Survival Readiness: Carbon Management

Friday, September 23, 2011

Define the Environmental Footprint

English: The carbon footprint as it is understood by people. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carbon Footprint Environmental Issues:

what is the definition of greenhouse effect?

According to the Carbon Footprint calculator, the national average for the US is 7.5 tons per year. My annual carbon footprint is 10.76 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Half of my carbon footprint comes directly from commuting. I have a fuel efficient, commuter car. However, traveling 90 minutes per day puts a significant impact on my footprint. The other portion, at 4.67 tons per year, is the food I eat, the clothes I wear, and the other items I purchase. My electricity is small in comparison, only at 0.8 tons per year.

It looks like the only way to reduce my carbon footprint is to move closer to work, or move work closer to home. The commuting is a significant factor however it was the only place to find work at that time. Also, if I had the opportunity and a garden to grow my own vegetables, I would be able to reduce my carbon footprint a little bit. My fiancée’s mother has her own garden out of choice for fun, but the secondary impact is she is reducing her carbon footprint. Most years we also get many vegetables from her, as her garden is often fruitful.

In trying to manipulate the calculator by altering my inputs, I find that the miles driven significantly impacts my carbon footprint, while changing the type of car I drive does not make much of a difference. Also, by purchasing local products changes my footprint, as it costs less to move products when they are closer to the consumers.

According to the Climate Crisis webpage, my carbon footprint is only 1.05 tons per year, compared to the previous estimate from the Carbon Footprint webpage. There are many simple ways to reduce my carbon footprint. Some of them include replacing regular light bulbs with the energy efficient CFL ones, purchasing energy efficient appliances when they are being replaced, and planting a tree. There are more complicated ways to minimizing my footprint, such as buying locally owned and produced foods, use a clothesline when possible, and avoiding heavily packaged products.

The simple changes are already being implemented in our home. However, the more difficult ones are difficult because they are out of my hands. Purchasing local goods is very difficult, because I live in a major city area and almost everything has to be transported in. Also, using a clothesline is impossible because we do not have a backyard to put one in. And third, it is difficult to avoid the heavily packaged products because often times things are sent and we have no idea what kind of packaging they will come with. The only thing we can do about that is ensuring we are recycling or reusing that packaging

References:

Carbon Footprint. 2010. “Carbon Footprint Calculators.” Internet:

<http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator1.html>.

Climate Crisis. 2010. Internet: <http://www.climatecrisis.net/>.

Withgott, Jay & Scott Brennan. Essential Environment: 3^rd Ed. Pearson Custom

Publishing: San Francisco, 2009.

See:

carbon trust

define environmental footprint

ecological footprint definition

carbon taxes

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The land use to be dry and barren with no hopes of survival

The Colorado River from Laughlin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Environmental Issues: Colorado River

The area that the Colorado River runs through is the driest in the nation. These deserts are drier than some of those found in North Africa. Thanks to major agricultural changes in this area, now tens of millions of people can now reside on this land. Utilizing the Colorado River, which gets a significant amount of water from the Rocky Mountains when the snow melts, can now permit this dry desert to be a thriving community, compared to the “inhospitable land” that it once was (Sierra Club).

The land use to be dry and barren with no hopes of survival for any creature that required water to thrive or even live. The land was so dry that it was essentially a waste of valuable acreage. Now that the Colorado River is able to have water diverted into this area, it is an area that can be utilized for agriculture, communities, and thriving families and companies. Essentially, the “Colorado River has become a plumbing system” (Sierra Club). As a result of this plumbing system, crops such as cotton, alfalfa, fruits, and vegetables can be grown here. However, these changes come at a price.

The changing of the natural flow of the Colorado River has had detrimental effects on the river and the area around the Colorado River Basin. This basin provides water around the entire southwest US. Not only are most of the endangered native fish now endangered, but all major bird migration stopping points have severely devastated by the changes in the functions of the river. The largest human impact of the changes in the Colorado River is the result of over allocated water supplies. Since there are now so many people reliant on this water source, it is no longer a viable, long term solution to the drought that is naturally common in this area.

The California 4.4 plan is a plan that is currently being developed. The point of this plan is for California to reduce its usage of the water from the Colorado River to only the 4.4 million acre-feet allotment. The only way that this plan will work is if the state of California prohibits any additional additions to this water source in order to sustain the amount of water available to this particular area. This is a very concrete, cut and dry plan. It seems a little unfeasible because many people are wishing to move and/or build in this area and having a stringent rule like the California 4.4 plan makes it difficult for people to maintain. The plan is viable if the California state government implements strict guidelines that regulate the plan that is mean to assist in sustaining the Colorado River basin for a length time.