global warming and sugar maples - state university of new...
TRANSCRIPT
GLOBAL WARMING AND
SUGAR MAPLES Presented by Sean Nolan
Outline
•What is Global Warming?
•Types of Pollution
•Migrating trees
•The Dying Sugar Maples
•What can we do to help?
Land of Confusion by Genesis I must have dreamed a thousand dreams.
Been haunted by a million screams.
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
Now, did you read the news today?
They say the danger has gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
They're burning into the night
Chorus:
There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And there's not much love to go around
Can't you see this is a land of confusion?
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in
Oh, superman, where are you
now?
When everything's gone
wrong somehow?
The men of steel, these men
of power
Are losing control by the hour
This is the time, this is the
place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to
go around
Tell me why this is a land of
confusion
Chorus
I remember long ago
When the sun was shining
And all the stars were bright all
through the night
In the wake of this madness, as I
held you tight
So long ago
I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep
Chorus
Pollution
• Definition: the introduction of harmful
substances into the environment.
4
Types of Pollution
• There are 6 types of pollution:
1. Air
2. Water
3. Land
4. Noise
5. Radio Active
6. Light Pollution
5
Air Pollution
• Affects the breathable air and atmosphere of the
Earth.
• Major Sources of Air Pollution:
• Coal plants, mines and factories
• Automobiles
• Waste plants/land fills
• Other undesirable gases such as carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
6
Fossil Fuels
• Coal, oil and gas are called "fossil fuels" because they
have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric
plants and animals.
• Coal plants use the following method to produce electrical
energy:
7
Land Pollution
• The using up of land area for construction, cities, towns,
buildings, industries and most of all WASTE!
• There are over 8 billion people on the Earth!!
• That’s a lot of waste!!
• Where does your waste go?
• To a landfill?
• To get burned?
• To be recycled?
• Ever see the movie Walle?
8
Global Warming
• Definition: the increase in the average
temperature of Earth's near-surface air and
oceans since the mid-20th century and its
projected continuation
• Caused by the greenhouse effect.
• More greenhouse gases = more global warming
• What’s the BIG greenhouse gas?
9
10
Biggest Jump in Global Warming Gases
• Study done by U.S. Department of Energy in
2010:
• The world pumped out about 564 MILLION more
tons of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in
2009.
• That’s an increase in 6%
Nasty Side Effects- Acid Precipitation
• Contains high levels of nitric
and sulfuric acids in the rain
drops.
• Most acid rain falls due to
human activities
• Biggest culprits?
• Many ecological effects on
lakes, streams, wetlands,
forests, etc.
The Dying Sugar Maples • Acid rain damages forests
• Robs soil of essential nutrients and releases Al in the soil ->
makes water uptake by trees difficult
• trees less able to withstand cold temps, insects and disease
• May also inhibit ability to reproduce
• Recent research done by U.S. Forest Service-> acid rain
has contributed to the decline in sugar maple trees in PA.
• Mortality appears to be the result from deficiencies of cations
combined with other stresses such as insect defoliation or
drought.
No More Maple Syrup?
• Sugar Maples need cooperative weather conditions to get that syrup goodness out of them -> which is?
• However, what has global warming done?
• Over last century New England and NY have warmed an avg. of 0.7°F w/ bulk in winter – an avg. gain of 1.8°F (Dr. Barry Rock –UNH)
• so what?
• Such warming gives rise to new threats to sugar maples: insects and deer
• Deer populations have exploded in some areas -> no predators -> graze away the tender maple shoots and saplings
• NY and New England are the biggest producers of maple syrup and sugar
• Weird weather last 10 years wouldn’t you say?
The Big Picture • UN Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change predict a
3 to 10°F warming over the next century -> a change that
may doom the sugar maple in northeastern U.S.
• U.S. Environment Protection Agency->sugar maples will
not survive the next century in New England
• U.S. Forest Service found that a few dozen tree species in
eastern U.S. are moving north at an unexpected rate in
search of cooler climates
• Basswood and maple have seemed to move the most -> as much
as 30 miles north (National Geographic News)
Social and Economic Effects
• If sugar maples are
dying what effect will
this have on the US
economy and society?
• Think about the farmers
• Supply and demand
Renewable Energy • Energy which comes from natural resources which are
renewable or naturally replenished
• Renewable energies are:
• Sunlight
• Water- rivers, tides, waterfalls
• Biomass- from plants
• Wind
• Geothermal –”Earth Heat”
18
Class Discussion
• When you own a home, are you going to install solar
panels, wind turbines, use biomass, get your electricity
from a hydro plant?
• What are some ways you can contribute to going
“green”?
• Recycle?
• Use less electronics?
• Use natural gas?
• Change habits?
• Be Captain Planet?
19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0D6bzxLLw
Sources Biello, David. Will Global Warming Doom Maple Syrup? The Daily Green. April 6th,
2009.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/maple-syrup-global-warming-47040601
Borenstein, Seth. Biggest Jump Ever Seen in Global Warming Gases. Associate Press. November 4, 2011. www.news.yahoo.com/biggest-jump-ever-seen-global-warming-gases-183955211.html
Dorminey, Bruce. Trees Migrating North Due to Warming. National Geographic News. February 9, 2009. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090209-trees-migrating-north.html
Acid Rain: Effects Felt Through the Food Chain. National Geographic.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/
HBEF Pierce Laboratory: Effects of Acid Precipitation.
http://www.hubbardbrook.org/6-12_education/SubjectPages/AcidRainPage.htm