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Announcements

• Extra credit films due today (on table in front of stage)

• LEAD work-party summaries due today• Final lecture, ESCI film festival, and final exam

i Th d ( t d id t d)review on Thursday (study guide posted)• Final exam on Monday, March 18th at 8 AM• If you need to take a make-up midterm exam,

please email the TA by Friday so we can have the correct number of exams ready

Air pollution summary

• Emissions of primary pollutants declining• Emissions of CFCs that cause ozone greatly

reduced through international agreement• Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) are emitted Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) are emitted

by human activities and cause global warming– What are the most likely consequences?– What aspects are less certain?– What should be done?

Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration

>25% increase since 1958, ~40% since 1850

Global carbon cycle and budget

Evidence that increased atmospheric CO2 is primarily due to fossil fuel combustion

• Carbon budget• Parallel decline of the 14C/12C ratio of

atmospheric CO2 due to absence of 14C in fossil fuels

• Parallel decline of the 13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 due to the fact that fossil fuels and plants are depleted in 13C

• Parallel decline in the O2 concentration of the atmosphere, which indicates the increase in CO2is due to combustion

Consequences of increased greenhouse gas concentrations

Pl t f th Plots from the IPCC Working Group 1 report (2007)

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1928 2000

South Cascade Glacier, Glacier Peak Wilderness, WAColumbia Glacier, SE Alaska1980

Columbia Glacier 2005Nine-mile retreat

Formerly snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in

11,000 years

Role of climate models

Ancient CO2 levels from bubbles trapped in ice cores, temperature from ice oxygen isotope ratios

Historical context from temperature and CO2 recorded in ice cores…

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Detailed view since the last ice age

Brook 2013Science

Changes in global sea level

The other CO2 problem: Ocean acidification

• About 30% of fossil fuel CO2 has entered the ocean

• Dissolution of CO2 in water produces carbonic acidcarbonic acid

• This raises ocean acidity (lowers pH)• pH = -log([H+])

The other CO2 problem: Ocean acidification

Carbonate system: CO2 + H20 ↔ H2CO3 ↔ H+ + HCO3- ↔ 2H+ + CO3

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Data from HOTS (Hawaiian Ocean Time Series)

A decrease in pH of 0.1 corresponds to a 30% increase in ocean acidity

The other CO2 problem: Ocean acidification

Cross section of pH down the center of Puget Sound

h (m

)

Data Feely et al. 2010, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Wat

er d

epth

• Consequences– Shell-bearing organisms dissolve!– Coral bleaching

High mortality of juvenile shellfish (clams

The other CO2 problem: Ocean acidification

– High mortality of juvenile shellfish (clams, oysters)

– Dissolution of oceanic pteropods (important food for salmon)

– Decreased productivity of shell-bearing algae

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Areas of less certainty

• Future projections• Extreme weather events• Regional climate change• Extent of future coastal flooding

Future projections

IPCC 2007Sea level rise: 20 to 60 cm by 2100

Hurricane Katrina

Recent increase in category 4 and 5 hurricanes

1975–1989 1990–2004

East Pacific Ocean 36 49 West Pacific Ocean 85 116 N h A l i 16 25 North Atlantic 16 25 S.W. Pacific 10 22 North Indian 1 7 South Indian 23 50

Number Cat 4 and 5 hurricanesChanges in hurricane intensityWebster et al. (2005) Science

1 meter increase displaces 17 million people

Regional climate change

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Declining snowpack What can you do to reduce global warming?

• Buy and support sustainable energy –You’re already doing this!!!

• Purchase a fuel-efficient carAl i d f i• 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 2012between 2008 and 2012

– U.S: reduce GHGs to 7% below 1990 levels

• Decrease emissions or increase GHG “sinks”• Emissions trading• Copenhagen Climate Conference

What do you think we should do?

Solid Waste

• The Bellingham City Council approved the Single Use Carry Out Bag Ordinance ( l k(commonly known as the "plastic bag ban") in July 2011.

• The new law became effective Aug. 1, 2012

Solid Waste

• Where does our garbage go?– What’s in our trash?– Where does it go?

What are the consequences?– What are the consequences?– What can we do to reduce these problems?

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Bellingham Bay Landfills near Holly St

Whatcom Creek fill

Whatcom creek and Maritime Heritage Park

Cornwall Avenue

arsenic, copper, lead, mercury, silver, zinc, cyanide, PCB, bis(2-ethylhexyl), phthalate, PAH

Bellingham Bay Squalicum 1926

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Squalicum 1930s Where does our garbage go?

• Whatcom County no longer dumps solid waste into Bellingham Bay

• Instead, Whatcom County dumps solid waste inwaste in…

Oregon

Roosevelt (WA) and Columbia Ridge Land Fill, Gilliam County, OR

Columbia Ridge

Most of solid waste from Whatcom

Roosevelt Landfill

Whatcom County and Seattle goes here.

Two milliontons of solid waste disposed here in 2005

Columbia RidgeLandfill

Landfills for profit

Fees up to $100 per ton

What is in our trash?

Predominately paper products

Dat from the EPA (2005)

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Where does our trash go? Who creates the most waste?

Issues with landfills

• Leaching of contaminants• Incomplete decomposition• Methane production• Habitat destruction• Difficult to find suitable sites (NIMBY)

Effects on wildlife Solid-waste combustors

BCS: 80% burned, 12% recycled, 8% landfill

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Issues with solid-waste combustion

• Atmospheric deposition of metals such as lead, mercury, zinc, an important source of pollution for local waters including Puget SoundPuget Sound

• Which shall we pollute - air, water, land?

Problems with improper disposal

• Legacy of contamination– “Superfund” sites (CERCLA)

• Solid waste debris in the environment6 l i d b i i N h P ifi O – 6x more plastic debris in North Pacific Ocean than macrozooplankton (C. Ebbesmeyer)

Plastic in the planktonHalf pound of plastics found inside dead

albatross

Photo from National Geographic

Effects on seabirds

Plastics and prey in seabird guts (Colabuono et al. 2009)

Plastic in guts of dead vs. i j d lb t hi k (hit

Albatross Petrels Shearwaters Atl. Fulmar

injured albatross chicks (hit by cars). Dead have more plastic. (Aumann et al. 1997)

Mortality estimates (UNEP):106 seabirds & 105 mammalseach year

In Britain, 95% of birds surveyed had plastic in gut

US trends in recycling and composting (EPA)

Municipal Solid Waste Recovery

15

20

25

vere

d

Recycled

Composted

0

5

10

15

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

Per

cen

t R

eco

v

Data from the EPA 2005

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Recycling in WA

• 1989: Waste not Washington program

RE-Store in Bellingham

Reducing consumption

Needlessly disposable products Disposing of hazardous wastes

• Batteries– Rechargeable – take to hazardous waste facility– Standard alkaline – toss in trash

• P i t O i ll til t d • Paint – Open can in well ventilated area–Toss when dry

• CRTs (TVs and computerscreens) are toxic

• Hazmat disposal in Bham

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We’ve come a long way…