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If one slice of bread is place on the ground, and another slice of bread is placed on the opposite side of the Earth, is the Earth a giant sandwich?

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12) Use the previous link to describe how water can be polluted. 

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12) Use the previous link to describe how water can be polluted. 

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How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

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Can you find and debunk any other theories of global warming?

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At some point in the history of all scientific theories, only a minority of scientists-or even just one-supported them, before evidence accumulated to the point of general acceptance. The Copernican model, germ theory, the vaccination principle, evolutionary theory, plate tectonics and the big bang theory were all once heretical ideas that became consensus science. How did this happen?

An answer may be found in what 19th-century philosopher of science William Whewell called a "consilience of inductions." For a theory to be accepted, Whewell argued, it must be based on more than one induction-or a single generalization drawn from specific facts. It must have multiple inductions that converge on one another, independently but in conjunction. "Accordingly the cases in which inductions from classes of facts altogether different have thus jumped together," he wrote in his 1840 book The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, "belong only to the best established theories which the history of science contains." Call it a "convergence of evidence."

Consensus science is a phrase often heard today in conjunction with anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Is there a consensus on AGW? There is. The tens of thousands of scientists who belong to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Medical Association, the American Meteorological Society, the American Physical Society, the Geological Society of America, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and, most notably, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change all concur that AGW is in fact real. Why?

It is not because of the sheer number of scientists. After all, science is not conducted by poll. As Albert Einstein said in response to a 1931 book skeptical of relativity theory entitled 100 Authors against Einstein, "Why 100? If I were wrong, one would have been enough." The answer is that there is a convergence of evidence from multiple lines of inquiry-pollen, tree rings, ice cores, corals, glacial and polar ice-cap melt, sea-level rise, ecological shifts, carbon dioxide increases, the unprecedented rate of temperature increase-that all converge to a singular conclusion. AGW doubters point to the occasional anomaly in a particular data set, as if one incongruity gainsays all the other lines of evidence. But that is not how consilience science works. For AGW skeptics to overturn the consensus, they would need to find flaws with all the lines of supportive evidence and show a consistent convergence of evidence toward a different theory that explains the data. (Creationists have the same problem overturning evolutionary theory.) This they have not done.

A 2013 study published in Environmental Research Letters by Australian researchers John Cook, Dana Nuccitelli and their colleagues examined 11,944 climate paper abstracts published from 1991 to 2011. Of those papers that stated a position on AGW, about 97 percent concluded that climate change is real and caused by humans. What about the remaining 3 percent or so of studies? What if they're right? In a 2015 paper published in Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Rasmus Benestad of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Nuccitelli and their colleagues examined the 3 percent and found "a number of methodological flaws and a pattern of common mistakes." That is, instead of the 3 percent of papers converging to a better explanation than that provided by the 97 percent, they failed to converge to anything.

"There is no cohesive, consistent alternative theory to human-caused global warming," Nuccitelli concluded in an August 25, 2015, commentary in the Guardian. "Some blame global warming on the sun, others on orbital cycles of other planets, others on ocean cycles, and so on. There is a 97% expert consensus on a cohesive theory that's overwhelmingly supported by the scientific evidence, but the 2-3% of papers that reject that consensus are all over the map, even contradicting each other. The one thing they seem to have in common is methodological flaws like cherry picking, curve fitting, ignoring inconvenient data, and disregarding known physics." For example, one skeptical paper attributed climate change to lunar or solar cycles, but to make these models work for the 4,000-year period that the authors considered, they had to throw out 6,000 years' worth of earlier data.

Such practices are deceptive and fail to further climate science when exposed by skeptical scrutiny, an integral element to the scientific process.

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At some point in the history of all scientific theories, only a minority of scientists-or even just one-supported them, before evidence accumulated to the point of general acceptance. The Copernican model, germ theory, the vaccination principle, evolutionary theory, plate tectonics and the big bang theory were all once heretical ideas that became consensus science.

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a) What is an indicator species?
b) Give an example of some AIR POLLUTION indicator species and what they indicate
c)Give an example of some WATER POLLUTION indicator species and what they indicate

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Indicator species are organisms that can tell us about the levels of pollution in an area by their presence or absence.

