Forty-seven Years of “ Thinking Green ”

3. Forty-seven Years of “Thinking Green” -In 1971 Barry Commoner advanced four laws of ecology that have had a major impact on our thinking in his classic book The Closing Circle. Everything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch. What do these laws convey in the context of environmental science?

4. Forty-seven Years of “Thinking Green” -hydrocarbon emissions from automobiles decreased by 60%. -number of large cities violating clean-air standards has dropped from 40 to 9. -lead emissions have been eliminated because use of unleaded gasoline. -industrial toxic waste spills cut by 43%. -many species have been removed from the endangered species list. -mandatory recycling laws have been implemented in 8800 U.S. cities. -100% increase in total recycling in the U.S. over the past decade. -~67.2% paper products recycled (2016); 34.5% waste recycled in U.S. -110 million acres have been set aside as wilderness areas in the U.S. -since 1979 the country has invoked energy savings = to five times all the new sources combined. -the number of environmental groups on college campuses increased from 50 in 1989 to over 3000 in 2010.

5. Earth Systems and Cycles A system is a set of componentswhich are interconnected(related and operate together) to one another. The universe is the only truly isolated system where there is no exchange of energy ormatterthrough its boundary. The earth may be considered a closed system where there is only an exchange of energy through its boundary. Open systems such as the hydrosphere or lithosphere exchange energy and matter over their respective boundaries.

6. Earth Systems and Cycles In open systems linkages between components cause mutual adjustments (feedbacks) between components. As one variable affects a second variable, the second variable causes a change in the first variable. -Negative Feedback (self-regulation) -Positive Feedback (snowball effect, self-enhancing)

7. Positive Feedback (snowball effect, self-enhancing): A system will increase the magnitude of a perturbation in response to the initial perturbation. Negative Feedback (self-regulation): Output of the system opposes the input, which results in self-regulation and overall stability.

8. Earth Systems and Cycles Earth is a complex system of interacting physical, chemical and biological processes. The Earth system is comprised of four interconnected spheres of components and processes: atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere (incl. cryosphere) and biosphere. In reality no component of the Earth system can be considered in isolation from any other component. The Earth system operates within, and is strongly influenced by, the exosphere (sun, solar system and galaxy). Earth’s Spheres

9. Should anthroposphere be considered its own sphere within Earth systems science?

10. In the mid-1980’s NASA began a systems approach to studying the components of the Earth systems, their linkages, dependencies and fluxes.

11. Earth’s Energy Cycle 1 watt = 1 joule of energy per second or 1 joule (1 N m) will produce 1 watt of power for 1 second. What is the annual energy consumption (Terawatts) for the world’s population? How does this compare to the three primary sources? What do you think is the driving force for the choice of energy source used by the world population?

12. 5000 Where is most of the world’s carbon stored? What are the two major reservoirs that are adding carbon to the atmosphere? What is the net increase of atmospheric carbon each year? What other two reservoirs have a net increase in carbon each year?

13. Earth’s Energy Balance: How is the earth’s carbon cycle tied to its energy balance?

14. Hydrologic Cycle: Reservoir and Fluxes (shown by red arrows.

15. What percentage of water held in reservoirs within the hydrologic cycle is fresh water? Which reservoir within the hydrologic cycle holds most of the fresh water? What implications does this have on the availability of fresh water for domestic and agricultural needs?

17. The tectonic system provides an important framework to understand seismology, volcanolgy and whole range of geologic processes operating at or near the surface of the earth. The tectonic system is interconnected with the other earth systems. Can you think of some examples?

18. Seismicity and plate tectonics. Note the relationship of depth of foci and tectonic plate boundary.

19. Relationship between active volcanism and tectonic plate boundaries.

20. The White Elephant in the Room? – Human Population Growth Overpopulation occurs when a population of a species exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecological niche. What is the carrying capacity of the Earth?

21. Population doubling time = 70/growth rate (%). World population growth rate in 2018 was 1.09% Peak growth rate was 2% in the 1960’s.

23. Population growth rate (%) for 2005-2010 (United Nations data) Compare the population doubling time of the African nations versus North America or Europe. Note that there are many European countries with population growth rates that are less than 0.

24. Population growth rate for developed versus undeveloped countries in the world.

25. World Fertility Rate (Average number of children per woman by nation) (UN data).

29. Total CO2 emissions (millions tonnes) per year by country.

30. World energy consumption per capita (2010). What factors are important in a nation’s energy consumption? Compare the United States and Canada to western Europe and Japan? What about northern Europe and Australia? What about Saudi Arabia? What do you predict the future energy consumption for China and India will be?

31. Relative importance of atmospheric gases and particulate matter on global warming versus cooling.

32. Anthropogenic concentrations of CO2, CH4 and N2O) over the last 10,000 years (large panels) and since 1750 (inset panels). Measurements are shown from ice cores (symbols with different colors for different studies) and atmospheric samples (red lines). The corresponding radiative forcings relative to 1750 are shown on the right hand axes of the large panel (IPCC, 2007). Note that the increase in CO2 started ~7000 years ago. How might you explain these data? The atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 in 2005 exceed by far the natural range over the past 650,000 years.

33. What accounts for the annual change in atmospheric CO2 fluctuations?

35. Arctic Sea Ice Extent Arctic sea ice reached its lowest extent in late summer of 2012. (compared to average over 30 years-yellow line). The Arctic region could ice-free within 30 years. Note thatsince 1979 20% of the polar ice cap has melted away. Does the melting of this sea ice affect global sea level?

36. Midterm take home questions should be handed in with your midterm exam. • Trace the travel and eventual destination of your trash as it leaves your home to a landfill. You can include a map to show the travel route. (One paragraph only). 5 pts. • 2. Choose any one of the U.S. environmental laws that have been passed between 1963 and present. Provide a 1-2 page summary addressing why the law was passed (i.e., problem), what were the main points of the legislation, and what outcomes resulted from the legislation (was it successful?) 15 pts. • 3. Use a flow chart to describe either a positive or a negative feedback mechanism for an open system. Do not use the same examples (growth and decay of an ice sheet during glacial and interglacial cycles and silicate weathering) that were discussed in lecture. 5 pts.