Environmental Science

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What is Environmental Science?

Honestly I couldn’t have told you until after I took Dr. Huff’s class. Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary study of how the earth works, how humans interact with the earth and the solution to environmental problems.

For my last and final blog assignment in Dr. Huff’s class I am to discuss the most important environmental issue in my opinion. There are plenty of important environmental issues. But one that I never considered an issue and now realize how important of an issue it is would be population growth. There is definitely a problem with overpopulation and over consumption! I will focus on the overpopulation for this assignment. 

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Overpopulation by the human species, our continuing exponential birth rate and our lack of a biocentrism worldview are having far-reaching and overwhelmingly destructive impacts.

Human overpopulation is having a destructive impact on the environment.  As the population grows, so does its need for resources. Because the Earth has limited resources, when the human population exceeds the Earth's carrying capacity—the maximum number any vessel can carry—environmental degradation is inevitable. The estimated world population is 7,000,000,000 and growing. The human growth rate is 1.2 percent per year. It may not seem like a very high rate. However, even at such a low rate, we are doubling the world's population in less than 50 years. There are 84 million more people on this planet every year—230,000 more every day. This is not the number of births. This is the actual amount of increase—almost 10,000 more people every hour. There were 2,819 deaths reported as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. In fewer than 20 minutes, the world population had recovered. The tsunami that hit Asia in December 2004, killing 230,000 people, only impacted the world's population for a day before the numbers were once again the same. Such events are little more than speed bumps on our race to overpopulate.

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What can I do to help this over-population...start working on my over consumption. If the world would work on their over-consumption then our footprint on the earth would decrease! That is the real issue!

So what can the world do about over population, first of all everyone can stop having so many kids but most importantly stop with over-consumption! We use too much stuff! Everyone needs to use less stuff! Especially us American! My God we consume a lot of stuff!

Photo Credit: www.nicholas.duke

The Human Footprint

As the population grows the amount of resources we must take from the Earth grows as well. Most arable land is now occupied. Humanity has to go farther and farther afield to find the resources it craves. It wasn't that long ago that the thought of drilling for oil in an arctic environment would have been dismissed as an absurdity. The ever-increasing need for natural resources to support an out-of-control population is driving the development of more extreme measures to secure those once out-of-reach fragments left over from the first wave of extractions.

How many people can the Earth support in a sustainable manner? No one knows. The estimates range from a few million to more than 40 billion people. One thing is certain: As we expand, we are actively destroying the Earth's biodiversity. As the first people migrated across the landscape, they left extinctions behind them. As soon as humanity reached the North American continent some 10,000 years ago, we see in the fossil record evidence of the extinction of all mega fauna on the continent. Is this nothing more than a coincidence? Not according to a growing number of anthropologists, who attribute the missing mammals to humans overhunting them. The entire history of humanity is one of environmental destruction and the eradication of other species. This was true when the entire world's population of hominids was only a few million. What else can we expect from a population of several billion?

The Environment's Carrying Capacity

If a population overshoots the carrying capacity of its environment, then the population will crash until it is realigned with the carrying capacity. In the process of overshooting, environmental degradation takes place, the new carrying capacity will be greatly reduced, if not gone altogether disappeared entirely. Eventually the Earth will no longer support a growing population, and what if society subsequently disappeared because of it.

Humanity is now at the point where civilizations are no longer isolated. We are a global species with one global society and, more and more, one global culture. Our destruction is no longer limited to one region or one continent. Everything we do has global ramifications, the likes of which have never been seen before. There is a very real chance that we have already overshot the carrying capacity of the Earth. Only time will tell. There is little chance of us actually physically destroying the Earth, but we seem to be doing our best to destroy our ability (and the ability of countless other species) to live on it. The most important question may not be how we as a species can survive but rather what we can do about our overconsumption! 

Now to consider the most interesting thing I have learned this semester. I haven’t taken a science class in over 25 years, and it was chemistry. 

So the things I learned in this Environmental Science class were very interesting to me. If I had to pick one – well it would be the Earth’s Geologic Process. I find it so interesting that I am going to take Geology in the Fall. God hoping I can get into a night class.

