Meredith: Hi Sunn

Sunnkist: Hey

Sunnkist: So, this is TOTALLY NOT my week

Meredith: How are you? congrats on being done except for the final

Sunnkist: All those articles I read for tonight were like another language

Meredith: lol - sorry I misunderstood earlier

Sunnkist: haha I'll be okay once I get past this week

Meredith: are you in other classes too?

Sunnkist: no just working a lot...a lot going on

Meredith: understood - well you kept up brilliantly in class so I never noticed you being busy

Meredith: I think you got about as much as you could on quizzes and labs too

Sunnkist: yea for most of them

Meredith: so you don't have much to worry about for the final

Meredith: aside from getting it done

Sunnkist: yea I'm not too, too worried about the final ... I was just worried about tonight haha

Meredith: You'll do fine . . . really low pressure. . . what part did you look at?

Meredith: hopefully Kurt will be here in a minute

Sunnkist: ok

Meredith: which part of the last group of things did you look over?

Sunnkist: for tonight

Meredith: yes

Sunnkist: I looked at the first part

Meredith: ok

Sunnkist: Projections for the future

Meredith: ok - and we'll give Kurt a min more or so

Meredith: will brb quickly

Sunnkist: ok

Meredith: Hi Kurt and Smac

Smac: Hey

Kurt: hi

Meredith: How are you both?

Kurt: ok

Smac: Just FYI they have been working on comcast in my area today. I have been out most of the day. Hopefully it will stay this hour

Meredith: OK Smac - good to know. . . . and tonight is the last night of VC so congrats to you all for making it this far

Meredith: a couple things to know before we get started

Meredith: so you all finish up just fine

Meredith: one, be sure to do any work on or before Sunday. . . and if you are strapped for time I'd do quizzes before labs

Meredith: more points per time spent when taking quizzes

Kurt: k

Meredith: second, there are some new columns in the grade book

Meredith: don't get overly worried when you see them

Smac: ok

Meredith: they show what total percent of your final grade you have now

Meredith: the most anyone could have as of this moment is around 74

Meredith: for that final grade column

Meredith: the final is worth about 20 points

Smac: ok got it

Meredith: and this week's work around 6 points

Meredith: so, as you get work in, you can watch that number climb

Meredith: and figure out when you've reached the final grade level you want

Kurt: so is the final grade based on: tests, quizzes and labs

Meredith: that's right Kurt

Kurt: k

Kurt: so 40% tests, 30 each from the rest

Smac: final is just from the midterm right?

Meredith: final is info since the midterm, right

Meredith: any other questions that you all might have about finishing up?

Meredith: ok

Meredith: then we should get going. . . I know Sunn took the first set

Meredith: what did you others take?

Smac: I only saw two sets... I have it pulled up

Smac: its 44 pages so I have not covered all of it

Meredith: hmmmm . . .

Meredith: what did you look over Kurt?

Meredith: lol - he is on the internet that comes and goes . . . hopefully he'll type back

Kurt: lol sorry ... methods for reducing carbon

Meredith: ok - well Smac, I'll let Sunn go first. . . so this week we are talking about the things related to global warming that humans do have some control over

Meredith: ok - thanks Kurt

Meredith: Sunn gets to scare us all though

Smac: ok let’s have it...lol

Meredith: and then Kurt can tell us what we can do on one side

Meredith: and hopefully you can help us with the last bit Smac when they are done

Meredith: ok - go for it Sunn

Meredith: what did you look into and what did you find out?

Sunnkist: Well, the information that I looked over basically just discussed effects of climate change

Sunnkist: The report was based on data starting in the 1990's and estimates what is going to happen until 2100

Smac: earth still here?

Meredith: lol

Sunnkist: Like I told Meredith, it was a foreign language so I didn't grasp a whole lot of it

Meredith: it was a rough document!

Meredith: try your best

Meredith: you don't like legal-ese?

