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Hillsborough Community College *
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Dec 6, 2023
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Christina Nau
Professor Arellano
OCE-2001-650
31 October 2023
GEA1: SL1-4 – Exploration, Action, and Outcome (50 Points)
SL1A – Calculate Your Carbon Footprint (1 Point)
SL1B – Carbon Footprint Discussion (9 Points)
1)
Part 1
1.
After I did the carbon footprint activity, I found out that my total carbon footprint for a household of four is 51 tons of CO
2
per year.
2.
My total carbon footprint was fairly similar when compared to another household like mine. My total carbon footprint ended up being 23% better than average, meaning it was
a little better than other households. I would be willing to make changes to my daily life to reduce my carbon footprint, I would just need to find better ways to conserve the power and water I use daily, as that is where my household contributes the most to CO
2
emissions. 3.
Out of the categories calculated for my carbon footprint, my travel, goods, and services were better than average, food was average, and my home category was worse than average. I think my travel was lower because we do not use any form of public transportation, and we only drive our cars to and from work and the grocery store, which averages about 10,000 miles yearly. We also use air travel, but it’s only once a year, when
we travel back home, and the total mileage is a little over 2,000 miles each roundtrip. I believe my home category was a little high because of my electricity and water bills, as my household uses an excessive amount each month, which we need to work on. My food was average because we portion our food, and do not buy excessive amounts. Our goods and services were really low because we do not spend the extra money we have, nor do we have services as we do most things we need by ourselves. 4.
After doing this carbon footprint assignment, I have learned that my household carbon emission is not the greatest, but I knew this mainly because my electricity and water bills are high each month. I knew that households were a big factor in carbon emissions in our world, so this assignment definitely opened my eyes a little bit more and allowed me to see that I need to make a change to better our world overall. I learned that CO
2
emissions are a lot more common than we think and we fuel them daily just by living our normal life, from traveling to our jobs or the grocery store, as well as when we eat, as the
processes in which our is food made emits CO
2
. This activity shows you how important this topic is and how vital it is that we all change our ways for the better very soon. 5.
In short, greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere of planet Earth, with the most common being carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, ozone, and fluorinated gases to name a few (“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”). Since these gases are trapped in the atmosphere, Earth doesn’t cool properly once the sun goes down, and the warmth is therefore trapped, leading to the warmth of the Earth’s surface. Greenhouse
gases tie into the Carbon Footprint activity this week since CO
2 is one of the most abundant greenhouse gases that our planet Earth has, which is why we need to control the
amount of CO
2 we emit in our daily lives. “Overview of Greenhouse Gases.” EPA
, Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023
.
2)
Part 2
a.
Response 1 1.
Hi Gianna! I also have a 4-person household, but my carbon footprint was 51 tons per year, roughly 18 tons less than yours. I noticed that both of our footprints had a downward trend through the categories from left to right. Both of our home categories were above the normal amount for the size of our household, and both of our goods, services, and travel categories were below the normal amount for the size of our household. My household travels more than you, but your household buys more goods and services than mine.
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2.
I believe my household has a lower carbon footprint than yours because my family consumes less food, goods, and services than your household. While my family does travel more, your food, goods, and services categories top mine, leading to a higher carbon footprint overall. It appears that the goods, food, and service categories have a big
impact on your carbon footprint since those seem to be what are making your footprint really high. I believe a good way to bring your carbon footprint down would be to try and
meal plan to lessen the food category and try and budget as much as you guys can on goods and services. b.
Response 2
1.
Hey Sarim! My household averaged about 51 tons of carbon per year, which is about 6 tons more than your household. By looking at your categories, I can tell that your household is better with almost everything - travel, home, food, and services, but is a lot worse with goods. My family has a really high house category and yours is below the average amount which is kind of surprising. You also have a lower-than-average food category but you did say your household consumes less red meat and dairy, so that makes
sense. Your goods category appears to be extremely high, unlike my household as we budget our spending. Your services category is also higher than mine, but I think this is due to my family trying to do things themselves. 2.
