My View: SSU students endeavor to do their part for the planet

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December 17, 2011

My View Lynn E. Fletcher The Salem News Sat Dec 17, 2011, 08:19 AM EST

Salem State students in my Human and Social Biology class are engaged in a project with global implications.

Through individual actions and a collective effort, they are seeking to offset or reduce 50,000 pounds of CO2 emissions by Christmas. This is no small feat and yet, by noticing their actions, identifying areas of change and quantifying the pounds of CO2 they reduce, a sense of empowerment is being born.

Climate change is a global issue and can often appear too daunting to address as a mere individual.

However, in just two weeks the students have taken a range of actions from carpooling, biking or walking to the store, air-drying clothes, turning off lights and computers, eating vegetarian, and offsetting plane travel, which has resulted in a reduction of 17,000 pounds of CO2! The main message here is that we can and do make a difference.

Wouldn't it be great to have an entire climate movement with such positive and infectious energy?

Of course, not everyone knows of the need for a climate movement.

Perhaps we can take a moment to think about our current plight: What has life been like for humans, how is it changing, and what role does CO2 play in this?

During the 160,000 years of our existence as a species, human beings have enjoyed a relatively stable climate. We have had dependable weather patterns and hospitable temperatures, both of which enabled the spread of agriculture, and the development of cities, and civilization as we know it.

But all of that stability is eroding as we add unprecedented amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is a natural component of our atmosphere, accounting for 0.04 percent of the gases that compose it.

And our planet has a natural carbon cycle where plants take in CO2 during photosynthesis to make food, releasing oxygen in the process. Consumers eat plants, ingesting that carbon; they then release some CO2 via respiration and incorporate the rest into their own bodies where it stays until they die and decompose.

This carbon cycle is balanced under normal conditions; however, the vast quantity of fossil fuels that we burn has changed that.

Fossil fuels are just what the name implies — they are "fossil" plants that have been compressed for millions of years under the earth to create very dense stores of carbon.

We burn wood to make a fire so a lot of energy must be stored in that one tree, right?

Well, one gallon of gasoline is equivalent to 100 tons of plant material! No wonder it provides so much energy and no wonder it releases so much carbon dioxide.

According to the CIA's World Fact Book, the world consumes the equivalent of 4 billion gallons of gasoline a day; this rate of CO2 release is unprecedented and the system cannot cope.

To provide some perspective on how much we are overloading the system, consider that a medium-sized tree that has been growing for 10 years, absorbs 85 pounds of CO2.

We put that same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere in 90 minutes of driving or running three loads of clothes through the dryer!

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it acts as an insulator around the earth.

The more CO2 we emit, the warmer the earth becomes.

Here in Massachusetts, a bit of warming in the winter may not sound so bad, but the problem is this warming has so many other implications that affect the very survival of life on this planet.

Warmer average temperatures lead to more severe and unpredictable weather, as well as change in overall climate patterns which can be disastrous for agriculture and our ecosystem.

A "low-carb(on)" lifestyle project provides a way for students to take tangible action.

It also provides a sense of community and a common goal that benefits all.

• • •

Dr. Lynn Fletcher is an assistant professor of biology at Salem State University.

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