President's Climate Commitment

           Westfield State University, unknowingly to most, is a part of The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), an effort for universities and other colleges to addressed global climate issues.  Those who are a part of the ACUPCC must have an emissions inventory, set milestones in orer to become climate neutral,  reduce greenhouse gas emissions using short-term actions, have sustainability in the curriculum, and create an action plan, inventory and progress reports, all publicly available.

           I think that the campus is making an effort toward reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.  We need to get our reports into the committee and possibly get more people actively involved in these steps.  I also believe that we have also begun to work towards more of the tangible actions that haven’t been listed on their website.  We have implemented the use of solar panels on the roofs of some of the academic buildings on campus, as well as putting in a new cooling system on Wilson Hall.  The solar panels are hooked up to monitors within Wilson Hall that gives you a reading of the amount of energy being generated as well, for all to see. 


           In the ACUPCC 2009 annual report Westfield State University was not in good standing as of December 31, 2009.  In the 2011 annual report Westfield State was in good standing with the President’s Climate Commitment, but they had no paid their membership dues for the 2010-2011 academic year.  On their website for reporting institutions Westfield State was supposed to have a greenhouse gas report in by January 15, 2013 and that is marked off in red, for not being in.  On the actual implementation profile for our campus there are two tangible actions that we have elected to move forward with, out of six options.  There is the establishment of a policy that new campus constructions will be built, at least to, U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver standards, or equivalent.  We have written in that all new construction is required to build under the LEED Plus standards of Massachusetts Executive Order 484, and will be working on a similar policy for all local and campus construction projects.  The other tangible action is the encouragement of, and providing of, public transportation for all faculty, staff, students, and visitors of the institution.  The campus has a contract with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) for full transportation to and from the college on established routes and schedules during the academic school year (Figure 1).  They are looking to extend this to faculty and staff.  WSU is also a member of MassRide and works with them for rideshare incentives to reduce drive-alone trips.

ACUPCC. "Mission and History | Presidents' Climate Commitment." Home | Presidents' Climate Commitment.
                N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://presidentsclimatecommitment.org/about/mission-history>.

ACUPCC. "ACUPCC 2009 Annual Report."Home | Presidents' Climate Commitment. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. <http://www2.presidentsclimatecommitment.org>.

ACUPCC. "ACUPCC 2011 Annual Report."Home | Presidents' Climate Commitment. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. <http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org>.

ACUPCC. "ACUPCC Reports · Implementation Profile for Westfield State University." ACUPCC Reports · Reporting Institutions. N.p., 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 5 May 2013. <http://rs.acupcc.org/ip/8/>.

ACUPCC Reporting System. "ACUPCC Reports · Reporting Institutions." ACUPCC Reports · Reporting Institutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2013. <http://rs.acupcc.org/search/?abs=&q=Westfield%20State%20University>.

Shrinking the Ozone Hole

           In 2012 the Antarctic Ozone Hole was reported by NASA to be the second smallest size it has been in 20 years.  It had reached it largest size on record Sept. of 2000 at 11.5 million square miles.  It also recorded a minimum value of total ozone that year recorded as the second highest overall level in two decades.  The ozone hole was monitored for the first time by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite using an instrument called the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS).  NOAA along with NASA have a mandate under the Clear Air Act to monitor ozone-depleting gases alone with stratospheric depletion of ozone and does so with ground and satellite measurements.  You can monitor the ozone later above Antarctica with this link!

Human, Katy. "NASA - 2012 Antarctic Ozone Hole Second Smallest in 20 Years ." NASA - Home. N.p., 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/oct/HQ_12-371_2012_Ozone_Hole.html>.

Endangered Ecosystems

       There is now a 'red list' of Endangered Ecosystems around the world from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  There were twenty case studies created in order to assess the health of Earth's various ecosystems.