Air pollution

The most common source of air pollution is the combustion of fossil fuels. This usually happens in vehicle engines and power stations. Sulphur dioxide is released if the fuel contains sulphur compounds.

This gas contributes to acid rain. Lichens can be used as air pollution indicators, especially of the concentration of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere.

Lichens are organisms that grow in exposed places such as rocks or tree bark. They need to be very efficient at absorbing water and nutrients to grow there. Rainwater contains just enough nutrients to keep them alive.

Air pollutants dissolved in rainwater, especially sulphur dioxide, can damage lichens and prevent them from growing. This makes lichens natural indicators of air pollution.

For example:

Bushy lichens need really clean air.

Leafy lichens can survive a small amount of air pollution.

Crusty lichens can survive in more polluted air.

In places where no lichens are growing it is often a sign that the air is heavily polluted with sulphur dioxide.

Water pollution

Water pollution is caused by the discharge of harmful substances such as untreated sewage into rivers, lakes and seas.

Many aquatic invertebrate animals cannot survive in water that has been polluted and resulted in a lowering of the oxygen concentration, so their presence or absence indicates the extent to which a body of water is polluted.

The indicator species showing higher levels of pollution, such as the water louse, may also be present in cleaner water. It is the absence of species that gives us information about how polluted the water is.

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Indicator species - Distribution of organisms - National 5 Biology Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Indicator species are organisms that can tell us about the levels of pollution in an area by their presence or absence. The most common source of air pollution is the combustion of fossil fuels. This usually happens in vehicle engines and power stations. Sulphur dioxide is released if the fuel contains sulphur compounds.

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Describe what land pollution is and give examples of it.

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As the human increases, the volume of waste and that is produced also increases. Polluting an harms or kills the organisms that live within it.

Modern society is more consumable, which means humans manufacture more products and replace them more often. This consumption is not . Many natural materials, including fossil fuels, will soon run out and scientists argue that there is already too much waste.

Water pollution

In some parts of the world, open sewers can lead into water courses, such as streams and rivers, which can cause serious illness in humans that may drink the contaminated water.

Some farmers use too many fertilisers, which can run off fields during heavy rain. This can pollute nearby streams and rivers leading to . Some water pollution even comes from chemicals released illegally by factories.

Air pollution

of fossil fuels and other fuels releases carbon dioxide. This contributes to the and leads to . It also releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which can cause acid rain. Air pollution can also be caused by tiny particulates from smoke which can cause . Some of the world's major cities like Delhi in India and Karachi in Pakistan have dangerously high levels of air pollution.

Land pollution

The rubbish we throw out that is not goes into a land fill. These are huge holes in the ground into which our rubbish is dumped. Some things like batteries cannot be put into because of the toxic chemicals they contain. They must be recycled. Other land pollution comes when some people dump rubbish in public or other private places, often to avoid paying for it to be disposed of. This is called fly tipping and is illegal.

The larger the human population gets, the more land we require. More houses must be built, more resources found, more food must be grown and more waste is produced. This often means less space and fewer resources for other animals and plants.

Often is significantly reduced when land is cleared for human uses, such as building, quarrying, farming and waste disposal. Think about the reduction in biodiversity, which occurs when an area of rainforest is cut down to grow crops.

More Guides

Biodiversity and the effect of human interaction on ecosystems - AQA

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Waste management - Biodiversity and the effect of human interaction on ecosystems - AQA - GCSE Biology (Single Science) Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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As the human increases, the volume of waste and that is produced also increases. Polluting an harms or kills the organisms that live within it. Modern society is more consumable, which means humans manufacture more products and replace them more often. This consumption is not .

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A) How are humans depleting the forest store of carbon?
B) Why does this occur?
C) What are the consequences?
D) What impact does this have on biodiversity?

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The growth of the human population has created a greater demand for food, energy sources, natural resources and land. New land is increasingly being found by cutting down rainforests, allowing agriculture to expand. But this has negative consequences for both the environment and for biodiversity. This exploitation of natural resources is also occurring with peat bogs - again with negative consequences.

The world's forests, especially rainforests, are vital in that they provide unique habitats for many unique species. They also act as a 'carbon sink', trapping away lots of carbon in their biomass that was previously absorbed for photosynthesis.

