Do you know what a Carbon Footprint is?

Carbon Footprint:

Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases you and all of your activities produce in a year.  This is measured in tons (that’s right, TONS) of carbon dioxide.  The average American footprint is 26.5 tons.  That is 20% of total annual CO2 emissions for the entire planet!

Our carbon footprint includes emissions from industry, agriculture, transportation, forestry, power generation and buildings.  For Americans, this adds up very quickly.  Our infrastructure has been built with too much sprawl – we have to drive to get everywhere.  We drive large SUV’s.  We have many electronic luxury items, and so on.  You can easily see why America has the largest output of CO2.   We can learn from areas like western Europe, where homes and stores are close together, cars are small (if needed at all) and CO2 output per capita is half that of Americans.

It is easy to find lots of reasons not to try to reduce our footprint. Instead of focusing on all those reasons, we would better serve our children’s future and better be able to look them in the eye one day and tell them that we did everything we could by trying to do what we can to help the situation.

We also just might help to create a cultural revolution where it is no longer cool to be seen with a plastic, disposable water bottle or a plastic grocery bag.  It might be much cooler to have a garden and a hybrid and pack a lunch in reusable container.  This day is coming (probably sooner than we know it) and by doing our part, we just might help it come in time to really make a difference.  The more you do and other people see what you do, the more other people begin to make changes. 

Before you know it, business and industries begin to catch on and make changes, too.  And ultimately, our country’s leaders begin to take it seriously because the citizens do.  We cannot delay taking personal responsibility by waiting for our leaders to make laws for tougher industry regulations; we start by making changes in our own lives and communicating them to the people around us.  There might just come a day when one day, your child looks you back in the eye and thanks you.

What is a Greenhouse Gas?

Greenhouse Gases:

There are several greenhouse gases in our Earth’s atmosphere that threaten our planet:

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – the most abundant human-generated greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and it lasts for centuries.

Methane (CH4)  – This is 26 times more heat trapping than CO2 and it lasts for 12 years in the atmosphere.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) – Lasts for 114 years and has 216 times the potency of carbon dioxide.

For this discussion, we will focus on carbon dioxide because it is the largest threat to our planet due to the immense quantities of it that we pump into the atmosphere everyday

A healthy amount of CO2 is part of the natural balance of nature.  Just take a look at some of the natural cycles of CO2:

We breathe it out into the atmosphere  *  Plants absorb it from the atmosphere  *  Plants store it and release it into the soil *  We eat the plants and absorb it from them  * We breathe out some more into the atmosphere  *  The ocean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere  *  Algae on top of the ocean absorbs CO2 *  Fish eat the algae  * and the cycles continue…

We need CO2 to survive, but what happens if we have too much?  Well, that is what is happening at a rapidly increasing rate today.  The largest contributor to an excess of CO2 in the atmosphere is from the burning of fossil fuels. 

If you’ve ever been to Epcot and gone on Ellen’s Energy Adventure, you may remember the story of fossil fuels.  About 300 million years ago, organic material was buried under the Earth’s surface by sediment, perhaps triggered by an earthquake or some other event.  Algae buried miles under the Earth by sediment eventually formed petroleum (a liquid).  Lush plants were also covered by sediment and baked in the heat of the Earth forming coal (a solid).  Swamp materials covered by sediment eventually created natural gas which is by the way, the least harmful of the three fossil fuels. 

So there we have the brief history of fossil fuels.  Why explain all of this?  Well, it helps us to understand it better when we think of all that organic material forming over 300 million years and how much CO2 is absorbed by the fossil fuels over that amount of time in the Earth.  Then if you imagine that we’ve taken that 300 million years worth of CO2 and released huge quantities of it into the atmosphere by burning it in a very short period in the history of time, it is easy to see how the chemical makeup of the Earth is way off balance.

Why is so much of it being released at once?  There are so many reasons.  We can start with the biggest bite of all – transportation.  Every time we step on the gas pedal or take a flight to New York, we release CO2 into the atmosphere.  And even though the United States emits more CO2 than any other country, there are an incredible amount of developing countries, such as China and India, that are quickly gaining on us as more and more of their residents are able to afford cars and other luxuries.

