Module VI The Atmosphere and us

Explain

I have learned the Arctic air and mammals are bearing the brunt of the pollution created thousands of miles away by industrialized nations who have lax or no environmental laws to impede the worlds greatest nations from getting things made cheap!

China

This pollution is in turn being passed on to the people who eat the mammals at the top of the food chain.  If they were to merely eat the fish or lower animals in the food chain they would be better off, however, that is not their way of life. 

Seal fat from Google images, Sila.nu

It is the fat in these arctic mammals that store the toxins that have accumulated where the sun is not available to warm the air and cause the circulation that occurs in the lower latitudes.

In a study from the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada. An ice core from Greenland shows a continuous record of the monthly deposition of thallium, cadmium and lead from 1772 forward.  All three metal levels soar between 1850 and 1900 only to escalate 10 fold again in the early 20th century until the great depression curbed industry.  By the 1970's all three metals were decreasing as clean air laws are adopted in the U.S. and parts of Europe.

From Science Daily

As China, India and the rest of Asia work to control emissions there is some hope these and other pollutants can continue to be eliminated from all of the worlds air and food....

Extend and Evaluate

It is truly ironic that the same harsh, cold weather conditions that keep the arctic isolated from most humans also trap the pollution of the densely populated warm climate areas of the world.  The arctic haze...

From NOAA

The images below in Google earth show what looks like a tropical depression or storm building over Puerto Rico.  It is hard to tell without wind speeds....I don't know how to view the date of these shots.

As I look at the cool models of the atmosphere and wish I had these at the beginning of this year when I was teaching Atmosphere, I smile and recall my drawings on the white board...lol  Using many colors and taking great care to make things clear when I could have just gone to the computer lab...however, taking good notes also helps students so a mix of the two is what I will use in the future.

I think I will go back and revisit some of the topics I have finished using these resources and call it a Mid-Semester review...

I am a little confused at the wind charts with the increase in Latitude.  It shows little wind at the equator....The Doldrums as I expected.  At 30 degrees though it shows a constant increase in wind speed.  My question is what about the horse latitude calm zone from the high pressure in the Hadley and Ferrel cells?

Picture from Wikipedia:

It is so cool to be back in science....I like getting side tracked while talking to students about "things they have heard" or things that don't make sense.... like; if warm air rises, why is it cold on mountains...?? :-)

It is sometimes difficult to secure time in the computer labs as more and more classes utilize this vast resource.  The more I learn in classes like this the more I realize I must use the Internet more to give my students the best education I can, especially in science!  These videos and pictures from sites like Teachers Domain truly bring to "life" the topics we cover and foster better understanding...

My classmates:

Amy and I both learned about Ben F. mapping out the gulf stream and will use the videos in this section soon.

In Sandi's blog she models the kind of organization I think my blog is lacking.  I will try to adopt her layout skills.....

I'm glad Nick dispels the myth of total darkness in Barrow.  Nice pic, like most of you I too enjoy taking in "the moment" and appreciating the amazing things around us daily.