John+Lee

=Week 1: The Sixth Mass Extinction and its Effects=



Lately I have been watching movies that carried strong environmental messages. For example, //Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)// was rated as one of the top environmental films of all time. In this movie, Captain James Kirk and his friend Commander Spock go back in time 300 years to retrieve the then-extinct humpback whales, in order to repopulate the species in the 23rd century. However, the main reason for bringing the whales from the past is that their distinct whale mating call is needed to answer a space probe, which is currently destroying the earth. In the end, the whales are successfully brought back and answer the probe, saving the earth from destruction.

I think that the message from this movie was relevant to our studies of sustainability and the pie chart we looked at, which expressed the notion that out of all factors, economics, politics, and culture, our treatment of our own environment is by far the worst. Also, about a month back, during the ecology unit, we talked about the ongoing sixth mass extinction, an extinction caused mainly by human activity. This movie emphasizes the destructive role humanity has played for centuries on the earth, especially in the extinction of many species. In 2286, the year in the movie, it is said that humpback whales went extinct during the 21st century, along with many other species. Therefore, it is implied that in the 23rd century, humanity has turned back from its destructive ways and took massive efforts to preserve the earth's environment and biodiversity.

As our textbook and many other environmental sites have stated, thousands of species simply disappear in one year. Sometimes, the species that go extinct are a critical part of its food chain or the keystone species. For example, the sea otter protect underwater kelp forests by eating the sea urchins that feed on them. Without sea otters, the sea urchins could potentially destroy kelp forests altogether without the presence of predators. The point is, without biodiversity, many important ecological roles performed by certain species will not be performed, potentially causing irreparable damage not just to the earth, but to humans as well. In fact, at the current rate of species extinction, in about 1,000 years most species currently living will be extinct or will be on the verge of extinction.

The question that many skeptics of environmentalism ask is, what does humanity stand to gain by saving endangered species and protecting biodiversity? The benefits, as I have researched, are endless. For example, because over 50% of human medicine come from natural products, protecting biodiversity ensures our own health and also the advancement of medical technology into the future. Also, protecting the forests acts as a critical barrier to ongoing and future climate change, as trees often regulate the amount of carbon dioxide and other compounds in our atmosphere. Also, by preserving many insects that pollinate crops, such as honey bees, the agricultural industry can continue to expand and feed the growing human population.

The Star Trek movie hit many important points, but there was one that I thought was the most important. Despite the incredible advances in technology mankind has made over this past century and obviously, in the 23rd century in Star Trek, without biodiversity, our civilization, which has endured much destruction from war and poverty, could disappear from the face of the earth, like it almost did in //Star Trek IV :The Voyage Home.//

Here is the documentary I watched to help me write about this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4KRWoubPEo

Also, here is more information about the movie if you are interested. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_IV:_The_Voyage_Home

=**Week 2: Using Seawater for Fuel**=



This week in class we talked about how some resources such as oil and water are likely to be important enough to cause a world war. Currently, much of the world's fuel originates from burning fossil fuels. Not only does this harm the environment ( warming of the planet, decreased air quality, etc.), but it also makes nations dependent on countries with large reserves of oil, the United States being one of them. For example, the United States Navy and Air Force relies on oil purchased from oil-rich foreign nations such as Saudi Arabia to power their ships and planes. Although some ships in the Navy use nuclear energy as a source of power, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, most ships and planes rely on oil tankers that must sail/fly out to sea to refuel them.

Recently, however, Navy scientists have found a way to extract and convert the CO2 and hydrogen from seawater into a liquid fuel. Specifically, the Electrolytic -Cation Exchange Molecule (E-CEM) machine removes dissolved and bound CO2 from the ocean, simultaneously producing H2 in the process. It then coverts these two gases into liquid hydrocarbons in a reactor system. Then, the liquid hydrocarbons can be used as a legitimate source of fuel through polymerization, which would convert the hydrocarbons into the required C9-C16 range in order to be used as fuel in the U.S. military. Although it currently takes a huge amount of electricity and other energy sources to carry out this process, many experts believe that it can be made viable and energy-efficient within the next 15 years, as Heather Willauer, a research chemist, has stated,"This is the first time technology of this nature has been demonstrated with the potential for transition from the laboratory, to full-scale commercial implementation."



