An Answer To The Question

You may have heard that global temperatures have flat-lined over the last decade. While these past few years have been overwhelmingly hot when you look at global mean temperature, there actually has been no increase in the temperature since roughly 1999. Climate deniers and global warming skeptics love to bandy this little fact about, saying it proves global warming and climate change are hoaxes. They just love to think that the scientific community doesn't know what it's talking about or that there is some huge leftist conspiracy driving scientists to come up with what they view as bunk.

However, as usual, scientific study has been able to determine this plateauing of global average temperature for the last 15 years. On ScienceDaily.com is an article detailing that researchers have found that water cycles in the Atlantic Ocean have been drawing down the heat down to the depths. Scientists participating in the research say this cycling occurs on roughly 30-year cycles, so this phenomenon will not occur forever. In addition, just because temperature has flat-lined does not mean global warming is no longer a threat. The carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are still trapping the heat within the confines of our atmosphere. Temperatures are still warmer today than they were 40 years ago. On top of this, all that heat being drawn down into the ocean could assist in the warming of our oceans which could have devastating effects on polar ice and the ability of certain species to thrive within their oceanic habitats.

Yes, science keeps giving us new things to be concerned about and they raise more questions, but they also find answers to these questions. This is the relentless pursuit of science - to discover the truth no matter how long it takes or how deep the research must go. That is why I love science.

Maybe This Isn't A Fool's Errand

Here is a link to The Guardian newspaper and an article that discusses that sometimes facts do convince the skeptics of climate change/global warming. That is good to know, but the real conundrum is how to convince those who seemingly refuse to be convinced. Is it possible? I don't know what the answer is, but I know I will still try and provide some insight into our environmental challenges and triumphs. Even if we can't get others to accept the evidence, we can learn more about our world and the global environment in which we live.

Plastic Bags Are So 2000 and Late!

As part of my internship for Freshkills Park, I get to research and write on blog topics that have some relevance to the park. This week, I discovered that a supermarket is opening up in Berlin that is fully free of disposable packaging. It is a great concept, and one that has already been introduced in America at a store in Austin, TX. I am hopeful we will see more stores move in this direction, because the fact of the matter is 32% of our household waste comes from food packaging.

However, I don't want to write about the ideas those two supermarkets are focusing on. Researching that topic reminded me of the continuing battle we have with plastic bags. They are everywhere! and sadly they are going nowhere once we have disposed of them. How many of us have found plastic bags strewn in street gutters, floating in a pond, caught in the limbs of a tree, or swirling around in a parking lot? Yes, they are easy to use for stores and consumers, but they are terrible for the environment. They don't biodegrade, meaning the plastic will always pose an environmental problem in some form. Most can be recycled, either through the store or your local recycling facility, but most folks don't know about this. In fact, this short YouTube video shows us how immortal these bags are.


Most of us aren't aware that plastics are actually made from oil. So in addition to remaining a problem long after they are made, the production of plastic bags is actually contributing to global warming. These handy human-creations are just plain bad. Most of us know plastic bags are not the best, yet we continue to use them, myself included. So far, the best way to get us to stop using them in mass quantities is by stores and governments providing carrot & stick incentives. For example, some cities - most notably San Francisco - tax plastic bags in the form of a 10-cent surcharge per bag used. Another example is the grocer/retailer chain in Great Britain, Marks & Spencer, that charges a fee for each plastic bag used. Other retailers offer discounts to those who bring in their reusable tote bags.

Personally, I would like to see more stores and governments adopt the measures of the above examples. The effect is a decrease in the use of plastic bags. Of course, other ideas should be formed and implemented that will help us get off the plastic bag high we all suffer from. Sometimes we can change our own habits, other times we need a little prodding to get us to alter our bad habits. I am hopeful we will see the decline of plastic bag usage within the next few years, but we have to start now. I am committing right now to put and keep a tote bag in my backpack so that I will always have it with me whenever I make those unexpected trips to a store. Please join me in making the stand against the plastic bag.

Sometimes Pictures Really Are Better Than Words

I read an article on the online version of The New York Times this morning about increased melt from glaciers and the Antarctic ice sheets. The first image they had reminded me of all the other pictures I have seen of glaciers retreating. For me, these pictures give powerful voice to the evidence that scientists have acquired that the world is warming. It's not just one glacier, it is all of them. Here are some pictures that really do speak louder than words that global warming/climate change is real.

