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Sustainability Freshman Inquiry. Jan. 13, 2011 Jeff Fletcher. Logistics. Any questions about Carbon Footprint Reports? http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/ http://library.pdx.edu/dofd/resources.php?category=72 Extra Credit Opportunities
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Sustainability Freshman Inquiry Jan. 13, 2011 Jeff Fletcher
Logistics • Any questions about Carbon Footprint Reports? • http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx • http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/ • http://library.pdx.edu/dofd/resources.php?category=72 • Extra Credit Opportunities • MLK service day a great opportunity to get involved (Register Here) • Food Justice Conference in Eugene Feb 19-21 • Read Kolbert Chapters 3 & 4 for Tuesday • Reading notes • Movie Night Thursday Jan 20 at 7:30 • Mentor session today: Climate Change Model, Sampling
Field notes Chapters 1&2 • Chapter 1(Artic Change) • Shishmaref, AK (close up, further) • NOAA Artic Ice Extent Sept. 2002-2008 • Drunken Forests • Albedo (ratio of reflected to incident light) • Chapter 2 (History of CO2-warming connection) • Historical • John Tyndall (mid 1800s) • Absorption of infrared by CO2, methane, water vapor (but not Oxygen and Nitrogen) • Svante Arrhenius • First model of effect of CO2 on global temperature • Composition of Atmosphere (fairly robust in short term) • Charles Keeling Curve CO2 and global warming • Model of Climate Change
Correlation ≠ Causation • There may be confounding or hidden variables! • What is a possible hidden variable for this graph?
What is a System? • Consider an ecosystem and economic system: what is similar? Why are they both called systems? • Why might it be useful to focus on their similar “system-ness” rather than on their uniqueness?
Systems • Comprised of: • Elements • Ecosystem and Economic system examples? • Interactions or relations • Ecosystem and Economic system examples? • A common relation between systems is hierarchical • subsystems, supra-systems • Consider some earth systems • Other ideas • order vs. disorder, order is constraint on relations • relations describe structure vs. total disorder (entropy) • system and environment • boundaries define systems
What is Systems Science? • Consider flocking birds, schooling fish, a group of friends walking together • ornithologist, ichthyologist, sociologist • Mario Bunge “Stuff-free science” • How is knowledge normally grouped at a University? • System Science not as abstract as math and philosophy • But more abstract (general) than individual disciplines • Systems Science emphasizes theories that cut across disciplines • Game Theory, Evolution Theory, Information Theory, Network Theory, Chaos Theory, Complexity Theory, etc • Interested in addressing real-world, complicated problems, from a multidisciplinary perspective
Key Ideas About Systems • What makes a system? • Elements and Relations • order vs. disorder • system vs. environment • Systems States and Dynamics • Equilibria, Stability • Positive and Negative Feedbacks • Non-linear dynamics • Chaos Theory, Catastrophe Theory • Emergence • Structure • Open vs. Closed • Matter, Energy, Information