I need science fair help with global warming?

Question

well it's science fair project day and i am doing it on global warming but I need to test it on something! What can I do to test it?

Answer 1

Here is an experiment you can do in your home with normal stuff

Al Gore claims that every time carbon dioxide levels increase so does the temperature, and every time that carbon dioxide decreases, so does the temperature. He therefore concludes that the increase in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels therefore is causing the current small global warming.

The skeptics are claiming that yes, there is a relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide, but it is the temperature increase that causes carbon dioxide to go up and not the other way around. They claim that all temp fluctuations on earth are caused by the sun and/or cosmic rays, and that the carbon dioxide increases are the direct result of warming and not the direct cause.

So I came up with a little experiment to prove the facts. Yes you can try this at home. It is so simple even an elementary school kid could do it for a science project. However, beware, you might get flunked or expelled for proving that what is currently being taught in our schools is wrong.

First of all, for background information, carbon dioxide is not toxic. In fact plants rely on using carbon dioxide to exist. Without carbon dioxide, all plant life would die.

Second of all, all animals produce carbon dioxide, including humans. We all (the entire animal kingdom) breath in oxygen, and our cells convert food to energy and release carbon dioxide which we breathe out. I would think that anybody with any scientific background will recognize that is the fact in the atmosphere.

But the same holds true in the water; all oceans, lakes, streams, rivers, etc that contain life, also have both carbon dioxide and oxygen in them. Underwater plants use carbon dioxide that is in the water and produce oxygen, and underwater animals use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide in the water.

The global warming skeptics claim that the current slight warming trend, as well as nearly all warming in the past millions of years, are all caused by increases in solar radiation and not levels of carbon dioxide.

They claim that warming periods are primarily caused by the sun, which also warms the oceans. This warming of the oceans and other bodies of water causes more carbon dioxide to be released from the ocean and when the oceans cool, more carbon dioxide is retained in the ocean.

So the experiment is to determine if colder water retains more carbon dioxide and warmer water releases more carbon dioxide.

So here is what you do: Take two identical cans or bottles of any carbonated beverage. This can be soda-pop, beer, or champagne (although I wouldn’t recommend beer or champagne around the kiddies.) Yes these all contain the exact same carbon dioxide we are talking about.

Put 1 in the fridge, the other put out in the warm sun for a few hours.

Then open each one and pour it into a large cup. Observe and note which one foams the most. The foam is the indication of which one is releasing the most carbon dioxide.

If the one that is warmer releases more carbon dioxide, that proves that the skeptics are correct in that warmer temperatures cause the ocean to release more carbon dioxide and therefore warming causes increased CO2 rather than CO2 causing warming.

Answer 2

Contact your local government environmental agency (or a non-governmental citizens' stewardship group) that might have local average climate data.  Everyone knows that global temperatures are increasing, but what about the temperatures in your region?  That could make for an interesting project.  

Or you could take the Republican approach and try to discredit global warming as an anti-consumerism, leftist agenda.  Do a google search for articles on global warming on Mars - these data suggest that recent warming is a solar phenomenon, and not an anthropogenic (man-made) occurence.