Did you also know that when you use electricity, you are burning fossil fuels?  When we turn on our light switch or crank up that AC, we are actually making a request of FPL to please burn more fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) to generate the energy that we crave.  That’s why even if we are fortunate enough to afford those high electrical bills, it is better for the Earth and our children’s future on it to think about unplugging unused electronics and turning off those light switches (see “What You Can Do”).

Where does all the manmade CO2 come from?  Here are some global statistics:

            21% Residential – In our homes

            17% Commercial – At our businesses

            29% Industrial – In our factories

            33% Transportation – Cars, trains, busses, planes, ships

Other than burning of fossil fuels, the second highest contributor of CO2 into the Earth’s atmosphere comes from deforestation.  This accounts for 20% of the harmful CO2 that is emitted each year.  Every two seconds, we loose forest the size of a football field!  Illegal logging is rampant in South American rain forests.  Brazil now tries to control illegal logging with a new program, “Operation Arc of Fire” which consists of 48 police officers and 24 agents who patrol the forests with side arms and rifles.  They are spending $118 million in 2008 to crack down on illegal loggers but the challenges are daunting as they must cover 1.3 million square miles.  Thieves literally sneak into the rain forest and cut down trees to sell to lumber yards for cash.  From August 2007 to February 2008, an average of 270 square miles was forested per month in Brazil alone.  When these trees are gone, not only are they not there to absorb CO2 from the air, but also when a tree is cut down, it releases more CO2 into the atmosphere that was stored in the trunk and roots.

CO2 and Global Temperature

So why is it so bad that we’ve got too much CO2?  Well, an overwhelming majority of scientists today agree that there is a direct link between the excess CO2 levels and a global increase in temperature.

Scientists dug out a 2 mile tube of ice from the Antarctic which allowed them to study relationships over the last 650,000 years between CO2 levels in the atmosphere, temperature and sea level.  What they found was that it is entirely correlated.  If there is an increase in CO2, then there is an increase in temperature and sea level.  If there is a decrease in CO2, then temperature and sea level go down.  This pattern has remained unchanged for the last 650,000 years so we can figure that it’s pretty reliable!

Scientists also proved that an excess of CO2 causes a greenhouse effect.  The way this works is that light and heat are let in the Earth’s atmosphere from the sun and normally, the Earth reflects light and heat back out.  But when there is too much CO2, a barrier is created that doesn’t allow the heat to escape.  This heats up the Arctic ice and as it melts, there is less ice to reflect the light back out into space, creating more heat here on Earth.  That’s why they call the burning of fossil fuels “greenhouse gases” – because they make the Earth just like a greenhouse.

CO2 levels take hundreds of years to clear out of the atmosphere so even though that is just a blink in the history timeline of the Earth, the CO2 that we are releasing will be around for quite a while for us humans.  And although it is very normal for levels to go up and down because that has been going on for at least 650,000 years, it has NEVER increased this high, or this incredibly fast.  Greenhouse gases are measured to be around 384 parts per million which is scientifically proven to be unprecedented.  The highest point ever reached in the recorded history of the Earth was 300 parts per million and that was only reached once in the history of time.  The level of CO2 in the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution was 280 parts per million which is an increase of 37% in less than 100 years.  Everyday, the increase is continuing to escalate at astounding proportions.  Scientists know that there is a “tipping point” beyond which point that change will come tumbling fast.  What that tipping point is and when we will reach it is not something that they can promise.

Read the Signs:

Signs

While we may not have visual signs of a changing climate right here in Delray Beach, signs of a global warming climate are clearly evident if we look at the Earth as a whole.  Here are a few examples:

The Arctic:   The fastest rate of the Earth’s warming is occurring in the Arctic.  Temperatures there have risen over 5 degrees F in the last 30 years.  It is evident from the pictures taken of the Arctic during that time period that ice packs are melting and shrinking right in front of our eyes.  This results in the rising of the Earth’s sea levels which is currently occurring at about one inch per decade. 

Almost 40% of the Arctic has already melted since 1979.  Almost half of that 40% has melted in just the last few years as the speed of melting is increasingly rapid.  Just in two years from 2006-2007, the artic lost nearly a half a million square miles from the 2005 level.  As more ice melts, the speed at which it melts is accelerated (technically called a “positive- feedback loop).  Think of it this way, ice reflects heat while water absorbs heat, so as the ice melts and there is more water, more heat is absorbed (which in turn melts more ice, etc).  Scientists predict that in the very near future, summer ice will be completely melted in the Arctic Ocean. 

