PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES & Life in the Universe?

Paul H. Carr, Ph.D.Sigma Xi Member since 1957

PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES &

Life in the Universe?

• Why is the temperature of Venus hotter than Mercury that is closer to the sun.

• Search for life in our (1) solar system and (2) Milky Way Galaxy

• How life has and is now impacting our earth

REQUIREMENTS FOR LIFE ? LIQUID WATER & ATMOSPHERES

Vacuum of

1 Bar 3 x 10-1510-14 0.01 92

Gravity helps hold planet’s atmosphere. Venus had a CO2 runaway greenhouse effect.

VACUUM ON THE MOON 3 X 10-15 BARNo greenhouse gas atmosphere

• Diurnal Variations:

Night -233 C (40 Kelvin)

Day 123 C (396 Kelvin)

ON EARTH• Greenhouse gasses, blanketing the earth, give much

smaller variations.

• On cloudless nights, non-condensing and increasing CO2 (100+ year life) and other greenhouse gases keep us warmer than on the moon.

Increasing CO2 gas density: 1. raises temperature of earth’s surface. 2. reduces temperature of the stratosphere. 6

PLANETARY TEMPERATURES, VACUUMS, & ATMOSPHERES.Science, 330, 356-359, 15 October 2010

Parameter Mars Earth Venus MercuryTemp. (K) 293 Day 300 Day 730 Day 700 Day 200 Night 280 Night 730 Night 100 Night

Pressure (bar) 0.01 1 92 10-14

Ultraviolet observations of VENUS’ cloud cover----Venus surface temp hotter than Mercury’s 700 K.730K (457 C) is hot enough to melt lead.

ATMOSPHERESVenus: 96% CO2Earth: 21% Oxygen, 0.04% CO2

Mars: 95% CO2

NASA’s Curiosity Rover discovered this layered geological history of Mars at the base of Mount Sharp in August 2012. Are fossils in these rock strata?

Strip coal mine on Federal land in Wyoming Sierra Mar-Apr 2016

NASA

Oceans left Mars 1 billion years ago. It lost its denser CO2 atmosphere whose greenhouse effect kept water liquid.

The solar particle wind may have stripped away Mars’ CO2 atmosphere. Unlike our earth, Mars does not have a global magnetic field to deflect these particles. Its gravity is less than that of our earth. NASA will be sending an orbiter to Mars called Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Satellite.

The gassy planet Jupiter’s moon, Europa could have life.

Jupiter’s Moon, Europa, has the right combination for life: a) chemical abundance of essential elements in its rocky core, b) a liquid water ocean (covered by an icy crust), and c) a constant source of energy (tidal heating) from its elliptical orbit, operating over billions of years.All this implies a “sea floor” environment analogous to, if not identical to, Earth’s mid-ocean ridges.

Life in our Milky Way Galaxy?

Earth

Artist concept of likely rocky Exoplanet Kepler 452b, 385 day orbit in habitable zone of star, 20% hotter than our sun, 1400 light-years away. Discovered July 2015

An artist’s impression of the planet Proxima b orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth’s sun, 4.2 light years away.

Period 11 days. 1.3 mass of earth.

Tidally locked.

Could have liquid water

Star is a red dwarf, 1/12th mass of sun.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/science/earth-planet-proxima-centauri.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

Feb 22, 2017 Artist’s concept of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system.(TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all Earth-sized and terrestrial, (journal Nature.) TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius,40 light years away, and its planets orbit very close to it. They are most likely tidally locked like our moon.

Why does our earth have 21 % oxygen, 0.04% CO2? -Neighboring Venus & Mars are mostly CO2

Figure from “Cosmic Dawn” by Eric Chaisson

Photosynthesis of blue-green algae converted CO2 to Oxygen

Carbon Dioxide, CO2

Prokaryote Cells Eukaryote Cells

7

• Cambrian Explosion of multicellular life made possible by increasing oxygen levels.

- CO2 was converted to O2 by photosynthesis.

- Enabling animals that get energy by oxidizing sugars.

LIFE on EARTH Single celled life for billions of years. Cambrian Explosion of Multi-celled life, 540 million

years ago.

542 M years Beginning of Multicellular Life.“The Fossil Record of the Cambrian Explosion” Keith Miller, PSCF, June 2014

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• 52 Million years ago, Thermal Maximum, Earth was ice-free, sea levels 100s meters (~300 ft) higher.

•40 – 35 Million years ago, Antarctic Glaciation, CO2 was 700 ppm

•8 M Arctic glaciation, years ago when CO2 400 ppm.

Dinosaur Extinction 65M Yr. BP Figure from Dr. James Hansen, NASA GISS

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THERMAL MAXIMUM

6-7 MYA

Our smaller jaws made room for larger brains, which require 20% of our energy. Increase enabled by the invention of fire for cooking & advanced stone tools for hunting & butchering. American Scientist Mar-Apr 2016.

