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GoNorth! Weekly Chat ~ March 24, 2006
Module 02, Week 6 with Atmospheric Science Professor, Dr. Cecil
Keen
Sponsored account phusky: Welcome to our chat! What questions do
you have for Dr. Keen?
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: Hi....how are you doing?
St. Paul, MN: How does one become a weather person?
Go North! Speaker: By getting good grades at school, going to University and
learning the science of weather and climate, and continuing at least to a
Master's degree for accreditation. It's worth the hard work.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: Do you think global warming is increasing
the hurricane occurrence and severity near the Gulf of Mexico?
Go North! Speaker: A difficult question being faced by many leading
scientists. There is evidence to say YES and also NOT QUITE! I'm inclined to
go with the YES thinkers.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: So are we. We know we have to do something so
our hurricane season is not so frightening.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: Weather is really
important in our lives....what can we do to make the harsh weathers
go away?
Go North! Speaker: Well, as each mountain is built with single grains of sand,
each of us contributes pollutants to the atmosphere. We can cut down these,
use less electricity and energy generally, walk or use the bys rather than
driving the car etc. Each reduction helps.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: Is it fun being a
meteorologist?
Go North! Speaker: It is not only fun, it is always changing so that one does
not get bored. There are also many branches of weather that one can get
into.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: We agree that people should walk more and drive
their car less.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: More investigation should be done into vegetable
powered vehicles to save on gasoline use.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: That is really exciting.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School: do you think that in about 50 years
will the earth become dryer or will it rise with more water
Go North! Speaker: Not easy to answer. Yes, some areas will become drier,
but some will become wetter. When the air warms it can HOLD more water
vapor like a bigger SPONGE, and that means that it will rain more too - but in
different places to where it will be drier.
St. Paul, MN: what scares you most about the current weather?
Go North! Speaker: Probably that people in Government (both local and
federal) do not seem to see weather and climate change an important issue
and are cutting back funding for meteorologists to research and test the
theories we thing are happening.
St. Paul, MN: How do you get students to care about the changing
weather and climate?
Go North! Speaker: EDUCATION, education. People who become informed
change. So, we need people who understand to become disciples and teach
others who do not.
NCSS, Rhinelander WI JR: Do you think the Alaskan glaciers are
melting because of global Warming?
Go North! Speaker: Yes, and it is not only in Alaska - it is from Antarctica to
Greenland where we see evidence of melting.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: We could start in our own school by educating
fellow students about the danger of excessive use of fossil fuels.
St. Paul, MN: These are great answers? Thank you so much for assisting our
students in learning.
St. Paul, MN: how does the Brooks Range impact the current weather
in the area the explorers are currently? By Circle, Alaska.
Go North! Speaker: The Brooks Range, like all mountain ranges influence
wind flow, where clouds form etc. So, weather is affected in many ways by
mountains and valleys and channeling effects.
St. Paul, MN: what changes have you seen in your lifetime?
Go North! Speaker: Well, I've been in MN for 18 years, and in that time there
is NO DOUBT that our winters have become milder, our rainfall and snowfall
events have become more intense. And, that is just here. Back in Africa
where I grew up, the situation is even more noticeable with areas that were
once lush farmland now almost a desert because of drought.
NCSS Rhinelander: do you think global warming will affect the
habitat
Go North! Speaker: Yes, it already is. With warming trees and plants
generally grow better and have a longer season, and then insects and pests
also thrive. We are getting mosquitoes and Lyme disease in areas that were
not affected, and for longer periods.
NCSS-Rhinelander WI Cassie Colton: do you think that Alaska will
melt one day because of global warming
Go North! Speaker: Well, Alaska will not melt because it is largely rock and
land, but the ice and snow covering that rock has diminished and is slowing
melting away. Mt Kilimanjaro in the middle of Africa, for example, has now
lost its snow cover - for the first time in living memory!
NCSS- Rhinelander WI, Zoe and Brittany: How does weather affect
the wild fires in California?
Go North! Speaker: Dry weather makes the grasses and trees drier and fires
start easier and spread faster.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: Texas just experienced some of the worst wildfires
in our history because of lack of precipitation.
NCSS,rhinelander ALex and Chet: do yo0u think that global warming
could change the appearance of the continents?
Go North! Speaker: Appearance! Well yes, and no. Clearly if things get drier,
there will be a brown look to things; where excess rain occurs there may well
be landslides and flooding - all of which will change the appearance. But, in
a long term, we as humans may well be changing the appearance of the
landscape faster - shopping malls, roads, housing estates etc.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: Do you think that
global warming and climate changes, will make some of the animal
species extinct?
Go North! Speaker: Yes, they already have. There are many frogs and
insects that have gone extinct even in your lifetimes; this may be due to
climate change AND pollutants which the winds and weather carry with them.
NCSS- Rhinelander WI, Zoe and Brittany: What is happing to
Greenland because of weather changes?
Go North! Speaker: The icesheet is melting, the edge of the ice sheets are
retreating and getting further back from the sea edge, and icebergs are
breaking off and falling into the ocean.
NCSS- Rhinelander WI, Zoe and Brittany: How badly are the
temperatures and weather swings affecting the animals in the
ocean?
Go North! Speaker: This is difficult to say exactly because the sea has a
greater ability to withstand changes in temperature. But, there is no doubt
that marine life is being affected at this time. It may be more due to
pollution and to ozone hole effects than to global warming.
NCSS- RHinelander, WI, BEn: Do wildfires smoke have any part in
global warming?