I believe that my carbon footprint is higher than yours in travel, home, and food because my family tends to drive far for work, travel to and from PA and FL, and because our bills are very expensive. I believe my carbon footprint is better than yours in goods and services because my family tries to do everything ourselves and we budget our money to ensure we do not spend it on anything we do not need. I believe our home category is
higher than yours because my family uses a lot of electricity such as tons of electronics, lights and pumps for our turtle pond, and a portable air conditioner that is used daily, as well as lights since not a lot of people know how to turn them off. The only thing I would
suggest your family tries to do is cut down on the amount of goods you resort to as that is
what is making your carbon footprint so high, since all the other categories look amazing. SL2 – Explore Methods for CO2 Emissions Reductions (10 Points)
1)
Carbon Reduction Challenge (6 Points) 1.
Five ways students doing the Carbon Reduction Challenge have averted CO2 are by
reducing red meat consumption, shifting HVAC systems by 1 degree depending on the season, changing CPU sleep settings in computer labs and classrooms, reducing the temperature of the water used in washing machines, and by planting more trees (Cobb).
2.
After looking through the posters for the 2012, 2013, and 2015 Carbon Reduction
Challenge, I believe that the levels of CO2 averted showed success. Between all 3 years, each group averted anywhere from a couple hundred pounds of CO2 to over one hundred thousand pounds of CO2. One of the more successful teams, the “CarbnoKnights” expected about 52,630 pounds of CO2 averted in 3 methods: shifting HVAC systems down 1-degree depending on the season, changing the lighting schedule for day-cleaning, and reducing red-meat consumption on an individual basis (Cobb). Now, while I do think some of the numbers were a little off,
they all averted an amount of CO2 and that’s all that matters. My reasoning for stating
that the numbers seemed off was because in the Carbon Footprint activity from last week, my yearly total for my household was roughly 51 tons (~102,000 pounds), yet “Team Green Greeks” said planting trees alone could reduce anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 pounds of CO2, which kind of seemed like an exaggeration (Cobb).
3.
In the 2012 Carbon Reduction Challenge, the group “Project Earth” averted CO2 by
turning a private medical practice paperless, which was expected to save 7,320 sheets of paper and a total of 1,841 pounds of CO2 (Cobb). I found this very interesting and would want to try this not only for the upcoming project but also at my job. I work at a privately owned veterinary clinic and all the anesthesia logs, drop-off papers, estimates, etc. are filled out on paper. Ironically, we have these documents online and print them out for staff and pet owners to fill out, we just do not have an iPad or electronic device to fill them out digitally. I am going to bring the idea up to my practice manager and owner so we can save not only a ton of paper but reduce our CO2 emissions by a lot as well. 4.
4. I learned about CO2 emissions in high school, so I was aware that recycling, using cold water, switching/turning off light bulbs, shifting HVAC temperatures, not using paper towels, and planting trees reduced levels of CO2 emissions. Yet, I never thought about the usage of window tints on HVAC systems, like the 2015 “Team Carl” did, or the changing of CPU sleep time settings in computer labs and classrooms by the 2012 team “The Carbon Slumber Party” (Cobb). Both methods make a lot of sense now looking at it, but I would have never thought of those ideas myself, props to them!
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5.
