Module 7 - Changing Climate

Explain:
I am a sucker for infographics.  If you are unfamiliar with infographics, I highly recommend the two sources that were linked in this module:  Information is Beautiful and Good Magazine, for they offer some of the best examples of these visual treats.  They will keep you busy for a while.

The graphic of sea levels rising was pretty powerful.  A 1-2 meter rise in sea levels (a conservative estimate that could happen by 2100) would put Venice, Los Angeles, and Amsterdam underwater.  Oh yeah, and Tununak (where I live).  And so many other villages and cities situated on the coasts of numerous seas and oceans of the world.


This led me to look at the Climate Control part of the module in the most depth.  Every time I spend time looking into global warming I feel a little part of me start to panic.  It happened this time watching the soil microbe video examining the positive feedback loop of warming permafrost > more microbial decomposition > more CO2 > more vegetation allowing > more insulation above the permafrost > increasingly warmer permafrost.
   

Extend:
And so now I freaked out.  I'm not freaked out about the rising sea levels, however.  I'm freaked out with the lack of public faith in science, and I have another infographic to blame.  When 89% of all publishing scientists and 99% of climatologists agree with the premise of anthropogenic climate change, why isn't the public jumping up to change the way things are done?


Of course, some people are trying to do things.  I just wonder if it'll work.


A recent article in Scientific American was about installing machines around the world that remove carbon dioxide from the air.  The carbon dioxide would then be sold to a commercial CO2 company or sequestered somewhere (underground? in the ocean?).  And here's another article from the same magazine discussing the technology being used at a coal power plant.  It just seems like so much work.  Take for example this little fact from the first article:  It would take 10 million of these machines, up and running, for CO2 concentration to be reduced by 5 part per million.  Ten million machines!  Who's going to fund this?  There's got to be a better way.

Teachers Domain featured another version of carbon scrubbing technology in the form of a synthetic tree.  This design still held similar flaws of the other carbon scrubbers - they require large amounts of energy to remove, isolate, compress, and store the CO2 (where's that going to come from?), and they also require a significant amount of water (andwhere is that going to come from?).

I view problems like these to have solutions that fit into one of two categories.  One category involves fixes and patches.  So you're going to pollute?  That's okay.  Buy some carbon offsets.  Install this scrubber thing.  Then there's the systematic fix.  Let's change the source of our energy.  Let's drive less, eat less meat, have fewer pets.  Easy fixes - the former.  Difficult fixes - the latter.

Me...I'm going to keep riding my bike.  It's proven to keep one car off the road and has no additional energy or water requirements.  (Okay, maybe a little more energy and water requirements)


Evaluate:
There are days where I don't see anything in the world more relevant than this topic.  I really do see it as one of the biggest issues on the Earth's plate at the moment.  It's on those days where I go on my little "Don't you know that paper airplane you made wasted a piece of paper that traveled a very long way to get here, consuming vast amounts of fossil fuels en route, only to be burned in the landfill further contributing to our problem" rants.

And it's in those moments I enjoy seeing the connections my students make.  Little by little they will begin to make the bigger connections.  In the meantime, they spend a lot of time making me see the bigger connections.


I will end on some student quotes as I remember them.  Learning is also a positive feedback loop.


"Why do you leave your water on when doing dishes?" 
"Why didn't you double side [print] this?"
"Why don't you walk there?"
"You can just email it to us."
"Do I have to print it off?  Can't I just email it to you?"

Other Cool Things:
Here's another infographic from Information Is Beautiful.  It's a nice primer if you are expecting an argument on climate change with roommate, spouse, or friend.

Wondering more about carbon scrubbers.  Here are some interesting questions and talking points investigating the reality of them.

Related to the above blog is an interactive infographic from Scientific American investigating the ecological paradox of hybrid cars.  More evidence that independent fixes (like hybrids of carbon scrubbers) will do little unless part of a much larger solution.

And of course, no discussion from me is complete without my pitch for the most efficient form of transportation yet invented by humans: the bicycle.  Efficiency of a human vs. the efficiency of a car 



Three Colleagues
Science Alaska Wages Style - This blog wondered about what to do to stop/slow/prevent climate change.  It's a question I struggle with on a daily basis.  It's hard...especially in rural Alaska where you are constantly aware of the resources you are consuming (filling stove oil, packing water, etc.).  But then again, maybe it's good to see those details.  It makes it all so tangible and real.


Explore Alaska Course - I enjoyed Sandi's discussions on climate vs weather and cyanobacteria first creating a (at the time) toxic atmosphere that brought about catastrophic climate change.  She also linked to the same Information Is Beautiful infographic that I did.  Good taste!


Many Paths to Knowledge - Marilyn talked about teaching science with music and I felt hte need to recommend the band They Might Be Giants.  Their most recent album, "Here Comes Science", is entirely devoted to science and similar relevant domains.  It's pretty awesome music.  Music can be so much fun to use in class.