CHEM #4
Atomic Weight/Mass
# of protons and neutrons in an atom
Atomic number
# of protons in nucleus
News: Mylan CEO Claims EpiPens Aren't As Profitable As Everyone Thinks
*Bresch, who is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is expected to tell lawmakers that the company earns $100 profit on each two-pack ($50 each) of EpiPen auto-injectors, even though they carry a $600 price tag. *wholesale price of a single pen was about $47 in 2007, and it rose to $284 this summer, according to Richard Evans, a health care analyst at SSR. But consumers can no longer buy a single pen, so the retail price to fill a prescription today at Walgreens is about $634, according to GoodRX.
What are the greenhouse gases: CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, SF6? Why are some gases considered more important as greenhouse gases than others?
*CO2: Fossil Fuel Combustion, deforestation, cement production, *CH4(methane): Agriculture, oceans, termites, anaerobic bacteria, permafrost, landfills, garbage, coal and oil deposits--- 50x's less in atmosphere than CO2 but is 20x's more efficient; rice, waste, livestock *N2O: "laughing gas" from ag practices, catalytic converters *O3: "Ozone" efficiency depends on altitude--cooling effect in stratosphere *SF6: colorless, odorless, electrical insulator MOST POTENT
News: hangover free alcohol
-A British researcher says he has discovered a synthetic alcohol which allows drinkers to enjoy the sensation of being drunk without the negative side effects that usually follow. -If alcosynth does what Nutt says it does, it could relieve public health services from the burden of alcohol-related issues. The cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S. was as high as $223.5 billion in 2006, according to CDC figures, which researchers estimated worked out as $746 for every individual U.S. citizen that same year.
why do some molecules contribute to global warming whereas others do not?
Anything that is non dihomo doesn't absorb UV radiation, thus it reaches us.
Which molecules contribute to global warming and which molecules do not contribute to global warming or climate change?
Dont' Contribute: O2, F2, H2, N2, Ar, He (dihomo) Contribute: CO2, H2O, CO, CFCs, HFCs, (heteroatomic molecules)
"Judgemental Estimates of Confidence"
Judgemental Estimates of confidence (3.6): Term Probability that result is true virtually certain >99 very likely 90-99 likely 66-90 medium likelihood 33-66 unlikely 10-33 very unlikely 1-10
What factors are considered in determining the global warming potential for a particular molecule?
Lifetime of Greenhouse Gas, Effectiveness in Absorbing due to atomic structure, Infrared Radiation
Who are the 2016 Nobel prize winners (medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and economics)?
Physics: David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter" Chemistry: Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa "for the design and synthesis of molecular machines" Medicine: Yoshinori Ohsumi "for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy" Literature: Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" Peace: Juan Manuel Santos "for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end" Economic: Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström "for their contributions to contract theory"
Moles
a way of communicating the number of atoms, molecules, or other small particles present; defined as containing an Avogadro's number of objects
What is Albedo or positive feedback effect? what is the Albedo ratio and its effect on global warming?
-Albedo: Infrared reflection is good contrary to absorption which is bad because it increases the greenhouse effect (increases global temp) -"a measure of the reflectivity of a surface; the ratio of electromagnetic radiation reflected from a surface relative to the amount of radiation incident on it"
What processes can help in decreasing global warming effect?
-Decrease in greenhouse gases: efficient cars, light sources, houses, excellent public transport -Utilization of renewable energy resources -capturing of CO2 & storage: under the earth -making more phytoplankton by adding iron sources in oceans -more trees/crops that grow faster & are disease resistant -geo-engineering -reducing waste & consumption
News: Smog in Indonesia
-JAKARTA, Indonesia — The forest fire and haze disaster in Southeast Asia last year may have led to the deaths of more than 100,000 people. Fires were deliberately set to clear land for agriculture. -The Indonesian government said last year that only 19 people died as a result of the 2015 crisis. -The particles, known as PM 2.5 because they are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, are also typical in diesel emissions, among other things. When inhaled, they can cause severe health problems, including asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease -The blazes, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, destroyed more than 10,000 square miles of forests, blanketed large parts of Southeast Asia in a toxic haze for weeks, sickened hundreds of thousands of people and caused as much as $30 billion in economic losses in Indonesia, the government said.
Which processes contribute most to global warming?
-greenhouse gases -the burning of fossil fuels -human activities (anthropogenic influences) like industry, -transportation, mining, and agriculture. all of these activities require carbon based fuels which produce CO2 when burned -the carbon cycle
What is Global Warming Potential (GWP) and how it is related to its effectiveness to increase in the global surface temperature.
-greenhouse gases vary in their effectiveness in absorbing Infrared -> quantified by GWP: a number that represents the relative contribution of a molecule of the atmospheric gas to global warming. -greenhouse gases are indexed w/ respect to CO2 -Table 3.3: multiply lifetime by concentration by global warming potential (GWP) to find the global warming effect (GWE) CxLxGWP=GWE
what is the carbon cycle; what are carbon sinks and sources and how they affect global warming?