LIFE’S MILESTONES First single celled life 4,000,000,000 years ago Cambrian Explosion of multicellular life 400, 000,000 Mammals replace dinosaurs 40,000,000 First Primates and Humans 4, 000,000 Neanderthal human hunter-gathers 400,000 Cave Paintings, Neanderthals extinct 40,000 Homo Sapiens’ agricultural revolution, writing 4,000 Western scientific revolution, printing 400 Electronics, Satellite Communication 40

Internet, Facebook 4 THE HUMAN IMPACT IS MUCH FASTER THAN NATURAL PROCESSES

PROPOSED DEBATE ON

LIFE in the UNIVERSEBetween

Cosmologist, CARL SAGAN (1934 – 1996)

Sagan believed many kinds of intelligent life could form, but that the lack of evidence suggests that intelligent beings destroy themselves

rather quickly.

And

Evolutionary biologist, ERNST MAYR (1904 - 2005, Bedford, MA) Mayr believed single cell life in the universe is very likely,

but intelligent life very rare.

PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES &

Life in the Universe?

• Why is the temperature of Venus hotter than Mercury that is closer to the sun

• Search for life in our solar system and galaxy

• How microbial life has and humans are now impacting our earth.

Global mean temperature and atmospheric CO2 all rose dramatically during the great deglaciation that ushered in the present Holocene Epoch 10,000 years ago. During the periods of steepest warming, the CO2 rise precedes the global temperature by several centuries CO2 INCREASE = 0.009 PPM/YEARA 3.5 deg C increase in average global temperature = a major climate change.

3 M PEOPLE 7 B

Ice Age

At present rate of 2.5 ppm rise per year, humans are increasing CO2 at a rate 300 times faster than the recovery from the ice age 18,000 -10,000 years ago.

CO2 CONCENTRATIONS, HIGHEST (33%) IN 800,000 YRS, COULD REACH ~1000 PPM BY 21OO.

Ice Age

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2017 CO2 levels of 408 ppm are 123 ppm above the pre-industrial average

1875

• Carbon isotope ratios indicate the CO2 increase since1750 is from burning ~300 million yr old fossil fuels.

1. HUMAN INFLUENCE ON WARMING

30

Little Ice Age

19

The rate of sea level increase correlates with the blue line of the CO2 increase.

Sea level rise is a proxy for global temperature, since it is due to thermal expansion (50%) and the melting of ice (50%)

SEA LEVEL RISE IS A BETTER MEASURE OF GLOBAL WARMINGTHAN AIR TEMPERATURE

Blue: Sea level change from tide-gauge data (Church J.A. and White N.J., Geophys. Res. Lett. 2006; 33: L01602)Red: Univ. Colorado sea level analyses in satellite era (http://www.columbia.edu/~mhs119/SeaLevel/).

Sea level rise has increased 4X to 12 in/century at present from 3 in/century 1870– 1924.

12 in./100 years.

7.5 in./100 years

3 in. /100 years

Sea levels could rise by 1 m (3 ft) by 2050. Could we take action to prevent a 5 m (18 ft) rise by 2058? The lifetime of CO2 is 100+ years.

Atmos. Chem. Phys., March 2016. J. Hansen et. al.

1 M TIPPING LEVEL

Absorbed CO2 increases acidity, reduces the calcification rate and nature’s ability to sequester carbon.

INCREASING ACIDIFICATION THREATENS THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN

Solomon H. Katz, Ph.D is a leading expert on the anthropology of food, U of Penn. He was editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture published by Scribner (2003). Prof Katz was Chair of the AAA Task Force on World Food Problems.

Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D, Chair of the Department of Marine Sciences, University of New England. Biddeford, Maine. Pioneer of the field of “Ecological Aquaculture” and helped develop the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s global protocols.

Can World Food Production Keep up with Population Growth in the Face of Climate Change & Sea Acidification?

THE “WICKED PROBLEM” OF CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT IS IT DOING TO US AND FOR US?

63nd Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, www.iras.org

June 24—July 1, 2017. Star Island off Portsmouth, NH.

• Climate change is complex with causes and consequences in economic, ecological, ethical, and technological realms.

• How can global warming be a catalyst for spiritual and societal transformation? 

Solar PVs on historic Star Island form the largest off-grid array in New England

S Sunrise on Star Island

SUNSET OVER PORTSMOUTH, NH FROM STAR ISLAND Learn more at www.iras.org

PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES &

Life in the Universe?

• Why is the temperature of Venus hotter than Mercury that is closer to the sun.

• Search for life in our (1) solar system and (2) Milky Way Galaxy

• How microbial life has and humans are now impacting our earth

Might our earth undergo runaway greenhouse warming similar to Venus?

Fossil fuel burning is increasing CO2 concentrations. Temperature increases correlate with CO2.

• Our present level of 400 ppm could reach ~ 1000 ppm by 2100.

• Arctic became ice-free 8 M years ago when CO2 = 300 to 450 ppm.• Antarctic melted ~ 40 M years ago, CO2 ~ 700 ppm• Earth was ice-free, sea levels 100s meters (~300 ft) higher.

Dinosaur Extinction 65M Yr. BP Figure from Dr. James Hansen, NASA GISS

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THERMAL MAXIMUM

Billions of years from now our sun will expand into a hotter red giant, evaporating our oceans and making our earth inhabitable to humans.

