Final Flashcards
What percentage of carbon (from oil and gas reserves) must stay in the ground as stranded assets?
75%
What are two examples of geoengineering?
1) carbon dioxide reduction - extracting Co2 from the atmosphere and storing it elsewhere
2) solar radiation management - dimming the earth, putting aerosols in the atmosphere
Iron fertilization is effective? T/F
False
What is the advantage of Algal biofuels?
VERY efficient; allow you to grow a lot of biofuel per square kilometer of area
How do you make algal biofuels economically viable?
Remnants of extraction have proteins that you can use for animal feed
What area of biofuel algae could be used to satisfy the liquid fuel needs of the whole planet?
3 Texas-sized spots on Earth
What is the COP21 Paris Accord target for global temperatures increase?
well below 2 degrees Celsius; it has clear recognition, however, that any warming beyond 1.5 is dangerous
What percentage of greenhouse gas forcing/CO2 forcing in the atmosphere is caused by Methane?
50%
Compare per-molecule strength of absorption AND abundance of Methane vs. Co2
Methane is way less abundant in the atmosphere but is 100x more powerful than CO2
How long does Methane stay in the atmosphere?
Methane is short-lived in the atmosphere; rapid response, only stays there for a decade; we could see it be cleared in a decade
In addition to CO2, what must we also focus on to stay below the goal global temperature increase of 2 degrees?
If we try to rollback just Co2 emisisons, we will still hit 2 degree warning; we MUST reduce Methane, too
Rise of methane is caused by what?
fracking process, not cows
A major source of methane from the rise in 2008 is what?
Ancient methane released by humans through fracking
almost has no C14
What are the two types of methane in the atmosphere?
Ancient methane- formed in rock formations over geological time frame (natural gas) almost no C14
New methane- formed by decomposition of organic matter by bacteria in absense of oxygen; has C14
Ancient ethane must have come from where, given that naturally occuring atmospheric ancient methane is essentially nonexistant?
from us! fracking
New methane is coming from where?
peet bogs; microbe metabolism produces methane
Describe why methane formation is very small in oceans
Anoxic ocean: Lots of sulfate ions in salt, and when there’s sulfate present in the water, end product is hydrogen sulfide
Anoxic lakes/ freshwater systems: no salt or sulfate, the end product is methane
Most of the methane is being produced in ____ rather than ______
freshwater; the oceans
There is a lot of methane tied up where?
frozen continental shelves
If we warm the earth by _____ degrees, we will release the methane stored in the frozen natural methane clathrates
~1.8 degrees Celcius
Takehome message from Paris was what?
We need to move very aggressively away from fossil fuels, including not only coal but also natural gas (particularly from shale).
*** ON EXAM: Which is worse for greenhouse gases, at least in the short-term on decades scale; burning coal or fracked natural gas?
When you include all the methane loss during the fracking process and all the methane loss during the transport of natural gas from source fields to end user, FRACKED NATURAL GAS is almost twice as bad as burning coal itself
How did the current goal of getting the Cornell campus to carbon neutrality by 2035 get its initial start?
It all began when members of the KyotoNow! student organization camped in front to Day Hall in 2001 and demanded that President Rawlings commit the campus to carbon reductions consistent with the Kyoto Protocol.
Cornell is one of the first universities to do what?
pledge carbon neautrality and make up a very specific blueprint; happened in 2016 when Provost Michael Kotlikoff received the detailed plan with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035.
What is Cornell’s campus energy future? Are we going to drill a few hundred meters OR a few hundred kilometers into the earth to find hot water
Earth source heat; a few hundred kilometers
What is the difference between ground source heat and earth source heat?
Earth Source Heat: uses deep earth source (4-6 km)
Ground Source Heat Pump: uses shallow ground source (400-500 feet)
Is it really true that Cornell is the #1 Ivy League School in the national Sustainability Assessment and Rating System (STARS)?
Yes
How much has Cornell reduced their net CO2 emissions since 2008?
36%
When does Cornell want to have net zero CO2 emisisons?
2035
While we are decreasing our CO2 emissions, what is Cornell increasing?
methane emmissions from fracked natural gas
What should we expect a drill site close or on Cornell’s campus testing whether it get’s hot enough at 4-6 kilometers below the Earth?