Humans have been cutting down trees for thousands of years. However, this clearing of forests has accelerated in recent decades and is now being carried out on a large scale. This is known as deforestation.

The reasons for deforestation:

To provide timber as a fuel or a building material.

To provide extra land for agriculture. This agricultural land is often used to grow rice in paddy fields or to rear cattle in order to satisfy the increasing demand for food. However, increasingly this land is being used to grow crops for biofuel production (based around bioethanol ) in order to satisfy the increasing demand for energy.

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Consequences of deforestation

Deforestation has some important consequences:

It reduces the rate at which carbon dioxide is absorbed and 'locked away' in the plant biomass by photosynthesis, as there are fewer trees.

As timber is burnt to clear space, it increases the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The remaining parts of the tree (eg the roots) are then decomposed by microorganisms. This adds further carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and so contributes to global warming.

Forest habitats are destroyed and biodiversity is reduced.

Cattle are often reared on the land, producing methane. Methane, a greenhouse gas, contributes more to global warming than carbon dioxide.

Rice fields - created to satisfy the need for food production due to the growing population - are grown on previously deforested land and also produce methane when the crop rots.

Biodiversity

The term biodiversity refers not only to the number of different species. It also refers to all the variations within and between species, and all the differences between the habitats and ecosystems that make up the Earth's biosphere.

The loss of forests reduces biodiversity and we run the risk of losing organisms that might have been useful in the future - for example, as sources of new medicines. There is also a moral responsibility to look after the planet and its resources.

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The growth of the human population has created a greater demand for food, energy sources, natural resources and land. New land is increasingly being found by cutting down rainforests, allowing agriculture to expand. But this has negative consequences for both the environment and for biodiversity.

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A) What is peat bog?
B) Why are they important?
C) How are humans affecting this carbon sink?

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What is peat?

Peat is formed in waterlogged, acidic fens and bogs over thousands of years by the growth of mosses and other plants, which absorb and 'lock away' carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. When the moss dies, the waterlogged bog provides anaerobic conditions which, together with the acidity of the bog, prevent the total decomposition of the moss. It accumulates in the bogs in a partially-decomposed state, forming peat.

The importance of peat

Peat bogs cover nearly 2-3% of the Earth's surface and are an important carbon sink,containing more 'locked-away' carbon than the Earth's forests.

However, the amount of biomass it contains means it can be dried and burnt as a fuel, which makes it an important energy source in some countries. Peat also has valuable properties when mixed in with soil - including improved soil structure, mineral retention, water retention and acidity - making it valuable in agriculture and gardening. Many peat bogs have been drained to allow the peat to be extracted.

However, the use of peat causes problems. Burning the peat releases its stored carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Similarly, as peat is mixed in with soil it is exposed to aerobic conditions and begins to decompose - which again causes the release of its trapped carbon as carbon dioxide. This is in addition to the carbon dioxide released in extracting the peat.

Therefore, the destruction of peat bogs contributes to global warming as well as destroying important habitats.

Consequences for gardeners

Since the 1950s, many gardeners have bought peat-based composts due to their perceived benefits (see above).

However, the impact of peat extraction in terms of global warming and habitat destruction has seen a rise in the number of gardeners opting for 'peat-free' composts which contain sustainable alternatives to the use of peat. This trend has been supported by government targets for reducing the use of peat in compost.

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BBC - GCSE Bitesize Science - Deforestation and the destruction of areas of peat : Revision, Page 2

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Peat is formed in waterlogged, acidic fens and bogs over thousands of years by the growth of mosses and other plants, which absorb and 'lock away' carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. When the moss dies, the waterlogged bog provides anaerobic conditions which, together with the acidity of the bog, prevent the total decomposition of the moss.

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3)  How could global warming affect the Earth?

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3)  How could global warming affect the Earth?

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(Limit yourself to 3 effects in a list.)
Try to observe the biological aspects.

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The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole. Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has increased by more than 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius)- even more in sensitive polar regions. And the impacts of rising temperatures aren't waiting for some far-flung future-the effects of global warming are appearing right now. The heat is melting glaciers and sea ice, shifting precipitation patterns, and setting animals on the move.

