Steven+Cunningham

Steve Cunningham

I like to play basketball and i make music.

Assignment 1:


 * The science topic i hear about most is global warming.
 * This is a serious topic in the world and a common concern.
 * The goal of the message is to inform people that we are being too careless and have to make a change to keep the world healthy. Be aware of what is hurting the earth.

Assignment 2 Converting a highly reduced carbon in a fossil ﻿fuels to a fully oxidized carbon, CO2, releases heat energy that can be utilized in a variety of situations such as pushing a piston to move a car or heating a house.
 * What are our options for energy resources **
 * The difference between renewable and non-renewable resources are that renewable resources can be replaced as when they are used up, while non-renewable resources cannot be used again
 * The three types of fossil fuels are Natural gas, coal, and petroleum. Natural gas forms from plankton and small water organisms, including algea. Coal begins as layers of plant matter accumulate at the bottom of a body of water. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling.
 * Fossil fuels store chemical, radiant, nuclear, and some thermal energy.
 * The easiest way to get energy from fossil fuels is to burn it, combustion. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds in the gas, liquid phase.
 * Soalr and Wind are two examples of renewable resources.With today’s rising coal and gas prices, new wind plants compete favorably against any new electricity generation source however, wind energy needs large amount of natural resources to build--particularly steel, which is non-renewable, and concrete, the production of which releases carbon dioxide and particulate air pollution

Assignment 3 > The burning of fossil fuels, mainly petroleum and coal, produces carbon dioxide as one of the by-products. the concentration of carbon dioxide is about 50% higher than it was before the start of the industrial revolution in the late 1800's. The potential warming effect of the extra carbon dioxide is through its ability to absorb and emit infared radiation which is the type of radiation the Earth loses to space in because of heating by sunlight. This makes carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas. The net effect of greehouse gases on is to keep the lower layers of the atmosphere warmer that they otherwise would be without those gases. It has seemed reasonable to assume that an increase in greenhouse gases would lead to warming. In the future it can cause many problems, it makes the sea rise, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. [] []
 * Global warming refers to the gradual warming of the average temperatures in the earth due to the slowly increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide.
 * Climate change is just a natural cnahge in weather over periods of time. Us humans have an influence on it however, of most concern the increase in carbondioxide levels due to emissions from fossil fuels combustion.

4 Reasons why we should care about global warming


 * Spread of disease** As the countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north, bringing plague and disease with them.


 * Polar ice caps melting** The ice caps melting will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow, and if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Over time, they will rise. Also, the ice caps are freshwater source and melting them will make the ocean less salty, the desalinization of the gulf current will "screw up" ocean currents, which regulate temperatures.The temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.


 * Natural Disasters** The strongest hurricanes in the present climate may be upstaged by even more intense hurricanes over the next century as the earth's climate is warmed by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Some areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves.


 * Economic consequences** Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these.

These reasons are important to not only me but the peole living around me. It's very serious, a scary thing even. To know that this severe future could happen tommorow, and we're not doing much about it. All these reasons i wrote down, is not even all of it but i feel those are the ones that will affect the people the most.

Assignment 4

The **carbon cycle** is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydosphere and atmossphere of the Earth. It is one of the most important cycles of the earth and allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms.




 * Carbon Cycle: an element, and is part of all living things, it never stays in one place
 * Carbon Source: a nutrient that provides carbon skeletons needed for synthesis of new organic molecules.
 * Carbon Sink: anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases.
 * Greenhouse Gases: Greenhouse gases are atmospheric gases that trap radiation emitted from the earth, lower atmosphere, clouds and/or aerosols, this causes positive radiative forcing.
 * Greenhouse Effect- there are two meanings to the greenhouse effect, there is the 'natural' that keeps the Earth's climate warm and habitable. Then you have the 'man-made" which is the enhancement of Earth's natural greenhouse effect by the addition of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.

A. When there is less trees, it's harder for carbon be made into oxygen B. The burning of fossil fuels by humans affects the carbon cycle because burning of fossil fuel will release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere which will create a greenhouse effect C. The calvin cycle removes carbon dioxide from the air and uses it to forn carbohydrates in plants,and burning fossil fuels releases trapped CO2 into the air.

"How is the balance of the carbon cycle affected by humans?" A. One good way that human affects the carbon cycle is that

B. humans are chopping down plants by the acres turning some of the lushest rainforests, and chopping them down to make way for cattle ranches for beef ... in other words, replacing plants with more animals. This further depletes the earth's natural ability to process all the CO2 we are producing.

Assignment 5

Food: 42% Shelter:7% Mobolity:3% Goods: 9% Service:39% To support my lifestyle it takes 22.7 global acres of the Earth's productive areas.

Action Plan:


 * Food, service, and goods were the three things affected my total negaitively because I'm using alot of energy, and i eat alot of animal products and packeged products.
 * To change this i will consume less packeged food, and walk to get to places sometimes,

//"HOW CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?"//


 * 1) ﻿One person can make a huge difference. Just to make a few changes like using more earth healthy products that uses less energy.
 * 2) If a person said they couldnt help because they are only one person i would say that they need to learn more about what is causing global warming. There is alot that one person can do. Cleaning up their surounding, like Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Taking showers instead of baths. to maximize the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort. Recycling, and trying to use less energy to travel like traveling with others. There is you can do that can improve the earth's condition for the future.