In the next 4 years
If test is succesful, when will Cornell start fullscale development of earth source heat?
around 5 years from now
What are the 2 other issues Bruce cares about with regards to Cornell’s sustainability efforts?
- Improve climate change literacy among ALL Cornell students
- Better transparency on neutrality progress for better engagement with students
What is the connection between the 2035 action plan and Cornell’s motto?
social justice; any person, what’s fair
What percentage of top-predator fish, like tuna and swordfish, still remain in the ocean today relative to their abundance several decades ago?
10% remain
Aquaculture now provides about __ of global fish production
47%
___of the major world fisheries are either maximally exploited or overfished
93%
Overfished fisheries grew from 10% in 1975 to about ___of all fisheries in 2015
33%
What are the role of gov’t subsisdies in the global fishery industry?
Subsidies are directly driving overfishing and associated environmental degradation; w/out the fuel subsidy, trawling the bottom of the ocean, which is extremely damaging, would almost certainly stop.
What is bycatch?
undesirable sea life scraped up by the trawlers
What percentage of the sea life scraped up by trawlers in undesirable?
as much as 70%
FADs, or Fish Aggregating Devices, ____ bycatch when compared to nets set on free-swimming schools.
increase
What is longline fishing?
Each longline can have several thousand baited hooks in a single set.
What does longline fishing catch unintentionally?
unintentionally catches seabirds, turtles and sharks
Why are longline fishing methods so bad for the environment?
They accidently catch seabirds, turtles and sharks
How much have shark populations declined in the past 15 years?
75%
What is the problem with the use of forage fish (e.g, sardine and herring) to feed other fish in aquaculture?
these fish are a natural food source for all sorts of consumers in the marine ecosystem (e.g., seabirds, large predator fish, marine mammals)
The prey fish industry feeds not only aquaculture, but what other animals?
pigs and other land animals
What are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)?
Designed protected area to allow marine organisms to grow to high abundance and persistently “seed” (repopulate) the adjacent areas that are open to fishing. win-win
What is the difference between a carnivorous fish and a planktivorous fish?
Planktivorous fish feed on zooplankton and are not fed wild-caught-prey fish i.e. Tilapia is planktirvorous while swordfish and salmon are carnivorous
Is the fish served in RPCC and Keaton dining halls on the Cornell campus sustainably caught?
yes
How many years after an oil spill in Wild Harbor Marsh Oil that still has oil present at toxic levels?
40 years later
What happened in Minamata Bay,Japan (1950s - 1960s)?
Industrial mercury was discharged into the bay and it entered the fish populations that were consumed by the local residence leading to terrible birth defects
What is the main source of mercury to the global ocean?
Unregulated coal power generation of electricity
Why is plastic found at such high densities in the middle of the subtropical gyres of all oceans?
The Trade Winds and Westerly Winds drive the Ekman Layer to the center of the gyre. The water in the Ekman Layer eventually downwells and is recycled, but the plastic remains at the surface and accumulates
What is cleaned out of the water when it comes into a secondary treatment facility?
both solids and dissolved organics have been removed; a secondary facility assumes that Primary Treatment is also done
Things that happen in the Arctic and the labrador sea can do what?
remotely influence the abundance of zooplankton in the Gulf of Maine, which impacts birth rate of right whales
Climate oscillations can reverberate from the Arctic and impact the food abundance of right whales, and you can have what?
decades of good food and decades of bad food, and the calving rates will vary accordingly
What are the two points a/b whales?
1) you can remotely force the food in the Gulf of Maine by Arctic conditions
2) that food will impact the birth rate of right whales and their survival
What is the Traditional Farm Nitrogen Balance?
grow grain and livestock on same location, manure from livestock goes back on crop fields, recycling; closed system
We have separated animal raising from the crop growing, and this creates what?
new nitrogen from fossil carbon energy
What percent of the nitrogen in the fertilizer used in the modernn farm industry finds its way back to rivers and streams?
37%
The EPA reports that more than ___of all US rivers are now unsuitable for aquatic life, largely due to nutrient pollution from industrial agricultural practices
half
Concentrated Agricultural Feeding Operations (CAFOs) do what?
apply liquid animal waste to land, which often leaches into waterways
Heavy agriculture leads to what?
dead zones
Harmful algal blooms are increasing, probably due to what?
increases in nutrient fluxes to the coastal zone (agriculture)
Ff everyone the United States substituted beans for beef — the U.S. could come close to meeting what?
its 2020 greenhouse-gas emission goals, pledged by President Barack Obama in 2009.
