64-203 Physics & Society: The Present

Electromagnetic spectrum
and global warming
 Overview

Readings: Sec. 9.5 – 9.9

• Electromagnetic waves can have many different

frequencies and wavelengths
• Solar spectrum
• Ozone depletion & Ozone hole
• Greenhouse gases & Global warming
 Maxwell’s predictions

Maxwell’s equations predicted:

• The electromagnetic interactions manifest
as electric and magnetic “fields”
• Oscillating charges produce e.m. fields that
propagate like a wave and carry
electromagnetic energy, i.e., they radiate
• Electromagnetic energy can move through
empty space at a constant speed
• Light is an example of electromagnetic
radiation
 EM fields & EM spectrum

• EM fields are real. They carry energy and

momentum.
• Light is only one example of an electromagnetic
wave. The frequency of light is about 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟓 𝑯𝒛.
• The frequency of the radio waves that Hertz
produced was 1000000000 Hz.
• Maxwell asserted that there have to be other
waves that had frequencies from just over 0 Hz to
in principle infinity Hz.
• That is the rainbow of colours extends to
frequencies that we cannot see.
Colours of light: spectrum
http://www2.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/ALSTool/EMSpec/EMSpec2.html
 Spectrum in communication

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/7318418120167823/
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=24687&seqNum=4
https://www.cnet.com/news/wireless-spectrum-what-it-is-and-why-you-
should-care/
 Spectra of atoms

http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/atoms/atpt-images/atomic_line_spectra.png
 Spectrum in detection

S Coticone, B Morgan, N Ludwigsen,

http://ispub.com/IJFS/4/2/12698 M-D Hoang et al., J. Anal. At. Spectrom.,
2010, 25, 163-168

http://homework.uoregon.edu/pub/emj/122/activities/spectra.html
 Spectra in Astronomy

• http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/li
ght/emspectrum.html
 Solar spectrum

• Sun emits e.m. waves with all frequencies

Sunburn

Light Heat

X, g
 Solar energy

• Average solar energy in N.A. = 200 Watts/m2

• 1 Watt = 1 joule/second

• Estimate how much solar power falls on your

finger nail (1 cm2)
• Estimate how much solar power will fall on
your roof-top solar panel (10 m2 – 40m2)
 Solar energy

• Average solar energy in N.A. = 200 Watts/m2

• 1 Watt = 1 joule/second

• Estimate how much solar power falls on your

finger nail (1 cm2)
• 200 Watts/m2 = 200 Watts/10000cm2
• Solar power over the nail = 0.02 Watts
 Solar energy

• Average solar energy in N.A. = 200 Watts/m2

• 1 Watt = 1 joule/second

• Estimate how much solar power will fall on

your roof-top solar panel (10 m2 – 40m2)
• Power = 2000 – 8000 Watts!
 Atmospheric ozone

• Oxygen molecules that we breathe in = O2

(two atoms of oxygen)
• Ozone molecule = O3 (three atoms of
oxygen)
• Ozone is present in the atmosphere at very
low “trace” concentrations – about 3 in
every 10 million molecules in the
atmosphere is an ozone molecule
• Ozone molecules form a layer in the upper
stratosphere
 Ozone creation
• Ozone is created from oxygen by sun’s UV
light
• O2 O + O (due to UV light)
• O + O2  O3

•Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs 97%–99%

of (harmful to biological matter) UV light (it has
a large UV spectrum)
•Ozone at the ground level (from car exhaust)
is corrosive, and contributes to smog
Ozone layer

Guardian, UK, 2008

 Ozone depletion

• Why do we care?
• Increase in UV rays reaching the ground-
level
• Sunburn/ skin cancer
• Radiation damage to animals, plants

• Since 1970, stratospheric ozone has been

decreasing by 4% per 10 years
 Ozone depletion
• Natural causes and variations (solar
activity, wind cycles, volcanoes)

- NASA
 Ozone hole

• Seasonal decrease
in stratospheric
ozone over the
Earth’s polar
regions observed
since 1970

Image of the largest Antarctic ozone hole ever

recorded (September 2006) - Wikipedia.
 O3 & Stratospheric Cl
• Cl + O3  ClO + O2
• ClO + ClO + sunlight  Cl + Cl + O2
• New chlorine “eats up” more O3

1974: F. Sherwook Rowland (left)

and Mario Molina proposed the
theory of chlorine-catalyzed ozone
depletion. (1995 Nobel prize)
 Man made causes

• Long lived (inert) chemicals that

accumulate in the stratosphere and break
apart to release chlorine
• Examples
• CFC’s – used in coolants, aerosols, foams
• Carbon tetrachloride – used in solvents
• Halons – used in coolants and fire
extinguishers9
• Ozone Treaty, Montreal Canada (1987)
Impact of Ozone Treaty (1987)

PC: NASA
 EM Radiation and molecules

• At some frequencies (colors), molecules

reflect EM radiation


• At other frequencies, molecules absorb EM
radiation and then re-emit

•  
Greenhouse effect
 Greenhouse effect

• Greenhouse gases such as water vapour

and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere keep
the Earth’s surface temperature at a warm
+14°C even though the temperature in
space is -19°C
• Greenhouse gases absorb e.m. energy at
infrared frequencies (heat) and emit heat
towards the earth
• Increase in greenhouse gases leads to
global warming
Increase in CO2
Increase in temperature
• Arctic ice: Long-term trends in Northern Hemisphere sea
ice extent, Nordic sea ice extent, and Russian Arctic sea
ice extent anomaly. Source: IPCC, 2007a
 Antarctic Ice

• https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/anta
rctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-maximum

• https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nas
a-study-shows-global-sea-ice-diminishing-
despite-antarctic-gains
Rising sea levels

• Sea levels are rising

worldwide and along
much of the U.S.
coast. (IPCC, 2007)
Tidal flooding
 Carbon map

• http://www.carbonmap.org/#
Contributors to warming
 Emissions

- US EPA
https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-map-historical-emissions-around-the-world
 Decreasing emissions

How to
decrease
emissions
Minute paper