I have decided to write a book on environmental physics. You are to be my 'fact checkers' for the data that goes into the book. Each of you will work on one or more of the following topic areas. For each area you should do the following:
- Get graphs, data and articles from the instructor for one of the topics below.
- Verify the data and facts in the graphs and articles you are given. This means: find (and provide the reference for) a reliable second source that has the same figures and numbers. For example, for population, if you are given a graph of population, go to the UN and US census sites, download population spread sheet data, verify the population figures and projections, list the exact web resource or article. Summarize conclusions in a set of notes (with references).
- Find any missing data (update data). Locate data or information (from reliable sources) if any, that contradicts the graphs or tables you were given.
- Use the data you have gathered to make updated or more comprehensive graphs or tables of the data (as instructed by the prof. - I will see about a suitable graphing program). If you can create figures (electronic versions) that will also be helpful.
- Everything should be handed in electronically.
Population. World population and trends. The effects of people on the environment. Water supply. Food production. Pollution (water, air, ground). Sound pollution. Basic principles: exponential growth, some elementary calculations on particulate size, ground water flow rates, sound intensity.
Thermodynamics. Basic principles: First Law, conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation, efficiency. Applications of heat flow for buildings. Combined cycle systems. Window coatings. Lighting. Heating and air conditioning. Conservation in general. Conservation and the GDP.
Energy Storage. Fuels, conventional and alternative (energy content versus weight). Hydrogen. Batteries. Pumped Hydro. Flywheels. High charge capacitors. Compressed air. Others. General principles: mass, density, chemical bonds, pressure, kinetic energy, electric charge.
Engines, motors and turbines. Basic principle: second law of thermodynamics. Internal Combustion Engines. Fuel Cells. Electric motors. Trains, planes, buses, trucks, cars (efficiencies of various transportation methods). Well to wheel efficiency. Transportation of energy (electricity, pipes, hydrogen economy).
Conventional Energy Sources and Usage. Usage in general (global breakdowns: by type, by country, by use). Fossil fuels (sources, quantities, uses). Nuclear resources. Reactor design. Basic principles: nuclear reactions and reactors, extraction techniques and energy costs, conversion losses, Hubbert’s peak and other models for estimating the exhaustion of a resource.
Renewable resources. Solar. Hydro. Geothermal. Wind. Biomass. (amounts available, how each works, potential for development, extraction, etc.) Other (waves, tides, etc.) Basic principles: Photoelectric effect, photo cells, solar thermal, Biodiesel, plant efficiency, ethanol, cellulose, windmill dynamics.
Climate. Geology, Climate History, Malancovich cycles, ice and sea cores (isotope data, organic data). Ocean circulation. Clouds. Greenhouse effect. Other forcings. Climate change (short and long term). Elements of climate modeling. Discussion of the IPCC. Basic principles: isotopes, Coriolis effect, radiation revisited: blackbody radiation.
Risk assessment. Flu. Death rates. Meteors. Accident rate tables. Fault tree analysis.