Tampa Airport -- Energy Flows and the Carbon Cycle

When I read our lecture material this week about the absorption of the heat generated by the sun, I immediately thought of the significant amount of heat that is absorbed by airports. This photo was taken just before I boarded this plane today from Tampa back to NYC. On hot days, you can literally see the energy shimmering on the tarmac. In fact, studies have shown that airports are considerably hotter than their surrounding areas during the day as they absorb heat energy and at night as it dissipates it.

 

Also, the plane is an example of a man-made device that is burning energy that was created as much as 400 million years ago in the form of plant material that has decomposed into fossil fuels that the jet utilizes and releases as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

 

In the background, one can see the beginning of the marshy area that surrounds part of the Tampa airport – a complex environment that features the interaction between producers and consumers.

 

Ken

 

Done