Throughout the Environmental Science.

While I was taking the Environmental science class for Fall 2013, there were several environmental issues today such as Climate Change, Energy, Waste, Water, Food, Consumption, Ecosystems and Endangered Species, and so on. Among all the issues, in my opinion, Climate change is the most important issue today.

Our Earth, the entire world, is warming. 

Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.

“Why is the climate change the most important?”

There are TWO Main reasons why.

1.      “Climate change affects everyone”

Climate changes could very well lead to the spread of diseases such as dungy fever and malaria into more northern regions. Tropical storms and hurricanes will not only increase but may also become more intense. If the changes manifest too quickly, it is feared that animal and plant species may not be able to adapt fast enough and could become extinct.

2.      “Our lives are connected to the climate.”

Human societies have adapted to the relatively stable climate we have enjoyed since the last ice age which ended several thousand years ago. A warming climate will bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety.

The Earth's climate is changing. Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events—like heavy rainstorms and record high temperatures—are already affecting society and ecosystems. Scientists are confident that many of the observed changes in the climate can be linked to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused largely by people burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, heat and cool buildings, and power vehicles. Carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the coming decades. The warmer it gets, the greater the risk for more severe changes to the climate and Earth's system. Although it's difficult to predict the exact impacts of climate change, what's clear is that the climate we are accustomed to be no longer a reliable guide for what to expect in the future. Global warming has been concerning scientists for decades. From the melting polar ice caps to catastrophic weather and threatened ecosystems, not only is climate change real, scientists agree that humans are influencing climate change with our production of greenhouse gases mainly stemming from carbon dioxide and methane.

What can we do about it as a society?

Greenhouse effect caused largely by people burning fossil fuels. There is one thing that really good for wasting fossil fuels. Many people drive their car without carpool, but sometimes a person has to go somewhere alone. Think about this.

Make a voluntarily policy “No driving for the day of week.”

What government can do is, if a person does for the policy, he will get some discount for car registration or car insurance. Basically one person chooses one day of the week when he does not drive at all the car. This policy will reduce a lot of gas emission from car.

Here is one example what is going on in china about the policy.

Beijing Traffic Management Bureau

http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn/publish/portal1/tab167/info10142.htm

Announcement on Rotating No Driving Day Per Week by Tail Plate No. of Motor Vehicles

We hereby announce that,

it is decided that, in accordance with the provisions of the Circular of Beijing People’s Government on the Implementation of Traffic Control Measures on regularly rotating No Driving Day on a weekly basis by the tail plate No. of motor vehicles, from February 2 to March 1, 2009, the tail plate No. of the no-driving motor vehicles from Monday through Friday shall be 2 and 7, 3 and 8, 4 and 9, 5 and 0, 1 and 6, respectively (including the temporary plate numbers; provided the tail plate No. of any motor vehicle is an English alphabet, it shall be treated as 0).   

                                                                                                                            January 16, 2009

How does it sound?

I think if all American States do the same, it will be huge reduction of gas emission. As an international student, I always felt that all the pollution from car gas emission is because of America because there are so many cars, and they are not even driving on carpool lane which allows a car to come in when they have only TWO or more people in the car.

In my country South Korea, we have a similar kind of car pool line, but we call it Bus line. A car which can take more than 9 people and there must be more than 6 people in the maximum occupancy of 9 people only can take Bus line which is similar to Car Pool Lane.

The policy “No driving for the day of week,” will be a good way to reduce gas emission from cars.

What can I do for the climate change as an individual?

I always go to school by my car although there is a way to get there by bus. I like to go school by my car because it is more convenient. However, I can take bus like half days or all days of the week.

Also, I can do carpool wherever whenever I go. I can be more close to my friends if I take them together with my car instead of meeting at the place using our own car.

Although I would be the only one person doing this, it would be good for environment. I hope other people think the same as me, so the climate changes slower at least.

Carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the coming decades. The warmer it gets, the greater the risk for more severe changes to the climate and Earth's system. Although it's difficult to predict the exact impacts of climate change, what's clear is that the climate we are accustomed to be no longer a reliable guide for what to expect in the future. Global warming has been concerning scientists for decades. From the melting polar ice caps to catastrophic weather and threatened ecosystems, not only is climate change real, scientists agree that humans are influencing climate change with our production of greenhouse gases mainly stemming from carbon dioxide and methane.

THE MOST INTERESTING THING IN THE SEMESTER !! LANDFILL~~~

Through the entire semester, I have learned a lot about environmental science. The most interesting thing I have learned this semester was the field trip to Land Fill which was my first visiting to see the mountains of trashes.

