Lab1Report (2)

Lab Report 1: Ice Cores and Climate Change Claudia Casaine September 17, 2023 Materials and Methods: In this second life lab, ice core samples were being collected at a drilling site in Antarctica using an ice drilling rig. After the sample was taken, it was then taken to the lab and studied on the lab bench. The sample was then placed into the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry or GC-MS to get data on the sample. Results: This table shows how the depth and age of the ice relates to the CO2 concentrations from the drilled ice core. Depth Age (years) CO2 (meters) Before present (ppmv) 0.4 1 400.8 1.8 2 398.6 3.2 3 396.5 4.6 4 393.8 6.0 5 391.6 7.4 6 389.9 8.8 7 387.4 10.2 8 385.6 11.6 9 383.8 13.0 10 381.9 14.4 11 379.8 15.8 12 377.5 17.2 13 375.8 18.6 14 373.2 20.0 15 371.1 21.4 16 369.5 22.8 17 368.3 24.2 18 366.7 25.6 19 363.7 27.0 20 362.6 28.4 21 360.8 29.8 22 358.8 31.2 23 357.1 32.6 24 356.4 34.0 25 355.6 35.4 26 354.4 36.8 27 353.1 38.2 28 351.6

39.6 29 349.2 41.0 30 347.4 42.4 31 346.0 43.8 32 344.6 45.2 33 343.0 46.6 34 341.4 48.0 35 340.1 49.4 36 338.7 50.8 37 336.8 52.2 38 335.4 53.6 39 333.8 55.0 40 332.1 56.4 41 331.1 57.8 42 330.2 59.2 43 329.7 60.6 44 327.5 62.0 45 326.3 63.4 46 325.7 64.8 47 324.6 66.2 48 323.0 67.6 49 322.2 69.0 50 321.4 70.4 51 320.0 71.8 52 319.6 73.2 53 319.0 74.6 54 318.5 76.0 55 317.6 77.4 56 316.9 78.0 57 315.7 81.8 62 313.6 81.8 62 314.7 81.8 62 314.1 104.4 63 311.9 104.6 63 311.0 104.3 63 312.7 120.3 68 309.9 120.0 68 311.4 124.0 72 309.7 128.8 76 310.5 129.0 77 311.0 130.0 77 309.2 131.0 78 310.5 133.0 80 307.9 135.8 82 309.2 137.0 84 307.8

447.3 770 281.7 467.9 820 283.9 488.5 870 283.8 506.0 920 282.4 523.6 970 280.3 534.3 1010 279.4 Figure 1: The y-axis shows the CO2 concentrations (ppmv) from the sample as the dependent variable. The x-axis shows the age (1,010 years ago to present time) as the independent variable. The CO2 concentrations get higher as the age gets closer to present day. Figure 2: The y-axis on this plot shows the CO2 concentrations (ppmv) from the historic ice core as the dependent variable. The x-axis shows the age over time (420,000 years before present) as the independent variable. Over time, it is visible there were fluctuations of CO2 concentration caused by the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Discussion and Conclusion: Looking at Figure 2, there are changes in the time scales around 120,000 years. These changes were caused by a glacial-cycle that happened around 120,000 years ago. This was a period of cooling and glaciation that decreased the CO2 concentration levels very quickly. Over the last 1,000 years, the CO2 concentration levels were steady up until around 200 years ago as seen in Figure 1. Around 200 years ago you can see an upward trend in CO2 concentration. This was caused by the use of fossil fuels for power generation. Large amounts of CO2 are emitted due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal. The Industrial Revolution began the rapid increase of burning fossil fuels and in turn, made the CO2 concentration levels rise and continue to rise. For the past 22,000 years sea levels have been rising. From the end of the ice age to present day the sea level has increased by around 120 meters. Since 1870 the sea level has risen around 0.2 meters and will continue to rise. In only 153 years it has risen that much which is a concern to many coastal cities and towns. I am from Sarasota which is a coastal city on the west side of Florida. Sarasota is at a huge risk for rising sea levels. If there was a 6-foot rise in sea level, the islands and keys 15 minutes from my house would be underwater as well as most of the coastline. My hometown has seen the risks as we see major storms impact our coastline every year. Florida as a whole is at risk of rising sea levels. Looking at a 6- foot rise, the southern part of the state would be underwater including the Florida Keys, Naples, and Miami. All of the other coastlines would be underwater as well. This would have an effect on animals and people in those areas. It would force animals and people to move inland as their habitat would no longer be there. Rising sea levels will erode our coastlines and contaminate groundwater. These changes to the climate pose serious dangers. To avoid these, we need to get politicians and businesses involved in supporting the reduction of carbon emissions. We would need to reduce the