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(E-CEM Carbon Capture Skid. The E-CEM was mounted onto a portable skid along with a reverse osmosis unit, power supply, pump, proprietary carbon dioxide recovery system, and hydrogen stripper to form a carbon capture system [dimensions of 63" x 36" x 60"]. ======

//-This is the machine used to carry out the chemical reaction by U.S. Navy scientists. //
For more information on the complete chemical process, click here. http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2014/scale-model-wwii-craft-takes-flight-with-fuel-from-the-sea-concept

This new discovery, if made efficient and economical, has many benefits. It would reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, thereby allowing the U.S. to longer be subject to the turbulent political and economic crises of the Middle East. Also, this would no longer require oil tankers to refuel our planes and ships, saving tons of fuel that would be carried on these tankers. And of course, there's also the national security benefit. Our ships and planes will be protecting our country without having to refuel constantly, potentially deterring and defeating any foreign enemy that tries to attack or threaten us, as our ships and planes no longer have to abort their missions because of the lack of fuel as they had to many times in the past. However, most importantly, this discovery would make mankind less dependent on the burning of fossil fuels for energy, reducing the huge environmental damage that we have caused over the past century.

So how does this relate to our discussion of dwindling resources? The answer is simple. Instead of using the fossil fuels that are expected to be all but used up by the end of the century, using the oceans that we have sailed on since the beginning of civilization can reverse our pattern of environmental destruction and parasitism through our overuse of these nonrenewable resources. And maybe, hopefully, this will lessen the chance of another global catastrophe or even another world war because of the rapidly decreasing resources we have extracted for centuries.

__Other articles about this topic__ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/10/game-changer-us-navy-can-now-turn-seawater-jet-fue/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/13/newser-navy-seawater-fuel/7668665/ http://news.discovery.com/tech/alternative-power-sources/us-navy-game-changer-seawater-turned-into-fuel-140408.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/goodbye-oil-us-navy-cracks-new-renewable-energy-technology-turn-seawater-fuel-allowing-1568455

=Week 3: Impact of Renewable Resources on our Society=



As the title suggests, my research this week involved analyzing the impact of using renewable resources on not just the condition of the environment, but also our culture and way of life as well. By turning to renewable resources such as wind and solar energy, mankind can free itself from centuries of reliance on dirty and harmful coal and fossil fuels. Only then will we get out of this current energy crisis, as the world's reserves of oil dwindle by the hour. Many scientists, environmentalists, and many other people in science predict that the world's reserves of oil will all but run out in the next 40 years, or even less. Likewise, reserves of natural gas are expected to run out in 60 or 70 years. With these resources gone, we will not have the energy to run our cars or heat our homes. In short, we need renewable, environment-friendly, and most importantly cost-effective energy sources to avert this impending disaster.

As of now, the most popular and widely used renewable resources that are both clean and cost-effective are wind and solar energy. If fully utilized, wind turbines could potentially power 25% of all U.S. households. In fact, the potential energy of the turbines is enough to power the entire U.S. over times times. Likewise, solar panels have the potential to power millions of homes. The more important fact is that the costs of these energy sources have rapidly decreased over the past few decades. The price of solar panels have dropped 30% since 2010, as well as those of wind turbines. The point is, investing and utilizing wind and solar power is not financially impossible like it was a few decades ago.

So what do all these positive statistics mean? And what does it have to do with changing how we go about our lives? You're about to find out. Before reading, please take the time to watch this video I watched to help me do my research.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEWYLbQXg4U

Like it was mentioned and visually displayed in the video, many people across the world are without any sort of power, living in total darkness when the sun sets. Not only are these people deprived of electricity, but also deprived of many basic needs such as food and clean water. However, we, as residents of a first world country with all the latest technologies, clearly do not know or have experienced the conditions these people have and are still going through. Since the rate of technological progress is very high in our country and many other first world nations, we don't know what it's like to be living in a backwards and poverty-ridden land that retards the introduction of such technologies.

However, we are at a point where resources and technology cannot satisfy all our needs for as long as we are using it. Ironically, to save some of our resources, we go dark for a certain number of nights just like how kids in Guatemala or Africa live in darkness. Only then do we feel the impact of dealing with total darkness, unless a storm comes and knocks out the power grid. That one night where we don't have any of our computers, TVs, refrigerators running like they normally do all humbles us. It humbles us because our society is based on consumerism and trying out the new and latest technologies, while abandoning old ones. As a consequence, we look at the use of older and less advanced goods and appliances unfavorably, as it does not satisfy our demand for the newest items. You could take this and expand it an a much larger scale and apply it to interactions between races and civilizations. A more advanced race or civilization looks down upon a lesser advanced one because of its supposed backwardness and "refusal" to change.

Realizing the need for sustainability through renewable resources ultimately changes the outlook and attitude of our society. Because we would be more willing to permanently create a lasting source of power, we will also attempt to permanently relieve the poverty and backwardness of less fortunate nations. This can only happen if we, as residents of the richest country on earth, curb our own arrogant and patronizing attitude in terms of science and technology and realize that the discovery of technologies such as cheap wind or solar power is not for our own benefit and consumption, but for the rest of mankind.