sce575integratedscienceexperiences-environmental.docVIP

SCE 575 Integrated Science Experiences - Environmental Systems Analysis - An Introduction to an ESS Analysis? Earth system science is conducted by examining each event to sphere, sphere to event, and sphere to sphere interaction. This approach is referred to as an Earth system science analysis or an ESS analysis. An ESS analysis is done in three steps, which include looking at ? how the event affects each of the spheres; ? how the spheres affect the event; and ? how the spheres affect each other. Because you will be performing ESS analyses in this course, you should read through the following information as it provides an overview of how to do each step of the ESS analysis. The purpose of this introduction is to get you thinking about the types of interactions that can occur. The forest fires that occurred in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, in 1988 is used as the event for this introduction. As you go through the step-by-step process, you should post your ideas for each of the steps in your journal. When posting your analysis ideas, abbreviate the event with the letter E and abbreviate each sphere using the first letter of its name (atmosphere = A; biosphere = B; etc). Use a single-headed arrow () to indicate the direction of effects. For example, the effects of the event on the hydrosphere should be written as E H. Step 1: Event Sphere Interactions How could the event (Yellowstone fires) affect each sphere? The answers to this question are the event sphere impacts. Refer to th e Earth System Diagram below to help you think about the types of interactions that could occur. Consider how the Yellowstone fires might affect the spheres, beginning with the atmosphere. Remember to write your additional ideas in your j ournal. E A?The fires created tremend ous heat, developed fast rising columns of heated air, which in turn brought in more air at the base of the fires, dropped the humidity in the area of the active fire to near zero, and made dense smoke, whic