Ready to test your eco-smarts? Okay, here goes:

 

(Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the answer!)

 

Recently, I attended a brown bag seminar at Ohlone College based on "Your Carbon Footprint." The speaker, Dr. Laura Iraci, was in the Earth Science Division at the NASA/Ames Research Center, and she talked about the small and big things that determine our carbon dioxide impact on the Earth.

 

Global warming (or climate change) and carbon dioxide emissions are linked.

 

Climate can change naturally. In fact, climate has often changed in the past when Earth’s orbit around the sun changed, or when there was a change in solar activity. Huge volcanoes have also caused climate change — one volcano put so much debris into the air that Europe had to go through a “year without a summer”. Asteroid impacts can do the same thing, and scientists speculate that is what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

 

In recent years, the main changes in climate are being caused by humans. Humans have affected carbon dioxide levels, especially since the Industrial Revolution. Before that, carbon dioxide levels cycled between 200-280 parts per million (ppm), but currently, the atmosphere has 386 pmm of carbon dioxide. Scientists use climate models to predict how human and natural sources of carbon dioxide will affect the climate in upcoming years. These are very sophisticated climate models, and scientists are assured that they work because they have used them to go back in time and compare the calculated climate patterns to what actually happened. The climate models have repeatedly shown that humans really are contributing to climate change because of carbon dioxide emissions and changes in land use.

 

Where does the carbon dioxide come from? About two-thirds of it comes from fossil fuels. One-third of it comes from changes in land use, such as deforestation or upsetting the natural balance of the ecosystem. Where does the carbon dioxide go once it is in the atmosphere? A large amount of it, 30 percent, goes into the oceans. While this does one good thing — it takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere so it doesn’t contribute to global warming — it also does a bad thing. Carbon dioxide in water exists in the form of carbonic acid, which causes ocean acidification. Sadly, ocean acidification kills coral and causes it to bleach, and this harms the ocean ecosystem.

 

Aside from going into the oceans, about a quarter of the atmospheric carbon dioxide goes into the terrestrial biosphere. For a short while, this causes plants to grow faster. Some people claim that global warming will cause plants to grow faster, resulting in a lusher, greener planet. However, this is not true. Increased amounts of carbon dioxide only cause plants to grow faster for a short amount of time, but then they adapt and go back to their regular rate. So, global warming does not mean a "greener" planet.

 

A large amount of the carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere — about 45 percent. This is the carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. And it stays in the atmosphere for a very long time.

 

The steps to reduce carbon dioxide start with you. Here's what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint: 

Now, back to the question I asked earlier. Here's the amount of carbon dioxide you emit in day-to-day activities:

Surprised? Hmm, what are you going to do reduce your carbon footprint?

 

Keep reading ... my next post will be about how to save carbon dioxide emissions by eating healthy and local from the farmers market!