How Thermal Expansion Affects Climate Change Predictions
Thermal expansion plays a big role in how we predict climate change. Let’s break it down into two main points:
Rising Sea Levels:
Global temperatures have gone up by about 1.2°C since before the industrial revolution.
This increase in temperature causes seawater to get larger, or expand.
It’s estimated that thermal expansion might be responsible for about 30% of the sea level rise we expect by the year 2100.
This could mean the sea levels might rise by about 0.4 to 1.2 meters.
Changing Materials:
Different materials respond to heat in various ways.
When solids get warmer, they can stretch out.
There’s a simple formula for this:
Length change = (how much it stretches) x (original length) x (change in temperature).
For liquids, they expand in volume when heated.
The formula for this is:
Volume change = (how much it expands) x (original volume) x (change in temperature).
Understanding how thermal expansion works is super important for making accurate climate change predictions!
How Thermal Expansion Affects Climate Change Predictions
Thermal expansion plays a big role in how we predict climate change. Let’s break it down into two main points:
Rising Sea Levels:
Global temperatures have gone up by about 1.2°C since before the industrial revolution.
This increase in temperature causes seawater to get larger, or expand.
It’s estimated that thermal expansion might be responsible for about 30% of the sea level rise we expect by the year 2100.
This could mean the sea levels might rise by about 0.4 to 1.2 meters.
Changing Materials:
Different materials respond to heat in various ways.
When solids get warmer, they can stretch out.
There’s a simple formula for this:
Length change = (how much it stretches) x (original length) x (change in temperature).
For liquids, they expand in volume when heated.
The formula for this is:
Volume change = (how much it expands) x (original volume) x (change in temperature).
Understanding how thermal expansion works is super important for making accurate climate change predictions!