Is Global Warming the only problem with too much of a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide?

That’s bad enough, but there is more bad news.

The large amount of carbon dioxide produced by our activities is also finding its way into the world’s oceans as an acid—carbonic acid. That’s pretty much the same stuff as in sodas where carbon dioxide is used to make them fizzy. There’s not enough dissolving in the ocean to make it fizzy, but enough to begin to make it more acid. (What I intended to say is carbon dioxide makes sodas fizzy, not carbonic acid-I need to proof read better!)

That’s bad news for small critters like plankton, coral and other organisms that have shells which they make out of a substance called calcium carbonate-we all know it as the chemical that makes up limestone and eggshells. Why? Because as the ocean becomes more acid, it is harder for them use this compound to make their shells and without shells it is hard if not impossible for them to survive.

What sort of marine organisms? Clams, oysters and corals are probably the ones we all recognize right off, but those small plankton we mentioned earlier are really important too because they are the base of the food chain for many animals. Small fish feed on them, which in turn are fed on by dolphins, some whales, penguins, birds, humans, and the like. The point is that as the ocean continues to grow more acidic, many of the sea’s creatures will simply not be able to survive.

That’s the other worry about an excess of carbon dioxide.

Why Does the Sun Have Spots?

The simple answer is that planet sized areas on the sun’s surface are cooler than the rest of the surface and appear darker. Taken away from the brighter background they are still really bright. It’s simply a matter of comparison.

Why they are cooler is a little more complicated. If the simple answer is all you want, great. If not, please read on.

It has to do with stuff called plasma and a thing called magnetism.

Plasma is an atom—in the sun’s case usually an atom of hydrogen or helium-- that has lost electrons because the sun’s intense temperature tears them loose. The loss of electrons leaves the atom with an electrical charge. This is because an electron has a negative charge, so when one or more electrons are torn from an atom the atom is left more positive. The sun’s magnetic field can now influence it. Here’s where the sunspots come in.

In some places the sun’s magnetic field gets twisted--scientists are still trying to figure that one out--and pokes out through the surface, called the photosphere, and arch back in. Under the surface of the sun is an area, called the convection zone, where the hot plasma heated by the sun’s core rises to the surface--like water boiling in a pot. The place where the magnetic field comes out and the place where it in goes back in slows the plasma’s rise to the surface. These places are cooler than adjacent areas where the plasma rises to the surface uninhibited.

The cooler spots look darker because they are cooler and give off less light.

And that is why the sun has spots.

Why is the Grass Green?

One of the kids at the elementary school where I volunteer asked me why grass is green.

Good question for a seven year old. I think I was at least sixteen before I thought to wonder about that.

Anyway, the answer has to do with pigments. Pigments are any substance that absorbs light. We have all seen rainbows so we know that sunlight is made up of many colors. The ones we can see run from red to violet with all the other visible light between those two. The frequency of light a pigment absorbs determines its color. What’s a bit confusing is that the color of the pigment is actually the color of light it doesn’t absorb. If the pigment looks red, then it has absorbed all the colors but red, which it reflects.

Plants have pigments which don’t absorb much green, which they reflect. So plants, including grass, look green.

Global Warming and Sea Ice

A friend of mine asked me why scientists are so worried about melting of sea ice at or near the poles.


Well, aside from the fact that it's melting is a pretty good indication that the planet is warming, it’s scary because of a thing called ‘positive feedback’, which despite sounding so upbeat is in the case of global warming a potential catastrophe.


An example of Positive Feedback is when an event such as warming of the oceans creates more warming of the oceans. So, how does sea ice come into this? We all know that a dark object absorbs more heat from the sun than a white one does. As the sea warms and melts more white sea ice there is less ice to reflect heat and more dark sea surface to absorb it, the sea warms melting more ice exposing more sea surface to absorb heat, etc. The dangerous part is that this vicious cycle increases in speed until it is at a ‘tipping point’ beyond which there is no going back.


And that’s why scientists are worried.

I Was Busy

I had promised myself to do at least one new entry per week, but got blindsided by an unexpected brain surgery, of all things.

Somehow I thought that having diabetes for 35 years was enough. Guess not.

Anyway, I'm back and now somewhat knowledgable regarding benign meningiomas; if anybody has any questions.

Lyle