The increase in carbon dioxide affects the ocean and marine organisms negatively by
making the ocean water more acidic, warming the water leading to ice melting, and
affecting seawater density. These excess CO2 emissions are making our ocean’s water
more acidic which is deadly to corals and plankton and can cause severe health effects and death to many other species in the ocean. Humans would also suffer as algal blooms could occur and it would not be advised to eat anything from the ocean. Furthermore, due to increasing carbon dioxide, the ocean water has been getting warmer which has melted some ice deposits affecting climate around the world, since the water is fresher than it should be in some areas. This is affecting ocean circulation
so water is not getting cycled as it should be, so nutrients and water are not getting where they are supposed to be. Lastly, seawater density is getting affected by excess CO2 levels, which is causing issues for marine life and climate change. The density affects the warm freshwater top layers and the cold deep saltwater layers of the ocean water, which impact ocean circulation, oxygen levels, and nutrients. The excess salt from excess evaporation is making the ocean water denser, not allowing water circulation which is affecting sea life, climate, and temperatures around the world. The water would become cooler, making the atmosphere itself cooler, and forming ice
in some areas. Overall, the increase in carbon dioxide is going to cause a lot of health problems for not only marine life but human life as well. Ocean circulation, pH, density, and temperatures will be affected, as well as the atmosphere through the climate and weather.
2)
Project Drawdown Table of Solution (4 Points)
1.
The rank of Health and Education was number 3 out of 93 (Project Drawdown).
2.
Scenario 1 had 68.90 out of 1,050.91 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, while scenario 2 had 68.90 out of 1,637.26 gigatons of CO2 that can be averted by global health and education (Project Drawdown).
3.
Some solutions that helped with atmospheric CO2 concentrations that surprised me were indigenous people’s forest tenure, bamboo production, and walkable cities (Project Drawdown). I was surprised to learn that indigenous people’s forest tenure was included on the list, but it makes sense since the vast number of trees is beneficial in keeping CO2 concentrations down. Furthermore, bamboo production also helps the environment as it sucks in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen into the atmosphere. Lastly, walkable cities would benefit our atmosphere a ton, as fewer fossil fuels would be released without cars driving around, but I do not see that for a long time in the future. I already knew the top-ranked solutions helped with atmospheric CO2 concentrations, with examples being reduced food waste, plant-rich
diets, family planning and education, refrigerant management, and tropical forest restoration. The reason I knew this is because there is less production and transport needed if food waste is being managed globally. Less production is needed when on a
plant-rich diet, rather than a meat-heavy diet, which needs facilities to butcher, package, and ship products. Knowledge would increase about CO2 emissions through
family planning and knowledge, would lead to a CO2 emission decrease, as well as a decrease in the mortality rate of mothers and children, the spread of infection, and the
heat and power emissions in hospitals. There would be a reduced risk of poor water quality through refrigerant management which would decrease air pollution through less usage of water processing plants. Lastly, more trees would be taken care of and
planted through tropical forest restoration which would increase the air quality, allowing for more carbon to be absorbed, lowering the amount of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Cobb, Kim. “CARBON REDUCTION CHALLENGE.” EAS 3110: Energy, the Environment,
and Society, Georgia Tech, cobblab.eas.gatech.edu/energy/crc_2015.html.
Cobb, Kim. “TOTAL PROJECTED EMISSIONS AVERTED BY APRIL 30,2012: 165,000lbs
CO2eq.” 2012 Student Teams, Georgia Tech,
cobblab.eas.gatech.edu/energy/crc_2012.html.
Cobb, Kim. “2013 CRC Final Results Posters (4/30/13).” Carbon Reduction Challenge 2013,
Georgia Tech, cobblab.eas.gatech.edu/energy/crc_2013.html.
Project Drawdown. “Table of Solutions.” Project Drawdown, 16 Aug. 2021,
drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions.
