Author Archives: Sydney McPartlon

Tidal Energy

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Tidal energy has the potential to be the future for harvesting energy. Tidal power is made through the natural cycles of the world’s tides which is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and other celestial bodies. Tidal energy could function as a significant replacement for traditional electric production from coal. With tidal energy, it is all about finding the most effective location for capturing the tide. The most productive spots are where the range between high tide and low tide is the largest. There are three ways in which tidal energy can be captured; tidal turbines, tidal lagoons, and tidal barrages. Tidal energy is sustainable, renewable, eco-friendly, and is more effective than wind power systems. Like many other new energy routes and potential solutions to environmental issues, there are a lot of barriers to consider when implementing them that slow down the process.

 

https://www.pnnl.gov/explainer-articles/tidal-energy

Sustainable Fishing

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When it comes to the fishing industry there are a lot of issues of sustainability. Whether it is in the catch size, techniques used, areas fished in, or bycatch. Bycatch is the accidental catching of the not target species. In most cases, these marine life forms are often killed before they can be released back into the ocean. Bycatch poses another major issue within the already difficult overfishing problem.

This graph is based on data from the FOA regarding catch sizes between the years 1950 and 2018. This graph shows the growth trend of the fishing industry and as more sustainable attitudes developed a slower decrease in catch size in the more recent years. The lowest catch was in 1950 with about 250,000, the highest being in 2002 with catch sizes around 850,000. The size eventually drops down to about 680,000 in 2018. Based on this larger drop in 2018 and information from the NOAA and FOA this number aims to be lowered even more. Protecting marine populations will increase the likelihood that these populations can survive and repopulate in order to sustain future generations.

.https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/collection/capture

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulletin/noaa-fisheries-announces-changes-catch-levels-sector-allocations-accountability

Refugee Crisis

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A major social justice concern is in regard to refugees. There are so many people displaced from their homes due to conflicts and issues within a country or between countries. The most recent refugee crisis is a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this conflict has displaced over 3.7 million Ukrainians. Another sad example of the refugee crisis is in Syria after the civil war in 2011. This is by far one of the largest refugee situations in the world with 6.8 million people being displaced. This number continues to rise today. This chart from the UN shows the number of refugees in 2021 in six categories: refugees under the UN mandate, asylum seekers, internationally displaced persons, displaced Venezuelans, stateless people, and other situations of concern.

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/25/after-a-month-of-war-ukrainian-refugee-crisis-ranks-among-the-worlds-worst-in-recent-history/ft_22-03-24_ukrainerefugees_1a/

https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=3HMho5

Sustainable Fishing

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There are many issues attached to the fishing industry: overfishing, bycatch, pollution, fish farming, and economics. This is why it is so vital to protect the fish and other marine life populations in the ocean. If the IPCC can determine and enforce sustainable fishing quotas the ocean will be well protected. But since the ocean is a global commons and there is no full authority over it regulations are difficult to make. Additionally, since the ocean covers the majority of our planet there is no way to actually enforce these regulations and ensure people/fishing companies are following them. There is one company called Seashepard that acts like a vigilante group which boards boats that are engaging in suspicious activity. Since the ocean is so vast it is also difficult to determine quotas since it is hard to figure out exact population numbers. Scientists often are estimating the population sizes of species and even then fishing companies still push for higher quotas. Even with bycatch and fish farming quotas have to be set. Bycatch because it is the unnecessary catching and killing of marine life while fishing. Fish farming because often fish caught from the ocean are used as feed for the farm bred fish. Additonally, the usage of sustainable fishing methods in terms of techniques used like long lines, and trollers. So in terms of mathematics there is a lot of estimating involved with fishing to establish effective quota levels that protect populations and encourage sustainable economic activity. There is an interesting documentary on Netflix called Seaspiracy that explains all the dynamics of the fishing industry. When buying fish look to see if it was locally sourced or fished sustainably and consumption is the driving force for the fishing industry so it’s important to support environmentally conscious brands.

Sustainable Carbon Emissions

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Carbon Dioxide emissions are crucial to address when concerning climate change and global warming. Industrial Revolutions have been occurring for about 200 years and are still happening in countries today. Carbon emissions contribute to the overall heating of the Earth, the IPCC has made goals to try to limit heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial level. If our emissions continue on the trend they’re on we will pass by the 1.5-degree mark quickly. According to the Mauna Loa Record Keeling Curve in 1960 the carbon concentration levels were at about 315ppm fast forward to 2020 where it reached about 415ppm. That’s an overall change of 100ppm, 32% increase, growth factor of 1.32, and an average rate of change of 1.67ppm/yr. It’s difficult to enforce and make policies to ensure fair and equal emission standards. There’s a lot of debate over levels and who should be held responsible for the emissions and countries have to be able to industrialize as well. But there is a lot of promise in the renewable energy field. Many innovations, jobs, and decreased use of carbon would result in helping decrease the concentration levels from contributing to the warming of the Earth.

https://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/graphics_gallery/mauna_loa_record/mauna_loa_record.html

Water Waste in Agriculture

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The agriculture industry utilizes the largest portion of the water supply within that supply water is lost between poor irrigation, contamination, and poor management. Farmers and large agricultural plants have to establish water efficiency levels in order to reduce waste. Reduce, but not eliminate. Farms make up about 70% of all the water consumed globally and within that 70%, 30% is actually used and the other 40% is lost in waste. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the agriculutre industry (surplus) the usage of fertilizers, pesticides, and other pest replent techniques that are used on crops water becomes highly contaminated. This water can’t be reused without treatment and that is costly. The untreated waste water is then transported elsewhere but can still impose a threat to said environment. On the brighter side of things there are many ways in which farmers in the agriculture industry can reduce waste water. Such as efficient irrigation, capturing and storing water, crop rotations, and composting mulch.

Oceans and Marine Systems

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Oceans cover the largest portion of Earth’s surface (71% of Earth’s surface is water and oceans makeup 96% of Earth’s water supply). It’s extremely important to consider and be concerned about our oceans and what climate change and human activity is inflicting upon them. Sea-level rise, ocean acidification, overfishing, pollution, ecological collapse, dead zones, and more. Within each of these larger problems are more sub-problems. Sea-level rise and polar ice caps melting, ocean acidification and the bio-pump, overfishing and bycatch, and pollution and micro plastics (the Pacific Garbage Patch is currently 1.6 million square kilometers). Humanity relies heavily on oceanic processes and marine resources, if more sustainable practices were used and enforced the ocean (and the global environment) wouldn’t be in such a compromised position. The ocean also acts as a HUGE carbon sink so not only do human lives revolve around the ocean in the literal resource sense but it is also taking in so much of the carbon humanity produces. The ocean can’t take in carbon forever, the effects of this are already been seen in phytoplankton and zooplankton, the ocean is becoming warmer and nutrient deficient which will have cascading effects on marine food chains.

Intro

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Hi! I’m Sydney McPartlon, I’m a junior, Environmental Policy major, from Niskayuna, NY. My understanding of sustainability stems from its definition, that we must meet this generations needs while also ensuring the survival of future generations. Sustainability can be found in every industry like food, energy, fashion, and so on. When I look into sustainability and environmental issues I tend to focus on marine environments and the effects of the fishing industry. The ocean makes up the majority of our planet and is a huge resource humanity uses. The ocean is heavily impacted by human interference (extraction and pollution). Hopefully, the necessary precautions and protections will be made so the ocean stays healthy and thriving.