Acid in the oceans and what that has to do with us

So maybe you don’t believe that the world is warming up. Fine. I could argue the whole “scientific proof” thing, but I’ll allow you your delusions for now. Even if the Earth isn’t warming up, there are still other serious problems that we, as a planet, are facing. Our ridiculous levels of pollution don’t only affect temperature changes. There are other repercussions of our actions, this article that I read today being one of them. The acid levels in the ocean are rising alarmingly high.

Here are a few excerpts that I found particularly interesting/disturbing:

• “When we burn fossil fuels, we are not just putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A lot of it goes into the sea. There, carbon dioxide turns into carbonic acid. And that turns ocean water corrosive, particularly to shellfish and corals.Biologists are now coming to realize that rising acid levels in the ocean can affect many other forms of sea life as well.”

• “Acidity is measured on the pH scale. Already, the oceans are a tenth of a unit more acidic. And by the end of the century, the pH is expected to change by half a unit. But don’t be fooled by these modest-sounding numbers.’So we say ‘only’ — ‘only’ half a unit. What’s the big deal about that? Well, that’s a tripling of acidity,’ Pane says. ‘That’s a three-fold increase.’

  That’s because the pH scale is logarithmic, so each unit increase actually represents a ten-fold increase in acidity.”

• “Brewer says the carbon dioxide has already altered ocean chemistry in such a way that it affects the way sound travels through the ocean. That effect will grow, as more and more carbon dioxide ends up in the sea.”

• And finally: “And while those problems seem solvable, Brewer ponders the enormous societal problems that created the acidity problem in the first place.’We’re all in a bind here,’ he says. ‘It’s going to be very hard to maintain this number of people on the planet and not have these problems. It worries me that scientists sound the alarm but don’t come up with solutions. We’re going to have to try.’

  Technology has revolutionized ocean science during his career. He can only hope that it will also revolutionize the way we produce energy — before the oceans suffer irreparable harm.”

Click here for full article.

Can we really afford to continue pretending like humankind’s bad habits don’t have a huge impact on our planet?

Hourglass Coffee Maker

I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker, but most people I know are, so I figured I’d post this cool kitchen gadget I ran across today: It’s a coffee maker that doesn’t use any electricity!

Click here to check it out!

OPINION: U.S. Climate Funds Increase, Future Levels in Doubt

“The world’s nations will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December to negotiate a landmark agreement to prevent full-blown climate change. If they fail, large landmasses around the world will be vulnerable to weather extremes, droughts, flooding, food insecurity, spreading disease vectors, and sea-level rise. The U.S. military, among others, has begun to see these effects as not merely a massive human and planetary tragedy, but a major potential cause of increased violent conflict.”

Click for full article.

Declare Your Energy Independence

Check out this website.

Carbon Cap & Trade Follow Up

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that will reduce greenhouse gas emmissions and limit pollution.  If it survives the Senate, we WILL have a cap and trade system.  (See Addam’s post from April 2, 2009).

Here are a few excerpts from the story on the climate bill, followed by a link to the full story:

“House narrowly passes major energy-climate bill

WASHINGTON – In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation’s first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy.”

Al Gore calls it “an essential first step towards solving the climate crisis.”

“The legislation would require the U.S. to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by about 80 percent by mid-century. That was slightly more aggressive than Obama originally wanted, 14 percent by 2020 and the same 80 percent by mid-century.”

full story

Home on World Environment Day

I came across an article on Treehugger.com today about a documentary by Yann Arthus Bertrand (French environmentalist, journalist and creator of GoodPlanet, a non-profit organization which is dedicated to the promotion of sustainable development) set to premiere on World Environment Day, June 5th.

“The movie is a collection of unique aerial footage from over 50 countries, which will try to show the state of the planet in natural and urban areas with the goal of inciting people to act.

Says the producer, Denis Carot, ‘Home is a film with a message that sets out to shift people’s perceptions, make us aware of the tectonic movements at work and incite us to act. Although there is a general trend in our societies towards an awareness of ecological issues, concrete action is still too little, too slow—which constitutes in some ways the creed of the movie: It’s too late to be a pessimist’.