SL3A – Make an Action Plan (15 Points)
1)
I will be using the paperless method in my workplace to avert CO2 emissions over the 6 weeks from September 17th to October 29th. I work at a veterinary clinic and a lot of paperwork that is used daily, such as anesthesia logs, drop-off papers, and estimates is filled out via hardcopy instead of softcopy. All the documents we have staff and pet owners fill out come from our online software called eVet. Ironic enough, we print these documents from the patient portals, online, when we could just avoid the hassle and time and have everything filled out electronically via an iPad. I am going to be switching my job’s tendency from paper documents to electronic documents over the next 6 weeks. I
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got this idea from the 2012 “Project Earth” team from Kim Cobb’s The Carbon Reduction Challenge (CRC) challenge from last week's emissions reduction activity (Cobb). The reason I will be doing this is because we are contributing to a lot of CO2 emissions, as well as paper waste. I will be getting my coworkers involved as well since I
will be able to obtain 4 iPads from other clinics, allowing each technician to carry one around and use it all day. I will be recording my progress through a spreadsheet which will show how much paper we used, how much paper we saved, and how much paper we had the potential to save. This would then allow us to see how much CO2 emissions we averted by not contributing to the paper-making process. 2)
Discussion of the threats and consequences of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (10 Points)
1.
Discuss the effects of increased CO2 (6 Points)
i.
CO2 emissions are warming Mother Earth’s atmosphere, creating climate change that is altering the ocean’s temperature, thermohaline circulation, and sea level, as well as causing hypoxia, coral bleaching, and acidification in the ocean (Moore). Two major ways the increase in CO2 is adversely globally affecting the ocean are by a rise in temperature and by affecting the ocean’s thermohaline circulation. Ocean temperature is a
vital element and with its rising, effects arise such as ocean acidification, coral bleaching,
a rise in sea level, melting of ice and glaciers, and the death of marine species. The climate on land is in many places controlled by the ocean water surrounding it, so with an
increase in water temperature, an increase in actual temperature will occur as well. Increasing temperature would also cause ocean acidification, or a decrease in pH which causes issues for shell-forming animals like corals, and oysters. Corals are also affected
by bleaching or the process of turning white once they release all the algae inside themselves due to warm temperatures. The sea level also rises since seawater expands when it warms, and ice deposits and glaciers start to melt introducing freshwater into the ocean as well. The rise in temperature affects the ocean as an ecosystem itself, from the water and atmosphere to the marine mammals that call the ocean home. The temperature also affects the density of the water, as the water cycle gets sped up leading to more salt deposits. Since the density of the water is affected, ocean circulation is as well since the less salty water tends to stay at the surface, and the cooler, saltier water tends to sink, which mixes the water. Yet, if the water becomes too salty, there is no way for warmer, less dense water to mix with saltier and cooler, dense water, which is where thermohaline circulation plays a part. Thermohaline circulation is a form of circulation that moves heat and salt across the globe (Moore). CO2 emissions affect this circulation because they warm the atmosphere, warming the water, and affecting the density of the water, which puts a halt to the circulation of the ocean water. Without circulation, the ocean water temperature and salt pH would not be regulated since the water would not be mixing the different levels of water. The ocean would end up very salty and cool in some places and very warm and not salty in other places. This would make the water around the equator very warm and the water around the poles very cold, making some parts of the world unlivable if the environment was too harsh without the water around it circulating like normal.
ii.
Atmospheric CO2 emissions are affecting Florida directly by increasing storm frequencies, which leads to flooding, physical damage, water level increases, and salinity changes (Brierly; Kingsford). These are very common effects in estuaries, salt marshes,
coral reefs, sandy shores, seagrass meadows, rocky intertidal, kelp forests, and mangrove areas, which Florida contains. Florida is one of the most vulnerable states to CO2 emissions since the state is surrounded by water, which in itself is affected heavily by climate change. An increase in storms could lead to very severe coastal flooding, especially on Florida’s coastline, as well as erode our beaches since we have low land. There would also be the potential to submerge land, leaving some parts of Florida unhabitable soon if they are underwater. Salinity would also fluctuate in our oceans, as well as mangrove and estuary areas since runoff would occur all over the state.
iii.
