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Action items as with alarmed
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Emphasize local impacts ie public health
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Emphasize local actions and impacts and how
things are already changing locally (to help them see global warming as here
and now)
My recommended case study: NewtHatfield Visitors (17) Say:
- 100% will use it and learn about an animal, 13 of 17 will make a story
- Case study: 8 farmers, 6 turtle, 5 salmon, 4 phytoplankton, 1 newt, clown fish, crab
- 100% would share their story, but only 5 with audio, 6 with video
- Resources wanted: 100% data charts and diagrams, 10 of 13 scientific data
- 6 of 13 wanted global effects
- 6 people want a carbon footprint calculator and action items
- 2 also want food carbon footprint calc (not a question asked)
- 2 who wouldn't make a story wanted to read stories of others (not a question asked)
- 1 mentioned they'd forward it to a congressman if the option were available (but wouldn't email to anyone else)
- 1 wanted a stats page to show how others had responded
Public Health impacts of global warming. These include consequences of heat waves, extreme weather events, reduced air quality, climate-sensitive diseases (food-borne, water-borne, and animal-borne), and food insecurity.
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Chapter 2 of Big Energy Gamble by PBS- neighborly competition between Ed Begley and Bill Nye to reduce carbon footprint
Birch Aquarium exhibit- the science behind the exhibit. (This should be narrated so people can watch instead of reading)
Energy conservation quiz- has some good pictures with
info of what businesses and towns have done
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization 4 minute video (how to address needs of future generations - education, empowerment, example of what a science class did)
Local impacts:
"Coastal Climate Change: What Oregonians are Asking" 2nd chapter- shows pictures from Tillamook
flooding. “dead zone”, “El Nino”
probably need to be explained for some people
(Alaska) Methane released, trees dying due to thawing permafrost
Case study: bivalves & Pteropods (Ocean Acidification)
A Sea Change documentary- discusses ocean acidification and pteropods
Experiment to show how CO2 in atmosphere causes ocean acidification and its effects on clam shells
Experiment showing that warmer water holds less CO2 - positive feedback loop
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| Pteropod shell exposed to acidity (low pH) |
Ocean Acidification
The ocean will eventually absorb most carbon dioxide
released into the atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil
fuels. Dissolving of carbon dioxide into ocean surface waters will
increase the acidity of ocean surface waters. Oceanic absorption of CO2
from fossil fuels may result in larger acidification changes over the
next several centuries than any inferred from the geological record of
the past 300 million years (with the possible exception of those
resulting from rare, extreme events such as meteor impacts). 
Virtually every major biological function has been shown to respond to acidification changes in seawater, including photosynthesis, respiration rate, growth rates, calcification rates, reproduction, and recruitment. Much of the attention has focused on carbonate-based animals and plants which form the foundation of our marine ecosystems. An increase in ocean acidity is likely to result in a decline in the ability of coral reefs to maintain their calcium carbonate structure. Phytoplankton that utilize calcium carbonate are also likely to decline in abundance, along with other carbonate-dependent animals such as marine snails and carbonate-dependent plants such as red marine algae.
(Smith and Baker, 2008, and Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program, 2008).
(Source: http://www.fws.gov/pacific/Climatechange/changepnw.html)
Local sea level change impacts:
- Beaches where rivers meet open water will be inundated and eroded for a 65 percent loss.
- As much as 44 percent of tidal flat will disappear.
- 13 percent of inland fresh marsh and 25 percent of tidal fresh marsh will be lost.
The report recommends several steps in planning future use of coastal resources. Coastal managers must account for global warming in habitat restoration efforts. Civic planners should also incorporate sea-level rise in coastal development plans, discouraging development in coastal hazard areas, moving or abandoning shoreline infrastructure, preserving ecological buffers to allow inland habitat migration, and enhancing shoreline protection recognizing the negative consequences for shoreline habitat. Finally, public officials must not let the uncertainties of climate change - whether seas will rise a couple of feet or a couple of yards - as an excuse for inaction.
"Global warming isn't just about melting glaciers thousands of miles away, it could have a dramatic impact on the health of our beloved coastlines, marine life, even the size of the snowpack that feeds the Columbia River system," said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). "If America fails to address climate change, we'll be jeopardizing all of our hard-fought conservation gains and putting thousands of local jobs at risk. Fortunately with our history of innovation and growing clean energy economy, Washington is well-poised to lead the way towards solving this difficult challenge."
(Science Daily reporting on NWF study:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070727211602.htm)
Changes already happening:
What's being done:
http://www.thefreshwatertrust.org/president-speech
Obama talks about Rogue River planting trees along the river to cool the water
for the salmon (The freshwater trust is
an additional thing people can support through Blue Sky)
http://www.thefreshwatertrust.org/slide_joe-TEDx
- TED talk on clean rivers, explains how the tree planting works, and includes
the President speech, has background music and photos, cool.
Solutions around the world: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/climate/stories.aspx
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