Although famous for its Earth from Above pictures, this is the first movie by French photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand. He got the idea of making it moved by the impact Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth had since its release.”

Click here for the full article.

See also: Home documentary website

10 Easy Ways to be more Green (and save money on your energy bill!)

My name is Elise. I am a friend of Addam’s and I will be blogging for him, so that he can focus on getting this company up and running. I am studying English at the University of North Texas. I am SO excited about blogging here, because I have been wanting to learn more about “going green” myself and this will push me to finally do so. That said, I am learning here, so suggestions on blog topics are more than welcome! Feel free to suggest something for me to research or send me a link on something that you think I should write about!

Introductions aside, I am going to start out with 10 Easy Ways to be more Green (and save money on your energy bill!) this summer:

1. Turn off any lights that are not being used. Lighting is responsible for about 11 percent of a home’s energy bills.
2. Switch out your light bulbs for Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLS). CFLs use about 75% less energy than standard incandescents and last much longer. They do contain small amounts of mercury, though, so please read this article before buying them.
3. Turn your computer(s) off at night. Computers need sleep, too! I know that it is more convenient for you to leave it on all night, so that you do not have to wait for it to start back up in the morning, but consider this: Not only will it help you save energy, but it will also extend the life of your computer(s). Also, you will save an average of $90 of electricity a year. Turn off your monitor if you are not going to use it for more than 20 minutes and shut the whole system down if you are not going to use it for more than 2 hours. Make sure that your computer is really off. 75% of the energy used by home computers is used when the owner thinks the computer is turned off. Putting your computer in sleep mode is not the same as shutting your computer down.
4. If you have a choice, use a laptop instead of a desktop. Laptops use 15 to 25 watts during regular use, while desktops use 150 watts. Also, laptops only use a fraction of a watt when in sleep mode.
5. Take shorter showers. Long showers waste several gallons of water! Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs.
6. Unplug anything that is not being used. This includes kitchen and bathroom appliances, TVs, computers and phone chargers. Even when turned off, these things still draw energy when plugged in. If the plugs are difficult to reach, plug everything into power strips (with surge protectors!) and turn the strip
7. Only run the dishwasher or do laundry when you have a full load. The fewer loads that you wash, the less water you use. If possible, allow dishes to air dry. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher’s total electricity use.
8. Make sure the weather stripping around your house is still intact. Not only does it keep heat inside in the winter, but keeps cool air inside in the summer.
9. Turn down your water thermostat. Many water heaters are set at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, when they only need to be set at 120 degrees for appliances to function properly. Lowering your water temperature by ten degrees will save you 3 to 5% in energy costs
10. Keep your thermostat set at 78 when you are home and turn it off when you are not home. If that becomes uncomfortable, try to use fans instead of turning the thermostat down.

Statistics and other specifics from TheDailyGreen.com and Shine.Yahoo.com.

Carbon Cap & Trade

The United States is one of the last countries in the world to not have a carbon cap and trade system. What is a carbon cap you ask? A carbon cap is a legal limit that is set by the government on the amount of green house gases that can be generated in a given period of time. So how does trade come into the picture? Simply put, a carbon cap and trade system is set up to regulate the amount of pollution dumped into our atmosphere . When a company reaches the maximum amount of green house gasses that it can produce then it has reached the, “Cap”. This company now has two choices; it can either shut down operation or buy, “Trade”, remaining credits from another company who has not reached their limit. After a company has sold cap credits they can no longer use them for themselves. If they need more then they must buy back additional credits from someone else that is willing to sell.

So why are we not already doing this? Good question, and one can only speculate on the many answers, but I can say expect it to happen soon. California is setting a really good example by starting the first cap and trade system in the US in 2006. And I just read today that by the end of next year California has mandated that at least 20% of all it’s energy is to be generated by means of renewable energy. Finally we seem to be opening our eyes.

Solar Gate

We built a nice cedar fence today that has a solar powered gate. The unit runs off of a 24 volt battery that is charged by a 6 watt, 24 volt solar panel. Also came with two remotes and a keypad. Total unit cost is about $1200.

Wind Generators