Christina Nau - SL5, Personal Reflection copy
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Hillsborough Community College *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
2001
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
5
Uploaded by Kayla_2022
Christina Nau
Professor Arellano
OCE-2001-650
8 November 2023
SL5: Personal Reflection
In SL1A I found it surprising that my household contributes roughly 51 tons of CO
2
into the
atmosphere annually based on our expenses and lifestyle. After comparison to other students, my
51-ton average was fairly median as many other students had lower and higher amounts of CO
2
emissions than me. In the SL2 activities, it was very interesting to learn about the many simple
ways we can avert our CO
2
emissions. These ranged from the reduction of paper, change in one
degree of your thermostat, and less red meat consumption to name a few (Cobb). For my carbon
emission reduction project, I opted to reduce the paper use at my job, which would lower CO
2
emissions as there would be less of a need for tree cutting and paper plants, therefore lowering
CO
2
emissions into our atmosphere. This takes us into SL3A where I stated my action plan of
using the paperless method in my workplace to avert CO
2
emissions over the 6 weeks from
September 27
th
to October 29
th
. In turn, this would lower the effects of carbon emissions on the
planet and its oceans, Florida, and local counties and communities. I found it surprising that
Hillsborough County had 60 of its 91 summer days noticeably affected by warmer temperatures
due to climate change this summer (San Felice). Lastly, in SL4, we reflected on our action plan
where I was able to implement the paperless method in my clinic to avert roughly 854 pounds of
CO
2
over the 6-week timespan (“Calculate Your Impact”).
It was surprising to learn that my
clinic saved 8,412 pieces of paper from usage through the implementation of online documents.
Overall, the SL projects showed us how vital CO
2
emissions are to our planet and everyday life
and how easy it is to reduce our CO
2
emissions, we are just the ones that must make the change
to better our planet Earth.
Furthering on the SL projects, I plan to continue to make changes in the future to reduce my
CO
2
emissions. Occupationally, my job is still enacting the paperless method and will continue to
do so from now on after seeing how much CO
2
we averted and the thousands of pieces of paper
we are saving. In my personal life, I am going to try and recycle more than I do, raise my
thermostat more often, use vehicular transportation less, and reduce my consumption of red
meat. The reason for doing all of this is that I want to reduce my daily CO
2
contributions to
Mother Earth’s atmosphere. Recycling, adjusting my thermostat, using my car less, and eating
less red meat are all easy things to change that create a big impact over time. Although I am only
one person, my little bit of change is just the start, and with more and more implementation and
results, many more people may be willing to join in.
On the talk of carbon reductions, my action plan of using the paperless method, or using
electronic documents instead of physical documents helped avert CO
2
emissions and benefitted
the Earth’s ecosystem by reducing ocean warming and ocean acidification. Ocean warming and
ocean acidification are harmful resultants of excess amounts of CO
2
in the ocean from the
atmosphere, which my plan helped to reduce. Our oceans are getting warmer and warmer each
year from the greenhouse effect, which is increasing the Earth’s temperature globally. Warmer
waters are not only causing more frequent and powerful storms due to quick vaporization but are
also melting ice sheets which is increasing coastal erosion, sea levels, and the death of some
marine species. Now ocean warming is not the only result of CO
2
emissions as ocean
acidification, or a more acidic ocean also occurs from the ocean water absorbing CO
2
from the
atmosphere. This CO
2
absorption lowers the pH of ocean water, which results in a higher acid
content making it hard for oysters, clams, and corals to form shells or skeletons due to a lack of
calcium carbonate concentrations. Since corals are having a hard time forming and are being
exposed to a warm and acidic ocean, the corals are dying or bleaching across Florida’s oceans.
Overall, excess CO
2
emissions affect not only the atmosphere but the ocean and marine life as
well, as without a major change soon, a downfall to our oceans is going to occur. (Clifford)
The concentration of carbon dioxide was 417.06 parts per million (ppm) as of 2022, and the
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was projected to be 36.4 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2021
(Lindsey; McGee). These numbers are extraordinarily higher than the CO
2
calculation I got
during the SL4 Progress Report and Outcomes project. My paperless method plan averted 854
pounds of CO
2
, which is roughly 3.8736788398e
-10
gigatonnes once converted (“Convert
Pounds”). In reference, 0.00000000039…
is way smaller than the 36.4 gigatonnes of CO
2
that
was said to be in the atmosphere in 2021. While this number seems significantly small, if one
million, or even one thousand people implemented their own ways to avert CO
2
emissions, a
slight difference in numbers would be made. For example, my 854 pounds times a thousand
people would give you 854,000 pounds or 3.8736788398e
-7
gigatonnes, and my 854 pounds
times a million people would give you 854,000,000 pounds or 3.8736788398e
-4
gigatonnes
(“Convert Pounds”). While we are still off from even 1 gigatonne of CO
2
being averted by 1
million people, it could be possible if everyone on this planet contributed. At 854 pounds of CO
2
per person, times our world’s population of 8,045,311,447
,
we could avert roughly 6.870696e
12
pounds or 3.11649528218952 gogatonnes of CO
2
(“Convert Pounds”; “Current World
Population”). This is a way more significant number than the original 3.8736788398e
-10
gigatonnes I had by just myself, which shows that with more and more people willing to avert
CO
2
, our atmosphere’s CO
2
build-up could be significantly reduced. All in all, each person
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
willing to reduce the CO
2
build-up in our atmosphere makes a difference and the impact only gets
bigger and bigger with more and more people willing to make simple changes in their daily life.
References
“Calculate Your Impact.” Paper Calculator 4.0 | Environmental Paper Network,
c.environmentalpaper.org/.
Clifford, Catherine. “Antarctic Sea Ice Has Been at Record Low Levels for Months - Here’s
What That Means.” CNBC, 12 July 2023, www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/antarctic-sea-ice-
has-been-at-record-low-levels-for-months.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.
“Convert Pounds to Gigatonne - Conversion of Measurement Units.”
Unit Conversion
,
www.convertunits.com/from/pounds/to/gigatonne.
“Current World Population.”
Worldometer
, www.worldometers.info/world-population/#:~:text=The
%20World%20Population%20in%202023,the%20world%20population%20was
%207%2C909%2C295%2C151.
Lindsey, Rebecca. “Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.”
NOAA Climate.Gov
, 12 May 2023,
www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-
dioxide.
McGee, Michael. “Global CO2 Emissions.”
Global CO2 Emissions
, 18 Mar. 2022,
www.co2.earth/global-co2-emissions.
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
.