CO2 measurement graph

On 11th of May 2010 we measured the amount of carbon dioxide in our class,B14, where our lesson was being held. The experiment was supposed to be done with all the windows and doors closed, but that was impossible considering the number of students.

This graph shows the maximum and minimum values, that squiggly red line is the focus point of the graph.

One detail that alters the values is whether it is raining or not........ on that day it was raining.!

Air

Have you thought of what the Word “air” covers. Air can be described scientifically as the union of various gases like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc that join together or share the same area forming what we breathe and live on.

It is invisible yet felt, it floats and is weightless. It has been around since the beginning of time and will actually be the end of us. As the amount of oxygen decreases and carbon dioxide increasing, it is felt. The changes in temperature, season alterations and those intense winds that never existed before are all signs of the power the air holds over us.

Without it we are dead and due to our hand with the air we are dying. Evolution and adaptation have saved the species so far, but that has occurred over millions of years. The alterations happening now days are faster than anticipated and deadlier.

If air was a thing that could be spoken to and could speak, what would it say? The indignation and the sorrow Man would actually feel remorse about the destruction he has wrought unthinkingly. But since air itself does not have that possibility Man continues. If things are going in the direction they are, where will we all be in a hundred years?

results

Due to the fact that we weren´t able to measure the co2 in the class that rainy day, we did some research as to the reasons why....

Do temperature, humidity and all those lovely weather-related things really affect measurements????

last friday we got together to start writing up our report on what we have been up to in the class, though we didn´t get much done about the report we were able to some essential research.

Our findings varied between :

• the co2 problem in 6 easy steps that makes understanding co2 oh so easy

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/08/the-co2-problem-in-6-easy-steps/

• the explaination by Roberta C. Barbalace on "When does carbon dioxide become a pollutant?"
  
  http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/environmental/200611CO2globalwarming.html
  
• and some interesting information concerning Portugal and the Kyoto Protocol targets. The table below shows some facts.

enjoy.!

Update- problems encountered

We haven´t been able to update this blog for a while now. Every time we want to access to the net, there is no net. Very frustrating, but hey, that´s life.

What we have been doing lately depends on your personal view of work.

Did you know that it is impossible, literally, to measure the level of CO2 in a room with the windows open, when it is raining / rainy? Well we experienced first-hand - it doesn´t work.
Last Tuesday we had planned to do so much, but alas; no net, raining weather and no access to the computers in the library caused us postpone all plans.

Since we are not the only group in the class (there are about 5) which all have different functions and plans do present and host activities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to organize and plan anything in advance.

But that is no excuse. One of the research aspects we would like to focus on is “the affect of weather on CO2 levels”. Another is “how different times of the day (morning and afternoon) affect the reading and measurement of CO2”.

other blogs

we have a portuguese version; a blog done only in portuguese...

www.qualidar.blogspot.com

and

www.qualidar.skyrock.com

and another english one at

www.airqual.skyrock.com

go check them out and dont be afraid to comment ;)

Last year when we were writing up our report on the work accomplish that term, we stambled across this; the 350 moviment. Studies have been done and show that the atmosphere is in danger of contain too much carbon dioxide, which leads to global warming, greenhouse effect and all those things that man really cannot survive in the future. 350 is the level of carbon dioxide (350 parts per million/ppm) that must only be released into the atmosphere.

Many campaigns,ads and movements have been started to get the Powers to listen and help Mother Earth is we all want to live on her healthly a few decades from now.

This video is 1 minute 30 seconds long and shows some aspects of the movement, renewable energy and what needs to be done to help. There are no words spoken which means that everyone can understand it.

If everybody chips in a little the goal can be accomplished easier than if noone knows, or cares and just adds to the pollution and the planets problems.

a useful site

we were informed about this site when we started the project and it´s pretty useful, it give statistics of levels of gases in the amtosphere in the different areas of portugal, where stations are located.

http://www.qualar.org/