources.
Why are we nearing a critical point in worldwide petroleum production?
The demand is higher than the production, causing increased prices
How much of our energy comes from fossil fuels?
80% as of 2019
What is the issue with nuclear energy and hydroelectric energy?
We don’t know what to do with the waste, which is radioactive and harms all living things. Hydroelectric relies on dams which displace wildlife
How much of our energy sources are renewable?
11%, wind 24% and solar 9% make up the majority
What has burning fossil fuels led to?
Climate Change
Climate change encompasses?
Many environmental phenomena such as intensification of storms, ocean acidification, new weather patterns, and a rising sea level.
How are fossil fuels created?
All fossil fuels start as terrestrial vegetation called peat. Then through burial pressure, heat, and time is becomes lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, and then anthracite. Each layer is denser and has more CO2 as it can’t oxidize. Eventually, they get brought back up, and the carbon is released.
What is the Greenhouse effect?
A natural physical process that operates in all planetary atmospheres, it allows our planet to be habitable.
What are greenhouse gases?
Water vapor, CO2, and methane.
How do greenhouse gases work?
Incoming solar radiation gets absorbed by the greenhouse gases, radiating some of it back to the planet’s surface and the rest back out into space.
Why is CO2 important?
It absorbs heat, is the most abundant anthropogenic GHG (76% of all greenhouse gases), but it dissolves in the ocean, reacts with water to make carbonic acid, and lowers the ocean’s pH