REVIEW SHEET FOR KLING LECTURES IN GLOBAL CHANGE
A note on "Take home messages":
In his lectures Dr. Kling presented several “take home messages.” As you are going through your notes and this review sheet, consider these messages in the following way. For each message, provide a brief example or description of what evidence was used to support or derive these messages, and how they are important in terms of thinking about the scientific aspects of global change.
Killer Lakes of
Cameroon
Take home message:
Jumping from 'doing science' to 'applying science' is not
easy. It requires a much broader
understanding of the natural 'system', which includes not only the underlying
science but various social and political aspects as well.
Stratification and lake stability
Hydrostatic pressure and “degassing”
Main Concepts:
Why are the Cameroon Lakes killer lakes? Briefly explain what happened in 1986 when Lake Nyos exploded.
What are potential sources for CO2 in the lakes?
What two conditions are necessary for CO2 to accumulate in lakes, and why are the Cameroon Lakes favorable for CO2 accumulation?
Many scientists believed the explosion was the result of a volcanic event. What evidence do we have that this is not the case? What evidence or problem solving skills did scientists use to understand what caused the explosion of Lake Nyos? (Review the ideas of "clarity, accuracy, precision, etc.", presented in an earlier lecture, and how these aspects of "evidence" interact with the other aspects of solving problems and making decisions (e.g., "assumptions", etc.).
What conditions led to the release of gas in the lakes?
Why did the explosions occur in August? Why did the explosions both occur in the mid-1980’s?
Will these explosions happen again? Why or why not.
What solutions have been suggested? Explain how these plans will help to prevent future explosions.
Understand how physical and chemical processes can dominate the control of functioning in some ecosystems.
Be able to use the Cameroon lakes story as an example first of the take-home message “Element cycles are interrelated – you can't understand them in isolation”, and second of the take-home message for this lecture, that there is more to applying scientific principles to real-world problems than meets the eye. (And that is what this lecture on the Killer Lakes has to do with everything else in the course…)