This Valentine's, Love is in the Air, and the Earth is Sizzling
You heard it here first - the Earth has the hots for you!
Just kidding.
I mean, the Earth has the hots for you, but maybe not in the way you were thinking.
When I first heard of global warming, I have to admit that I didn’t know if it held any weight. Truth be told, America’s political climate makes it very easy to toss around hot buzzwords. The reality is that much of the press is merely a business transaction: Money is the best tool to make the headlines. While Global Warming has been a topic capitalized on by both media and corporations alike, the science behind it is rarely acknowledged. It can be hard to separate fact from fiction and this author is determined to serve her readers by providing transparent and easily digestible content.
Welcome to the first edition of YMDLL, and let’s talk about Global Warming.
When I say I didn’t know if the term “Global Warming” held any substance, I don’t mean that I could not see the correlation between warmer winters and the ice caps melting. I was aware the planet was changing, but I didn’t know if these changes were a cause for concern. But after all, change is synonymous with life. Caterpillars evolve into butterflies, the leaves of trees differ with the seasons, and even my friends' moods change weekly - usually triggered by a date that makes you question if Cupid might need to invest in a better aim.
All that to say, change is as inevitable as death, which ironically makes it one of the most predictable parts of life. It was change that cosmically wiped out the dinosaurs - which until the age of 13, I often confused with dragons. Dragons, as we know, exist solely in legends.
Unfortunately, that is not the case for Global Warming.
Simplified by Theoretical Physicist, Sabine Hossenfelder, the radiation from the sun pierces through the atmosphere and hits the surface of the Earth. When the radiation hits the surface of the Earth, it is converted into infrared radiation (pictured in a red ring surrounding the Earth in the image below), which causes the Earth to heat from within. In better words, the Earth warms in its core to grow hot enough to sustain the temperature difference introduced by the infrared light produced by the sun. However, as the concentration of carbon dioxide (from fossil fuels such as gas, coal, oil, etc.) continues to rise, then the infrared light has to travel farther to escape, causing the stratosphere to heighten (pictured below as a blue ring surrounding the Earth).
Source: Hossenfelder, Sabine. I Misunderstood the Greenhouse Effect. February 4, 2023. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqu5DjzOBF8
Visualize the stratosphere as a fog, and carbon dioxide is added humidity - increasing the height of the fog and making it harder for the infrared light to escape from the other side.
Another example to simplify this notion is a glass full of water, topped off with oil, creating a layer of more distance between the base of the glass and its surface area (as defined by the boundary between the liquid and the air above it). Now, pretend an ant could swim for this exercise, and that it can swim up to the surface from the bottom of the glass. While an ant in this hypothetical situation would be able to swim up the glass, when it reaches the layer of oil, provided we pretend it will not pass away in the process, the oil creates an environment where the ant will need to exert more energy to break through the film of oil above.
Therefore, because the infrared light escapes from somewhat further up where the atmosphere is a little colder, the total emitted energy is smaller and the system is out of balance. The earth then has to heat from below until the emission comes into balance again. It requires more effort, requiring more heat from the Earth’s core, and further causing an increase in a few degrees over time. Much like the ant facing resistance in the oil, the Earth faces increased challenges in maintaining thermal balance when there is an excess of greenhouse gases, contributing to what we all have come to know as Global Warming.
“The incoming radiation from the sun goes through the atmosphere and hits the surface. It’s converted into infrared radiation and that heats the atmosphere from below. Somewhere up here, the infrared light escapes for good. If the concentration of carbon dioxide goes up, then the infrared light escapes from somewhat further up where the atmosphere is a little colder. So now the total emitted energy is smaller and the system is out of balance. The earth then has to heat from below until the emission comes into balance again. And the effective altitude of emission can be slightly different for each part of the frequency spectrum.”
Humans have since their dawn disrupted the Earth, and as humanity progresses, it is unreasonable to expect no more damage to the Earth’s atmosphere. Although a few degrees more incrementally over time may not seem like alarming news, it is the Earth’s struggle for balance that poses the biggest threat to its inhabitants. Tune in for a closer look at that topic in our next publication.
Therefore, it's crucial that we actively take steps to decrease our emissions. A greener tomorrow does not mean that we simply drop everything and focus on 100% solar-powered energy or the comparable. The Earth is warming, and while we all are swearing to help alleviate the pollutants that contribute to its fever, it is becoming abundantly clear that we cannot help our planet by solely recapturing our CO2 or minimizing greenhouse gas - though it is a great start. Our planet requires a multifaceted approach rather than a single solution. Similar to a rehabilitation program, we need to consistently participate in various recovery steps, persisting through training, sustaining hope, and continuously pushing forward. This relentless effort aims to bring us to the other side—whether not completely cured, but in a better state than before.
Keywords:
Infrared Radiation - Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths longer than visible light.
Atmosphere - The envelope of gases surrounding the Earth or another celestial body, held in place by gravity, and composed of various elements
Stratosphere - The second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, situated above the troposphere and characterized by the presence of the ozone layer.
Surface Area - Measure of the total area that the surface of an object occupies in three-dimensional space.