So what is the Earth’s Geologic Process?

Geological processes are dynamic processes at work in the earth's landforms and surfaces. The mechanisms involved, weathering, erosion, and plate tectonics, combine processes that are in some respects destructive and in others constructive.  

Photo Credit: http://finstone

This map shows the major tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust and the directions in which they are moving. Map adapted from NOAA.

Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates

Simply defined, the term plate tectonics refers to how the Earth's surface is made up of plates. In geology, a plate is a large slab of rock, while tectonics is a word of Greek origin meaning "to build."

The theory of plate tectonics became widely accepted by scientists in the 1960s and 1970s. It revolutionized our understanding of the Earth and unified the Earth sciences, from the study of fossils (paleontology) to the study of earthquakes (seismology).

According to this theory, the Earth's crust is made up of about a dozen plates on which the continents and oceans rest. These plates are continually shifting because the surface beneath them - the hot, soft mantle - is moving slowly like a conveyor belt, driven by heat and other forces at work in the Earth's core. The plates are moving about a centimeter (0.5 in) to 15 centimeters (6 in) per year in different directions.

Vents, Volcanoes & Quakes

The Earth's tectonic plates can move apart, collide, or slide past each other. The Mid-Ocean Ridge system - the Earth's underwater mountain range - arises where the plates are moving apart. As the plates part, the seafloor cracks. Cold seawater seeps down into these cracks, becomes super-heated by magma, and then bursts back out into the ocean, forming hydrothermal vents.

As the plates move farther apart, magma from the Earth's interior percolates up to fill the gap, sometimes leading to the eruption of undersea volcanoes. This process, called seafloor spreading, is how new seafloor is formed.

Conversely, when tectonic plates meet, the force causes mountains to rise and deep trenches to form. When the edge of one plate is forced under another - a process called subduction - it causes intense vibrations in the Earth's crust, producing an earthquake. One of the most violent earthquakes related to plate tectonics struck northeast China in 1976. The disastrous Tangshan quake, registering 7.8 on the Richter scale, killed more than 240,000 people.

Undersea earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can generate catastrophic ocean waves called tsunamis (meaning "harbor wave" in Japanese). During a major quake, the seafloor can move several meters, setting into motion a huge amount of water. The resulting waves may race across the ocean at speeds up to 500 miles per hour. This was the coolest thing I learned!

Reduce My Waste!

Reduce Waste!

Photo Credit: riversideca.gov

This week’s blog assignment for my Environmental Science class with Dr. Huff I am required to keep track of the total amount of waste created by my household. I accumulated the trash into the full size waste basket in my kitchen. My household includes me, my daughter Zoe and my son Jonah. Jonah has a girlfriend that spends a lot of time at our house. For the first three days of the experiment I will include her in the household size. After three days I weighed the trashed and it weighed 10lbs. Here is the deal – we do separate most recyclables, so in addition to the 10lb bag of trash we had a few bags full of empty Gatorade containers, empty water bottles and empty cans of soda.  These were Target bags or grocery size bags. In my defense I will point out the fact that I went grocery shopping so I had some things that were in the frig contributing to the weight of the trash. I had some mangos and cauliflower. Seems like a had a big heavy bag!

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On the second three days my trash weighed less than 7lbs. Like I said I didn’t have any food to through away. However after my research I learned that food can be put in the green waste can or in compost. I don’t have a compost but I am going to make a greater effort to separate my trash. A lot of the time I simply put can’s in the trash, and cans can go into the blue recycle container after a quick rinse out. We eat alot of soup and I have cans for my pet food. I worked the CURE event, which you can find details below, and learned the importance of keeping even large item trash separated. I need to sort through the garbage and keep trash that can be recycled – kept with the recycled. We really try to do the best we can!

Photo Credit: adland.tv

Take a look at that ball! Gees thats alot!
Every year, landfills across the world are packed with thousands of tons of unnecessary trash. Each person in the United States produces an average of 4 pounds of trash every day - wow 4 pounds! Seems like my house isn't doing too bad. Everyone can cut down on the amount of trash their family produces in a few simple ways that only take a little bit of thought and effort.