Meredith: lol

Sunnkist: but basically they are predicting for temperature to continue to rise and with this climate change will be some serious repercussions on the ocean

Sunnkist: so ocean levels will rise due to melting of the glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica

Meredith: ok

Sunnkist: Most impacts on the coast and near coastal marine environments will result from extreme events affecting sea level, such as storm surges and wave set-up. The magnitude of extreme events at any particular time is influenced by tidal movements, storm severity, decadal-scale variability, and regional mean sea level.

Meredith: wow - one of those is totally new to me. . .

Meredith: what is decadal-scale variability?

Meredith: if you know

Meredith: I can Google

Meredith: I can tell you there is a whole book on it lol

Sunnkist: I actually have no idea what that is but sounded important

Meredith: ok - well there is a whole book on it

Meredith: so it must be

Meredith: :)

Sunnkist: The tides will be affected due to the rise in sea level and the currents will shift, which will mean that weather will be affected, high pressure with cold dry air due to the cold water from the melting glaciers

Meredith: ok

Meredith: did you see any predicted values for any of these changes?

Sunnkist: Globally, there will be increases in average water vapor and precipitation.

Meredith: PS - it just means look at how climate varies on a decade-level scale (or bigger) . . . so not worrying about year-to-year changes

Meredith: just found that definition

Sunnkist: oh ok good deal

Sunnkist: It also is very likely that heat waves will become more frequent, and the number of cold waves and frost days (in applicable regions) will decline. Increases in high-intensity precipitation events are likely at many locations;

Meredith: ok

Sunnkist: The frequency of summer drought will increase in many interior continental locations, and droughts—as well as floods—associated with El Niño events are likely to intensify. The frequency of summer drought will increase in many interior continental locations, and droughts—as well as floods—associated with El Niño events are likely to intensify

Sunnkist: oops sorry about that

Meredith: np

Meredith: since I took so much time at the beginning, feel free to just tell us the ranges of values you saw (if any)

Meredith: like what can we expect temp wise

Meredith: if you know

Meredith: if not np

Sunnkist: I really don't have a lot of values

Meredith: ok - np. . . let me copy and paste a url

Sunnkist: I believe I saw somewhere that estimate 10 degrees Celsius but I could be way wrong

Meredith: on my Mac . . . copy paste is so hard sometimes lol

Meredith: no luck

Meredith: lol

Meredith: it’s the third in the list for set 1

Meredith: it pulls up a table

Meredith: and it says temp increases are predicted between about 1.4-6 degrees by 2100

Sunnkist: yeah I just got there

Sunnkist: and sea level is estimated to rise 5-38 Cm by 2050

Meredith: right

Smac: wow

Sunnkist: or 9-88 cm by 2100

Meredith: hopefully we'll squeak in on the low end, huh?!

Sunnkist: let’s hope

Meredith: ok - well thanks for that Sunn

Meredith: and you did well - those were nasty things to read

Sunnkist: sorry I couldn't be more detailed

Meredith: so Kurt - do we have hope?

Meredith: :)

Meredith: what did you look into and what did you find out?

Kurt: well, as we all know, there are plenty of ways and there are other sources where we can reduce our carbon output and energy demand

Kurt: what people don't know are the percentages and where the best place is to target your energy saving methods

Meredith: ok

Kurt: for instance: here are the numbers for energy usage in the U.S.

Kurt: In 2004, 33% of energy was used by industrial entities

Kurt: 28% transportation

Kurt: 21% residential

Kurt: and 17% commercial

Kurt: most of these numbers pretty much made sense except for that I was surprised transportation actually surpassed residential, until I factored in all of the public transportation and the 13,000 taxis in NYC alone

Sunnkist: wow

Meredith: do you know if transportation includes people driving around? or I guess, is it anything much other than us driving around and going place by plane?