Atmospheric CO2 emissions are affecting the local community by increasing the temperature since Hillsborough County is a natural aquatic, woodland, and wetland environment (“Environmental Restoration”). The CO2 emissions are increasing the tree's rate of photosynthesis so they can store the carbon in the atmosphere, but this is leading to an increase in atmospheric temperature because the trees are storing this heat. Hillsborough County had 60 of its 91 summer days noticeably affected by warmer temperatures due to climate change this summer (San Felice). Higher temperatures could cause more heat waves, droughts, and potentially wildfires in our local areas, as well as severe health effects for the residents of Hillsborough County. 2.
I do believe that increasing storm frequencies and temperatures could affect me but more or so future generations since the temperatures in our area have only gotten worse. Florida rains a lot because of how humid it is normally, but with an increase in
climate change, storms will be way more frequent, leading me to believe that parts of Florida will be underwater one day. Now I do not think I will be here when that happens, but I do believe that future generations will be here to witness Florida
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underwater one day. I do believe we may see the effects of water rising from climate change over the upcoming decades though. I do believe current generations and I will
start to see the effects of climate change via temperature through droughts, wildfires, and heat waves slowly over the next couple of decades. 3.
I will provide proof for my paperless method action plan with a chart that shows how much paper we used, saved, and had the potential to save. I will count the amount of paper used, if any, each day and collect data over the next 6 weeks to allow us to see how much CO2 emissions we averted by not contributing to the paper-making process. I will also include as many photos as I can document the action plan. Brierley, Andrew S., and Michael J. Kingsford. "Impacts of climate change on marine organisms
and ecosystems." Current Biology 19.14 (2009): R602-R614.
Cobb, Kim. “TOTAL PROJECTED EMISSIONS AVERTED BY APRIL 30, 2012: 165,000lbs”
CO2eq.” 2012 Student Teams, Georgia Tech,
cobblab.eas.gatech.edu/energy/crc_2012.html
Environmental Restoration, Hillsborough County, 2010,
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/library/hillsborough/media-center/documents/emergency-
management/09--pdrp-environmental.pdf.
Moore, Tiara. “BIMS Bites - Climate Change.” YouTube, uploaded by Black in Marine Science,
5 February 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E
San Felice, Selene. Climate Change Turns up the Heat in Tampa Bay, Axios, 14 Sept. 2023,
www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/09/14/climate-change-extreme-heat-tampa-bay.
SL4 – Progress Report and Outcomes (15 Points)
1)
Your original reflection post original answering questions 1-4 here (10 pts) 1.
My Carbon Reduction plan was based on the 2012 Carbon Reduction Challenge
group “Project Earth”, where they averted CO2
by turning
a private medical practice paperless, which was expected to save 7,320 sheets of
paper and a total of 1,841 pounds of CO2
(Cobb). The reason I chose this plan is because I work at a privately owned veterinary clinic and we use a lot of paper for anesthesia logs, drop-off papers, estimates, etc.
I brought up the idea of iPads to my practice manager since we can fill out all of these hard copy items online as soft copies, as well as avoid paper usage, and reduce our CO2 emissions. Once I got approval and my coworkers signed a paper reduction pledge, I started the 6 week-long project to switch
my job's tendency of using paper documents to electronic documents to reduce our carbon emissions. We received
4 iPads, allowing each technician at my job to carry the iPad around and use it for electronic signatures and documents. I then recorded the amount of paper we used, and how much paper we saved via electronic papers, allowing us to see how much CO2 emissions we averted within the time frame.
2.
Yes, it was easy to implement the paper waste reduction at my veterinary clinic since the doctor and the other support staff were all for the idea. While it took some time to get the iPad approval from our hospital manager, the drive my coworkers, doctor, and I had showed that we were serious about this. The clinic has always used paper which
we scan via a copy machine and then upload into the patient's record online. The doctor has been looking for a means to save some paper since we waste a lot of it, even though we shred it and reuse it. This project came at perfect timing since we found a major solution to our paper waste, and it drove our clinic to make a change to
better our environment. We went from using roughly 2,500 pieces of paper a work week (Monday through Saturday) to now maybe a handful if any at all since everything is done online now.
3.
