Blah Case

My hypothesis was proven correct by my experiment. My hypothesis was that as the amount of carbon dioxide is increased, the air temperature would increase. My results supported this as the 40:200 ratio (40g baking soda mixed in 200ml vinegar), which had the highest amount of carbon dioxide, had the highest rate of increase in temperature, while the control (no solution added) had the lowest rate of increase in the air temperature. This is because carbon dioxide absorbs heat, and increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air will increase the capacity of the air to trap the heat. Hence, air with more carbon dioxide will trap more heat and have a higher temperature than air with less carbon dioxide. This holds true in the earth's atmosphere as well, as humans pollute more and release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the earth's ability to trap heat increases, leading to global warming.

My results were backed up by studies by Andrew Lacis and colleagues at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York [1]. Co-author of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, David Rind, stated: "When carbon dioxide increases, more water vapor returns to the atmosphere. This is what helped to melt the glaciers that once covered New York City"[1]. Andrew Lacis added: "The bottom line is that atmospheric carbon dioxide acts as a thermostat in regulating the temperature of Earth... The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has fully documented the fact that industrial activity is responsible for the rapidly increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It is not surprising then that global warming can be linked directly to the observed increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and to human industrial activity in general."[1]