As a result, there is actually now a “cold rush” for stores of offshore oil, minerals, fish and trade routes as the Arctic powers, Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark and the United States compete to seize the bounty of the rapidly emerging ice-free waters.  In February of 2008, the U.S. Interior Department auctioned Chukchi Sea leases to seven oil companies for $2.6 billion which will require as many as 5 drill ships, two icebreakers, a barge, a tug and daily helicopter flights.

Unfortunately, the Chukchi Sea is home to 8% of all Arctic Polar Bears.  The good news is that after three years of heated pressure from environmental groups, the Department of the Interior placed the Polar Bear on the Endangered Species list.  The bad news is that just one month later, they announced that the bears wouldn't actually be covered under the full protection of the Endangered Species Act because they would allow oil companies to annoy and harm small numbers of them.  The Dept. of the Interior charges that it is not the drilling of oil that threaten the bears because they are instead threatened as a direct result of global warming (they are the first animal ever added to the endangered species list because of global warming).   The Department of the Interior further states that oil companies will be carefully instructed to avoid the bears and will be required to map out their dens and train their employees to reduce the risk of harming them.  Environmentalists counter that because Polar Bears are naturally curious and very sensitive to changes in their environment, that their ability to hunt and care for their young will be at risk, further posing threat to the rapidly declining species and not affording them rights of protection granted under the original Endangered Species Act (which is unprecedented since the act was first approved in 1973).  Environmentalists encourage the seeking out of alternative energy sources and technologies rather than destroying more of the ice that is already rapidly melting at potentially catastrophic rates.

In addition, melting permafrost contains extremely high amounts methane as well as some carbon dioxide.  As we mentioned earlier, methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas – it traps heat at 26 times the rate of CO2.  As the melting continues, scientists have proven that vast amounts of methane are quickly bubbling up from the water where they are released into the atmosphere, exponentially magnifying the rate of climate change.

The Oceans:  Our oceans and the animals that thrive in it are threatened by many causes.  The most significant threat is the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  Water absorbs this CO2 from the air thereby increasing the water’s acidity.  Many sea creatures cannot tolerate this rising pH level and will not survive if the trend continues.

Another threat to our Earth’s oceans is so much easier to solve – litter that falls from human hands.  A report by the Ocean Conservancy reports that in just one day in September 2007, volunteers (378,000 in all) collected 6 million pounds of trash on the world’s shorelines which also included oceans, lakes and streams.  A third of the items came from smokers.  Many of the other items included netting, fishing lines (both of which result in many deaths of seabirds and sea creatures), food wrappers, bottles, cans, etc.   

Destructive fishing habits are another threat to our Earth’s oceans.  Commercial fishermen have depleted many species by overfishing including King Crabs and Northeastern Atlantic Cod.  Other sea creatures become entangled in commercial fisherman’s nets, including whales, turtles, seabirds, and more.   Another disturbing issue is the practice of using cyanide to collect pet tropical fish, a common practice in Indonesia and the Philippines, which account for much of the tropical salt-water fish imported by the United States, a $1 billion a year industry.

Also, warmer waters threaten marine animals, including corals which “bleach” as corals permanently die from rising water temperature.  According to National Geographic, “More than 20% of the world’s reefs have been damaged beyond repair by climate change, pollution, and destructive fishing habits”.    Perhaps it’s time for us to make a change…

The Land:   Here in South Florida, we know first-hand of the impacts of more intense hurricanes.  Across the globe, many areas are feeling the effects of severe droughts, floods and heat waves.  Is human activity linked to the increase in these weather patterns?  Hundreds of the Earth’s leading scientists who formed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say absolutely, yes.

Learn about Renewable and Alternative Energy:

Renewable and Alternative Energy Solutions:

Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel made from turning starch crops (like corn or wheat) into sugars.  When combined with gasoline, it’s called E85 which means 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.  Although it is not yet available in South Florida, many other areas of the US and many other countries are using this type of fuel.  Flex-fuel vehicles can run on run on either gasoline or ethanol and there are 3 million on the road today in the US.  The best alternative would be to have a hybrid flex-fuel car which are just now starting to appear in the market.