I went to the BadLands Sanitary Landfill in Moreno Valley in California. I could not imagine how big the landfill is, and I also did not expect to see a HUGE landfill.

When I arrived there, I did not really realize that I was on landfill because it seemed just like mountain without any smell. A tour guide came, and all people went some places around landfill such as where trashes are gathering, where they make some energy, and where they separate trashes.

The landfill is permitted max tonnage of 4,000 tons per day, and they receive average of 2,200 tons/day. I did not know that trashes what I throw away a little per day becomes a part of 2,200 tons of huge trashes. It was amazing and I got shocked how much people throw away things.

There are also people who are monitoring the landfill, and they get inspection every single month that they are still good to keep landfill. There are several monitoring programs such as national Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System, Groundwater Monitoring, Gas Monitoring, and Gas Collection System. Based on how their system works, I could see that even throwing away trashes have very strict regulation.

However, the interesting thing in the landfill was the landfill itself can makes some energy from the Methane gas. They can produce 1.2 MW/hr. I really did not know that they can make energy from trashes.

I was sometimes standing on the mountain of trashes, and sometimes not. They were expanding the landfill since they need more space. The tour guide said that they are planning to expand more even they are expanding right now. How big it is going to be? It was already big to not be able to see the end from my own eyes. I had to walk some places to see other places, and it did not even seem like the end. The tour guide said that if they get more land, they could use the landfill more than 150years. It was amazing that how fast they fill the land with trashes. However, even if it doesn’t smell and we as a human being can use landfill almost forever for ourselves. We should not throw away everything. They also get something almost new working perfectly fine. It shouldn’t happen. One should try best to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

Although the environmental science class itself was difficult for me as an international student, I have enjoyed class the most among other classes in this semester. The professor taught well for me to understand the lecture. I am still having hard time because of may vocabularies, but it is still fun to learn. I was not interested in Environment before; however, now I feel like I know more than other regular people, I am so into the environment. I try to explain everything that I learn from class to other my friends. It was nice for me to meet AWESOME classmates too. This is my last semester, and I will go back to my country with an associate Degree if i pass this class. haha. It was nice meeting all classmates, and hearing all good ideas and opinions from smart people. My best wishes to all people, and Thank you for reading my last blog for the class.

Thank you again. 

Young.

“24 Hour Energy Saving Day.”

How much can you minimize my energy usage as much as possible for a 24 hour period?

Have you thought of this Idea? 

It could not be very significant for energy saving; however, when one reduces even a little of energy usage, the added up reduction will be huge.

Here is what I did for “24 Hour Energy Saving Day.”

          From Friday night until Saturday night I did absolutely nothing. I took a quick 5 minute shower instead of 15 minutes. I did not use my computer for the 24 hour time frame. Instead of using my computer to watch shows and be on the internet going Facebook and such, I just watched 2 hours of television. I only used my phone when someone would call me or if I need to call someone. I did not use my phone to text, go on my social media networks or check my email. When I would get hungry I would eat snacks that I had in the cabinet. Also, I only ate instant ramen instead of cooking a meal that would use a lot of electricity. As it got dark, I stayed in my room and turned on my desk light when I need to look for something. I ended up sleeping early due to the fact that I was tired. I did not turn on the heater; instead I just grab another blanket to cover myself.

I realized during this exercise the hardest thing for me to give up was my cell phone. My cell phone is basically my life because I use it for social media, check internet, text or call people and play games when I’m bored. To keep myself away from my cell phone I did other assignments for my other classes that did not require me to go on the internet or use my computer. Also, I began to read a book called Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I read up to chapter 3 because I only read it when I was bored and did not want to do school work. The second thing for me to give up was my heater. During the day it is not cold enough to turn on the heater, but at night it becomes cold. Every night I turn on the heater and turn it off right before I go to bed since the room is already warm.

There are things that I’m not willing to give up permanently, but I have cut back down on the amount of electricity I use at home. During this exercise I only used one light and that was the one that was located in my room. Usually I use more than 5 lights in my house and I don’t turn them off until I go to sleep. I decided to change my study location from my room to the living room, since the living room is connected to the kitchen. I decided to have the kitchen light on in my house because it is bright enough that it covers the living room as well. Also, I have decided to cut back on the amount of times I turn on the heater in my house. I have decided to only turn it on when I have guest over and turn in off when they leave, since I realized I can sleep with an extra blanket and it keeps me warm.