• Buy whole foods that don't come with packaging. Increasing the amount of fresh produce you eat is healthy for your family as well as the planet. In addition to produce, you can purchase cereal, grains, spices, dried beans and many other grocery items in the bulk section of natural food stores. It's an inexpensive way to stock your pantry, and you can keep it all fresh by storing it in canisters.
• Use reusable tote bags for your purchases every time you go to the store. If you still accumulate plastic bags here and there, many grocery stores have recycling bins for them.
• Buy household products such as laundry detergent, hand soap and cleaning sprays in bulk. By purchasing a few large containers of each product instead of many small containers, you can cut down on the amount that needs to be thrown out.
• Purchase products made of recycled or recyclable materials. These products not only reduce the amount of waste heading to the landfills, they also keep reusable materials in the economy, conserving precious resources.
• Use washable cleaning rags and cloth napkins rather than paper towels and paper napkins. You can make cleaning rags more convenient to use by placing two baskets under your kitchen sink-one for clean rags, and one for dirty rags.
• Check every single package for a "recyclable" symbol before throwing it out. You might be surprised at some of the things you can recycle these days.
• Make a compost pile in your yard for kitchen scraps instead of throwing them away. You'll have extremely rich fertilizer for your garden, at no cost. You can also add yard waste to your compost pile.
• Think before you toss-your trash may be another person's treasure. Online trading communities allow you to trade items of all kinds with other people in your community (see Resources below). You can also donate used goods to local charities.

The sad thing is that everything has become disposal. And it never really goes away! It is so much easier and cheaper to replace something. TV are changed out every few years. Totally sad is computers....computer are disposal now too. Even if it is only a small little part to be replaced people just toss it away rather then upgrade it! What is going on with the World??

Facts about Riverside 

Public Works trash services promote a clean, healthy and beautiful environment through curbside and drop-off trash collections.

Trash, green waste and recyclables are collected on regularly scheduled days of the week and special pick-up services for bulky items, appliances and used oil may be scheduled by residents. 

Curbside services are provided by the city or Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. for residential customers. Commercial trash services are provided by city-approved haulers.

Drop-off services for electronic waste, bulky items, and other special disposal needs are provided for residents on a regularly-scheduled basis through the CURE program.

The State of California requires cities to attain a target diversion rate based on the number of residents and employees within each city. In 2007, the city exceeded the goal and continues to promote recycling through business, multi-family complexes and residential education and outreach.

Upcoming Events:

Bulky Item / E-Waste Drop-off
8095 Lincoln Ave
9 a.m.-2 p.m.

• June 9, 2012
• September 15, 2012

Incredible Bulk Event:
Bordwell Park, Bryant Park, Collett Ave, Krameria Ave & Riverside Municipal Airport (Locations subject to change)
9 a.m.-2 p.m

• October 20, 2012 

Did You Know? Residents may schedule two free pickups per year. Appointments cannot be on the same day.

To schedule a pick-up, call your service provider:

Burrtec Service: 786-0639

City of Riverside: 826-5311 What is Composting? Photo Credit: riversideca.gov Composting is a natural process where plant parts and other material decompose with the help of fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. Composting material includes weeds, lawn and leaf clippings, thatch and chip brush. The process results in a rich and crumbly layer of organic matter called Compost Why Should I Compost? Soil quality is improved by providing necessary nutrients Wet clay soils drain better and sandy soils hold more moisture if amended with compost. Organic matter is always handy for garden use. Composting keeps green waste from filling up overburdened landfills. How Do I Begin Composting? The City of Riverside periodically hosts Backyard Composting Workshops. For more information, please call (951) 826-5311 or (800) 366-SAVE. To get started right away, bins are available for purchase by contacting the Riverside County Waste Management Department at (951) 486-3200.

Climate Change

        So for my blog assignment this week in Dr. Huff’s class I am going to come up with some conclusions about climate change. 

Photo Credit: www.phlorum.com

Climate change refers to any significant change in measures of climate, such as temperature, precipitation, or wind, lasting for an extended period like for decades or longer. Climate change may result from natural factors, such as changes in the sun's intensity or slow changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun. It may result from natural processes within the climate system. An example would be changes in ocean circulation. The of course human activities that change the atmosphere's composition, like through burning fossil fuels, and the land surface, like deforestation, reforestation, urbanization, desertification, etc.

