Series name: Today I Learn Climate, MIT

URL: https://climate.mit.edu/tilclimate-podcast

This podcast focuses heavily on the general climate questions that many people may have and aims to answer those questions. The podcast itself originates from MIT and was actually very interesting to listen to. It brings in different guests who are professionals in their respective fields so I would say the information is pretty credible. All in all, I found these videos to be very engaging and interesting.

In particular, I mainly wanted to look at CO2 management so I read and listened to those episodes of the podcast. One such question is around plants. We all already know that plants use CO2 to grow so we all would assume that plants would actually benefit from the excess CO2. Within that episode, the answer was both yes and no. Plants do in fact grow using CO2 but they can’t just infinitely grow as there are other factors that can cap them off. For example, plants need other nutrients that may or may not be abundant to perform photosynthesis which is the main way plants are able to use CO2. This leads to another point where this is a part of the carbon cycle, but it isn’t the only factor that affects how carbon moves around the atmosphere. The rock cycle can also contribute to the cycle where carbon can be trapped underground which is essentially coal and oil. About 10 percent of additional CO2 that is trapped underground is released every year, which doesn’t seem too significant but is. As the 10% accumulates every year, we don’t have the ability to rapidly reabsorb that carbon. It would take hundreds and thousands of years for the natural cycles to actually reabsorb all that carbon. There are some solutions like storing that carbon into the ground but that bring upon new difficulties. If we aim to store the carbon underground, we have to make sure we place it under a caprock, a rock that is sturdy and hard. Although, the caprock has to be hard enough for us to drill through. The rocks will also need to be somewhat porous so it can hold the carbon more effectively. With all these requirements, we also need to make sure we maintain the pressure that is exerted on these rocks so they don’t cause earthquakes from the pressure causing cracks and moving the tectonic plates. In total, these episodes outline a basic understanding of ways we are able to manage the carbon and debunk common questions that arise with this problem.

I find that this podcast compliments the SGC course as it addresses one of the main problems to climate change which is carbon emissions. It allows us to understand certain solutions that have some sort of effect but also teaches us that they aren’t permanent to any extent and have their own type of issues.

Virtual Excursion 2

Kenny Ma

Presentation name: BEC Learning Series: Chicken Litter: The Sky is Falling Webinar, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK_6rkbQwQU

This presentation focuses on ammonia pollution in water from poultry farmers where many points of the cycle have chances to pollute the waters with ammonia through runoff. It presented us with how ammonia comes from poultry litter and how it runs off through groundwater towards our watershed being the Chesapeake bay. They also told us about attempts that organizations had to try and put regulations on poultry litter management to try and mitigate the runoff issues, but there were many issues that arose from these proposals.

Within the presentation, it was evident that ammonia runoff from poultry farmers is a major factor in the pollution in the water. Ammonia in the water is very toxic to the organisms, like fish, that live in the water. It has the ability to change the acidity of the water and that makes the water toxic. They also can provide nutrients towards algae which accelerates their growth since ammonia contains nitrogen. This may seem beneficial since you may think that more growth for an organism is good, it is the contrary. The rapid growth of algae can negatively affect the health of the water. The algae has the ability to release more toxins into the water, killing living organisms. It can also block sunlight from reaching aquatic plants which will be detrimental to the overall health of the environment since plants play a crucial role in the carbon cycle and the upkeep of the body of water. With this in mind, this furthers our understanding of pollutants that affect the environment. Then again, the presentation provides graphs that show the increase of ammonia pollution as time moves on as the industry expands to meet demand nearing the beginning and end of the presentation.

I also find that this presentation greatly compliments the SGC program as it provides a real world example of ammonia pollution. Although there was some background information that was needed to understand the overarching effects of ammonia pollution in the water, the presentation presented sufficient information with the dangers of the poultry industry and how it had affected our watershed and waterways. This presentation generally helped me understand where ammonia was coming from.