March 22, 2007 — According to atmospheric scientist Russell Schnell, “The air we breathe ain't what it used to be.” During a similarly titled talk at the MacLean Marine Science Center Thursday afternoon at UVI, Schnell said the effects of greenhouse gases are becoming more profound, despite fluctuations over the past several decades.
Holding up a large plastic globe, Schell quizzed the audience of students, teachers and interested parties on how much they knew about the atmosphere. “Relative to the size of this three-foot globe, how large is the atmosphere?” he asked.
His answer: it's equivalent to the thickness of one human hair. He added that most life is limited to just a few meters above and below the Earth’s surface, barely neglible using his model globe.
Schnell says that if the ozone layer were compressed at sea-level pressure it would only be the thickness of three credit cards. “Take away the first card, all the plankton dies. Take away the second card and life ends,” he said.
Throughout his presentation, he reiterated the interconnectivity and fragility of the planet due to climatic conditions.
Schnell informed the group that the air we breathe is sampled every few hours at various points around the world. It is collected in bottles, analyzed and measured using 200 different parameters. The data is then collected and studied by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, Colo.
Scientific research has shown that air and its accompanying pollution tends to move west to east and flows like water. What is emitted in one part of the world will eventually reach across the globe.
The research lab analyzes air and its content in parts per trillion and is very accurate in its findings. Schnell told the audience to imagine a silver dollar and to mark it on one side. Then to imagine silver dollars stacked 6 feet by 6 feet, 200 miles high. “We could instantly tell you where your single dollar is and which side was marked,” he said.
Using the results of these findings, Schnell presented dramatic data showing how greenhouse gases have increased dramatically in many areas. One of his sobering facts was that even if we stopped producing all greenhouse gases immediately, the residual excess would last 100 years.
He did note periods like the 1990s when certain gases were reduced through adaptive behaviors on Earth after implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which required phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
However, the overall picture was one of rising levels across the board. The numbers are increasing due to nitrogen-based fertilizers, metallurgy, and methane, among many others causes.
Schnell, who from 1992 to 1997 directed NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory (a key information-gathering site) and now oversees the research lab in Boulder, said, "Almost everything we thought was stable is changing, and we are always adding new measurements as the environment and chemistry change."
A day after Al Gore appeared before Congress speaking about climate change, Schnell joked, “He stole my thunder and used lots of my material yesterday.”
When asked about the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship on which he is traveling, he freely admitted that its energy consumption was massive. He said it was ironic that research used so much fossil fuel to study the effects of fossil fuels.
According to the press release for this event, “The Explorer is equipped with a high-tech atmospheric and an oceanographic laboratory and is helping scientists to discover answers to some of the most challenging questions in ocean and climate research.”
Schnell’s presentation was part of the 2006-07 Seminar Series sponsored by VI-EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research). The aim of this series is to exemplify how research of the environment can be of importance to the Virgin Islands and its people.
VI-EPSCoR is a program of the National Science Foundation designed to increase research capacity in science and engineering within U.S. states or territories that have traditionally been underfunded in these areas.”
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