Plants on the Moon

November 2013

Plants on the Moon

Link: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2013/11/25/nasa-plans-to-grow-first-plants-on-the-moon/#.UpkxIcRDtsJ

     NASA is teaming up with students and private space companies to grow the first plants on the moon’s surface starting in 2015. This self-contained Lunar Plant Growth Habitat will be similar to a "glorified coffee can" and will hold enough water, nutrients, and air to grow 1

0 turnip seeds, 10 basil seeds, and 100 arabidopsis seeds.

     "The experiment will test whether plants can survive radiation, flourish in partial gravity, and thrive in a small, controlled environment – the same obstacles that we will need to overcome in order to build a greenhouse on the Moon, or create life on Mars." If the seeds grow fruitfully, they will be the first Earth plant life sent to another terrestrial body.

     The article discusses how the "Lunar Greenhouse" will be built, and in order to test them, the team plans to send additional cans to classrooms across the country to see how the aluminum greenhouses perform in 'normal' terrestrial conditions. The article also explains what will theoretically happen once the mini-greenhouse is on the moon.

     The current price of this overall experiment is at a mere $2 million, due to the plan to hitchhike on the robotic spacecraft of whichever private company wins the Google Lunar X Prize, saving millions of dollars in travel costs. 

How Far Does Your Thanksgiving Turkey Travel?

November 2013

How Far Does Your Thanksgiving Turkey Travel?

Link: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2013/11/26/winter-storm-boreas/#.UpkxB8RDtsJ

     Each year millions of American families come together and feast upon the traditional dinner - a roasted turkey. From an environmental standpoint, it takes 14 units of fossil fuel to produce a serving of turkey compared to the 4:1 ratio for chicken and a 26:1 ratio for eggs (Cornell University).
     "The environmental impact of a turkey or any animal can be calculated two ways: the resources that went into raising it and the resources used to transport it to market." The production of the turkey makes up about 83 percent of the bird’s impact according to Columbia University’s Earth Institute. You can reduce the number of miles the turkey travels to the platter by purchasing from a local vendor, but this only reduces a small portion of emissions associated with the turkey. Therefore, what the individual farmer does in raising the bird has a greater impact than the buyer's decision to purchase locally.

China's Hazy Green Future

November 2013

China's Hazy Green Future

Link: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2013/11/22/chinas-green-future-hazy-skies/#.UpkxMcRDtsI

     China's densely polluted air normally makes the news with an emphasis on the public health aspect of the country, as opposed to the global warming angle. However, China’s reliance on coal is most definitely known.

     According to the article, there are signs that China is attempting to harness its smog problem by reducing its coal dependence. However, Christina Larsen reported several months ago in a Bloomberg story that this may not be so good for the planet. Although none of the newly proposed plants (converting coal to gas) are situated near China's large cities, the entire life cycle of harvesting coal and turning it into gas produces from 36 percent to 82 percent more total greenhouse gas emissions than burning coal directly 

     The article also mentions Slate’s Joshua Keating article about China's smog. He states that China's CO2 emissions are a much bigger problem than its smog. The article reports that China’s smog reduction plan could actually increase its emissions by moving to synthetic natural gas converted from coal, which burns cleaner than coal but produces more CO2 overall. Mr. Keating states that dealing with CO2 is going to be a much more difficult problem, and a much harder one to resolve with the country’s desire to maintain its fast pace of economic development.

United Nations Climate Meeting

November 2013

United Nations Climate Meeting 

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/deals-at-climate-meeting-advance-global-effort.html?ref=earth

     The Warsaw Climate Change Conference meetings in Poland ended November 23 with "a pair of last-minute deals" sustaining hope that a global effort can hold off a harmful rise in temperatures. This meeting's actions drove the talks about the possible United Nations 2015 conference in Paris to replace the moribund Kyoto Protocol.

     The 19th annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started "in the shadow" of the giant Philippine typhoon. More than 10,000 people listened in on the talks, including national delegations, journalists, advocates and, for the first time, business leaders.

     At the meeting, delegates settled on the expansive outlines of "a proposed system for pledging emissions cuts" and extended their support for a novel treaty device to embark upon the "human cost of rising seas, floods, stronger storms and other expected effects of global warming."
     The death and devastation brought by the Philippine storm emphasized the question of “climate justice.” The final agreement was held up by a dispute over a proposal by developing nations for the creation of a “loss and damage mechanism” under the treaty. The United States, the European Union and other developed nations opposed, fearing new financial claims. However, Peace was restored when the parties overcame their differences, agreeing with the United States to hold the new device under an already existing part of the treaty dealing with adapting to climate change, but saying they would evaluate its status in 2016.
    In conclusion, treaty members remain far from any serious, concentrated action to cut emissions. In addition, developing nations complained that promises of financial help have still not been met.