RESEARCH

What has driven us to work on this project was our realization that our home, the Earth, will become, maybe in a hundred or two hundred years, a wasteland, a place that will not be able to sustain life. But why do we have to research and simulate life in space, why do we need, now, after millions of years do, we have to find a habitable place so as to make sure that the homo sapiens do not go extinct? Global warming, one of our fiercest enemies and also a creation of the humankind. Human activities, mainly fossil fuel burning, increased heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in the depletion of the ozone layer. Numerous studies have been conducted and the conclusion to many of them was that we have only one year and half to fix the damaged done, else our future is set. However, a solution could be hidden behind solar geoengineering or also known as the artificial manipulation of the climate. The idea was born with the eruption of the Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Basically, it spewed massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere which resulted in the formation of a shield around our planet that reflected sunlight back to where it came from. In the aftermath, for around two years, the temperatures were lowered by 5 degrees Celsius. At the moment, we still do not have enough data necessary to conduct a project of such caliber. However, an experiment is in order. We launch a scientific balloon of decent size which will have attached a metal gondola with propellers, then it will rise 12 miles high into the stratosphere. There an aerosol, calcium carbonate, will be injected into the stratosphere and theoretically, it will replicate what happened in 1991. This method still has to be tested and analyzed, because the stakes are high, since this project could take a turn for the worse, by further damaging the ozone layer. Nevertheless, this is still a project and what it does really is to address a symptom, not the “illness” per say. Therefore, the solution is to abolish the real cause of the global warming which are fossil fuels.

Experiment 1 The aim of the first experiment is to show how CO2 is absorbed by heat rays, resulting in a rise in the temperature of the CO2 gas. Step 1

1. The first thing we need to do is to put the sensor in the container and then seal it with the cling film. 2. Now, we need to place the container in the proximity of the heat source (NOTE: the distance has to be accurately defined) 3. We need to write down the temperature every 30 seconds for 20 minutes (NOTE: don’t forget the initial temperature)

Step 2

1. We need to connect the hose to the mineral water bottle and then to the container so as to fill it with CO2 2. Repeat step 1.2 3. Check the temperatures every 30 seconds for 20 minutes 4. The results of the both steps need to be compared.

Necessary Materials

 Chronometer  Temperature sensor  CO2  Hose  Tape measure  Cling film  Plexiglas container  Carbonated mineral water  Hose  Source of heat  Digital thermometer

IMPORTANT NOTE: The container should be given some time to cool down between step 1 and step 2.

Interpretation of results

One of the first observations is that, in both steps, the temperature has increased (around 15 K), however it is higher in the case of the container filled with CO2. We realized that the difference was of about 2 K after 20 minutes. Infrared rays cannot go through the container’s walls, however the acrylic glass/ Plexiglas absorbs heat which is emanated every which way, including into the container. The gas in it absorbs the heat radiation , the CO2 becoming heated. This heat is kept inside the tank, clarifying the higher increase in the container filled with CO2. Sans gas, the air is incapable of absorbing heat. What happens with the heat in the air container is that is re-emitted outside through a process called conduction

Experiment 2

The aim of the experiment is to show that the burning of the fossil fuels by the humans releases additional CO2 in the atmosphere.

Instructions

1. Put the funnel upside-down; connect it to the stand 2. Under the funnel place the porcelain basin. 3. Use a hose, which is on another stand, to connect the funnel to the wash bottle. 4. Makes sure that the wash bottle is connected to the water pump. 5. The wash bottle must be filled with 3 cm of calcium hydroxide solution. Next, burn the gasoline in the porcelain basin and watch as the gases are being sucked through the funnel into the wash bottle. 6. Write down the time when a precipitation builds up. 7. Without burning, do a blind test. 8. Write down the time when a precipitation builds up. 9. Do this experiment with the wood, gasoline and no burning and then compare the observations.

Interpretation of results

What we can observe is a faster build up of precipitation with burning than in the blind test without the burning. The carbon dioxide passes through the calcium hydroxide resulting in a milky precipitation (precipitation of calcium carbonate). Basically, this experiment shows us that by burning fossil fuels, a large amount of CO2 is set free in the Earth’s atmosphere. CaCO3(s) + 2H2O(l) + CO2(g)↔ Ca2+(aq) + 2HCO3-(aq)

Necessary Materials

 Calcium hydroxide solution  Chronometer  Gasoline  Wood  Water pump  Glass funnel  Two stands with clamps  2 hose connections  2 porcelain basins  3 wash bottles