Aral Sea

They are as follows:

• Aral Sea — Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan: freshwater, collapsed
• Raised bogs — Germany: critically endangered
• Gonakier forests — Senegal River floodplain: freshwater, critically endangered
• Cape Sand Flats — Fynbos, South Africa: terrestrial, critically endangered
• Coorong lagoons — Australia: freshwater/marine, critically endangered
• Karst rising springs — Southern Australia: freshwater, critically endangered
• Coastal sandstone upland swamps — Australia: freshwater, endangered/critically endangered
• Swamps, marshes and lakes in the Murray-Darling Basin — Australia: freshwater, endangered/critically endangered
• Giant kelp forests — Alaska: marine, endangered/critically endangered
• Caribbean coral reefs — Caribbean: marine, endangered/critically endangered
• Seagrass meadows — Southern Australia: marine, endangered-critically endangered
• German tamarisk pioneer vegetation — Europe: freshwater, endangered
• Coolibah-Black Box woodland — Australia: freshwater/terrestrial, endangered
• Tapia forest — Madagascar: terrestrial, endangered
• Semi-evergreen vine thicket — Australia: terrestrial, endangered
• Great Lakes Alvars — United States and Canada: terrestrial, vulnerable/endangered
• Reed beds — Europe: freshwater, vulnerable
• Floodplain ecosystem of river red gum and black box — southeastern Australia: freshwater, vulnerable
• Tepui shrubland - Venezuela: terrestrial, least concern
• Granite gravel fields and sand plains - New Zealand: terrestrial, least concern

What is IUCN?

IUCN. "IUCN - About IUCN." IUCN - Home. N.p., 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.iucn.org/about/>.

Oskin, Becky. " IUCN Criteria For 'Red List' of Endangered Ecosystems Detailed | Conservation | OurAmazingPlanet.com ."Home | OurAmazingPlanet.com . N.p., 8 May 2013. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/4448-iucn-red-list-ecosystems-detailed.html>.

The 'Terrifying'' Greg Craven

Greg Craven, a high school teacher created a youtube video back in 2007 about climate change and how to decide what we should do about it using what he calls a 'decision grid'.  Using decision grids he allows us to see what the different future outputs could be depending on what happens on Earth through the populations as well as the possibility of climate change happening.  A sequel to this video can be found here.

He also has a book!

Wiki. "Greg Craven (teacher)." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Craven_(teacher)>.

Wonderingmind42. "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See." YouTube. N.p., 8 June 2007. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ>.

Climate Science Watch

     After looking more into Terry Root and Steve Schneider I came across this website, Climate Science Watch.  They are a nonprofit public education group and project that is said to hold officials accountable for effectively using climate research and dealing with the global climate disruption.  Their work primarily focuses on the U.S. and its national policy developments.
     Their website has categories for a multitude of links from archives of information and posts from previous months and years dating back as far as 2005, to different videos involving talks with different climate scientists such as Dr. Benjamin Santer.  There are also videos recording their participation with 350.org's Global Work Party for action on climate and another of James Hansen and Rick Piltz on CBS 60 Minutes.  On a sidebar from the main page of the site you can be directed to a list of different categories from activism, to mitigation or adaptation, to the Obama Administration and even climate science censorship.

GAP. "Climate Science Watch | Promoting integrity in the use of climate science in government." Climate Science Watch | Promoting integrity in the use of climate science in government. G.A.P. - Government Accountability Program, n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/>.

Wildlife Conservation Society

"The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth."

(WCS; Mission Statement)

         The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is an organization that was founded back in 1895 with a missions to save not only wildlife but the 'wild' places that they live in and call home.  They protect animal species all over the world and work against things such as climate change, wildlife and human health, natural resource exploitation  and sustainable development.  They recognize that climate change and global warming threatens both terrestrial and marine habitats in a multitude of ways.  In terms of climate change they have projects and looks at home it effects landscapes, wildlife, and conservation as well as carbon markets.


WCS. "Wildlife Conservation Society."Wildlife Conservation Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2013. <www.wcs.org/>.

