Air pollution summary. Announcements. Air pollution summary. Trends in average air pollutant concentrations in United States

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1 Announcements Extra credit films due today Final lecture, ESCI film festival, and final exam review on Thursday (study guide posted) Final exam on Monday, March 14 th at 8 AM Daylight savings time starts March 13 th! Set your clocks forward one hour. If you need to take a make-up midterm exam, please the TA so we can have the correct number of exams ready on the 14 th Air pollution summary Emissions of primary pollutants declining Concentration (ppm) Concentration (ppm) Trends in average air pollutant concentrations in United States 10 9 CO Concentration (µg m -3 ) Lead NO SO Concentration (ppm) Air pollution summary Emissions of primary pollutants declining Emissions of CFCs that cause ozone greatly reduced through international agreement Greenhouse gases (CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O) are emitted by human activities and cause global warming Source: 1

2 Changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration Current: ~403 ppm >25% increase since 1958, ~40% since 1850 By the end of class today Understand the evidence linking greenhouse gas emissions with global warming Recognize the environmental effects of CO 2 emissions Discuss what is certain and what is less certain regarding climate change Perhaps for Thursday: Know what happens to our trash and recycled materials Discover the environmental effects of poor solid waste disposal Global carbon cycle and budget Evidence that increased atmospheric CO 2 is primarily due to fossil fuel combustion Carbon budget Parallel decline of the 14 C/ 12 C ratio of atmospheric CO 2 due to absence of 14 C in fossil fuels Parallel decline of the 13 C/ 12 C ratio of atmospheric CO 2 due to the fact that fossil fuels and plants are depleted in 13 C Parallel decline in the O 2 concentration of the atmosphere, which indicates the increase in CO 2 is due to combustion 2

3 South Cascade Glacier, Glacier Peak Wilderness, WA Formerly snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years Role of climate models 3

4 Ancient CO 2 levels from bubbles trapped in ice cores, temperature from ice oxygen isotope ratios Historical context from temperature and CO 2 recorded in ice cores Why hasn t air temperature risen as quickly as GHG? Sea level rise > 90% of heat trapped in the ocean Mixing time of the deep ocean: 1000 years Atmospheric heating is delayed due to heat uptake by the ocean 4

5 Ocean acidification Ocean acidification Consequences (among many others) Dissolution of shell-bearing organisms Mortality of shellfish (especially oyster larvae) Coral bleaching Carbonate system: CO 2 + H 2 0 H 2 CO 3 H + + HCO 3-2H + + CO 3 2- Data from HOTS (Hawaiian Ocean Time Series) Presidential candidate positions Candidate Is it real? Human caused? Clinton Yes Yes Cruz It s complicated No Kasich Yes Yes Rubio Yes No Sanders Yes Yes Trump No No Areas of less certainty Future projections Extreme weather events Regional climate change Extent of future coastal flooding 5

6 Future projections Sea level rise: 20 to 60 cm by 2100 IPCC 2007 Hurricane Katrina Recent increase in category 4 and 5 hurricanes 1 meter increase displaces 17 million people East Pacific Ocean West Pacific Ocean North Atlantic S.W. Pacific North Indian 1 7 South Indian Changes in hurricane intensity Webster et al. (2005) Science Number Cat 4 and 5 hurricanes 6

7 Regional climate change Declining snowpack Observations Variable Infiltration Capacity Model What can you do to reduce global warming? Buy and support sustainable energy You re already doing this!!! Purchase a fuel-efficient car Ue alternative modes of transportation What can the United States do? Kyoto protocol Agreed to unanimously in 1997 Mandatory greenhouse gas emissions targets Reduce GHG emissions to ~5% below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012 U.S: reduce GHGs to 7% below 1990 levels Decrease emissions or increase GHG sinks Emissions trading 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (Paris) Results: 195 nations agreed to reduce GHGs? 7

8 Solid Waste Where does our garbage go? What s in our trash? Where does it go? What are the consequences? What can we do to reduce these problems? What do you think the US should do? Solid waste Bellingham Bay August 2012, Bellingham institutes Plastic bag ban Black Diamond Coal Mine Managed by Pierre B. Cornwall 8

9 Landfills near Holly St Whatcom Creek fill Whatcom creek and Maritime Heritage Park Cornwall Avenue Bellingham Bay arsenic, copper, lead, mercury, silver, zinc, cyanide, PCB, bis(2-ethylhexyl), phthalate, PAH 9

10 Squalicum 1926 Squalicum 1930s Problems with improper disposal Great Pacific Garbage Patch Legacy of contamination Superfund sites (CERCLA) Solid waste debris in the environment 6x more plastic debris in North Pacific Ocean than macrozooplankton (C. Ebbesmeyer) 10

11 Half pound of plastics found inside dead albatross Effects on seabirds Plastics and prey in seabird guts (Colabuono et al. 2009) Albatross Petrels Shearwaters Atl. Fulmar Plastic in guts of dead vs. injured albatross chicks (hit by cars). Dead have more plastic. (Aumann et al. 1997) Mortality estimates (UNEP): 10 6 seabirds & 10 5 mammals each year In Britain, 95% of birds surveyed had plastic in gut Photo from National Geographic Where does our garbage go? Whatcom County no longer dumps solid waste into Bellingham Bay Instead, Whatcom County dumps solid waste in Oregon Roosevelt (WA) and Columbia Ridge Land Fill, Gilliam County, OR Roosevelt Landfill Columbia Ridge Landfill Columbia Ridge Most of solid waste from Whatcom County and Seattle goes here. Two million tons of solid waste disposed here in

12 Landfills for profit Who creates the most waste? Fees up to $100 per ton What is in municipal trash? Where does our trash go? Predominately paper products EPA 2010 United States MSW (2010) 12

13 MSW trends in the US MSW trends in the US Total and per capita waste generation (EPA 2010) Total and percent recycling (EPA 2010) What products are recycled? Recycling in WA WA Dept. Ecology: Revitalizing Recycling in Washington 13

14 Where does our recycling go? China! China s new green fence policy reject contaminated materials Issues with landfills Leaching of contaminants Incomplete decomposition Methane production Habitat destruction Difficult to find suitable sites (NIMBY) US companies have better incentives to innovate Effects on wildlife 14

15 Solid-waste combustors Issues with solid-waste combustion Atmospheric deposition of metals such as lead, mercury, zinc, an important source of pollution for local waters including Puget Sound Which shall we pollute - air, water, land? BCS: 80% burned, 12% recycled, 8% landfill RE-Store in Bellingham 15

16 Reducing consumption Needlessly disposable products Disposing of hazardous wastes We ve come a long way Batteries Rechargeable take to hazardous waste facility Standard alkaline trash Paint Open can in well ventilated area Toss when dry CRTs (TVs and computer screens) are toxic 16