Many people think of global warming and climate change as synonyms, but scientists prefer to use "climate change" when describing the complex shifts now affecting our planet's weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts. All of these changes are emerging as humans continue to add heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Scientists already have documented these impacts of climate change:

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth's poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. In Montana's Glacier National Park the number of glaciers has declined to fewer than 30 from more than 150 in 1910.

Much of this melting ice contributes to sea-level rise. Global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year, and the rise is occurring at a faster rate in recent years.

Rising temperatures are affecting wildlife and their habitats. Vanishing ice has challenged species such as the Adélie penguin in Antarctica, where some populations on the western peninsula have collapsed by 90 percent or more.

As temperatures change, many species are on the move. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have migrated farther north or to higher, cooler areas.

Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Yet some regions are experiencing more severe drought, increasing the risk of wildfires, lost crops, and drinking water shortages.

Some species-including mosquitoes, ticks, jellyfish, and crop pests-are thriving. Booming populations of bark beetles that feed on spruce and pine trees, for example, have devastated millions of forested acres in the U.S.

Other effects could take place later this century, if warming continues. These include:

Sea levels are expected to rise between 10 and 32 inches (26 and 82 centimeters) or higher by the end of the century.

Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger. Floods and droughts will become more common. Large parts of the U.S., for example, face a higher risk of decades-long "megadroughts" by 2100.

Less freshwater will be available, since glaciers store about three-quarters of the world's freshwater.

Some diseases will spread, such as mosquito-borne malaria (and the 2016 resurgence of the Zika virus).

Ecosystems will continue to change: Some species will move farther north or become more successful; others, such as polar bears, won't be able to adapt and could become extinct.

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The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole. Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has increased by more than 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius)- even more in sensitive polar regions. And the impacts of rising temperatures aren't waiting for some far-flung future-the effects of global warming are appearing right now.

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Question 6 - 8 are about humans depleting 'carbon sinks'

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Question 6 - 8 are about humans depleting 'carbon sinks'

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6) What is a carbon sink?

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A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases as carbon dioxide. European forests are currently a net carbon sink as they take in more carbon than they emit. In climate negotiations, this temporary reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also known as negative emissions.

Forest carbon sinks are not an excuse to delay action in reducing fossil fuel emissions. This is because carbon absorbed by trees is dynamic. Forest carbon moves between the atmosphere (as carbon dioxide) and the tree (as carbon) in a continuous cycle, known as the forest carbon cycle.

Carbon stored in fossil fuel is static, remaining trapped outside the atmosphere for thousands of years. This means that forests can never cancel out or 'offset' emissions from fossil sources. Using forest carbon sinks to justify carbon dioxide emissions from fossil sources will increase concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, making it impossible to meet the global goal of keeping international temperature rises to well below 2°C.

Despite the clear difference between fossil and forest carbon, United Nations climate negotiators often suggest that planting trees or reducing deforestation is equivalent to reducing emissions from burning fossil fuels. Until this myth is finally busted, schemes to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation ( REDD), the Clean Development Mechanism or LULUCF have the potential to do more harm than good.

While it is quite possible to keep coal in the hole and oil in the soil, no government or company can ever ensure that carbon will remain in trees. Forest fires, insect outbreaks, decay, logging, land use changes and the decline of forest ecosystems as a result of climate change are all hard or impossible to control. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to protect and restore forests, just that we need to do it at the same time as reducing fossil fuel emissions to zero.

For more information on any of these issues please see REDD-Monitor or Fern's video on LULUCF.

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A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases as carbon dioxide. European forests are currently a net carbon sink as they take in more carbon than they emit. In climate negotiations, this temporary reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also known as negative emissions.

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4) This question is about greenhouse gases.

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4) This question is about greenhouse gases.

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A)  What is a greenhouse gas?
B)  Give 3 examples of greenhouse gases.
C) What greenhouse gas are humans responsible for increasing?

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2)  How does global warming occur in the upper atmosphere?

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2)  How does global warming occur in the upper atmosphere?

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You may want to sketch a diagram to help you.

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Global warming definition, an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect. See more.