Thursday, February 21, 2013

Exam Questions

Here are three exam questions and answers.


1. What conditions promote the Midwest plains?

Winds carry air up the windward side of the Rocky Mountains, the air cools, and water vapor condenses and precipitates. The West side of the Rocky’s is colder and wetter. The air then moves down the leeward side of the mountain, expanding and warming, thus increasing its capacity to absorb and retain water. This creates a desert like, dry ecosystem. The rain shadow effect extends 1,500 km to the East of the Rocky’s, creating a range from 300mm/yr in Colorado to 1,000 mm/yr in Illinois. The whole Midwest is within that rain shadow.

2. How does soil texture affect other soil properties? Why does it influence ecosystem processes so strongly?

The texture of the soil, which is based on the proportions of sand, clay, and silt, are indicators of the soil properties.  Soil properties include drainage, water holding capacity, aeration, susceptibility to erosion, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, pH buffering capacity, and soil tilth. Properties like drainage and water holding capacity will determine erosion rates, nutrient leaching rates, decomposition, etc. The texture influences the properties, which have a direct effect on ecosystem processes because it determines the vegetation and natural communities that will grow.

3. How do bacteria and fungi differ in their environmental responses and their roles in decomposition?

Bacteria and Fungi are responsible for 95% of the total decomposer biomass and respiration. Fungi create networks of hyphae, which are filaments that enable them to spread and grow. This allows them to get nitrogen from one place and carbon from another. When soils are plentiful, they spread their network in search of the most labile substances. Fungi secrete enzymes which degrade cell walls, breaking down litter and extracting the nutrients. Bacteria have a small size and large surface: volume ratio that allows them to absorb soluble substrates, and to grow and divide quickly in substrate-rich areas. Bacteria often lines roots and enjoys macropores in the soil, where water movement is rapid and nutrients flow.  

Thursday, February 14, 2013

USGCRP National Climate Assessment

-->

            In class we were asked to comment on a report and I chose to look at the Executive Summary of the US Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) National Climate Assessment. The entire document is quite long, and I wanted to read every section once I saw the options included. The summary was an overview of the rest of the report. It began by explaining climate change, what it is, what it is doing to our planet, and how humans are affected. It also explains in the introductory section, how can we adapt as a society and hopefully mitigate the affects of climate change. It clearly states that human activity has lead to climate change, resulting in extreme weather, threats to human health, infrastructural damage, unreliable water sources, adverse affects on crop yields, ecosystems, and oceans. This list makes up many of the chapters in the report, in addition to a chapter for each region of the USA stating observations of climate change in that area. The final part of the summary goes over “Crosscutting themes and issues,” which explains the integrated, systems-based, approach that is needed for the complex issue of climate change. Additionally I looked over chapter 6-Agriculture and chapter 11- Urban Systems, Infrastructure, and Vulnerability chapter. The chapters mainly touched on things I already knew; however, it would be quite scary for someone to read who had limited knowledge on the current state of the climate.
            I was really excited by this report because it was extremely upfront, scientifically based, non-biased, and clearly spelled out key messages for the reader. They are not trying to project into the future, they are putting it in context of what we are already seeing today and what we can expect will follow. It is a great tool for government agencies as well as climate change lobby groups. The document is not even published yet, so it seems very up-to-date and relevant for the general knowledge of every citizen. Although the document is open for public comments, I would not make any major changes. It covers all of the basics, without over simplifying but still taking into account the interconnectedness of the problem.
            I was really happy to see a government supported project that clearly states climate change is real and it is human induced. The National Development Climate Change Advisory Committee’s mission is, “Thirteen Agencies, One Vision: Empower the Nation with Global Change.” These agencies include Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Human Services, NASA, NSF, Smithsonian Institute, USAID, Department of Agriculture, and the EPA. This is AMAZING. Our bureaucratic government is uniting all of the biggest agencies and their brains together to create a report on the status of climate change.  
            It gives me hope that the scientists who are writing this report will provide a formal document that could motivate policy makers to look past their oil-fueled pay checks and make a real change.   

To find more information, read the report, and send comments to the Advisory Committee go to:
-->

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Energy Descent Culture

-->
            This week we began looking at the carbon cycle. After last week’s blog about Bill McKibben, I have been thinking a lot about our role in the carbon cycle. Our constantly expanding population is heavily addicted to oil and fossil fuels. The growth of human population actually corresponds to the growth of our ability to harness energy and use it. There are four options for our future: techno-fantasy, green-tech, energy/creative descent, and crash. Techno-fantasy is the general assumption that we will find the technology to allow for us to continue the growth rate and energy use of today. Green-Tech stability says we can continue at this rate using things like biofuels. Crash refers to the straight-up collapse of civilization. Finally, the energy descent culture of earth stewardship shows a decreasing population and more importantly a descent from fossil fuel reliance. 
http://ingienous.com
            The norm right now is so far from the energy descent culture. The media blinds us from being concerned citizens. It pushes a greedy, materialistic existence (can barely call it life in the biological sense), leading our society to hold a deep seeded entitlement. Yes, today we can buy more than everything we could possibly need, but the costs we pay are nowhere near the true costs of resources and their environmental/social externalities. Most people generally do not know and they do not care. They do not know where the garbage truck takes their waste (4lbs of solid waste/day for the average US citizen). Where does the recycling go? Where do you fit into this system?
             I do not believe people are inherently greedy or power-hungry; however, I question how we can ‘descend’ from our reliance on fossil fuels without the rich staying comfortable in their ways and the poor being displaced and killed. Will not the people with money continue to pay their way through any social or environmental threats, allowing them to sustain their lifestyle while others suffer? It happens now on a less noticeable scale (if you are not trying to notice). I wonder how the broader public, that believes in techno-fantasy or green-tech, could be brought into the conversation? How do we make this relevant and important to them? How do you make a culture that is generally self-centered, think about something so much bigger then them?
            Looking closer at the sloping down curve of ‘energy descent,’ I question if this is saying only the privileged will survive and everyone who does not know or care about sustainable living is doomed? Will changes happen when they really need to happen? Can we begin before it is too late, helping that transition happen smoother? It will involve two big parts: one is building the necessary infrastructural systems in place to make living sustainably easier for the layman, second is changing how we relate to one another to minimize inequalities and to create an atmosphere where we are dependent on each other and not on fossil fuels.