The End

          The semester has come to an end as will most likely this blog.  It  has been an amazing semester and a great end to my undergraduate studies.  I have learned so much more through this class than I had expected, especially with the help of this blog, teaching me how to go out and find more information than scrapes the surface.  It has taught me to look in depth at what is going on and not let anyone give me just a one sided point of view on the issues that are at hand.  I have become more conscious of m actions and how the affect everyone around me, especially with my Climate Action and Plan, and will continue to work towards those goals.  Thank you again to everyone who has helped and been there, especially my Climate Change Teacher,  Dr. Carsten Braun.

A Loss of more than just Agriculture

           Robin McKie, a science editor for the Observer, part of the Guardian, recently released an article entitled 'Climate Change 'will make hundred of millions homeless'' informing us of the carbon dioxide levels indicating a rise in temperatures leading to continental agricultural failure.  He tells us that millions will eventually be displaced from their current homes as an effect of global warming and climate change.  Temperatures are likely to rise up at 5 degrees Celsius which will cause a disruption in normal weather patterns including precipitation and drought.  There has been news of carbon dioxide levels reaching an astonishing 400 parts per million (ppm) with rates rising since the 1960's, now at 2.1 ppm/year.  Eventually these rising carbon dioxide emissions will create a feedback loop of rising temperatures to melting ice to loosing coastal lands and so on and so forth.  Changes need to happen and they need to happen soon.

The article can be found here: The Guardian | The Observer




McKie, Robin. " Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless' | Environment | The Observer ." Latest US news, world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | The Guardian . N.p., 11 May 2013. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/12/climate-change-expert-stern-displacement>.

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>.

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>.

Retreating Glaciers

http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glacier_model.htm

The animation shows the changes in glacier, rock, lakes, and different vegetation of the Blackfoot-Jackson basin along the Continental Divide.  Gunsight Lake, Lake Ellen Wilson, and visible within the picture as well as Gunsight Pass.  

More movies and animations can be found here from the Resources for Earth  Sciences and Geography Instruction (RESGI)

USGS. "Modeled Climate-Induced Glacier Change in Glacier National Park, 1850-2100 | Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK)." Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) | science for a changing world. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glacier_model.htm>.

More with Renewable Energies

           NREL, otherwise known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, look at ways to answers our current energy challenges.  They analyze energy and validate new products for markets.  Their goal is to try and change the way that our world uses energy.  They are developing renewable energy technologies and practices emphasizing on fuel production, transportation, electricity generation and delivery.
           On their website they have a list of different maps that depict various renewable resources for different projects.  Most of the maps are offered to the public either through Google Maps or as static maps.  Such categories of maps that they provide are biomass maps, geothermal maps, solar maps, wind maps, and even international maps.

http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/map_csp_us_10km_july_feb2009.jpg
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html

The map is July's 'concentrating solar power radiation (10 km) from data gathered 1998-2005.  It provides the monthly average and annual average daily total concentrating solar power.

NREL. "NREL: Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, and Analysis Tools - Maps." National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.nrel.gov/gis/maps.html>.

TakePart

 TakePart is an online source of information from things to news and entertainment.  They have articles on environment, wildlife, health, and food.  In the environment category they have articles such as 'Don't panic, But Carbon Dioxide Levels are the Highest They're Been in Human History' and 'Climate Change could Bring an End to Surfing's Endless Summer'.  Other than these articles there is a film campaign that they have as well.  Although An Inconvenient Truth is one of the films that they have there is another called "Climate of Change".  This documentary focuses on the efforts of people around the world against global warming from India middle schools to Papua New Guineans.

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth was a movie released in 2006 that was a documentary from Al Gore on his campaign about the issue of global warming world wide.  He uses emotional images such as glacier size changes, nuclear bombs, and the destruction of Hurricane Katrina to evoke the viewers.  He also uses many metaphors and analogies throughout the film as well.  Such include flooding causing droughts, the earth breathing, and a frog in boiling water.  There is a bit of fluff throughout the movie as he puts into play random tidbits of his own life throughout the film but there is a good amount of information on this global disruption.

I think that in some cases the movie may be a good teaching tool, but at the same time I think it would be best for a specific crowd.  Maybe for people who already have an interest in the subject it would be a good way to further educate them on the matter.  It may be possible to have other people watch the movie and realize that there is a problem, but it isn’t for certain what would happen because everyone is so different.  


IMDB. "An Inconvenient Truth (2006)."IMDb - Movies, TV and Celebrities. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/>.

Wiki. "An Inconvenient Truth." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth>.

Books Books Books, pt 2

Throughout the past semester quite a few books about climate change, global warming, economy, and more have been suggested for some summer reading; here are some more:

The Tipping Point: How Little Things can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

Global Warming and Political Intimidation: How Politicians Cracked Down on Scientists as the Earth Heated Out

Raymond Bradley 

Paleoclimatology, Volume 68, Second Edition: Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary 

Raymond Bradley

Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto

Stewart Brand

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why we Need a Green-Revolution - and How it Can Renew America

Thomas Friedman

Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming of Climate Catastrophe and Our Chance to Save Humanity

James Hansen

A Tragedy of the Earth

Garrett Hardin, back in 1968, wrote a well known report called The Tragedy of the Commons and was published in Science.  Tragedy of the commons talks about the depletion of a shared resource whether it be a field that cattle graze in or the Earth.

Prof. Sean Mulholland of Stonehill College explains the Tragedy of the Commons that occurs when individuals deplete resources that are supposed to  be shared.