If you want to complain about somethign that’s within 3 miles of the shore, where should you go?
indivudal state gov’ts
3 miles to __ miles offshore is under whose jurisdiction?
200; federal gov’t
What qualifies as international waters?
waters beyond 200 miles offshore
Clean Water Act deals with what two things?
1) sewage pollution
2) navigable waters, which the Obama administration tried to expand the legal definition of
What is the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act?
the governing authority for all fishery management activities that occur in federal waters; 0-200 miles off the coast
What is the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act?
tries to promote states to “get their 0-3 miles act together;” “encourage” (i.e., arm twist) Coastal States to develop and implement coastal zone management plans
Suppose you’re a fisherman fishing for salmon and there are seals there– can you shoot them?
no, you can’t kill U.S. mammals due to the Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act
What has been the findings of 2 commissions in the early 2000s with regards to our ocean management policy?
In short, there are way too many cooks in the kitchen working completely independently of each other - and often counter to each other’s goals. ex: corn ethanol program
What was the purpose of Obama’s 2010 executive order?
marine spatial planning would be regional in scope, developed cooperatively among Federal, state, tribal, and local authorities, and include substantial stakeholder, scientific, and public input
What countries haven’t ratified the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea?
the U.S., North Korea, Iran and Libya (US Senate needs to ratify treaties and it hasn’t)
The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) allows what?
ability to regulate endangered species
What is a visceral example of the impact on fauna humans have had?
prehistoric times, there were super-abundance of big animals; cod, oysters, land-animals
Already, we have lost what percentage of coral reefs? what will we lose if we do nothing?
50%; 100%
Every mass extinction in the past has always coincided with what?
a mass die out of coral reefs
What is sustainable development?
Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Human consumption of natural resources can be divided into what three key components?
a. human POPULATION,
b. levels of consumption (AFFLUENCE)
c. impact per unit of resource used (depends on the TECHNOLOGY used).
What is the Ecological footprint?
converting apples and oranges into a common unit; how much of the land you need for your energy needs i.e. to heat your home, grow the food, build your home on, all of those needed to sustain wellbeing are converted into a common unit of area
if the ecological footprint (area) resulting from consumption by the entire global human population exceeds the actual area of the planet, then we are…?
withdrawing more from planet earth than planet earth can replenish
The UN estimates that humanity’s total Ecological Footprint is now __ planet Earths, meaning that we are currently consuming more than ____% of earth’s resources annually that can be replenished each year
1.7; 70
UN scenarios also show that if our current consumption trends continue, by ___ we’ll need two Earths to support humanity.
2030
Concentration of Atmospheric CO2 Since the Beginning of the Industrial Era has seen an increase of what percent?
40%
Atmospheric CO2 concentration is increasing by about__ to ____ ppm each year
2 to 3ppm
Global Temperature Anomalies Since the Industrial Era have seen a ___ Rise in Global Average Temperature
1.0 °C
IPCC* 5th report that came out about a year ago has placed the expected rise to _ ___ ___ ____ ____by the end of this century
1 meter above preindustrial levels
The arctic is expected to be largely ice free in the ____ ____ _____.
summer by 2035.
With business as usual rates of CO2 emissions ocean acidity will increase by ____ by the end of the century
170%
Within decades what 2 disastrous things will happen?
- polar oceans will be corrosive to unprotected calcareous shells of marine organisms
- ropical coral reef growth will be hampered or stopped altogether
2 important UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Summary Points
- Humanity has taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of species extinctions, further threatening our own well-being and the well-being of all future generations.
- The pressures on ecosystems will increase globally in coming decades unless human attitudes and actions change
What is the tragedy of commons facilitated by?
bystanders who aren’t necessarily lazy but who don’t realize that they have a right to speak up
Revenue-netural carbon tax
tax carbon at its source; if you buy a product that uses a lot of carbon, you pay more tax; everything goes into a big pot of $$ and everyone gets the same $$ back; the more cawrbon you save, the more money you make
