At the next cafe on Climate Change, my friends from LightsOutSF will be in the audience. LOSF is an excellent example how individuals can make a big impact on climate change.
LOSF is a citywide energy conservation event on October 20, 2007. On this night, they are asking the entire city of San Francisco to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour. To promote long-lasting energy saving, they will also distribute free compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the city. This savings will reduce carbon emissions into our air and preserve the natural resources used to produce this energy resulting in ongoing reduced costs for the city, taxpayers, and businesses.
Based on a similar event in Sydney Australia, they expect 24.86 tons of CO2 emissions saved. In addition, PG&E will be taking measurements of Saturday night energy usage in San Francisco prior to the Lights Out event, which will be compared to a measurement they will take on the night of October 20, 2007. They’ll publish the energy-saving results from that night on their website. LOSF should be a recurring event…a part of a wider effort to promote energy-saving consciousness in SF.
LOSF is encouraging San Franciscans to join together on October 20th to watch the lights go out. For more information, please visit www.lightsoutsf.org. They will be at 9/24 Down to a Science event on Climate Change in case you have any questions.
The city introduced a climate action plan back in 2004. In case you haven’t read this *exciting* tome, I’ve done the work for you. All the numbers are circa 2004.
Goal: 20% Green House Gas (GHG) reduction by 2012 (20% below 1990 levels) - 7.2 million tons of CO2
Current GHG production/year: 9.7 million tons of CO2 produced
Potential Impacts:
* Sea level rise
* Greater beach erosion
* More frequent El Nino conditions - More rain = less snow in Sierras leading to less water available in summer.
* Marine life - unknown impacts due to changes in water flow and salinity
The actions were broke into four categories: Transportation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Solid Waste. Read on for a breakdown of CO2 savings. I’ll be doing a category by category analysis over the next few days.
Melissa Capria & Cal Broomhead discuss climate change in San Francisco in this video. It’s long, but a good watch.
Takeaway
First off, the interviewer asks zero tough questions. The piece is light, but gives a good overview.
SF has a massively aggressive GHG reduction target, more than Kyoto, more than the California state plan. About half GHG emissions come from transportation, half from buildings (heaters, cooking, electricity, etc.).
The city sees a few ways they can influence GHG emissions:
1. Conservation/education
2. Technical assistance to businesses (engineering consulting)
3. Incentives (tax breaks, fee reduction, expedited permits, etc.)
4. Laws/Regulations (mandating efficient lighting on sale of a building)
Some good news, researchers expect a northern sea route to open up between Europe and Asia in the next few years. Wait, that’s bad news.
The arctic ice cap has always been a variable feature on this planet, showing variation in shrinking and freezing over the course of a summer and winter. However, with increased oceanic temperature, the arctic is showing unprecedented summer shrinkage. Any man who has been in a cold swimming pool knows the feeling.
The study released by the NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, took data from 11 climate models focused from 1979 to 1999. They then applied the models forward to 2050. Summer shrinkage is expected to increase from 18% (1979-1999) to 40% (2007-2050).
Takeaway:
Ice melting rate is increasing. As ice melts, the heat absorption rate of the ocean rises, leading to more ice melting. It’s a snowball effect. Concerning concerning concerning.
Sea Level Rises
One of the chief global concerns with climate change is sea levels rising (melting polar caps and all). Since 1850, the Bay has risen a total of 7 inches. Best estimate based on expected climate change effects predicts a rise between 12 and 36 inches by 2100. That’s 2.5 to 8 times the expected rise rate. 1 to 3 feet doesn’t sound like much, so why be concerned? With the accelerated sea level rise, storm surge flood events are also to increase as well….as much as 10 fold.
In that scenario, check out good ol’ SFO:
Takeaway:
First and foremost, we’re not going to wake up and see SFO underwater. Though after some experiences there, that wouldn’t make me so sad. In reading the report, the most striking item is the uncertainty in sea level rise. Scientists just plain don’t know. What is true, sea level rise along with greater El Nino incidence = greater chance of flooding. And flood damage is the real headache.
Monday, November 17th, 2008 7-9 PMWhere:Atlas Cafe What: Physics for Future Presidents: The Nuclear Reaction Who: Richard Muller, UC Berkeley and LBL The Deets:As we head into a new presidency, much of the debate has been centered on one word: Nuclear. Nuclear terrorism, nuclear power, nuclear proliferation, the mispronunciation of the word nuclear...all have been fervently discussed. But When it comes to the nuclear discussion, isn't the science a key component?
We'll discuss the difference between a Uranium bomb, a Plutonium bomb, and a Hydrogen bomb, the real dangers of nuclear waste, and the danger of radiation. Consider it a crash course on nuclear physics that the next president would appreciate.
Here are some nuggets to chew on:
• Of those killed in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks, less than 2% died of cancer induced by the radiation.
• 1 square mile of sunlight with current solar cells would provide as much peak power as a nuclear power plant.
• Plutonium is a thousand times less poisonous than botulism toxin, the active ingredient in botox.
• Purified uranium is hard to get, but easy to design into a bomb. Plutonium is relatively easy to get, but hard to make into a bomb. So different kinds of nuclear bombs are difficult to make, but for different reasons. Terrorists are unlikely to be able to make one; the bigger danger is that they could buy one.
Richard A. Muller is professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley (and my former physics teacher!). He is a past winner of the MacArthur Fellowship. He is the author of Physics for Future Presidents, based on his renowned course for non-science students.
Science in Action Events Science in Action is a series of tours, trips, and hikes intended to put you in the middle of active science in the Bay Area.
If you're interested in attending, send me an email.
November 1st & 2nd What:
Wonderfest - The Bay Area Festival of Science Cost: FREE Details:
WonderFest is the the Bay Area festival of Science. On November 1st & 2nd, there will be free science discussions, art, comedy, and trivia events at both UC Berkeley and Stanfurd. The lineup is jam packed with some of the best talent both university have to offer. You can’t beat the price or the quality.
Here are my picks:
• Saturday 11/1 8:00 pm Does Civilization Have a Promising Energy Future?
• Sunday 11/2 1:30 pm Science Laughs (science comedy)
• Sunday 11/2 2:30 pm Are Dreams Psychologically Significant?
• Sunday 11/2 4:00 pm What Science Must Our Leaders Understand?
