The Stimulus Goes Green...

I just came across a short list of tax credits, rebates and write-offs in the new stimulus plan...Some of the items are pretty great! Check them out below:




Looking to finally purchase that hybrid? Do it NOW -- you can get up to a $7,500.00 tax credit!



Solar Panels? Go for it...You're entitled to a 30% tax rebate for your purchase!



Live in Ithaca? Take TCAT and you will be able to write-off up to $230.00 a month for the next two years on your taxes!!!!!!!



Want a home wind turbine? Do it NOW -- you can get a tax credit for 30% of the total cost of the turbine!



Looking to replace your windows or front door? Do it this year and get a tax write-off of up to $1,500.00 by purchasing new windows or exterior dorrs with a U-factor of .3 or less!

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I know it can sometimes seem that "going green" is expensive, perhaps these credits, rebates, and write-offs will offset that!

Findings of an interesting NSF sponsored project

Check out this article about future climate change's impact on global agriculture.

From my perspective, it really is a scary situation, with the predictions of the Earth's population increase and our current prospects for using biofuels to power our cars. We'll have twice as many people, 1/2 the space suitable for growing crops, and many of those crops earmarked for transportation and NOT food product.

Let us know your thoughts!

Dan Miller's A Really Inconvenient Truth

Yesterday I attended a talk at Cornell by Dan Miller titled "A Really Inconvenient Truth." He was one of the people trained by Al Gore to give the "Inconvenient Truth" lecture to businesses, schools, etc. He also gives another, slightly darker, talk. That's the one I mentioned above. You can read the outline of the talk here.

According to Miller...

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) produces a consensus report of climate and other scientists actively working on climate change that summarizes the known research and the certainty levels of the scientists on various effects. Policy-makers use this document to better understand the science and what policies should be enacted to prevent or mitigate for future damage.

The IPCC report shows what could happen in the future based on their linear models of climate change and predictions based on societal behavior (i.e. we stop emissions immediately, we don't do anything, we emit less, etc). Bad things for the climate are predicted if we don't change our behavior soon based on IPCC models of the climate.

However, IPCC is a consensus opinion, meaning that they have to use the best understood models and find an agreement between many different scientists. Therefore, the consensus opinion is more conservative than many IPCC scientists would prefer. It also uses linear models, which are easier to calculate, but don't always reflect the way the natural world works. Things like feedback cycles are not incorporated into the IPCC's predictions.

Feedback cycles to worry about that weren't addressed by IPCC models:
1) Permafrost
2) Glacial melt feedback loops
3) Methane traps

Permafrost - In Siberia, Canada, and Alaska, portions of the ground are permanently frozen year-round. The ground in many of these places is made of peat, which has a high organic content. The peat was never allowed to decompose because it was frozen, thereby trapping carbon dioxide in the frozen ground.

As it gets warmer, the ground melts and the peat begins to decompose. This process releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which raises the temperature a little. This causes more permafrost to melt, which releases more carbon dioxide, which raises the temperature a little more...this is a positive feedback cycle.

Glacial melt - Arctic sea ice is ice that floats on the water near the poles. It is connected to land in some way, and prevents the glaciers from traveling into the water. As the sea ice melts, the glaciers are not held back from the oceans. This will expose the glaciers to warmer temperatures and cause the ice to melt. This will cause sea level to rise and will encourage more glacial movement.

Methane Traps - This one isn't likely to occur in the near future, but may happen someday. Methane is stored frozen at the bottom of the ocean, and the gas is 20x as effective as an atmospheric blanket as carbon dioxide. The ocean warms first at the surface, and eventually (over, say 1000 years) the heat could cycle through to the bottom. If parts of the ocean warm enough to release methane gas, this will raise the temperature of the Earth. When that happens, the oceans will warm more, more methane gas will be released, and the temperature of Earth will rise further...


That's Dan Miller's "REALLY" Inconvenient Truth.

FORD - Found On Road....recycleD?

So, a friend of mine was reading his copy of "My Ford," Fall 2008 issue, and he pointed out an article in the magazine that talked about the ability for vehicles to be recycled. Unsuccessfully having tried to find a copy of the magazine issue online to post for you all, I'll recap the highlights of the story.

Written by Claudia Duranceau, Senior Research Recycling Engineer at Ford, the article points out that 52% of paper and 45% of aluminum cans are recycled. Fairly decent, right? Though I agree we could do better. However, she sais that more than 95% of cars, trucks, vans, etc., are recycled at the end of their lives. Personally I found this amazing. We have incentives for paper and can recycling in place, and still our vehicles are much more likely to be recycled.

Value of the product is no doubt the culprit. Duranceau sais that 84% of a car's material, by weight, can be recycled, and that FORD is designing the newer vehicles to be easier to take apart, increasing the chances of recycling individual parts. FORD is also a part of the Vehicle Recycling Partnership, who's goal is to increase vehicle recycling in an environmentally friendly way.

Finally, the article showed a Ford Taurus, and what it was composed of. 65% steel, 20% plastics, 5% aluminum, 5% other metals, and 5% gas, fluid, etc. Though they didn't break down which of these were recyclable, one can assume most of the metals, and some of the plastics, could be recycled.

Certainly an interesting read!

Yellowstone Park feels the effect of climate change

Yellowstone National Park is one of the oldest National Parks in the United States. It is around 3,500 square miles of protected lands, beautiful scenery, and thriving ecosystems. Research suggests, however, that it is already feeling the effects of climate change.

Read Article Here

An interesting perspective...what are the effects of ecosystems with salamanders, frogs, and other sensitive organisms like in areas not protected by the park service? What don't we know about the critters in our backyard?

It's amazing how these small organisms, along with other critters like bugs, larvae, and plants, are capable of measuring the health of an entire watershed or region.

Interesting tidbit from Discovery

I just read an article about how climate change can alter the course of plate tectonics. I'm still thinking and processing it, but it certainly is an interesting article. I'm not sure to what extent the current climate change could impact plate tectonics, as it would have to be a climate alteration held in placec for 100s of thousands of years, but the article does discuss this and gives us some interesting food for thought...

READ IT HERE!

Cheers!

Paleontological Approaches to studying Endangered Species

From a biological perspective, scientists have been studying the recent biodiversity crisis (loss of numerous endangered species, or extinction) for a while now. Most of the PRI/Museum of the Earth staff have just returned from a large conference, the Geological Society of America conference, where we heard a lot of exciting and interesting talks on the use of paleontology to better understand how to manage endangered species today.

Some talks focused on understanding the impacts of the current climate changes on regions with endangered species, and what we have to do to protect these animals from the future threat of a changing habitat. One specifically talked about our work on preserving coral reefs considering that, as we emit more carbon dioxide, the oceans will become more acidic. Many marine ecosystems will be impacted by this change, and we have to consider this in addition to things like overfishing and pollution.

Other talks were focused on understanding past crises in the fossil record and what we can learn from the species that survived or went extinct during those times. In many ways, geologists are actively trying to understand and help mitigate the problems caused by our changing planet.

Some example talks from GSA

It's exciting to be a geologist today. Applications for a lot of our research can be found in working toward mitigating biodiversity loss, assessing climate change implications, and planning for a better future. So, the next time you meet a child who's really interested in dinosaurs, rocks, or other fossils, encourage him or her, because geology is shaping our future!