Causes and Effects of Rise in Sea Level

Rika HayashidaKent Ogisu

Angeleena RomoJimin Shin

Overview

1.Definition: Global Warming2.Black Body Radiation3.Chemicals in the Atmosphere4.Marine Life 5.Sinking Islands6.Reflections 7.Bibliography

Definition: Global Warming

-Rise in CO2 production = earth becomes warmer-Greenhouse Effect:• Sun's heat reaches the Earth and the earth reflects it• Greenhouse gases traps some of the heat• CO2 production thickens the layer• Less heat goes past the 

      goes past the layer • The Earth's atmosphere

      gets warmer

=> Meting of the Ice

Glacier in Argentina

1928

2004

Black Body RadiationPhysical object that absorbs 100% of radiation without any reflection: "black body"=> perfect absorber and perfect emitter Examples: • Ice (white/shiny) - reflects more radiation 

    and absorbs less radiation• Water/ Sea (Black/Dark) - Reflects less 

    radiation and absorbs more radiation  Experiment:• One black beaker and one white beaker• Measured temperatures for an hour• The water in the black beaker was warmer than the water in

the white beaker.• Black - 17.0°C,  White - 15.5°C 

 

Black Body Radiation (cont.)

 Wavelengths:• As temperature increases, the intensity of the wavelength

increases.  • Through using suitable spectrometers, we can see that the

radiations absorbed by black bodies appear red, yellow, blue and white. 

Importance to rise in sea level:• Sea to land ratio on Earth : 70-75% : 30-25%• Because of the dominating amount of sea on Earth, black

body radiation causes a larger change in temperature, rising the temperature on Earth drastically.  

Chemicals in the Atmosphere

There are three main gases in the dry air, or air without water vapour. These are:• Nitrogen• Oxygen• Argon

 There are eight other gases in the atmosphere but these are not as abundant and are called trace gases. One of these being carbon dioxide, a green house gas. 

Experiment: CO2Aim: The first experiment was to make sure that mixing marble chips and hydrochloric acid would make CO2. Outline: We did this by first setting up the lab. The materials are:• a beaker• Hydrochloric Acid• Potassium Hydroxide• Universal Indicator• a U-tube• a test tube• two corks connected to the same tube• two clap holders

Methods:

1.  Connect the U-tube to the stand and corks to the tube2. In the beaker  add 20 mL of water, 2 mL of Potassium

Hydroxide and 10 drops of Universal Indicator. 3. Pour the mixture into the U-tube. 4. Mixing about a spoon full of marble chips with 20mL of

Hydrochloric Acid in the test tube. 5. Quickly put the cork on the test tube. 

Experiment: CO2 Conclusion

 As soon as we put the cork on it began to bubble. It changed color. Unfortunately I called an end to the experiment before the Universal Indicator turned orange-red indicating CO2. However this experiment, although cut short, still shows that a reaction with an acidic ph did occur. 

Experiment: Temperature change due to CO2 abundance

Aim: If there is a difference in temperature in a tube with high CO2 concentration in comparison to our normal atmosphere.Outline:  The most difficult part of this experiment is the set up. The materials for this experiment are:• a tank• bracket• spoon ful of marble• Hydrochloric Acid• two corks connected by a tube• two clap holders• two split end test tubes (In our case three)• two thermometers (In our case three)

Methods:1. Fill the tank with water and filled one of the split end test tubes with water. 2. Once the split end test tube is full place it on top of the bracket connected to the clap holder. 3. Mix the marble and hydrochloric acid in the test tube.

Temperature change experiment continued and concluded

Place the thermometer in the split of the split end test tube. The cork at this end should have a hole for the thermometer. Then take another split end test tube and fill it with roughly the same amount of water that is left in the other test tube. A thermometer is placed inside this test tube as well. Then, take both test tubes out into the sun.

Conclusion: We used three test tubes; one Oxygen, two CO2. The CO2 test tube had a temperature of 18.8°C and the other at 21.7°C after an hour. The Oxygen test tube had a temperature of 18°C. However, the Oxygen showed the largest increase from the original temperature being 14°C where the other two started at 16°C and 18°C. The experiment still showed that the CO2 tubes were hotter than the O2 test tube.

Marine Life• Pollution because of the moving of rubbish and toxins from

the ground into the ocean (die,sick, and migrate of marine organism like fishes,algae, plankton and Krill, the foundation of food web.)

• Lack of food and decrease in population of marine animals such as polar bears,penguins, and seals.  

• Plant which is in the bottom of the sea can't do photosynthesis well.

Sinking IslandsThermal Expansion:•  change in volume due to change in temperature• particles move quicker and tend to divide more

New Causes: • Over the past 20th century, the sea level has risen by

10-20 cm• Predictions: 6.1m in 100 years (An Inconvenient Truth)• Caused by the melting of glaciers

Consequences: • Coastal flooding and storm damage, eroding shorelines,

salt water contamination of fresh water supplies, and an increase in the salinity of estuaries

• Most Importantly: Where Do We Live!?

Rise in Sea Level ExperimentMaterials:-two 200ml beakers, tray, ice cubes, 400ml of tap water

Methods:1. Put ice cubes into one beaker so that only half is filled with it.2. Put ice cubes into the other beaker until the very top.3. Pour 200ml of tap water into each beaker so that it reaches the very brim.

Real Life Example: Madives

• Paradise for tourists• 80% more than 1m above the water• Within the next century, this island would disappear• Male, the capital, is surrounded by 3m tall wall• Currently building an artificial island 

 Consequences:• Weather is unpredictable• Alignment of stars cannot tell the

     weather anymore • Coral reefs gained protection• Some inhabitants inevitably had

      to migrate

ReflectionsRika: Communication was the hardest part of the project, and I sometimes found it frustrating when I could not clearly express my ideas to my group members. However, after I learned to listen, praise and sometimes reject my friends' ideas, communication became easy and even enjoyable.

Kent: Some improvements on my experiment include quality of the experimental tools, having a black painted beaker instead of black paper, and ensure each beaker gets the same amount of sunlight.  Angeleena: An improvement I would definitely change about the CO2 experiment would be leaving the experiment alone. Mixed with CO2 the Universal Indicator was suppose to turn orange, unfortunately I stopped the experiment to soon and it only turned yellow.

Ji Min: The hardest part of this Group 4 project was connecting with my group members. And designing my own experiment required a lot of effort to think of one. However, I was comfortable with researching and make a slide show on google docs. 

Bibliography

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3930765.stm

http://www.egglescliffe.org.uk/physics/astronomy/blackbody/bbody.html

http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/~uglabs/250%20lab%20manual/blackbody.pdf

http://Galileo.phys.Virginia.EDU/classes/252/black_body_radiation.html

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/stefan.html

http://www.tutorvista.com/chemistry/greenhouse-solar-heating

http://timeforchange.org/CO2-cause-of-global-warming

http://www.ecn.ac.uk/Education/climate_change.htm

http://www.wetlandswatch.org/sl_wetland_services_whycare.asp

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/environment/wrjp365g.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-composition-of-our-atmosphere-a66490

http://www.climate.org/topics/sea-level/index.html

http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/climate_change/effects_on_ocean_animals.php

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/global-warming4.htm