Based on the data I have collected, our clinic has averted roughly 854 pounds of CO2 over the 6 weeks. My clinic saved 8,412 papers through the use of electronics. I calculated the aversion of CO2 in multiple steps - first I looked up the weight of a single piece of printer paper which came out to 0.18 ounces ("How Much Does 1"). I then multiplied the 0.18 ounces by 8,412 as that is the number of papers that we had saved, which came out to a total of ~1514 ounces (1514.16). I then converted ounces to pounds by dividing my value by 16 which gave me a final value of ~95 pounds (94.635) ("Ounces to Pounds"). I then plugged my 95 pounds into an environmental paper calculator which gave me the total number of 854 pounds of CO2 averted by my veterinary clinic ("Calculate Your Impact").
4.
The actions of our paperless plan link to the impacts of the ocean globally, the state of
Florida, and the local community in many ways. Reducing our paper usage reduces the amount of work paper manufacturers do, as well as the amount of trees needed to make the paper, which in turn lowers the amount of CO2 emissions being released into our atmosphere.
Our ocean is being impacted by atmospheric CO2 emissions daily, which is causing an increase in
storm frequencies,
flooding, physical damage, water level, and pH/salinity changes in many states in the US and countries (Brierly;
Kingsford). One of the big impacts on our ocean would be salinity changes since the ocean has become more acidic due to CO2 emissions, which is harming many marine environments. Furthermore, Florida itself is one of the most vulnerable
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states to CO2 emissions since the state is surrounded by water. Due to large amounts of CO2 emission, Florida's coasts do and will continue to endure
extreme flooding, and beach erosion since Florida has low land, which could potentially submerge land, leaving some parts of Florida unhabitable if they are underwater. Lastly, CO2 emissions are affecting us in local counties in numerous ways. Hillsborough County is being affected since the emissions are
increasing trees' rates
of photosynthesis so they can store the carbon in the atmosphere, which is leading to an
increase in atmospheric temperature because the trees are storing this heat. In turn, Hillsborough County is becoming hotter, which was shown in a recent study where
Hillsborough
County had 60 of its 91 summer days noticeably affected by warmer temperatures due to
climate change this summer (San Felice). Higher temperatures could also cause more heat waves,
droughts, and potential wildfires, as well as severe health effects for the
residents of Hillsborough County.
Brierley, Andrew S., and Michael J. Kingsford. "Impacts of climate change on marine organisms
and ecosystems." Current Biology 19.14 (2009): R602-R614. “Calculate Your Impact.” Paper Calculator 4.0 | Environmental Paper Network
, c.environmentalpaper.org/.
Cobb, Kim. “TOTAL PROJECTED EMISSIONS AVERTED BY APRIL 30,2012: 165,000lbs
CO2eq.” 2012 Student Teams, Georgia Tech,
cobblab.eas.gatech.edu/energy/crc_2012.html.
Environmental Restoration, Hillsborough County, 2010,
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/library/hillsborough/media-center/documents/emergency-
management/09--pdrp-environmental.pdf. “How Much Does 1 Sheet of Paper Weigh.” Google Search
, Google, www.google.com/search?
q=how%2Bmuch%2Bdoes%2B1%2Bsheet%2Bof%2Bpaper%2Bweigh&oq=how
%2Bmuch%2Bdoes%2B1%2Bsheet%2Bof%2Bpaper
%2Bweigh&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAEEUYOxiABDIJCAAQRRg7GIAEMggIA
RAAGBYYHjIICAIQABgWGB4yCAgDEAAYFhgeMggIBBAAGBYYHjIICAUQABg
WGB4yCAgGEAAYFhgeMggIBxAAGBYYHjIICAgQABgWGB4yCAgJEAAYFhgeqA
IAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Links to an external site.
.