          Without me giving an effort I have reduced the amount I charge my laptop and the amount of time the lights and heater. I think if I continue this routine I would naturally do it. Also, I will see the difference in my electricity bill and the water bill. Normally during this time I use more water than any other season, since I shower with hot water. Since I shower with hot water, I take longer because I do not want to go out to the cold. Realistically in the future I would probably use less electricity, laptop and cell phone because I would no longer be a student thus not having a reason why to spend so much electricity. Also, when I have children I would teach them not spend so much electricity because it is not good for the environment and they need to do when the lights go out.

           I had great time doing this project even though it was very difficult for me. I would like to do this maybe every month when I feel like doing nothing I will try to do it. It was very good for me to take a rest and think about myself more. I realized a lot about what I am doing, why I am doing, and how I am doing.

Once you have done this, you would feel good that you tried to save OUR EARTH.

Climate changes even NOW when you are reading this.

What is Climate?

Climate is commonly thought of as the expected weather conditions at a given location over time. People know when they go to New York City in winter, they should take a coat. When they visit the Pacific Northwest, they take an umbrella. Climate can be measured at many geographic scales by statistics as average temperatures, average number of rainy days, and the frequency of droughts.

What is Climate change?

Climate change refers to changes in above statistics over years, decades, or even centuries.

Is Climate changing RIGHT NOW?

YES. There is no doubt that Climate is changing or not.

Our Earth is warming. Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.

The evidence is clear. Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising.

The Earth's climate is changing. Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events—like heavy rainstorms and record high temperatures—are already affecting society and ecosystems. Scientists are confident that many of the observed changes in the climate can be linked to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused largely by people burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, heat and cool buildings, and power vehicles.

What does evidence say about humans’ roles in the changing climate?

Over the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The majority of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy, although deforestation, industrial processes, and some agricultural practices also emit gases into the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect and is natural and necessary to support life on Earth. However, the buildup of greenhouse gases can change Earth's climate and result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare and to ecosystems.

How is climate change like to affect our society and our world?

“Climate change affects everyone”

Climate changes could very well lead to the spread of diseases such as dungy fever and malaria into more northern regions. Tropical storms and hurricanes will not only increase but may also become more intense. If the changes manifest too quickly, it is feared that animal and plant species may not be able to adapt fast enough and could become extinct.

Our lives are connected to the climate. Human societies have adapted to the relatively stable climate we have enjoyed since the last ice age which ended several thousand years ago. A warming climate will bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety.

Some changes to the climate are unavoidable. Carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for nearly a century, so Earth will continue to warm in the coming decades. The warmer it gets, the greater the risk for more severe changes to the climate and Earth's system. Although it's difficult to predict the exact impacts of climate change, what's clear is that the climate we are accustomed to be no longer a reliable guide for what to expect in the future.

What will the world be after 50 years if we continue with our current path and do nothing to slow the rise of CO2 levels in the atmosphere?

Obviously, climate will be changed. The sea level will be different. The whole ecosystem will be different. We also will be able to see only some certain kind of animals. We might not be able to see snow any more. There will be no ice berg. We will loss the amount of crop we get. We will have only some certain crops, so we will not have this present variety food naturally. No organic farming.

Climate Change

Here is Links Below:

Climate Change at the National Academies

http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/

United States EPA Climate Change Site:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html

United Nations Climate Change Information Kit:

http://unfccc.int/resource/iuckit/cckit2001en.pdf

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

http://www.c2es.org/

My first landfill visit: Badlands Sanitary Landfill

In the Friday early morning on November 15, 2013, I went to the BadLands Sanitary Landfill in Moreno Valley in California. Before I left my home, I could not imagine how big the landfill is, and I also did not expect to see a HUGE landfill. It took around 20 minutes from Riverside City College, and I went there with classmates for carpool. It was cold to be outside.

When I arrived there, I did not really realize that it was landfill. A tour guide came, and all people went some places around landfill such as where trashes are gathering, where they make some energy, and where they separate trashes. I heard about History first. The landfill opened in 1966 as a burn site, but they switched to landfill in 1970 because burning trashes pollute environment. The landfill designated as Class 3 facility by Title 27 California Code of Regulations. The landfill is permitted max tonnage of 4,000 tons per day, and they receive average of 2,200 tons/day. The mountain of trash in landfill was covered by tarp. They can save money by suing Tarp instead of filling with sands. Once landfill filled up with trashes, and there is not any more space, they close. Also nothing goes out of landfill. Everything stays inside except thing that could be recycled. The liner system layer of landfill structures was 7 layers for typical bottom liner system, and 5 layers for typical side slope liner system.