"The only way we can preserve and nurture other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that very soon. "Freedom is the recognition of necessity"--and it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of abandoning the freedom to breed. Only so, can we put an end to this aspect of the tragedy of the commons."

~Hardin, 1968

Hardin, Garrett, and 1968. "The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin - The Garrett Hardin Society - Articles." The Garrett Hardin Society. N.p., 13 Oct. 1968. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html>.

LearnLiberty. "Tragedy of The Commons." YouTube. N.p., 29 June 2011. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLirNeu-A8I>.

Wiki. "Tragedy of the commons."Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons#Garrett_Hardin.27s_essay>.

Where does the money go?

http://www.kulfoto.com/funny-pictures/24839/debt-crisis-third-world-and-climate-change

The cartoon illustrates how climate change has been on the back burner in comparison to other global issues that not only affect the United States, but the Earth.  As of lately, the debt crisis has been the center of peoples’ attention, causing other issues to be ignored.

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>.

Books Books Books

Throughout this past semester quite a few books about climate change, global warming, economics, and more have been suggested for some summer reading; here are a few:

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet

Mark Lynas

 

Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Lester Brown

Can We Afford the Future?: The Economics of a Warming World

Frank Ackerman

The Global Deal: Climate Change and the Creation of a New Era of Progress and Prosperity

Nicholas Stern

The Impacts of Climate Change

There are obviously a multitude of ways that climate change will effect the world around us, whether it be the shrinking of glaciers, the extinction of species, the pollution in our air, rising sea levels, and even agricultural impacts.  These pictures show two ways, agricultural and freshwater impacts, that will be affected with the continuation of our current climate change.

A projected look at how agriculture throughout the world will change 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Projected_impact_of_climate_change_on_agricultural_yields_by_the_2080s,_compared_to_2003_levels_(Cline,_2007).png

Threats for current freshwater supplies around the world

                                                  http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/global_warming/images/various_water_impacts.jpg

Extinction Risks

          In this article from Nature Publishing Group in 2004 they discuss how climate change affects the distribution and abundance of species throughout the world.  They even used models to see different projections of populations in the future.  They used climate-envelope modelling, climate scenarios, species, and species-area approaches. Terry Root and Stephen Schneider did research as well on how climate changes effects ecological aspects of our world.  They looked at things such as pollen samples from previous ice ages.  They understood the importance of past changes in order to reconstruct behaviors for future models of ecosystems.

Root, T.L. & Schneider, S.H. (2006) Conservation and climate change: the challenges ahead. Conservation Biology, 20, 706–708. <http://www.sfbayjv.org/global_warming/Climate%20Change%20and%20Conservation-%20Challenges%20Ahead%20T%20Root%20%20S%20Schneider%202006.pdf>.


Thomas, C.D., Cameron, A., Green, R.E., Bakkenes, M., Beaumont, L.J., Collingham, Y.C., Erasmus, B.F.N., de Siqueira, M.F., Grainger, A., Hannah, L., Hughes, L., Huntley, B., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Midgley, G.F., Miles, L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson, A.T., Phillips, O.L., Williams, S.E., 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427, 145–148. <http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/83/1/thomascd1.pdf>.

Climate Models

    There are many different climate models and simulations that are made as future predictions to see how our everyday global choices will affect the future climate.  Different parameters are used and varied throughout trials to see how changes will play out through the years. Chapter 9 of Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis is all about projections of future climate change.  Throughout the chapter there is a review of past reports and how well they predicted the future as well as climate forcing and climate responses.  Later on there are a multitude of projections of climate change that were made with various models and variables.  Finally there is a summary of what the predictions for the future are as well as their appendix and references.





Cubasch, U., and Coauthors, 2001: Projections of future climate change. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, J. T. Houghton et al., Eds., Cambridge University Press, 525–582.

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/>.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a method in which we could potentially reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.

Talks about the different CCS processes and methods of storage.

Howard Herzog from MIT explains CCS

More Information can be found here:

EPA
CCS Association
International Energy Agency

"The Carbon Capture & Storage Association (CCSA)." The Carbon Capture & Storage Association (CCSA). N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013. <http://www.ccsassociation.org/>.

"Carbon capture and storage (CCS)."International Energy Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013. <http://www.iea.org/topics/ccs/>.

"Carbon Dioxide Capture and Sequestration | Climate Change | US EPA." US Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ccs/index.html>.

newgencoal. "How does Carbon Capture & Storage work? - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., 6 July 2010. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROEFaHKVmSs>.

Shell. "Understanding carbon capture and storage - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXY-5oc6J4>.

Carbon Fund

Carbonfun.org is an organization that is fighting against global warming.  They work toward education people about climate change, educating about carbon offsets and reductions, and even public outreaches.  They are trying to get people to work on reducing their carbon footprints through energy reductions or shifting to renewable energies.  They also do work with reforestation that will work toward the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.  Part of their work is getting individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.  You can make a tax-deductible donation to the organization as a way to offset your carbon footprint and work toward carbon reduction.  You can use an online calculator to find out what your footprint is and then see what your cost would be.

Cap & Trade

The below video is a ten minute video from Annie Leonard from Story of Stuff that introduces and explains how Cap and Trade works.  

Leonard, Annie. "Story of Cap & Trade."The Story of Stuff Project. N.p., 1 Dec. 2009. Web. 11 May 2013. <http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-cap-trade/>.