“Ounce to Pounds Conversion.” Google Search
, Google, www.google.com/search?q=ounces
%2Bto%2Bpounds%2Bconversion&oq=ounces%2Bto%2Bpounds
%2Bc&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDI
HCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIMCAQQABgUGIcCGIAEMgcIBRAAGIAEMgcI
BhAAGIAEMgcIBxAAGIAEMgcICBAAGIAEMgcICRAAGIAE0gEIMjk5M2owajmo
AgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Links to an external site.
.
San Felice, Selene. Climate Change Turns up the Heat in Tampa Bay, Axios, 14 Sept. 2023,
www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/09/14/climate-change-extreme-heat-tampa-bay.
2)
Two of your replies to other student post responses here (5 Points)
1.
Hey Gianna! Our carbon production plan is kind of similar, as we both have paper as our main point of carbon reduction. I planned to reduce the paper usage at my place of work, a vet clinic, while yours was to recycle more paper (plastic, metal, etc.) in your home, as well as your friends and families. My place of work shredded the
papers we used once we were done and would reuse the shreds as litter for cats we needed to collect urine on, as it doesn't fully soak it up, or as bedding for exotic pets that get dropped off at the clinic. It appears that my carbon reduction plan averted more CO2 since my value came out to 854 pounds, while your value was 106.78 pounds. I also noticed that the staff at my clinic would do things out of habit, like printing papers when we had an iPad right in front of them to use. Overall, it appears we were both successful in averting at least a couple of pounds over the past 6 weeks,
good job! I agree that the ocean traps heat from CO2 emissions, which can increase the temperature of the water, but this also increases the ocean's salinity leading to more marine ecosystem problems such as ocean acidification and coral bleaching. I agree that Florida is definitely impacted by coastal storms and that they are partially getting worse over time due to climate change as a result of the emissions. Not only are storms more frequent from climate change, but so are flooding, physical damage, the water level, and the pH and salinity of the ocean as well. If we do not reduce our CO2 emissions, eventually Florida will be underwater since the beaches are eroding and the water is slowly rising. I fully agree with you and your local impacts from CO2 emissions, on top of local sea level rise, and beach erosion, our local counties have also been getting warmer year by year from the atmospheric changes. 2.
Hi Kevin, I like your action plan idea of raising the thermostat 1
°F for the 6 weeks! I would also assume that raising the temperature would lower the energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and electricity bill since it is not working as hard to make the house cold. I also like that you are willing to promote the idea of this experiment as long as the data you receive seems to improve the CO2 emissions and your electric bill. The
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only thing I am curious about is what temperature you started your project at, haha. My project was based on paper reduction at my place of occupation since we relied on paper for almost everything we did. With the implementation of iPads and electronic signatures, we were able to go completely paperless saving 8,412 pieces of paper and 854 pounds of CO2 from emitting into the atmosphere over the past 6 weeks. If the math was correct for my project, I noticed that my method seemed to avert more CO2 emissions than yours since I averted 854 pounds and you averted 571
pounds. I got your number by taking the 0.259 metric tons and converting it to pounds or multiplying by 2205 to get a value of 571.095
or 571 pounds ("Metric Tons to Pounds"). With the results from your experiment, it would appear that a lot of households would have to commit to turning up their thermostats a degree to make a significant change, but it would definitely reduce the amount of CO2 emissions overall. With a lower amount of CO2 emissions, the ocean would reduce its acidity and its pH would start to stabilize again. Florida would have fewer chances for severe
storms due to climate change and less beach erosion. Hillsborough County's temperature would also slowly decrease annually without warming due to climate change from the CO2 gas emissions.
“Metric Tons to Pounds Conversion.”
Google Search
, Google, www.google.com/search?
q=0.259%2Bmetric%2Btons%2Bto%2Bpounds&oq=0.259%2Bmetric%2Btons%2Bto
%2Bpounds&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORigATIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIR
igATIHCAMQIRiPAjIHCAQQIRiPAtIBCDQ1NjZqMGo5qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome
&ie=UTF-8.