(Where it began for me)

A few summers ago, I walked to the back yard barefoot with my morning coffee. The earth was warm beneath my feet, and the sun felt good on my back and neck. I had a white T shirt on, to help keep me cool.

Sitting down on the stone wall, I tipped my face towards the sun and basked in the warmth. A sweet barn kitty, Ezmeralda, had followed me and curled up on the warm stones of the wall. I could hear her rhythmic purring, and felt at peace.

I felt gratitude for this beautiful place, my little spot on the planet, and the song of a Blue Bird uphill. There is a field across the street, with a nesting box in it.

I felt gratitude for the curve of the earth, just right to support life, and for the warmth of the day. Summer is the best!

I felt gratitude for the atmosphere that holds the heat from the sun in.

This started me musing on the wonders of the atmosphere:

We have an atmosphere, made up of many layers, that keeps the warmth from the sun in, at least some of it. The rest is reflected back to space.

But what is it about the atmosphere that keeps the warmth in? Why doesn’t it just go back out to space?

There are gases that do that job every single day.

It is a relative thing. Let’s use Goldilocks and Three Bears to illustrate this. Of course you remember when she broke into the bear’s house and tried to eat their porridge. One was too hot, one was too cold, and one was ‘just right’.

When the balance of gases is just right, it is called the Goldilocks Effect.

If the amount of these gases is ‘too little’, then the earth would be too cold,

If the amount of these gases is ‘just right’, then the earth is nice and warm.

If the amount of these gases is ‘too much’, then the earth would be too hot.

The last one is what is happening now. I will share more with you in the next post about this, but the big picture is that the atmosphere around our planet is like a blanket, maintaining the temperature.

Now fully inspired to make another lesson, Ezmeralda and I went into the house for the rest of the day. For me, it was making another pot of coffee, and adapting my musing into a lesson for my 12th grade Environmental Science Class. For Ezmeralda, it was curling up on the window sill for a nap in the sun.

I love teaching, and hope you will follow on my journey through the causes and effects of Climate Change, and what people are doing to alter it’s course.

https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/240/the-greenhouse-effect-simplified/