Personal Actions for the Future

           Along with the assignment for an immediate action plan during the semester, we were also supposed to come up with different things we could do throughout the years to combat climate change.  There are a few things that I looked into working on as time goes on.

Carpooling

         It may not seem like much but I try to carpool, and get other people to carpool, as often as possible.  I don’t drive so I usually have to find rides and end up figuring out a way for everyone to get to wherever we are going the easiest possibly way.  I think carpooling really helps with the reduction of greenhouse gases from cars, especially with the amount of driving that is done by everyone these days, whether it be for work or for fun.  I’ve been able to implement this at school too.

 

Beekeeping

          My dad has been beekeeping for a couple years now and I usually try and help him by going with him to pick up packages of bees, painting hives, and sometimes helping him check on the hives.  I’m not a huge fan of bees so helping him actually go in the hive makes me nervous and is not something I’m a huge fan of, but I’m hoping that once I’m out of school I’ll possibly be able to help him more with other processes like spinning and bottling the honey from the season.

Volunteering

          I’ve done some volunteering for different groups throughout the years and I think it would be nice to keep it up.  I’ll have to keep my eyes open for days that things like that are happening for cleanups around the town and surrounding towns.  Other things I could try and participate in could be Arbor Day or Earth Day.  Doing these activities I think will really help the communities to look better and clean up as well as make me feel like I’m doing a bigger part in the world.  I think that these will also give me a chance to be outside more and possibly make new friends and relationships with people.

Composting & Chickens

          Composting would be a way to greatly reduce the amount of waste that I would be potentially sending to the landfills.  I don’t think that it would be smelly, and if it was I’m sure I could figure out a place to put it where it wouldn’t smell.  Plus it would be a great source of fertilizer for the people I know who plant.  Chickens would also be a way to reduce my carbon footprint because I wouldn't be buying eggs that would otherwise have traveled possibly across country in large vans.  They would be fresh, free range chickens without any hormones in them, and they aren't very hard animals to take care of.  I have an aunt and uncle who do composting as well as have chickens and they never seem to have a problem other than the occasional hawk attack on their birds.  

Solar Panels

          My old house had a couple solar panels on the garage and supposedly helped to keep some prices down on our bills.  I think the solar panels would be a great thing to have and would definitely help in the long run.  The only real issues that I think would come with this would be the cost, or initial investment, of them and actually having a place where I could put them in.

Personal Climate Change Action

          As an assignment, for part of the semester we were told to do a personal climate change action.  For my personal climate change action I decided to refill water bottles instead of purchasing new ones, or cases of water for at least a week of the semester.  From time to time I would refill bottles, but that was usually only when I didn’t have a new one close-by to get.  When I visited home over spring break this past March a made a note to take one of the larger 700mL sport top water bottles that my mom has at home.  This was the bottle that I used to take to class throughout the week.  When I was in my room though, I would refill a smaller 500mL (16.9 oz.) Crystal Geyser water bottle that was from a case I had purchased at the beginning of the semester.  I had these bottles because I would use them to make drinks with the mixes that you pour into the bottle such as Crystal Light.

            I wanted to try this as my climate action plan because I know a lot of people, including myself, buy bottled water if not from time to time almost consistently.  I wanted to see how much could be actually saved by not buying the cases of water that most stores sell at what seems like a reasonable price.  I have also heard about the problem that there is with recycling water bottles and how much trash, including many plastics, there are not only in the landfills and thrown on the sides of roads, but in our waterways and oceans as well.

           Throughout the experiment I was able to save, in just week, about a 35 case of water bottles at about 5 bucks.  Looking back on my project I would have to say that it was successful.  Not only did I save a lot of money by not buying cases of water, although I was still buying the boxes of drink mixes from time to time, but I was also able to save quite a bit of plastic by reusing the same ones and not opening new ones. One thing that I would change after this experiment though is that I would invest in a Nalgene bottle so I would have a more durable bottle to carry around and make mixes in.