1. Carbon is found in many places (Reservoirs) atmosphere, rocks, plants, animals, carbs, protein 2. Carbon is on the move: combustion, photosynthesis, sedimentation, switch reservoirs 3. Where Carbon ends up Matters: the slow transformation of carbon from living organisms into fossil fuels then burnt and reenter atmosphere -respiration adds, photosynthesis removes -deforestation adds, reforestation removes -from ocean to atmosphere and back -fossil fuels to atmosphere and back
Avogadro's number
6.02 x 10^23
Know how scientists know the temperature and CO2 concentration in the past thousands of years. how do scientists figure out accurately the temperature and CO2 concentration
CO2 temperature is known through the air bubbles found in ice. When you dig you will find different layers of ice with different thicknesses CO2 increase -> increase in temp CO2 decrease -> decrease in temp
News: 375 top scientists warn of 'real, serious, immediate' climate threat 375 National Academy of Sciences members sign an open letter expressing frustration at political inaction on climate change
Humans are causing climate change. We are now observing climate change and its affect across the globe. The seas are rising, the oceans are warming, the lower atmosphere is warming, the land is warming, ice is melting, rainfall patterns are changing and the ocean is becoming more acidic. These facts are incontrovertible. No reputable scientist disputes them. It is the truth. -republican party supposedly making false claims that the earth is not warming
positive and negative forcings that contribute to global climate change
Positive: warming effect Negative: Cooling effect
News: Wells Fargo Scandal
The San Francisco-based bank has been in lawmakers' crosshairs since being fined $185 million earlier this month after thousands of the bank's employees created up to 2 million fake accounts — from credit cards to checking accounts — to meet sales goals. In some cases, bank customers faced various fees for accounts they didn't request, or bank employees took money from an authorized account to create a fake one.
News: Cancer-causing 'Erin Brockovich' chemical in most U.S. tap water
The agent also called hexavalent chromium is produced by industrial processes like stainless steel production and coal-burning power plants. Drinking it gave lab rats and mice cancer during a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program. FOUND CHROMIUM 6 in WATER SUPPLIES 2/3 of Americans are affected EPA is searching for a fix and gonna make polluters pay
explain why the contribution of N2O is minimum to global increase in the surface temperature even though its GWP is ~324
The concentration of N2O is way less than CO2 (CO2's GWP=1 and N2O's GWP=324) but the total effect depends on all three so if GWP is really high it will warm more, but the concentration and lifetime are so short so it won't absorb as long or have have as high of an effect -The concentration is less so the Global Warming calculation will be less
What is the "Goldilock" concept of earth's biodiversity?
The earth has just the right amount of CO2 and H2O to keep us warm and not too much CO2 which would make Earth too hot to live on
How do "IPCC conclusions 2007" and "Judgemental Estimates of Confidence" relate to probability of occurring a global warming phenomenon.
There is a very high probability that human activities effect global warming.
"IPCC conclusions 2007"
Virtually Certain -Main drivers of recent warming are human activities Very likely -Human caused emissions are the main factor causing warming since 1950 -higher max temps are observed nearly all land areas -Snow cover decreased about 10% since the 1960s; lake and river ice cover in the middle and high latitudes of the Northern hemisphere was reduced by 2 weeks per year in the 20th century -in most areas in the northern hemisphere, precipitation has increased Likely -temps in the n. hemisphere during the 20th century have been the highest of any century during the past 1000 years -Arctic sea ice thickness declined about 40% during late summer to early autumn in recent decades -an increase in rainfall has been observed in tropical land areas falling between 108 degrees north & south -summer droughts have increased Very Unlikely -the observed warming over the past 100 years is due to climate variability alone, providing new and even stronger evidence that changes must be made to stem the influence of human activities
What are main sources of different greenhouse gases? Know and understand them;
fossil fuel use, deforestation, intensive livestock farming, use of synthetic fertilizers and industrial processes. The other is through natural processes like animal and plant respiration.
News: Facts of first 50 years of Nobel Prize
http://cen.acs.org/nobel-data.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=CEN#nobel-noms
How does global warming effect food, water, air, disease and health, people habits; rising water....?
some areas flood and others drought, disease spreads due to socially active humans, air quality changes, photosynthesis is affected, plankton and food chain is harmed
Which factors determine the global warming potential of a given molecule;
the absorption of infrared radiation by a given species the spectral location of its absorbing wavelengths the atmospheric lifetime of the species
What is greenhouse effect? Which wavelength of the sunlight contributes to it?
the natural process by which atmospheric gases trap a major portion (about 80%) of the infrared radiation radiated by the earth. Infrared wavelengths contributes to the greenhouse effect.
molecular weight/ mass
the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule
