Changes in Earth's Albedo Measured by Satellite (Wielicki et al, 825) Essay

Changes in Earth's Albedo Measured by Satellite (Wielicki et al, 825) - Essay Example The global albedo is found to change with changes in the cloud cover, amount of atmospheric aerosols, and forest, snow, & ice cover on the earth’s surface. The magnitude of impact on global albedo due to events caused on earth can be demonstrated by the following example – A volcanic eruption in Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 released aerosols in the stratosphere, which raised global albedo by almost 0.007 in a span of two years. A larger increase in global albedo with unknown causes was reported to occur between 2001 and 2003. In order to investigate whether any significant changes in global albedo occurred between 2001 and 2003, Wielicki et al. examined the observations made by global satellites that measured changes in the earth’s albedo (825). These observations included those made by CERES (Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System) of NASA’s Terra spacecraft. The monthly anomalies in the data caused by seasonal changes were nullified and data was plotted. The data provided by CERES covers global observations for the complete solar spectrum ranging from a wavelength of 0.3 to 4 Â µm. The observations of the global data reveals a small decrease of about 0.006 in the global albedo corresponding to about 2 W m-2 decrease in the shortwave reflected flux. These results contradict with those obtained by Palle et al, who demonstrated a large increase of about 0.017 in the global albedo corresponding to an increase of about 6 W m-2 in the shortwave reflected flux. Independent observations made by two individual CERES instruments were compared. It is believed that the 1.1 W m-2 decrease in the flux observed by one of the CERES instruments could be due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation during a hemispheric scan. When taken into consideration, this further reduces the anomaly to 0.9 W m-2. Wielicki et al. further explain the effect of change in albedo on earth’s climate (825). When changes in land surface, aerosols, and fores t, snow and ice cover is the cause for change in albedo, then increasing albedo results cooling of the earth and decreasing albedo results in warming. These changes on earth’s surface significantly influence the amount of reflected solar radiation but have comparatively minor effects on the emitted thermal infrared radiation that results in cooling. Wielicki et al. contend that if observations made by Palle et al. were correct, then there would have been global cooling double of what had been observed in the Pinatubo eruption. However, such a global cooling was not observed. Furthermore, Wielicki et al. explain another possibility that the earth’s total ocean heat storage could witness a significant reduction. It is estimated that between 2000 to 2002, the ocean heat storage has experienced an increase of 0.7 W m-2. In order to account for the global changes in reflected solar flux, the flux in ocean heat storage was scaled to global surface area from an ocean-only are a utilized by Willis et al (Wielicki et al. 825). According to Wielicki et al, if changes in global albedo were occurring, then there would be a decrease of 0.7 Â ± 0.8 W m-2 in the reflected flux. This is found to be consistent with the observations made by CERES. Until now, only the effects of change in albedo have been discussed. Cloud changes may also be affecting both the earth’s albedo and its thermal infrared cooling, and may also be a cause for albedo changes that do not

Princess Diana Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Princess Diana was born The Honorable Diana Frances Spencer on July 1, 1961. She was the third female child to Viscount and Viscountess Althorp. Diana had two older sisters, Sarah and Jane and one younger brother, Charles. Her family was well off and Diana had a privileged childhood. The Spencer’s made their money as successful sheep traders in the 15th century. With their fortune they built Althorp House in Northamptonshire and acquired a family crest and motto – "God defend the right" (Morton 10). The Spencer’s occupied various offices of State and Court. When Diana’s was born her father was disappointed she was a girl. He was hoping for his third children to finally be a male heir to carry on the Spencer name. Diana’s father and the rest of the family wanted to know why her mother was only producing girls. Because of this, her mother was sent to a clinic for tests (Morton 10). She was only 23 at the time. This is ironic because today we now know the sex of the baby is determined by the father. Even though she was too young to understand, Diana believed she was to blame for her father’s disappointment. Finally, a few years later her mother delivered a boy to carry on the Spencer name. Although Diana had a beautiful christening at Sandringham Church with well-to-do Godparents, her brother Charles’s christening was a major event at Westminster Abbey. The Queen was the principal Godparent. The Spencer children were privileged but not snobbish. They were taught to accept people for what they are and not their position in life. The children never understood their titles until they went to school. Occasionally one of the royals would make a visit to the Spencer home and once in a while they would play with Princess Margaret’s sons, Princes Andrew and Edward. Diana remembers not liking to go to the Royal home, because it was big and spooky. Diana’s mother’s family, the Fermoy’s, w ere responsible for acquisition of Park House, Diana’s childhood home. King George V granted Diana’s grandfather Park House which was originally built for overflow guests from the Royal Sandringham House. It was a spacious property with an outdoor pool and a tennis court. (Morton 11). Diana loved to swim and play tennis at a child. The Spencer’s were linked by blood to King Charles II. They are also said to be linked by blood to seven American Presidents including Fra... ...eral on television. Her brother, Earl Spencer gave a tearful eulogy for Diana. His closed the eulogy by saying "Above all we give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds" (Davies 304). The Princess was buried in sanctified ground on an island in the center of an ornamental lake in the Spencer home at Althorp. Her grave faces east, towards the rising sun (British Royal Government website). Princess Diana will be missed not only by her two sons but also by many around the world. Perhaps the best lesson she taught was all people, even those in high positions such as hers are able to help make a difference in the world. She will be missed. Bibliography Works Cited British Royal Government Website. . Davies, Nicholas. Diana, The People’s Princess. New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, 1997. Morton, Andrew. Diana, Her True Story. New York and Great Britain: Simon & Schuster, 1992. Morton, Andrew. Diana, Her True Story, In Her Own Words. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Anorexia Nervosa cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any single model of abnormality

Anorexia is a condition disputed by psychologists in attempts to find a cause for the problem. Anorexia is when an individual chooses to emaciate themselves in order to be thin. There are two main types of reasoning behind such behaviour. The biological and psychological explanation. Of course, there are many forms of branched out explanations within these, and the two of which that I shall be exploring are the genetic justification (in terms of biological) and the behaviourist approach, for the psychological relation. Biological psychologists believe that human behaviour and what makes us do what we do, is all down to genes. With the new advance in recent science, genes are becoming a more popular reasoning to many psychological issues. Anorexia nervosa for one. The genetic approach proclaims that the cause for anorexia is to do with genes: i.e. the genetic and inherited factors we have within our relations. The idea is that should one family member suffer from an eating disorder, then there is a higher chance that another family member (preferably those who share the same, or like genes) would contract an eating, or another obsessive-compulsive disorder. Holland et al, a group of psychologists, lead a study on the genetic link of anorexia nervosa in 1984. They perused a sample of 34 pairs of twins and one set of triplets, where at least one twin in each pair suffered from anorexia. They found a higher concordance rate of 55% for the 16 monozygotic twins (who share 100% of the same genes) than for the 14 pairs of dizygotic twins, (who share 50% of the same genes) with a concordance rate of only 7%. The results, in imprecise terms, suggested that there was a genetic link between family members suffering from anorexia nervosa. But on closer examination of the study, we can find many other reasons, which may not be genetic, for these findings. For example, the sample amount was very small. This is a major flaw in any experiment, as the sample size often needs to a representative size, which can be extended to the whole of society, but 35 pairs of twins is an extremely small amount. Furthermore, the environmental influences were not considered in this experiment, and so the higher concordance rates for the monozygotic twins could be because they are treated more alike than the dizygotic twins. This is part of behaviourism of which I shall study later on. In terms of reasonability, the genetic link between family members suffering from anorexia seems to be weak. Though it can be part of the reason or perhaps only accurate for only a very few, it cannot be wholly responsible for everyone who suffers from this eating disorder. A problem with this reasoning as being the â€Å"answer† is that there is then no blame of self. Because the condition is ‘purely' biological, the individual is then rendered hopeless and vulnerable to the disorder, as they are not in control of what is in their genes. It can also provide an ‘excuse' so that the subject is unable, or unwilling to become better. Psychologically, behaviourists look at how the environment and outside influences have shaped and created an individual. Predominantly in western cultures, the size of â€Å"beauty† in terms of celebrity and media has dramatically decreased in the last couple of decades. Marilyn Monroe, said to be one of the most beautiful woman of the time was a dress size 14. As the years gone by, we find that the dress size of â€Å"beauty† has gone down, and now, catwalk models are size 8's and lower. It seems that the more rich and advanced we become, the higher our standards are, for skinnier people. The media is a major factor in influencing the ordinary people of our society. Behaviourists believe that this is one of the main causes for people (particularly those with lower self-esteem) to develop eating disorders, in order to become more like the person in the magazine. Because of this, people are often seen as ‘beautiful' when they are thin. This puts pressure on people who perhaps may have been teased and felt self-conscious about their self-image. Once the individual begins to lose weight, it is often found that the criticism stops, and compliments are received in its place. This can then become a habit, and is known as â€Å"Classical conditioning†. They learn to associate being thin with feeling good about themselves. â€Å"Operant conditioning† happens when the praise and admiration from others reinforces their eating habits and causes them to want to lose more weight. This form of explanation is very logical in certain aspects, but there are a few things that, should this theory be true, does not correspond appropriately. For example, once the sufferer begins to lose too much weight and is then the cause for concern, why is it that once the compliments stop, the sufferer still desires to lose weight? The compliments were associated to feeling good and losing weight. The compliments are no longer there, and so one would assume the feeling good should have dissolved, and due to operant conditioning, the sufferer would learn to break the habit. It is true that operant does sometimes work on promoting weight gain in some people, by if this concept was accurate, then why doesn't everyone with anorexia respond in the same way? â€Å"Anorexia Nervosa cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any single model of abnormality† It is true that anorexia cannot be the result of one cause, as we have looked at two versions of reasoning behind the condition and both explanations still leave gaps where logic or situation does not fit. Each explanation gives a valid justification to anorexia, but the problem still cannot be solved by one account of psychology. The answer may be that it is a mixture of perhaps several models of abnormality, but the fact is that anorexia nervosa is too complex and too different in every case to be the epitome of one explanation.

How to Conjugate Prévoir (to Foresee)