AEC Practical Material

Solar Radiation; Temperature; Weather

The sun makes life on Earth possible. The sun powers the hydrologic cycle, carbon cycle, and other
biogeochemical cycles and is the primary determinant of climate. Clouds and the atmosphere, and,
to a lesser extent, surfaces (especially snow, ice, and the ocean) reflect about 30% of the solar
radiation (also called insolation) that falls on Earth. Glaciers and ice sheets have high albedos and
reflect 80% to 90% of the sunlight hitting their surfaces. At the other extreme, asphalt pavement and
buildings have low albedos and reflect 10% to 15%, whereas the ocean and forests reflect only about
5%. The remaining 70% of the solar radiation that falls on Earth is absorbed and runs the hydrologic
cycle, drives winds and ocean currents, powers photosynthesis, and warms the planet. Ultimately, all
this energy is lost through the continual radiation of long-wave infrared energy (heat) into space.

The most significant local variation in Earth’s temperature is produced because the sun’s energy
does not reach all places uniformly. A combination of Earth’s roughly spherical shape and the tilt of
its axis produces variation in the exposure of the surface to the sun’s energy. On average, the sun’s
rays hit vertically near the equator, making the energy more concentrated and producing higher
temperatures. At higher latitudes, the sun’s rays hit more obliquely; as a result, their energy is
spread over a larger surface area. Also, rays of light entering the atmosphere obliquely near the
poles pass through a deeper envelope of air than does light entering near the equator. This causes
more of the sun’s energy to be scattered and reflected back to space, which in turn further lowers
temperatures near the poles. Thus, solar energy that reaches Polar Regions is less concentrated, and
temperatures are lower.

During half of the year (March 21 to September 22) the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun,
and during the other half (September 22 to March 21) it tilts away from the sun (Figure 4.9). The
orientation of the Southern Hemisphere is just the opposite at these times. Summer in the Northern
Hemisphere corresponds to winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Atmospheric Circulation
The temperature differences caused by the varying amount of solar energy received by different
parts of the Earth, play a significant role in the atmospheric circulation. The warm surface around
the equator heats the air in contact with it, causing the air to rise, a process known as convection. As
the warm air rises, it cools and sinks back down. Some of it recirculates immediately, but the rest
splits and moves towards the poles in two directions. At around 30 degrees north and south
latitudes, the air becomes cold enough to sink, and it splits and flows over the surface in two
directions. Upward movements of warm air and its subsequent flow toward the poles also occur at
higher latitudes farther from the equator. At the poles, the cold polar air sinks and moves towards
the lower latitudes, generally beneath the sheets of warm air that simultaneously flow toward the
poles. The constant motion of air transfers heat from the equator to the poles, and as the air
returns, it cools the land over which it passes. This continuous turnover moderates temperatures
over Earth’s surface.

Greenhouse Effect
Since the solar constant is known it is possible to calculate what the ‘black-body’ temperature of the
Earth should be: it is 250 K (-23°C) (HARVEY, 1976, pp. 43–44). This is what the average temperature
at the surface would be were it not for the absorption of long-wave radiation by the atmosphere,
which delays the loss of heat and thus warms the planet. The absorption of radiation modifies the
climate, or ‘forces’ it into a (warmer) state than it would be otherwise. The actual average surface
temperature is about 288 K (+15°C), a difference of 38°C. The forcing that achieves this difference is
called the ‘greenhouse effect’ and, clearly, without it life on Earth would be very uncomfortable.

The ‘greenhouse’ metaphor is colourful but a little misleading. It is true that the glass of a
greenhouse is transparent to short-wave radiation and partly opaque to infra-red radiation, so its
action is similar to that of the absorbing gases in the atmosphere, but the temperature difference
inside and outside a greenhouse is due mainly to the fact that air inside is prevented from being
cooled by mixing with air outside. With this minor qualification, however, the atmospheric
greenhouse effect is real and important, and the gases which cause it are justly known as
‘greenhouse gases’.

Carbon dioxide is the best-known greenhouse gas, Methane, produced naturally, for example by
termites, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone, industrially manufactured compounds CFC-11 and CFC-
12 are also important. The most important of all, however, is water vapour.

Climate Change
The day-to-day information of atmospheric changes of a particular area at a specific time is called
weather. Climate is the statistical information of the average weather condition of a specific region
for more than 30 years.
Causes of Climate Change
 Generating power
 Manufacturing goods
 Cutting down forests
 Using transportation
 Producing food
 Powering buildings
 Consuming too much
Evidence that shows climate is changing
Other observations of recent climate change include a global average sea level rise of 8 inches over
the last century; declining sea ice, ice sheet, and glacier size; decreased snow cover and longer frost-
free seasons; an approximately 30% more acidic surface ocean; and more frequent high-
temperature records being set

Effects of Climate Change

 Hotter temperatures
 More severe storms
 Increased drought
 A warming, rising ocean
 Loss of species
 Not enough food
 More health risks
 Poverty and displacement
Carbon Dioxide Theory
The carbon dioxide theory states that, as the amount of carbon dioxide increases, the atmosphere
becomes opaque over a larger frequency interval; the outgoing radiation is trapped more effectively
near the Earth's surface and the temperature rises.
17 Sustainable Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015,
created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were created with the aim of
"peace and prosperity for people and the planet..."– while tackling climate change and working to
preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social
and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs.

The short titles of the 17 SDGs are: No poverty (SDG 1), Zero hunger (SDG 2), Good health and
well-being (SDG 3), Quality education (SDG 4), Gender equality (SDG 5), Clean water and
sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), Decent work and economic growth
(SDG 8), Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced inequalities (SDG 10),
Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Responsible consumption and production (SDG
12), Climate action (SDG 13), Life below water (SDG 14), Life on land (SDG 15), Peace, justice,
and strong institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).

