Christina Nau - SL3, Make An Action Plan

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Hillsborough Community College *

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2001C

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Geography

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Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Christina Nau Professor Arellano OCE-2001-650 16 September 2023 SL3: Make An Action Plan 1. I will be using the paperless method in my workplace to avert CO 2 emissions over the 6 weeks from September 17 th to October 29 th . 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 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 emissions we averted by not contributing to the paper-making process. 2. (A) CO 2 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 CO 2 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). CO 2 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. (B) Atmospheric CO 2 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 CO 2 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. (C) Atmospheric CO 2 emissions are affecting the local community by increasing the temperature since Hillsborough County is a natural aquatic, woodland, and wetland environment (“Environmental Restoration”). The CO 2 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,

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droughts, and potentially wildfires in our local areas, as well as severe health effects for the residents of Hillsborough County. 3. 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 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. 4. 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 CO 2 emissions we averted by not contributing to the paper-making process. I will also include as many photos as I can documenting the action plan.

Works Cited 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.