Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to re: Horrible effects of "Microbursts"........

I don't buy that explanation at all. It is riddled with errors.

To point out a few:

Error #1. You wrote: a single U235 atom releases approximately 1 watt second of power. This is completely wrong by a factor of a trillion = 1012

http://www.energyadvocate.com/fw28.htm
A single electron, accelerated through a potential difference of one volt, gains a kinetic energy of 1 electron-volt (1 eV), which is a very tiny
0.000 000 000 000 000 000 016 joules.
= 1.6 * 10-20 joules

1 watt-second = 1 joule by definition

The energy released when an atom of uranium-235 of plutonium-239 fissions (either naturally or by having been induced) is about 200 MeV (200,000,000 eV), or about 50 million times the energy released in burning an atom of carbon.

200,000,000 eV
= 2 * 108 ev
= 2 * 108 * 1.6 * 10-20
= 3.2 * 10-12 joules
= 3.2 * 10-12 watt-seconds
= 0.000,000,000,000,32 watt-seconds

This is less than the number that you gave by more than a trillion times.

Error #2. You wrote: If this converted energy is absorbed by the atmosphere then the atmosphere will heat up, if the atmosphere that surrounds the Earth heats up then many environmental changes will occur.

Incorrect. The energy released by fossil fuel or nuclear fuel (about 1.02 x 1011 MWh/year) is trivial compared to the energy influx of sunlight 3.372 x 1024 MWh/year. The ratio is nearly a million. Clearly, such a small increment has no significance. The significance of fossil fuel combustion is the emission of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, which traps solar heat.

Source: http://www.astronist.demon.co.uk/space-age/sa22.html

Error #3. You wrote: if the external pressure of the atmosphere decreases then the internal pressure of the Earth will have a better change of exerting its self outwards and there will be more volcanic activity and more Earth quakes.

Absurd. The compressive effect of the Earth's atmosphere on the Earth itself is negligable. Ordinary storms change the atmospheric pressure by 5%, severe storms by more. There is no measurable rebound effect because the typical modulus of elasticity of rock makes it immune to such small pressure differences. In contrast, the steam pressure inside a volcano may reach thousands of atmospheres, compared to which atmosphere pressure is nothing. When storms trigger earthquakes, they do so by saturating permeable rocks, clay, etc with water. This water acts as a lubricant, permitting motion that would otherwise not take place.

There are several more such errors, but I don't have time to point them all out.

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