Each goal typically has 8–12 targets, and each target has between one and four indicators used to
measure progress toward reaching the targets, with the average of 1.5 indicators per target.

Carbon and Ecological Footprint

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane)
that are generated by our actions.
Difference between ecological and carbon footprint
While the carbon footprint measures the emission of gases that contribute to global warming, the
ecological footprint focuses on measuring the use of bio-productive space.
Calculation of Carbon Footprint
To accurately calculate your carbon footprint as a business, you must first convert the collected data
into values that are compatible with an 'emission factor'. The common equation to do this is GHG
emissions =data x emissions factor.
“A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an
individual, organization, event or product.”1 It is calculated by summing the emissions resulting from
every stage of a product or service's lifetime (material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-
life).

Wider environmental impacts include (but not limited to):

Climate change: A measure of the release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere.
Ozone depletion: This category refers to the thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer as a result of
various chlorinated and bromated substances, such as CFC’s and halons
Urban land occupation: Identifies use of urban land occupation.
Metal depletion: This impact category is an indication of the level of metal depletion.
Fossil depletion: This impact category measures the level of fossil fuel depletion.
Agricultural land occupation: Identifies the use of agricultural land (occupancy). Land occupation
often also considers the extent to which these lead to changes in biodiversity and to life support
functions (e.g. biological production), see Baumann and Tillman, 2004.
Natural land transformation: Considers the transformation of land into a different use type. For
example, from a forest to a farm.
Water depletion: A measure of the amount of water consumed. There are many ways of measuring
water depletion, from the simple volume of water extracted, to water consumed (the difference
between water abstraction and return flow).
Socio-economic impacts
Eight socioeconomic elements influence a household's carbon footprint:
(i) household income
(ii) green attitudes
(iii) residential space
(iv) education levels
(v) household's tenure status by ownership
(vi) household's age
(vii) size of household
(viii) female-headed household

Shannon and Simpson Index

Shannon Index
The Shannon diversity index (a.k.a. the Shannon–Wiener diversity index) is a popular metric used in
ecology. It's based on Claude Shannon's formula for entropy and estimates species diversity. The
index takes into account the number of species living in a habitat (richness) and their relative
abundance (evenness).

What is the Shannon diversity index mathematically? Have a look at the equation:
𝐻=−∑[(𝑝i)×log(𝑝i)]H=−∑[(pi)×log(pi)]
where:
 𝐻 - Shannon diversity index;
 𝑝i - proportion of individuals of i-th species in a whole community;
 ∑ - sum symbol; and
 log - usually the natural logarithm, but the base of the logarithm is arbitrary (10 and 2 based
logarithms are also used).
 𝑝i=𝑛𝑁
 𝑛 - individuals of a given type/species; and
 𝑁 - total number of individuals in a community,
The minimum value the Shannon diversity index can take is 0. Such a number would tell us that
there's no diversity - only one species is found in that habitat.

There's no upper limit to the index. The maximum value occurs when all species have the same
number of individuals. It equals log(k), where k is the number of species.

One measure of biodiversity is the species diversity in a given area. There are two key components
of species diversity:

 Species richness
 Species evenness

Species richness is a measure of the number of different species within a given area. An area with a
greater number of species will have a greater species richness. For example, a tropical rain forest has
a very high number of different species so it would be described as being a species-rich area.
However, species richness can be a misleading indicator of diversity as it does not take into account
the number of individuals of each species

Species evenness is a measure of the relative abundance of the different species within a given
area. An area in which all the species have similar abundances will have a greater species evenness
Simpson index
Simpson's indices are a way of quantifying the biodiversity of communities. The value of Simpson's
index reflects how many different types of species are in a community and how evenly distributed
the population of each species is.
The Simpson's index 𝐷D (introduced by Simpson in 1949) is the probability that any two individuals
randomly selected from an infinitely large community will belong to the same species, i.e.,
𝐷=∑𝑝𝑖2
where 𝑝𝑖 is the proportion of individuals in the i-th species.
If you have a finite-size community, the formula for calculating Simpson's index (𝐷) is:
𝐷=∑𝑛(𝑛𝑖−1)𝑁(𝑁−1)D=N(N−1)∑ni(ni−1)
where:
 𝑛𝑖ni — Number of individuals in the i-th species; and
 𝑁N — Total number of individuals in the community.
Simpson's index is one of the most popular and robust ways to measure diversity in a community;
as 𝐷 increases, diversity decreases. Although originally proposed to measure diversity in ecological
communities, nowadays, we use it widely in quantifying diversity in other areas as well — for
example, gender or ethnicity diversity at organizations.

According to the original formula proposed by Simpson, a higher 𝐷 value suggested a community
with low biodiversity. This sounds a bit counterintuitive, as typically, a high diversity index should
imply a more diverse community. Hence, we usually express Simpson's diversity index as 1−𝐷 which
is also known as the Gini-Simpson index, i.e.,
(1−𝐷)=1−(∑𝑛𝑖(𝑛𝑖−1)/𝑁(𝑁−1)
The Gini-Simpson index (or Simpson's index of diversity) measures the probability that two randomly
selected individuals belong to different species.
Another popular index for measuring diversity is the inverse Simpson index:
Inverse Simpson index=1𝐷Inverse Simpson index=D1
The Gini-Simpson index score varies between 0 and 1. A high score indicates high diversity,
and a low score indicates low diversity. When the diversity index is zero, the community
contains only one species (i.e., no diversity). As the number of different species increases and
the population distribution of species becomes more even, the diversity index increases and
approaches one.