Kyle+Motyl

**** // Their Affect on Climate Change //  Methane ** By: Kyle Motyl
 * Methane and Nitrous Oxide:

Carbon dioxide is known to be the biggest contributor to the [|greenhouse effect] and [|global warming]. But people don't realize that their are other things that contribute to this phenomenon. Methane is one of those things. Methane is released into the atmosphere when biological action occurs in swamps and flooded rice patties. Also, cows release it when breaking down [|cellulose], though the effect is minimal. When plants decay, they also release a certain amount of methane into the atmosphere. Because of the rise in population, more rice patties are being made, allowing more methane to be released. When methane is in the atmosphere, it then oxidizes and becomes carbon dioxide and water. Methane is shown to take in [|infrared rays] which messes up the process of [|thermal radiation].

Methane is important in this process because it creates more [|carbon dioxide], making it so the greenhouse effect (greenhouse effect describes how the suns rays hit the earth and bounce off, but the heat cannot escape because of the gases in the atmosphere such as methane and carbon dioxide) happens quicker, and, if population keeps increasing at the rapid rate it is at, methane will become much more evident problem, because at the moment, people are so worried about carbon dioxide that they do not put enough emphasis on other causes and greenhouse gases.

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Methane is created in low oxygen areas. This is the reason swamps and rice patties are great places for it to originate. [|Complex hydrocarbons] get broken down into methane by [|anaerobic bacteria](bacteria that does not use oxygen). This methane then is either turned into gas or dissolved or it travels into the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, decomposition happens, where methane (CH4) is turned into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) through a process called [|oxidation], which is when an electron is lost when two substances mix, in this case being oxygen and methane.

 By: Erin O'Neil  **What is nitrous oxide?** Nitrous oxide is a colorless, nonflammable gas with a sweet odor, a chemical compound and a major greenhouse gas. Nitrous oxide, when compared to carbon dioxide, is about 310 times more effective for trapping heat. Nitrous oxide is a very important greenhouse gas and in terms of contributing to the greenhouse effect, it is fourth behind carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor. http://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures N/Nitrous-Oxide.htm http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/greenhouse.htm
 * Nitrous Oxide **

** Where does nitrous oxide come from? **  As for sources, nitrous oxide has both human and natural-related. Natural sources include various biological sources in soil and water, rainforests, and human and animal waste. It is anticipated that 60% of their emissions come from these natural resources. The other 40% comes from human resources including combustion of [|fossil fuels], [|adipic] and [|nitric acid] production, and the usage of [|nitrogenous fertilizers]. Nitrous oxide is removed from the atmosphere by [|photolysis], the breakdown of sunlight, in the stratosphere.

**How is nitrous oxide released into the atmosphere?** <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">The majority of nitrous oxide gas comes from natural sources. So, when looking at the natural sources, such as soil, nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere and goes the natural nitrous oxide cycle. In the cycle, nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere by plants, and this converts the <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[|nitrogen] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> into forms like ammonia. The plants then use this <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[|ammonia] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> and this process is called <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[|nitrogen fixation] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">. During the process of nitrogen fixation, micro-organisms take the nitrogen from the soil and release it back into the atmosphere in the form of nitrous oxide. This step is also known as <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[|denitrification] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">. As for the nitrous oxide released from the ocean, Dr. Trimmer of the University of London, reports that the production of nitrous oxide from the Arabian Sea makes up 18% of the global ocean emissions. He went onto discover that bacteria trying to produce nitrogen gas are mostly releasing this nitrous oxide gas. He found that going deeper into the sea, at the <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[|oxygen minimum zone] <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">, this bacteria producing the gas does very well with little or no oxygen. The gas that is then produced at this depth, about 130 meters deep could be released into the atmosphere. Dr. Trimmer also states that, “Increased export of organic material from the surface layers of the ocean under increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This could cause an expansion of the oxygen minimum zones of the world triggering ever greater emissions of nitrous oxide.” (Nitrous Oxide) <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">

<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Since 1750, the level of nitrous oxide gas in the atmosphere has risen about 16% It is also estimated that that these natural and human sources are releasing 7-13 million tons of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. We must make an attempt to reduce the use of this gas, because nitrous oxide that is being released can be trapped in the atmosphere for over 100 years. This graph below shows how the nitrogen gas in our atmosphere has increased over the years, starting from the year 1750. []
 * Why is the release of nitrous oxide important to climate change?**

Methane Bibliography

"'GREENHOUSE EFFECT' AND METHANE RISE - New York Times." __The New York Times –__ __ Breaking News, World News & Multimedia __. 22 Mar. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/16/science/greenhouse-effect-and-methane-rise.html?

sec=health&&scp=1&sq=methane%20in%20greenhouse%20effect&st=cse>. "Methane." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 22 Mar. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane>. "NASA GISS: Research Features:." __NASA GISS: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies__. 22 Mar. 2009 <span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/features/methane/>.

Nitrous Oxide Bibliography

"BBC - Weather Centre - Climate Change - Nitrous Oxide." __BBC - Homepage__. 23 Mar. 2009

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/nitrous_oxide.shtml>. Hopwood, Nick, and Jordan Cohan. "Greenhouse Gases and Society." __Nitrous__ __ Oxide __. 20 Mar. 2009 <www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/greenhouse.htm>.

"Nitrous oxide from ocean microbes ( A large amount of the greenhouse gas...)." __Bio-Medicine –__ __ latest biology and medical news/technology __. 23 Mar. 2009 <http://www.bio- medicine.org/biology-news-1/Nitrous-oxide-from-ocean-microbes-1521-1/>. "US EPA - Nitrous Oxide: Sources and Emissions." __U.S. Environmental Protection Agency__. 23 <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mar. 2009 <http://www.epa.gov/nitrousoxide/sources.html>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">