Environmental Physics (eBook)

Egbert Boekeris a retired Professor from the Free University of Amsterdam with a career in which he taught virtually all of the undergraduate courses in physics. Rienk van Grondelle is a Professor in the Department of Biophysics and Physics of Complex Systems at the Free University of Amsterdam. He is performing research in biophysics and teaching not only to physics students but also to biology students. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.

Preface

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction
1.1 A Sustainable Energy Supply
1.2 The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change
1.3 Light Absorption in Nature as a Source of Energy
1.4 The Contribution of Science: Understanding, Modelling and Monitoring
Exercises
References

2 Light and Matter
2.1 The Solar Spectrum
2.2 Interaction of Light with Matter
2.3 Ultraviolet Light and Biomolecules
Exercises
References

3 Climate and Climate Change
3.1 The Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere
3.2 The Radiation Balance and the Greenhouse Effect
3.3 Dynamics in the Climate System
3.4 Natural Climate Variability
3.5 Modelling Human-Induced Climate Change
3.6 Analyses of IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
3.7 Forecasts of Climate Change
Exercises
References

4 Heat Engines
4.1 Heat Transfer and Storage
4.2 Principles of Thermodynamics
4.3 Idealized Cycles
4.4 Electricity as Energy Carrier
4.5 Pollution from Heat Engines
4.6 The Private Car
4.7 Economics of Energy Conversion
Exercises
References

5 Renewable Energy
5.1 Electricity from the Sun
5.2 Energy from the Wind
5.3 Energy from the Water
5.4 Bio Energy
5.5 Physics of Photosynthesis
5.6 Organic Photocells: the Grätzel Cell
5.7 Bio Solar Energy
Exercises
References

6 Nuclear Power
6.1 Nuclear Fission
6.2 Nuclear Fusion
6.3 Radiation and Health
6.4 Managing the Fuel Cycle
6.5 Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactors
Exercises
References

7 Dispersion of Pollutants
7.1 Diffusion
7.2 Dispersion in Rivers
7.3 Dispersion in Groundwater
7.4 Mathematics of Fluid Dynamics
7.5 Gaussian Plumes in the Air
7.6 Turbulent Jets and Plumes
Exercises
References

8 Monitoring with Light
8.1 Overview of Spectroscopy
8.2 Atomic Spectra
8.3 Molecular Spectra
8.4 Scattering
8.5 Remote Sensing by Satellites
8.6 Remote Sensing by Lidar
Exercises
References

9 The Context of Society
9.1 Using Energy Resources
9.2 Fresh Water
9.3 Risks
9.4 International Efforts
9.5 Global Environmental Management
9.6 Science and Society
Exercises and Social Questions
References

Appendix A Physical and Numerical Constants
Appendix B Vector Differentiation
Appendix C Gauss, Delta and Error Functions
Appendix D Experiments in a Student's Lab
Appendix E Websites
Appendix F Downloadable Parts of Second Edition

Index