Energy Transfer: Fuel for Climate Change

 

     The global sea temperatures keep rising. So? Of course, there are problems associated directly with the extra heat of the water -- melting icebergs in particular and endangerment of animals in vulnerable ecosystems such as polar bears. Then there are the secondary effects of that extra water being put into the oceans from the melting of the icebergs -- islands going under water and coasts receding.

     The largest, most immediate, effects are from the actual temperature rise. Heat is energy. For food energy, that is measured in Calories (or kilocalories) [see my blogs on Science and Nutrition]. In the area of physics, the units are Joules (or kilojoules -- 1 Calorie == 4.18 kilojoules). Calories are measured directly in accordance with the heat of water. The definition of a Calorie (1 "large" Calorie is equal to 1000 "little" calories -- we normally talk about Calories) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 liter of water 1 degree Celsius.

     So, every degree (Celsius) of heat increased in each liter of water is an extra Calorie (or 4.18 kilojoules) of energy stored as heat. Estimates vary a lot, but there are about 14,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters of water in the Earth's oceans. So, by raising the temperature of the world's oceans by one degree Celsius, we are storing an extra 14,000,000,000,000,000,000 Calories -- or around 58,500,000,000,000,000,000 kilojoules. That is a LOT of energy in storage.

     OK. With each degree rise of temperature of the oceans, we store a lot of energy. What happens with that energy? Ah, that is where climate comes into play. Climate is concerned with the ongoing effects on the environment around us over a period of time. Patterns of rain, drought, snow, tornados, tropical storms, hurricanes, hail storms, cyclones, cold waves, heat waves are all affected by the energy within the water on the planet or within the atmosphere of the planet. More energy, more "energetic" weather. The energy is stored as heat but can be used as an intensifier for many types of weather patterns -- not just those associated with heat.

     Intensified weather means just that. Colder cold spells, longer and dryer draughts, more frequent and stronger tornados and hurricanes, air streams moved from "traditional" paths. All this means that "averages", including 50-year events or 100-year events are all up for grabs. They are in the process of change -- climate change.

Climate change and refrigerators: transfers of energy

     There is presently a mass of very cold air settling down over much of the Eastern coast and Northern (or the eastern 2/3 of the Northern) states of the United States. There have been shifts in the Arctic air mass before and there will be ones in the future. In itself, not that big of a deal although many people need to be extra careful with the unfamiliar conditions -- and, of course, the homeless need extra special care. This gets lots of headlines. What does not get headlines is the extra HOT weather occurring primarily in the Southern and Southwestern states of the United States.
     Ten years ago (or so) -- before the oil companies starting admitting that they had known about climate change for years -- there were lots of elected officials in the U.S. Congress trying to still keep business from having to change their daily protocols concerning energy. One such elected official brought in a snowball as a visual aid -- which got a big laugh -- although it actually had no relevance to the global situation.
     Why didn't it have any relevance? Let's start off with a more localized energy system -- a refrigerator (or air conditioner). A refrigerator cools off what is inside. Perhaps you have even felt tempted (or actually did it) to try to go inside the refrigerator when the room was too warm. But, have you reached around to the back of the refrigerator? It is hot there (be careful). The process of expanding and compressing the refrigerant gases within the tubing inside (nowadays, usually hidden) and the back of the refrigerator is a transfer of energy. Cooler inside, hotter outside. The same situation exists with an air conditioner -- the exit spot at the outside of the cooled location will be quite warm.
     On a global scale, what we have is more heat (primarily solar, some geothermal, and some direct combustion from old stored sources) being trapped than is being released. There is a balance of heat trapped and released. The primary location where the heat is stored is within the oceans.
     When we talk about climate change we are talking about what changes will happen all over the world. When we talk about global warming we are talking about the net balance between heat trapped and heat released. This can be most easily, and directly, measured by the ocean water temperature. This thermal balance is an indicator -- the precise effects are more difficult to determine because there are so many different factors interacting.
     The most immediate direct effects concern the heat sinks -- the oceans. Life in the oceans has adapted to a fairly small range of temperatures and steady, periodic, shifts. The coral ranges are showing huge, immediate, damage. The growth and patterns of plankton and other sea life is shifting. There are possibilities of current shifts -- which would more directly affect coastal land masses.
     But what about that snowball? What about that Arctic mass of air coming down? Note that an increase in the ocean temperature -- the indicator of thermal balance -- is a direct indicator of how much ENERGY is contained within the weather ecosystem. The more energy, the more activity. Stronger and more frequent storms. Stronger winds and different shifts of thermoclines (the water layers). Harder, faster, more energetic -- on balance hotter but with colder aspects at times also.
     One of the great positives of humankind is our adaptability -- and our ability to make use of tools and mechanisms (pyramids of tool usage) to be able to live in places where other species would die off before being able to adapt. However, this current shift is happening so rapidly that relocation and adaptation will push us harder than ever before. (It will also probably cause needs for shifts in disaster management and private versus public insurance situations).