Andrews+Journal

=**Video Journal 9/7/10** = toc

Earth is a truly remarkable planet. It is the only planet in the universe (known to humans) that can support life. Part of what makes Earth so unique is its ability to regulate temperature by itself. In the recent years, many strange things have happened and Earth’s temperature has started rising a noticeable amount. This has given rise to the question of “global warming” and whether or not humans are the cause of this unexpected change. Pieter Tan and Kerry Emanuel have stepped up and accepted the challenge of answering this question. They are currently working on understanding what is going on in the atmosphere with their independent research topics.

These two men are both trying to find the underlying factors to this bizarre climate change but they have taken entirely different paths. They have both focused in on the atmosphere since it is the major regulator of temperature. Pieter Tan is studying the carbon cycle to see how the exchange of carbon in the biosphere change climate patterns. He hopes his research will show whether humans are a cause of global warming with due to our high carbon emissions. While Tan is observing the carbon cycle, Kerry Emanuel is examining hurricanes and the role they play in climate control. Emanuel predicts that hurricanes may be strongly correlated to moderating temperature; this is a sharp contrast to the widely shared view that hurricanes do nothing but bring destruction. These two researchers have been working diligently on collecting data for their experiments.

To conduct their research, these two scientists are following observational research methods. These experiments both required much monitoring and data collection over a long period of time. Tan monitored the concentration of carbon from many different environments in order to form a comprehensive and complete study of the carbon cycle in the biosphere. Emanuel and his team modeled simulations of hurricanes, since real hurricanes are hard to come by, using computer programs and compared these models to natural hurricanes to draw conclusions. Although both recorded observations to support their hypothesis, they used different methods of analysis. Tan used graphical analysis to model and comprehend trends from a fifty year period, while Emanuel used a comparative approach.

These experiments differ greatly in their focus and approach but they help bring together a more complete picture of “what is global warming and what is causing it.” The Earth is one of a kind; due to its ability to regulate temperature and climate and its ability to sustain life. It is appalling to think that the way we, humans live our lives could possibly alter the lives of all living things that share this planet with us. That being said, it is more than necessary for more research to be conducted so that we can understand fully what is causing global warming so that we can stop it and reverse what has already been changed.

=Research Journal 9/21/10 =

The purpose of this research project is to examine how different climates affect tree’s photosynthesis. The information gained from this project may help us better understand the role plants play in regulating areas of the atmosphere with elevated levels of carbon dioxide. The main method that will be used in this project is a process by which we measure the sap flow to determine how much carbon dioxide is absorbed by the trees in the test area. The sap flow is directly proportional to the tree’s carbon intake (amount of photosynthesis). Then, the data from NCSSM’s test site will be compared against the data from Duke’s test site to evaluate the difference in their photosynthesis processes. Many other environmental factors from the test sites will be taken into consideration as well, such as humidity, air temperature, soil temperature, soil moisture and the amount of light. Different instruments will be used to measure the aforementioned factors while the sap flow of the tree will be measured by two separate probes that find the speed of the sap by finding the difference in temperature between the probes. Data on this topic has been collected by FACE and from previous NCSSM research students. I’m not sure what the next step will be. I guess collecting more data and analyzing it with the Duke data to see the differences will be the next step.