Creating & implementing solutions to climate change communities campuses
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Transcript of Creating & implementing solutions to climate change communities campuses
Creating & implementing Creating & implementing solutions to climate changesolutions to climate change
•communities•campuses•corporations and small businesses
April 3, 2007
“High court tells EPA to rethink policy on emissions”
“One of the greatest rulings on Earth”
INSERT 400,00 year chart
Source: C.D. Keeling and T.P. Whorf
Mauna Loa Monthly Carbon Dioxide Record:Keeling Record 1958 - 1999
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Years Before 2100 AD
Vostok Ice Core
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
IPCC 2001
Current
Business as Usual
Clean Energy & Efficiency
Source: ACIA, Impacts of a Warming Arctic, Climate Impact Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, 2004
Observed sea ice September 1979
These two images, constructed from satellite data, compare arctic sea ice concentrations in September of 1979 and 2003. September is the month in which sea ice is at its yearly minimum and 1979 marks the first year that data of this kind became available in meaningful form. The lowest concentration of sea ice on record was in September 2002.
Observed sea ice September 2003
DEPLETION OFSUMMER SEA ICE
Seasonal surface melt extent on the Greenland Ice Sheet has been observed by satellite since 1979 and shows an increasing trend. The melt zone, where summer warmth turns snow and ice around the edges of the ice sheet into slush and ponds of meltwater, has been expanding inland and to record high elevations in recent years. When the meltwater seeps down through cracks in the ice sheet, it may accelerate melting and, in some areas, allow the ice to slide more easily over the bedrock below, speeding its movement to the sea. In addition to contributing to global sea-level rise, this process adds freshwater to the ocean, with potential impacts on ocean circulation and thus regional climate.
Source: ACIA, Impacts of a Warming Arctic, Climate Impact Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, 2004
GREENLAND ICE SHEET MELT EXTENT
We need to focus on local andregional
needs/resources.
-What are our Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Our emissions choices affect future NE climate
Pie chart source: Energy Information Administration (EIA), State Energy Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Fuel (2001).
We need to focus on local and regional needs/resources.
-Where does our energy come from and what does it cost?
Natural Gas
Petroleum
Coal
$5.4 Billion
$15.5 Billion$450 million
Source: EIA data
The High Cost of Importing Carbon Wholesale Fossil Fuel Expenditures – New England
Fossil Fuel Expenditures in 2004 = $21 BillionOnly 16% for Electric Generation
(Public School Expenditures FY2004 = $23.6 Billion)
We need to focus on local andregional
needs/resources.
-Where does our food come from?
An Average of 1,500 Miles
Postponed action is no longer an option…
•We have greatly exceeded the resources available to us.
•The time to consider our footprint and focus on local solutions is now.
•UK 12 acres
•US 24 acres
•Ecovillage 6 acres
Source: W. Eugene Smith The Family of Man Exhibition
What Will the Future Be? Our Decisions Today Will Shape Tomorrow
www.cleanair-coolplanet.orgChrista Koehler
Community Program Manager603. 313. 5182