Upsala Glacier

Portage Glacier

Pederson Glacier

Rhone Glacier

McCarty Glacier

West Rongbuk Glacier

It's complicated

Throughout my educational and work experience, invasive species were one thing: very bad! Whether an insect, plant, disease, or other creature they would find their way into a new area and wreak havoc with the natives. They could out-compete with native species on every level imaginable and alter long-established ecosystems. They threatened economically important crops and socially-desirable plants and charismatic animals. We as humans had to do everything in our power to stop invasive species.

At face value, the issue is clear. Invasive species are bad for native populations and the ecosystems they thrive in. Further research reveals that this matter is a lot more complicated than it seems. Firstly, invasive species have spread into a new territory because a pathway has been opened up which was not previously available to the species. More often than not, this pathway has become available because of humans. Usually the species has arrived because of international trade activities or the collection of plants for horticultural purposes. An indirect link to humans comes in the form of climate change. Warmer temperatures and longer warm seasons have opened up regions that were previously limited to certain species. One example is the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. This very small insect has moved north as warmer winter temperatures have become more prevalent, decimating the once expansive hemlock populations in the Northeast U.S. It is hard to stop something that has no predator in its new habitat and is free to go where it pleases in a warmer climate.

During my research at the University of Liverpool, I actually discovered that existing environmental management plans that are aggressive toward an invasive species that has already become established may do more harm than good. A few case studies have found that endangered, native species that don't compete for the same resources will actually adapt and become dependent on the invasive species. When trying to remove the invasive species, land managers and scientists have found that native species are very slow to return and may not re-establish themselves at all if prior land management policies did not favor the conditions for the native species to thrive in. While invasive species may drive out their native counterparts, creating a monoculture of single dominant species, other native species may adapt to that.

As with most things biological (and dealing with the environment), the issue of invasive species is quite complex. It is obvious that the problem is only becoming worse, and it threatens whole ecosystems as well as individual species and even human activities. However, a one-size-fits-all plan is not the solution. If an invasive has settled in, policymakers may do well to create a policy of accommodation rather than eradication. Also, we cannot stop international trade just because we are afraid of the next invasive species to cross our borders. For one thing, we don't know what an invasive species is until it actually starts becoming invasive in our neck of the woods. Government agencies that regulate and monitor known invasive species are learning that this issue is quite complicated and are trying to alter their policies accordingly. The rest of us - lovers of native species, horticulturists, traders, advocates of the environment, basically everyone - needs to encourage this kind of approach. Since humans have caused a lot of the stress our natural world currently faces, we must use educated and flexible approaches if we are going to continue to "manage" the environment.

Tick tick tick . . .

This week the the IPCC report on the impacts of climate change was released. It detailed quite a gloomy scenario the effects climate change will have on civilization if we fail to curb global emissions of greenhouse gases within the next few years. I listened to several discussions about the new report via BBC, The New York Times, and The Guardian which disturbed me. While these media outlets were documenting what the report actually said, they then spent a great deal of time debating about whether the reports were actually too gloomy for the public and world leaders to pay attention to it.

I understand that scientists need to do a good job of communicating the science of global warming in a way that is identifiable to the public. I also realize that the public and government leaders are probably tired of hearing the dire forecasts that scientists have put forth. However, as a student of the environmental sciences, I have been privy to the research being done on this subject and there is indeed a great need to sound a loud and jolting alarm. More and more research is indicating that the climate and different ecosystems are experiencing worst-case scenario predictions that were made years ago. If we put that next to the fact that world leaders have yet to agree to a binding international agreement that calls for even modest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we are faced with the prospect of very disruptive, if not completely chaotic climate change.

The world is changing; the evidence is mounting that it is already underway. How much it changes is up to us. I do not doubt human ingenuity or adaptability in tackling the changing climate and the effects it will have on ecosystems, species, and civilization. In the meantime, we must not only press our leaders to come to an effective, enforceable agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we must show them we want change by altering our consumption habits and our awareness of environmental matters.Whether we vote at the polling booth or with our dollars at the store, we must send a clear message that we don't want even more drastic climate change than we are already experiencing.

I hope to contribute to this growing awareness by highlighting environmental issues through this blog. There are many different issues that exist, and many are interconnected. Even if everyone on this planet engaged with one specific environmental cause that was dear to them, we would already be on a better path. If you see a topic on this blog you would like expounded or if I have missed a topic that you would like to see covered, please let me know and I will do my best to highlight that issue. We are part of the natural world, so it's in our interest to be concerned about the "health" of the planet.