There are also people who are monitoring the landfill, and they get inspection every single month that they are still good to keep landfill. There are several monitoring programs such as national Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System, Groundwater Monitoring, Gas Monitoring, and Gas Collection System. There shouldn’t be any drainage such as hazard, methane, and water. I felt that water leaking is the most important for them to make sure there is not drainage of water, so the other places’ water don’t get any polluted water from the landfill.

They are Not only being careful for drainage, but also paying attention for collecting gas. They collect Methane gas to make energy, and then they sell it to the purchaser, Southern California Edison. The Gas-to-Energy Facility constructed in 2001, and they just made new engine this year. They can produce 1.2 MW/hr. I really did not know that they can make energy from trashes.

I was sometimes standing on the mountain of trashes, and sometimes not. They were expanding the landfill since they need more space. The tour guide said that they are planning to expand more even they are expanding right now. She said that if they get more land, they could use the landfill more than 150years. It was amazing that how fast they fill the land with trashes. However, even if it doesn’t smell and we as a human being can use landfill almost forever for ourselves. We should not throw away everything. They also get something almost new working perfectly fine. It shouldn’t happen. One should try best to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Here are Links :

http://www.moreno-valley.ca.us/resident_services/waste/landfill.shtml

http://www.rivcowm.org/opencms/landfill_info/pdf/Landfill-TS-FacilityFlyerPDFs/88492-Badlands-Landfill-Flyer.pdf

 

No Impact Man: no effect to the environment for an year.

The film, “No Impact Man,” is a documentary that is about family who lives in one of the biggest cities in the world doing an eco-friendly project. In the movie, an environmentalist and also a writer ‘Collin Beavan’ is showing a project that does not affect the environment through practical actions. The phrase itself, ‘No Impact Man’, means that one does not affect anything to environment at all.  Collin did this project for a year. Here are several things what he and his family did.

1.      Do not make trashes

2.      Do not use any transportation such as bus, car, elevator.

3.      Eat food from local

4.      Do not buy things unless really needed

5.      Reduce the amount of electronic energy(using candle)

A common person makes average 0.7ton of trash in a year, so Collin’s family decided to reduce everything which they can. They do not use disposable things, do not buy clothes, do not use transportation, and do not make trashes.

The most impact scene was a radio program that Collin was in. He went to 24^th floor by stairway. It was amazing how he was passionate to do the project. Also, he and his wife ride bicycle instead of driving car or taking bus. Later on, his wife and daughter ride a bicycle together which they got as a support from someone.

The longer mileage that food move increase in greenhouse gas emission, so Collin’s family go a local market in city. They buy local organic food to reduce the greenhouse gas emission by “Food Mileage”, and they also get fresh and inexpensive value of food.

Sobiji move from producer to food street food that much mileage the longer the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Colin 400km within the family , because I only buy fresh local food to eat. Local organic food to reduce food miles , as well as fresh and inexpensive value . In fact, without the use of disposable food sameokgi region began eating a vegetarian dish is also being replaced are taught never shuts. By doing so, his wife started to learn how to cook with fresh food from local food which she has never made before. In addition, the habit of their eating even changes.

From the beginning, they removed TV in their house, so family and neighbors sit around together and talk most likely catching up and playing a game. It seems very nice that they have time to spare at home because these days it is an issue that there is almost no conversation between families and neighbors. Even after they shut down the whole electricity at home, and they are only living with candle lights. However, they should do their laundry in a bath tub using their feet stepping on clothes because they also stopped using washing machine and refrigerator. They also tried to make a Nigeria refrigerator system which is using two pots, but it turned out that the system is not really working well. In the middle of the project, they were having too much hard time and inconvenience, so they had argument and they were talking about why they should do this. However, they never give up and success the one year project success.

After one year, after the project ends, they start to not doing the project anymore, but his wife said, “Although the project ended, I will still ride bicycle, and I want to go to the local market. No TV.” Although they had really hard time themselves doing this project, they finish the project successfully and they became popular and famous as people who have done eco-friendly environment action.

The movie, “No Impact Man,” has a strong message to regular people that how much the awareness of practice and behavior that actually DO are important. At the end, Collin ended up with conclusion that waste and pollution, greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human nature, but rather is a matter of habit in our society collectively. As he said, it is short cut that one changes his minor habit of individualism reduces pollution.

I had really great time watching the whole movie. I enjoyed and realized how much I am polluting our space. We should try at least few days what Collin’s family did.

