WHAT…..

….Are Fuel Cells?

Unlike internal combustion engines, which are essentially a series of controlled explosionsof gasoline and oxygen, fuel cells use electrochemical reactions to directly create electricity.

Inside a fuel cell, the fuel is separated from oxygen by a thin membrane called an electrolyte. The electrolyte membrane only allows protons, or charged hydrogen atoms, to pass through it. In order for the fuel (i.e. hydrogen), to get the oxygen, it has to drop off its electrons at the anode and become converted to protons. The protons travel through the membrane and react with oxygen and electrons at the cathode.  To get to the cathode, the electrons have to travel through an exterior circuit, producing an electrical current.

….Is The Difference Between Global Warming and Climate Change?

Global warming is the increase in Earth’s average surface temperature because of rising levels of greenhouse gases mainly due to human emissions.

Climate change is global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gas amounts contribute to creating a long-term change in the Earth’s climate.

Of course temperature change itself isn’t the most severe effect of changing climate. Changes to precipitation patterns and sea level are likely to have much greater human impact than the higher temperatures alone. So “global climate change” is the more scientifically accurate term.

….Is The Greenhouse Effect?

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that maintains the Earth’s temperature at levels hospitable to life. Energy from the sun warms the Earth. The Earth absorbs heat from the sun and radiates it back into space in the form of infrared radiation.

About one percent of the Earth’s atmosphere is composed of greenhouse gases, primarily water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane and nitrous oxide. Together, these gases reflect enough heat back to the earth to maintain the average temperature of the atmosphere at around 60° F.

Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be a cold, uninhabitable place. In comparison, Mars has an average temperature of -27° F., because it’s thin atmosphere supports virtually no greenhouse effect.

At issue is humankind’s role in enhancing the greenhouse effect, contributing to overall global warming. BAD for Earth. GOOD for Mars, (only for about 100+ years), and would scientifically be known as Terra Forming.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greenhouse hot air (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• global warming skepticism grows (in scientific community) (schansblog.blogspot.com)
• Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green (schansblog.blogspot.com)

Tags: climate change, earth, Earth's atmosphere, environment, global warming, Greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, methane

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 10:24 am and is filed under Going Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.