Go North! Speaker: Absolutely. Wild fire, or smoke generally contains lost of
little particles onto which water can stick to. This sometimes can make
clouds and even rain, but more often it just makes clouds. Also, the smoke
reflects sunlight and causes a shadow and a reduction in ground
temperatures for a short while.
Anne Chesnutt Middle School, North Carolina: Thank you for taking your time
to answer our questions.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: Is it possible that the ozone will be
completely destroyed by human activity?
Go North! Speaker: Not really. There is a large amount of Ozone which is regenerated all the time. So, to say we would be able to destroy it ALL, is too
strong. We are significantly REDUCING it however, below levels that are
comfortable.
ncss rhinelander: if the ice caps melt were would we get fresh
water\
Go North! Speaker: Where we get most of it from now. From rain, streams,
rivers, lakes, underground etc.
St. Paul, MN: Many natives have communicated a concern about their
changing weather and climate. What would you say to them?
Go North! Speaker: I'm sorry that present day mankind did not understand
the delicate cycles that the earth operates in and we have made a mess of
the environment. We need to get it back to a working state. Help us do
that.
CRES-Deerwood,MN: CRES Deerwood, MN Could some of our climate
changes have to do with the "warble" of the earth's rotation at the
North Pole?
Go North! Speaker: Over a very long period of time (thousands of years) the
answer is YES. But in each of our lifetimes, there is no measurable influence
the earth's wobble has on weather and climate.
NCSS-Rhinelander-Stephany and Andrew: Do oil spills effect the
global warming?
Go North! Speaker: Oil quickly spreads across the surface of water and
prevents evaporation. But, these are usually localized and do not affect large
areas.
NCSS- Rhinelander,WI- Cody/Ariel: What would happen to Antarctica
because of Global warming?
Go North! Speaker: Antarctica is the highest, the coldest, the windiest and
the driest of all the continents. The first effect would be a melting of the ice
and thereby an increase in icebergs in the seas surrounding Antarctica, which
would certainly affect weather and climate patterns in the southern
hemisphere.
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: Oil spills may not have a huge impact on global
warming but they sure to affect marine life and they waste an extremely
limited and valuable natural resource.
CRES-Deerwood,MN: CRES Deerwood, MN Wyatt: What do you think
our climate will be like in 200 years?
Go North! Speaker: Wow! We can hardly tell what the weather will be in 3 or
4 DAYS. But, we do have models that try to simulate things with evidence of
what we know now. In 100 - 200 years, it is suggested that certain regions
(MN being one) will be warmer and wetter than it is now.
NCSS-Rhinelander WI, Taylor & Mimmie: What are the things that
effect global warming the most?
Go North! Speaker: Greenhouse gasses - increase in these allow the
atmosphere to absorb more radiation and make it warmer which in turns
warms the earth and causes a feedback effect, making things warmer still.
NCSS- Rhinelander WI, Zoe and Brittany: Why aren’t we as a world,
realizing what is happing with global warming?
Go North! Speaker: Probably because we are more self centered than we
should be. We should be thinking more of the world and other people, rather
than just for ourselves!
Crippen Elem. Porter, TX: Does the reduction in the ozone contribute
directly to global warming and/or climate change?
Go North! Speaker: Not really. Ozone chemistry involves the passage of UV
light and when ozone is reduced it allows more UV light through which is
harmful to humans and animals. It has only a small indirect effect on global
warming.
ncss rhinelander: if the ice caps broke apart and drifted onto the
continents would it be possible to have another ice age
CRES-Deerwood,MN: CRES Deerwood, MN: Whitney: If the climate
continues to change which areas will be wetter and which will be
drier?
Go North! Speaker: On the North American continent, generally all the
climate zones will move northwards making MN warmer and wetter, and the
southern states will get even warmer and drier in certain parts.
NCSS- RHinelander, WI, BEn: Global climate change has reduced
Antarctica's penguin population. How else has it affected plants and
animals?
Go North! Speaker: Well, there are not many plants to affect on Antarctica.
Not only have penguins been affects, there are large numbers of birds also
finding difficulty with their food supplies, breeding habits etc
NCSS Rhinelander: Ncss Rhinelander Blake Mitch Will global warming
affect the Ice fishing?
Go North! Speaker: What do you think about this last winter? The ice
thickness was much less than in previous years and many people and
businesses lost out on ice fishing. so, yes global warming will affect ice
fishing.
CRES-Deerwood,MN: CRES Deerwood, MN Olivia: During the winter
is it possible that MN won't have snow?
Go North! Speaker: There have been winters in the past where parts on MN
never got any snow at all. So, to say that the whole on MN will not get any
snow may be pushing it, at least for this decade.
rush creek-minnesota: If the arctic melts will the countries flood
NCSS-Rhinelander WI, Taylor & Mimmie: Thank you so much for taking the
time to talk to us! :D
Go North! Speaker: Melting implies turning solid ice into liquid water and that
water will go into the sea. So, the immediate effect will be a rise in sea
levels. However, sea levels will not rise equally all over the world. Some
areas will experience much more than others. One place that will be affected
will be Florida.
rush creek-minnesota: what made you become a scientist
Go North! Speaker: I guess I just wanted to know WHY things happened. I
started asking questions and found that many questions could not be
answered, so decided to try and find answers - in a small way. Once I found
that FINDING ANSWERS was a lot more satisfying than asking questions, I
became hooked - in a small way.
Sponsored account phusky: Thank you, Dr. Keen, for sharing your expertise
with us!
Sponsored account phusky: We hope the students challenged you today :)
Sponsored account phusky: Great job, everyone, with all your great
questions and input!!!
Sponsored account phusky: This chat has now ended.