We need to protect our EARTH~

One of the healthiest food in the World: Kimchi

Hello, everyone.

Today, I want to introduce a food which I enjoy almost every day. First of all, I am from South Korea. I am not sure that you guys know about a traditional Korean food called Kimchi or Gimchi. Kimchi, also spelled kimchee or gimchi, is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. It is often described as "spicy" or "sour". In traditional preparation Kimchi was often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months at a time. It is Korea's national dish, and there are hundreds of varieties made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, scallion, or cucumber. Kimchi is also a main ingredient for many Korean dishes such as kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae), kimchi pancake (kimchijeon), kimchi soup (kimchiguk), and kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap). Almost all Koreans enjoy this food as a side dish in each meal. There are many kinds of Kimchi, but I will introduce the most common one, napa cabbage kimchi. The reddish fermented cabbage (and sometimes radish) dish—made with a mix of garlic, salt, vinegar, chile peppers, and other spices—is served at every meal, either alone or mixed with rice or noodles.

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) head napa cabbage
1/4 cup sea salt or kosher salt
Water
1 tablespoon grated garlic (about 5-6 cloves)
1 teaspoon grated ginger 
1 teaspoon sugar
2-3 tablespoons seafood flavor or water (optional)
1-5 tablespoons Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)
8 ounces Korean radish or daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

 

Kimchi Nutrition

Kimchi is prized for its nutritional benefits. Because kimchi is a vegetable based dish, it is high in fiber, vitamins A, B, and C, and minerals yet low in calories. Lactobacillus, the same bacteria used to make yogurt, is used in the fermentation of kimchi. Lactobacillus is valued for its ability to aid in digestion and keep a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut. This good bacteria also seems to help stop and even prevent yeast infections, according to a recent study. And more good news: Some studies show fermented cabbage has compounds that may prevent the growth of cancer.

With the average Korean consuming nearly 40 pounds of kimchi per year, many attribute the good health of Korea's citizens to the many benefits of kimchi. Usually kimchi which Koreans eat is home-made. For example, in my home, my grandmother and mom make kimchi together after buying some ingredient from a local market. Cabbages are grown up in a farm, or imported from china. Other ingrediants are also from local market where around my home. However, since I am in America, it is not easy to get kimchi from the other side of earth. I would like to get shipped by plane, but it costs a lot. Therefore, I always buy Kimchi in a Korean market in Diamond bar or around Los Angeles. Kimchi what I buy is made by a big company, BCD Food INC. The company location is in Gardena California. They make in a factory, and then send it to all grocery markets. It is in a reusable container box. I usually re-use the container after eating all kimchi.

It is great that I can eat fresh kimchi even on the other side of earth.

I highly recommend you to try Korean traditional food Kimchi.

Thank you for reading~ Ask me if you have any questions !

Here are some websites which explains about Kimchi more.

http://foodreference.about.com/od/traditional_foods/a/Kimchi.htm

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410300,00.html

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29505-basic-napa-cabbage-kimchi-kimchee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi

Waste in our life

Have you every though how much you throw away wastes? 

Try this !! 

For Two days just live in regular life throwing away things without thinking how much you throw away.

For another two days, pay attention for waste such as trying not to throw away and try to use reusable things, and do recycle.

Here is my trial ~

I measure the waste two days on November 1 and 2, 2013. I had three bags of 13 gallon trash bags in two days. I just put all trashes in bags all together which means I did not have any bag for recycle. I just threw everything away without thinking the amount of trash such as beer bottles, can beers, water bottles, food etc. There were not so many kinds of trashes although I did not buy anything else except for living. However, there were some disposal boxes which from some restaurant that I took it to go. Also there was some leftover food that went bad.

I could have reduced garbage doing recycling. There are many good points of paying attention. Here is a list that I can do to reduce my trashes.

-       Make a shopping list that I really need

-       Do not buy or cook too much food.

-       Do not try to use one time used stuff(disposable stuff: plastic things, cans, bottles)

-       Make a different trash can for recycle.

After I checked for two days without thinking of the amount of trashes, I tried to reduce trashes for two days which was November 3 and 4. During these two days, I was really paying attention what I throw away, and I also tried not to buy things. Also, I made a trash can for only recycle. As a result, it was amazing that I reduced the half of trashes and I could make a little money back by recycle. Although it was only two days efforts, I realized that I reduced a lot of trashes. If I keep paying attention to my trashes, it will be great to reduce waste. It was great experience doing four days different activity for trashes.