Tag Archives: climate change

Water Usage and Utilization

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Water is a necessity for us humans along with planet Earth. Humans can go much longer without food as they can without water. It is interesting to think that a lot of the food that we consume could not possibly be produced without water. For example, think of crops that need water into order to grow. Or, all of the water that livestock drinks that we eventually consume such as pigs. This idea alone shows how important water is in its comparison to food consumption.

Consider the following, “There is the same amount of water on Earth as there was when the Earth was formed” (epa.gov). Furthermore, “Nearly 97% of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just 1% for all of humanity’s needs — all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community, and personal needs” (epa.gov). This idea is really hard for me to wrap my head around. I think about how much water I myself personally use on the daily. Then, I think about how many humans are on this Earth and how much water is used for humanity’s needs by the whole planet. This alone proves how much water is on this Earth. I find this fact so interesting seeing how human production as well as global warming has affected our water usage. In my opinion, bottled water is so popular because of the convenience of it. Consider, reusable water bottles have to be constantly washed and sometimes they are a bit pricey. Bottled water is convenient as once you finish the water, you can just throw away or recycle the bottle. If I had to estimate the bottle water consumption on Union College’s campus, I would estimate that around 50% of Union’s students drink bottled water opposed to water from the tap. Furthermore, I would average that of the 50% of bottled water drinkers, they drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. Based on Union College’s enrollment being around 2,300 students, 65% of that is 1150, multiplying that by 2, my estimate is that Union College consumes around 2,300 bottles of water per day.

 

Work Cited: https://www3.epa.gov/safewater/kids/waterfactsoflife.html

Are they worth it? Electric cars and individual carbon emissions

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Globally the temperature of the earth is increasing, these rising temperatures have been mainly caused by the emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Changes need to be made both on a government and individual level to hinder the effects of climate change. More than 30% of carbon emissions come from transportation via, car, bus, and airplane one of the best ways that an individual can combat this is to purchase an electric car (EPA, 2021). The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency has out a free estimation survey, where one can put in the type of electric car and it will give you the cost and benefits of purchasing the car. When looking at an average 30,000 dollar electric car in Central New York, within the first year one would save $966 this was found by calculating the cost of gasoline ($1,243) that you would save minus the increase in your electric bill which would be around $277 to charge your car. In New York, you also get a minimum of 8,500 dollars in incentives which includes a $7,500 Plug-in vehicle federal tax credit plus a $1,000 with the Drive Clean Rebate. When looking at the cost and benefits in the future, within the first 5 years it shows that an electric car would save up to $7,867 and you would break even with the cost of the car within two years. Along with having long-term financial benefits owning an electric car reduces an individual carbon footprint by 58% per year which is equivalent to 5,977 lb of CO2. This survey is a great day to find a car that fits your budget and lifestyle while also helping you lower your carbon footprint. Cost benefits analysts are an important factor when it comes to the effectiveness of environmental action.

Survey: https://nyserda.wattplan.com/ev/

 

Work Cited:

EPA (2021) Carbon Pollution from Transportation

https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/carbon-pollution-transportation

NYSERDA (n.d) Watt Plan, Access on 4/3

https://nyserda.wattplan.com/ev/Results

 

Carbon Dioxide and its Influence

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When it comes to greenhouse gases and the presence of them in our environment, there is quite a large variety of different kinds of greenhouse gases. Just to name a few greenhouse gases, there is methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor and more. Nevertheless, the most important greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is not only a gas. Depending on different temperatures, carbon dioxide can also be in the solid or a gas form. It is important to note that carbon dioxide does not come from just one particular entity. For example, carbon dioxide is breathed out by humans. Furthermore, carbon dioxide is produced after burning fossil fuels. As humans, we all have different responses to carbon dioxide based on our own specific tolerance. One’s tolerance depends on the amount of carbon dioxide present, which is measured using mathematics along with units and numbers.  Reactions to an exposure of carbon dioxide can vary from headaches to convulsions or even a coma. Thanks to basic human activity, there has been a drastic rise in the presence of carbon dioxide, as we know thanks to scientists measurements in which numbers and units were used. The starting point for the steep rise in carbon dioxide producing, human activity, can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution. Although human activity is practically unavoidable, carbon dioxide’s presence must be modified in order to keep us, along with our Earth, safe.

Works Cited:

“Carbon Dioxide.” Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 3 June 2021, https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/chemical/carbondioxide.htm.

“Carbon Dioxide Concentration.” NASA, NASA, 15 Mar. 2022, https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/.

Carbon dioxide’s impact on climate change

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Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes greatly to the Earth’s temperature to rise, therefore heavily impacting climate change. Carbon dioxide is also known to react with water molecules which fluctuates the ocean’s pH level. The drop in pHI in the oceans, known as ocean acidification, has lowered from 8.21 to 8.10 since the Industrial Revolution. This is a significant change because a change of o:1 in pH indicates a 30% increase in acidity of the oceans. Another impact carbon dioxide has on the climate is through atmospheric carbon levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were estimated to be 412.5 parts per million in 2020. The global atmospheric carbon dioxide level has increased by 12% over the past 20 years. The present day levels of carbon dioxide are higher than they have been in 3 million years when conditions were hugely different in terms of the sea level and the regular temperature of the globe. The reason that the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are so high today is due to the burning of fossil fuels that are returning carbon to the atmosphere at a higher rate that makes it increasingly difficult for the atmosphere to remove all of the carbon through its natural processes alone. This amount of carbon dioxide warms the Earth and contributes to other greater factors that are putting the Earth at risk. Atmospheric carbon dioxide may exceed goo parts per million by the end of this century if global energy demands continue at the rate they are going at or even increase.

Works Cited:

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

Climate Change Due to Increase of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

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Carbon dioxide (measured in parts per million or ppm) is a greenhouse gas that impacts the heat regulation of the Earth, impacting the climate change that we see today. The increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide is specifically responsible for about two thirds of the Earth’s rising temperatures and energy imbalance, contributing to the change in global climate patterns also known as climate change. Certain human activities like driving a car emit carbon dioxide. Additionally the usage of fossil fuels emits large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air which traps heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic decreasing people’s activity (especially during the heights of the pandemic where many people were not traveling by plane or car) and the economic slowdown, the global level of carbon dioxide hit a new record high in 2020 of 412.5 parts per million (ppm). Another concerning point is that humans are adding a lot more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than is naturally produced and can be accommodated for. The global growth rate or atmospheric carbon dioxide is now 2.3 ppm per year and is about 100 times faster than previous historical natural increases in carbon dioxide. According to these measurements, the human impact on the plant and the excessive amounts of carbon dioxide emissions are impacting climate change and the overall temperature and well being of Earth. There are ways for us to decrease carbon dioxide emissions such as carpooling, decreasing leisure flight usage and doing simple things such as turning off the lights. 13% of the greenhouse gas production (including carbon dioxide emissions) in the Unites States are from the production and transportation of food. So it is also important to eat local and organic food to help decrease the excessive carbon dioxide production. According to these articles, the production of carbon dioxide is rapidly increasing, but there are simple ways that we can all help decrease our carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse gases we produce from our actions) and help global climate change.

 

Citations:

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

https://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-emissions/