Climate change is a real and urgent challenge that is already affecting people and the environment worldwide. Significant changes are occurring on Earth, including increasing air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels. 





The evidence of climate change extends well beyond increase global surface temperatures. It also includes:


• Changing precipitation patterns.
• Melting ice in the Arctic.
• Melting glaciers around the world.
• Increasing ocean temperatures.
• Rising sea level around the world.
• Acidification of the oceans due to elevated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• Responses by plants and animals, such as shifting ranges.

At the current rate, the Earth’s global average temperature is projected to rise from 3 to 7°F by 2100, and it will get even warmer after that. As the climate continues to warm, more changes are expected to occur, and many effects will become more pronounced over time. For example, heat waves are expected to become more common, severe, and longer lasting. Some storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent, increasing the chances of flooding and damage in coastal communities. Climate change will affect different regions, ecosystems, and sectors of the economy in many ways, depending not only on the sensitivity of those systems to climate change, but also on their ability to adapt to risks and changing conditions. Throughout history, societies and ecosystems alike have shown remarkable capacity to respond to risks and adapt to different climates and environmental changes. Today, effects of climate change have already been observed, and the rate of warming has increased in recent decades. For this reason, human-caused climate change represents a serious challenge—one that could require new approaches and ways of thinking to ensure the continued health, welfare, and productivity of society and the natural environment.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement, signed by 163 countries, that was appended to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1997. The protocol opened for signature in 1997 and entered into force—that is, became law for those countries that had both signed and ratified it—in 2005. The purpose of the protocol is to control the production of six greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, that are released by agriculture and industry and that many believe are changing the climate of the Earth.

In 1988, the United Nations created the International Panel on Climate Change to study the question of whether the world's weather was becoming warmer or cooler. The first report of the panel was issued in 1990. It affirmed that the Earth was probably warming as a result of human activity. In 1992, the greatest number of national leaders to attend any gathering up to that time met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit. This group created the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as the Rio Convention. The Rio Convention called for the stabilization of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2000. The United States was among the countries that ratified the Rio Convention.

Starting in 1995, the signatories of the Rio Convention held a meeting called the Conference of Parties every year. The third Conference of Parties was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. Here the Kyoto Protocol to the Rio Convention was negotiated. The Kyoto Protocol called for a more aggressive approach to the reduction of greenhouse gases than the 1990 convention. Specifically, it sought a global reduction of greenhouse-gas emission of five percent from 1990 levels by 2008–2012. Individual country targets varied; Germany agreed to a twenty-five percent cut, the United Kingdom to a fifteen percent cut, and the United States to a seven percent cut. The United States signed the Kyoto Protocol but has neither ratified nor officially withdrawn from it.

Global Warming a Chilling Perspective

Based on the analysis of entrapped air from ice cores extracted from permanent glaciers from various regions around the globe, it has been demonstrated that global warming began 18,000 years ago, accompanied by a steady rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Humans are quite likely the cause of a large portion of the 80 ppm rise in CO2 since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and from a distance, it looks possible that increasing CO2 may cause atmospheric temperatures rise. However, on closer examination it is seen that CO2 lags an average of about 800 years behind the temperature changes-- confirming that CO2 is not the primary driver of the temperature changes.

The real signature of greenhouse warming is not surface temperature but temperature in the middle of the troposphere, about 5 kilometers up. If global warming is occurring from an increasing greenhouse effect due to CO2 additions by humans the temperature of the middle troposphere should be warming faster than Earth's surface. However, the opposite has been happening-- which suggests either the surface temperature records are in error or natural factors, such as changes in solar activity, may be responsible for the slight rise in surface temperatures (approximately 0.6° C, globally) that appears to have occurred over the past century.

Interestingly, from 1999 to the present the temperature of the mid troposphere has actually decreased slightly and surface temperatures have ceased warming -- even as CO2 concentrations have continued to increase. This should not be happening if CO2 increases to the atmosphere are the primary driver of global warming.