| | Category | BO | L11 | The Irreversible Effects of Greenhouse Gases on Tropical and |
| | Desert Biomes |
| | Abstract | The purpose of this project was to see if plant tissue changes, humidity, |
| | and soil temperature changes after being exposed to CO and CO2 at |
| | increasing temperature intervals. |
| | Procedure: |
| | 1. Create 2 biomes, tropical and desert with respective plants |
| | 2. Create CO2: In a container, pour in 1 cup of vinegar and mix in 1 |
| | tablespoon of baking soda. |
| | 3. Create CO: Light a candle in the middle of the biome and seal the biome |
| | shut. Expose for 45 minutes. |
| | 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 at 10 degree intervals. Tropical starting point: 80° F |
| | Desert starting point: 60° F |
| | 5. After plants were exposed to greenhouse gasses carbon monoxide |
| | and carbon dioxide, leaf samples were cut and placed in a Petri dish |
| | 6. Leaf samples were taken to U of M Cancer Center’s Keel lab and use the |
| | Olympus lX71microsope to observe changes in plant tissue |
| | 7. Use the Olympus microscope to take magnified photos of the leaf |
| | samples. |
| | 8. Collect data |
| | |
| | Based on the data derived from the graphs, Humidity decreased for both |
| | biomes as temperature increased. Soil temperature increased in both |
| | biomes. In the tropical biome, the range was 13 degrees. The most rapid |
| | change was 8 degrees and occurred in the last stage of air temperature |
| | increase. In the desert biome, the range of soil temperature was 10 |
| | degrees and the most rapid change was 5 degrees which occurred in the |
| | last stage of air temperature increase. |
| | The rate of change for air temperature in both tropical and desert biomes |
| | represented an exponential increase. For the last stage, it only took one |
| | minute to rise 10 degrees while in the earlier temperature increments; it |
| | took 10-12 minutes. |
| | The physical characteristics of all plants in both biomes changed |
| | considerably. The plant samples appeared to naked eye as unchanged but |
| | as shown in the photos attached, and observed under a microscope the |
| | impact was significant. Chlorophyll change was not as noticeable as |
| | predicted but plants had discoloration. Plant samples were dehydrated but |
| | not to the point of irreversibility. Vascular tissue slowly browned and |
| | became damaged due to greenhouse gas exposure. |
| | The above conclusion applied to the real world environment is as follows. |
| | Due to global warming, the rate of change of temperature is not going to be |
| | linear but exponential. Once the tipping point is reached, it is near |
| | impossible to reverse the changes in the environment. Although some |
| | biomes are more resilient than others, there will be catastrophic effects |
| | not only in foliage but in weather. Drastic humidity and soil temperatures |
| | can result in extreme weather conditions. |
| | Bibliography | http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm |
| | http://www.climatehotmap.org/ |
| | http://www.globalwarming.org/ |