We will then need to migrate to a habitable planet.

The nearest possibility is Mars. The US is planning to land humans there and bring them back by 2030.

Saturn’s Moon,Escaladus has salty water geysers with organic molecules erupting through its ice.

Life on Escadalus or Titan’s methane lakes?

Pluto

--Dwarf Ex-Planet Pluto is in the Kuiper Belt.

--4.5 light-hours from sun

-Rocks & 50 K temp ice too cold for life.

The laser is the most intimidating and expensive of the challenges. It would have to generate 100 gigawatts of power for the two minutes needed to accelerate the butterfly probes to a fifth of the speed of light (subjecting its tiny innards to 60,000 times the force of normal gravity.} That is about as much energy as it takes for a space shuttle to lift off. To achieve that energy would require an array about a mile across combining thousands of lasers firing in perfect unison.the sails, which would have to be very thin and able to reflect the laser light without absorbing any of its energy. Absorbing as little as one part in 100,000 of the laser energy would vaporize the sail.http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/science/alpha-centauri-breakthrough-starshot-yuri-milner-stephen-hawking.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

Earthrise on the Moon December 2015,from NASA’s Lunar Reconnais-sance Orbiter

Naturalist John Muir (1838 – 1914)

When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with all other stars all singing and shinning together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.

Earthrise on the Moon

SAVE OUR PLANET! It’s the

only one with

chocolate

PLANETARY ATOMOSPHERES & Life in the Universe?

Paul H. Carr

www.MirrorOfNature.org

Atmospheric CO: Principal Control Knob Governing

Earth’s Temperature

Andrew A. Lacis,* Gavin A. Schmidt, David Rind, Reto A. Ruedy

15 OCTOBER 2010 VOL 330 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org

“Furthermore, the atmospheric residence time of CO2 is exceedingly long, being measured in thousands of years (23). This makes the reduction and control of at- mospheric CO2 a serious and pressing issue, worthy of real-time attention.”

23. F. Joos, R. Spahni, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 1425 (2008).

AMERICAN SCIENTIST, July-August 2011ALONE IN THE UNIVERSEDespite the growing catalog of extrasolar planets, data so far do not alter estimates that we are effectively on our own. Howard A. Smith

This artist’s impression shows the planet HD 189733b, about 63 light-years from Earth, which is known to have water and methane in its atmosphere, although at temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius. However, data from extrasolar planets so far do not alter estimates that we are probably alone in the universe, for all practical purposes.

“…Life on earth is precious and deserves supreme respect. Even if we are not unique in the universe-though we may not know one way of another for eons-we are fortunate. We have a responsibility to act with compassion toward people and our fragile environment.” Howard Smith

CLIMATE SHOCK

• “If an asteroid hurling toward Earth with strong probability strike within 40 years, rise sea levels 3 feet, render coasts uninhabitable, intensify hurricanes and tornadoes, cause frequent floods and landslides…every government would work furiously to discover how that asteroid could be diverted and destroyed.”

from “Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology” by G. Adelson, J. Engell, B. Ranalli, & K. Van Angeln 2008. Yale U Press.Pg 17

Canadian Tar Sands: “Scraping Bottom” National Geographic, 3/2009

“Reverence for the life” of this forest?

“Hear the cry of the earth”Pope Francis “On Care for our common home.”

PLANETARY VACUUMS, ATOMOSPHERES, & LIFE

CONCLUSIONS:

• The emergence of plant photosynthesis produced the 21% oxygen that enables our life.

• We can stop CO2 fossil fuel emissions by: - conservation, efficiency increases, carbon emission surcharge, and - energy from solar, wind, nuclear, & hydro.

CORRELTAION BETWEEN TEMP AND CO2 INCREASE

From the Greenhous Effect. 60

VENUS, 5:48 AM, 9/8/2015 , 135 mm lens

-Outgoing spectral radiance at the top of Earth's atmosphere showing the absorption at specific frequencies and the principle absorber CO2 at 16 microns. -The red curve shows the flux from a classic "blackbody" at 294°K (≈31°C≈69.5°F).  Schmidt, G.A.,  2010 J. Geophys. Res.,115, D20106, doi:10.1029/2010JD014287.

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Artist's concept of a protoplanetary disk, where particles of dust and grit collided and accreted by gravitational attraction to form our planets.

Photograph by Ira Block When the Ocean Went Dark National Geographic October 2011, vol 220. no 4. pg. 90 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/hothouse-earth/kunzig-text Paleoceanographer James Zachos holds a replica of a sediment core that shows an abrupt change in the Atlantic Ocean 51 -55 million years ago, at the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). White plankton shells vanished from the seafloor mud, shifting its color from white to red. As planet-warming CO2 and CH4 clathrates surged into the atmosphere, Zachos says, it also seeped into the seas, acidifying the water and dissolving the shells.

LUNAR ECLIPSE 27 SEPT. 20159:41 PM

Diffraction through earth’s atmosphere

10:24 PM Near Total Eclipse