Global Carbon Cycle and Global Warming

Human activity, including burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and buring trees, has altered the global carbon cycle. This alternation of the global carbon cycle is the proposed cause of global climate change (global warming).

Obviously, global climate change is a very imporant issue facing us today. If you are alive and paying any attention, then you probably know that there is some disgreement out there about (1) whether global warming is occuring, (2) if it is occuring is it a natural occurence or is it caused by humans, and (3)what should we as individuals and a society do about these issues. As I mentioned in class, it is very important that you understand what components of the debate are facts and what components of the debate are based on mathematical models or other forms of argument. I think that it is important that you should be able to explain to other people why scientists will never be able to conduct the experiment that will nail down whether or not humans are causing global warming (we have only one earth).

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about this topic. For example, on Thursday February 5th there was a letter to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal about global warming that clearyly contained some misstatements of fact. I think that it is important for you to have access to good information. Here are some links to what I consider to be some of the best and most reliable sources of information about this topic. Although some of these articles go into much more detail than are required for this class you should know where to find reliable information about this topic.

Further Reading

Carbon cycle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Carbon_cycle

Global warming- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming

Global warming Frequenty Asked Questions- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming_frequently_asked_questions

Climate change FAQ- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Climate_change_FAQs

Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change_%28IPCC%29

IPCC Assessment for Policymakers- http://www.eoearth.org/article/IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report%2C_Working_Group_I%3A_Summary_for_Policymakers


Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- diagram the global carbon cycle
- discuss how humans have altered the global carbon cycle
- discuss how the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide varies annually
- discuss the proposed relationship between human caused changes in the global carbon cycle and global warming
- discuss alternative causes of global warming
- discuss the experiment that would be required to determine whether or not human activity is the cause of global warming
- articulate and defend their own personal view of how they intend to deal with the global warming issue

Saturday Update

The Saturday(February 7, 2009) issue of the Lubbock Avalance Journal contains another letter to the editor talking about global warming. The letter right refers reader to a site, www.petitionproject.org, where they claim that over 30,000 scientists (9000 of them have Ph. D.s) have signed a petition "firmly disagreeing with global warming theory". I would be interested in what you guys thought about the information available on this site relative to the info on the posts I have listed above.

Ecosystem Ecology

Ecosystem ecologists focus on the flow of enery and the cycling of nutrients through the ecosystem.

Further Readings

Ecosystems- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecosystem

Ecological energetics- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecological_energetics

Nitrogen cycle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Nitrogen_cycle

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- diagram and discuss the flow of energy through an ecosystem
- diagram, discuss the causes of, and discuss some of the implications of the enegy pyramid
- diagram nitrogen cycle within an ecosystem
- discuss the factors that influence the rate of flow from dead bodies to the soil and discuss the implications of differences in this rate

Community Ecology- The Portal Experiment

Here are some photos from the research site in Portal, Arizona. For more information about the research project at Portal you can look at their website at
http://www.biology.usu.edu/labsites/ernestlab/portal/index.html

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- distinguish between direct and indirect, positive and negative effects
- describe the experiemental design that Dr. Brown and his colleagues used to study exploitative competition between desert rats and rodents
- discuss the "search the the missing indirect positive effect of rodents on ants" and how that dilema was solved
-discuss why and how the outcome of studies of interactions betwen organisms can vary over time
- discuss the way that the ecological community responded when they learned the importance of long term studies
- discuss how indirect interactions influence my facvorite phrase "the world is complicated"

BAC Results

The BAC met at 4:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon to review concerns that people had about the test.

The committee reviewed all of the comments that people turned into me on paper and via email. After meeting the committee brought three questions to me for consideration.

Question #8 (green test-2) #12 (blue test-1)

This question is not clearly worded. Several people asked me questions about this question during the exam and I told them to answer the question one way. When I rereade the question after the exam I saw that there was a justifiable different way to interpret the question.

Thus, for this question both answers a and d will receive credit

Question # 23 (green test-2) #26 (blue test-1)

Cryptic coloration is an adaptation to either capturing prey, catching prey or both. I don't think that cryptic coloration has anything to do with attracting mates (how could being hard to see be a good tactic for attracting a mate?). Thus, I clearly think that answer d is the best answer. However, when I cut and pasted the question from form 1 to form 2 answer e was deleted from form 2. Thus, students taking the blue test had the option to pick a wrong answer that was not available to the students who took the blue test which is unfair.

Thus, for this question I will award credit for both answers d and e

Question #12 (green tetst-2) #8 (blue test-1)
The key phrase in the paragraph associated with this question is " scientists have documented that healthier males are able to produce longer eyestalks than those produced by less healthy males". This sentence tells me that large eyestalks are a signal of health. Thus, females who choose to mate with males with large eyestalks should pass on those genes for "good health" to their offspring (both sons and daughters). Thus, I consider answer d to be the best answer.

Many students thought that females should benefit from producing sons that were better at mating. It is possible that if her sons remained healthy for their whole life that they would produce traits that would make them popular with females. However, this is not as likely as producing healthy sons and daughters.

The key in answering this question is to choose the best answer. If the female is mating with a male with "healthy" genes then these genes should be expressed in both sons and daughters. Thus, I might have awarded credit for an answer that said a, b, and c were true, but because that was not an option.

Thus, only answer d will receive credit.

I would like to thank all members of the BAC for taking an hour out of their day to try to make sure that the testing process is as fair as possible.

Interesting Video from Kruger Park in South Africa

One of your fellow students just sent me a link to this video. It seems like almost everything that we have talked about so far in BIOL 1404 is going on in this video. The highlight of my biology life was visiting Kruger Park when I was about 13 (how sad to peak so young). I saw lots of amazing animals, but I didn't see anything like this. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

First Midterm - Answer Key and BAC Info

Here are the answers for both forms of the multiple choice portion of the test.

BAC

The Biology Advisory Committee will meet with me this afternoon at 4:00 to discuss test questions. If you thought that there was a problem with one of the test questions here is what you need to do.

1. Write a thoughtful statement explaining to me how a student with a strong understanding of biology could have chosen a different answer.

2. You may turn these into me either on paper or via email.

Paper- I will place a box on the ledge outside of Dr. Dini's office. Comments submitted via paper must be in that box by 3:30 on Wednesday

Email- you may send me your comments via email. These comments must be received before 1:45 PM on Wednesday.

Answers Midterm #1


Form 1

1. b
2. a
3. c
4. b
5. c
6. c
7. c
8. d
9. b
10. d
11. c
12. d or a
13. a
14. d
15. b
16. c
17. d
18. b
19. a
20. b
21.c
22. c
23. d
24. b
25. e
26. d or e
27. e
28. c
29. b
30. a

Form 2

1. b
2. a
3. c
4. b
5. c
6. d
7. c
8. a or d
9. a
10. c
11. c
12. d
13. b
14. c
15. d
16. b
17. d
18. b
19. c
20. d
21. b
22. e
23. d or e
24. e
25. c
26. b
27. a
28. a
29. b
30. c

HHMI Undergraduate Research Fellowships

As I mentioned in class, the HHMI Undergraduate Research Fellowships are one of the great opportunities that we are able to offer students at Tech. If you are interested in gaining some research experience I urge you to check this program out.

The application deadline is February 25th, so it is time to get started!!!

For more info check out the website-

http://www.ciser.ttu.edu/hhmi/default.aspx

The people working with HHMI are all very nice and will help you with any questions or problems that you have. Tell them that I sent you and they will treat you especially well!