Biodiesel is another alternative fuel and is made from renewable sources such as algae, soybeans and vegetable oil mixed with alcohol. This can power any diesel engine.  Our school buses may be run with this one day soon.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology is a viable, new and promising energy source that can power vehicles as well as one day providing electricity to our homes and businesses in the near future. 

Just recently, Honda released the first Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle for lease only in Southern California areas – the FCX Clarity.  This car is a zero-emission vehicle (it does not emit any fossil fuels at all).  The only emission from fuel cell vehicles is actually pure water!  A fuel cell vehicle is an electric vehicle that does not need to be plugged in to recharge. It travels up to 100 mph so there is no trouble traveling the posted speed limit.  The vehicle does not use gasoline, but instead uses clean, domestically produced hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe.  In order to refuel, the driver would stop approximately every 270 miles and refuel at a Hydrogen Refueling Station (only currently available in Southern California but others are being developed).  Honda is also working to develop Home Energy Stations that may eventually supply energy to the home while refueling right in the garage!  Wow!!!  Learn more about the FCX Clarity at http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

BMW is also developing a hydrogen fuel automobile, the BMW Hydrogen 7 that has not yet been released.

Wind power is a clean, renewable energy that not only provides power, but also provides jobs and saves on energy costs.  The Dutch were the first to use windmills.  Today, one wind turbine (a really big windmill) can generate enough energy to provide electricity to more than 1000 homes.  FPL Energy is the leading provider of wind energy in the U.S. with 47 wind farms in 15 states. 

Solar energy collects the sun’s heat and transfers it into energy that can power your water heater, pool heater, etc.  FPL Energy is also is the leading generator of solar power through their operations in the California Mojave Desert.  Many consumers are now purchasing solar panels for their water heaters and pools, for example.  Consumer rebates may apply – check  http://www.dep.state.fl.us/energy/energyact/solar.htm for details.

Geothermal power is capturing the Earth’s heat by drilling a hole into the ground and letting out the hot steam into a turbine (similar to the steam that comes out of geysers like Yellowstone).   This technology isn’t being used much yet but research is underway to “tap” more into this possibility.

Manure burning may sound stinky but is a viable alternative to generate electricity.  It goes even further to help the environment because it takes the manure out of the field, thereby keeping it from releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere.

Ocean power captures the energy from ocean waves and currents then converts it into electricity.   Many companies are developing this technology and it will likely be a key future contributor to energy generation.

Hydropower is created when dams harness the power of water.  20% of the world’s electricity comes from waterpower.  There are harmful environmental side effects to this, however, such as the negative impact to wild salmon.

Nuclear Power is definitely a cleaner burning energy but does come with a huge environmental cost:  the unearthing of uranium.  There is now a uranium mining boom and unfortunately, the places where uranium is found is in the heart of some of the most precious lands on Earth including the Grand Canyon area, Arches National Park, Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park in Utah.  There is currently an energy vs. environment debate in the Interior Department which has recently granted mining claims in these precious national parks through the Bureau of Land Management under the Bush Administration.  In addition to mining destruction of precious lands, uranium is also a highly toxic heavy metal and source of radiation.  If it escapes into the local water, it could be devastating.  Furthermore, there is always the risk of leakage from nuclear power plants which can prove fatal.

Biomass power is now being developed to harness the stored energy in dead trees, yard clippings, wood chips, straw, etc.  When these materials are burned in huge boilers, heat is released which turns water into steam that turns turbines and makes electricity.

Carbon capture is technology that captures CO2 from fossil fuel plants and buries it into the Earth rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.  The Florida Legislature passed a sweeping energy bill in April of 2008 that among other things, allows utilities to recover “prudently incurred” costs of carbon capture and storage projects that they are working on with major universities.   Many utility plants will likely implement plans for this in the near future.

Global geoengineering is a less viable alternative.  It is the scientific research that looks for ways to artificially cool the planet.  For example, one study looked at injecting sulfates into the air similar to those released by volcanoes which produce cooling.  The latest reports say that these ideas could have perilous side effects and so far, have not proven to be practical.