Meredith: yikes

Meredith: lots of taxis

Kurt: it factors in all of any method of transportation

Kurt: so it actually does make sense when you think about it

Meredith: I think that's true on a per-family level too Kurt . . . transportation exceeds house use of energy on average (or close)

Meredith: as an aside

Kurt: yea ... I just realized that I spend close to $1300 per year on gas

Kurt: buying an average 347 gallons

Meredith: so people do have the power to do something . . . yikes - that is a lot

Kurt: yes definitely, the numbers get even more interesting

Meredith: and yelling at companies might not be the only thing to do

Smac: yeah it’s crazy I travel for work and well it’s a LOT Of MILES

Kurt: in the personal household, here are the percentages:

Meredith: ok

Kurt: 32% space heating, 13% water heating, 12% lighting, 11% air conditioning, 8% refrigeration, 5% electronics, and 5% washer/dryer

Smac: interesting

Meredith: I believe those #s ... heating always costs the most

Meredith: great break-down

Kurt: so looking at those numbers alone, u could say that we would save so much by just being more mindful of how we take advantage of heat..... I believe we all now are extremely too dependent on heaters and forget about our natural elements......

Meredith: so, say we wanted to be good consumers and do something, what would you recommend based on what you saw?

Meredith: of energy that is

Kurt: first, when it is winter time, no one should feel that they should be able to walk around the house in shorts and a t-shirt, it just doesn't make sense... it's winter..... the heat goes up for that, .....

Meredith: lol - good point!

Smac: clothes good idea ... lol

Kurt: second, if u live in a house with a lot of windows like I do, u know that the Sun can warm the house pretty well on a sunny day in December.... that serves as a good heat source ... so cut the heat back during the day

Meredith: so we should accept the time-honored tradition of wearing sweaters when it is cold. .

Meredith: ok

Sunnkist: sounds good

Kurt: blankets and sweaters and sweats are the key for those who simply get cold, not just electric heat

Meredith: ok

Kurt: third......

Kurt: the heat is most important at night when it is the coldest, so save throughout the day so that you may live comfortably at night... electric/gas heat was meant to keep people healthy and free from pneumonia... not to make it feel like July in January

Meredith: ok

Meredith: yeah - we put ours at 55 F at night in the winter, and with a good blanket it is fine

Meredith: down comforter a must have for that though

Kurt: I don't know if I could let it get that cold ... lol... but I even like it really cold at night ... you'll find you'll save a lot more by using a blanket that will last forever than using a heater that lasts for a month until you pay for next month

Meredith: good point

Kurt: next point: cutting back on the rest of the utilities

Kurt: this is easier for people than heat.... simply turning lights off and using utilities only when needed is key.... it really doesn't make sense to have something in use when it is not needed... we take advantage of our privileges when we do that

Meredith: good point!

Meredith: lol

Smac: totally see that...

Kurt: now as for the rest of the energy consumers go.........

Kurt: transportation needs to convert to electric power, or hydroelectric( most preferred)

Meredith: ok

Meredith: since hydroelectric just give off water and could be linked to solar panels for creating the hydrogen at some point. . .

Meredith: and give us one more good piece of info

Meredith: before we move on

Meredith: you really looked into this a lot

Kurt: yes ... it's one of my big issues with the whole energy usage, is that everyone's real misguided by media and Hollywood

Kurt: anyways

Kurt: ...

Meredith: explain what you mean

Meredith: and Smac - I misunderstood Kurt, so he must have taken set 3. . . did you happen to look at the second set

Smac: ok I looked at Carbon Offset providers... and capturing...

Smac: yeah I just did

Smac: I realized that too

Meredith: ok - hold on then

Firery Broome is Online

Meredith: and I agree with you whole-heartedly Kurt

Meredith: about the media and Hollywood

Meredith: it is an important issue, I think, but I don't think they help overall lol

Kurt: well first there just needs to be a complete change of attitude on people's parts... no one can make it easier or better, that doesn't solve the problem, we simply need to change our methods

Meredith: agreed - gotta use less

Kurt: gas has got to go, because it will eventually anyhow

Kurt: 40% of the nation's energy comes from petroleum

Meredith: wow

Meredith: that's a lot

Kurt: while all of the renewable good things, and more efficient methods are only under 14% total

Meredith: and I can tell you, the energy plant just down the road from me here in North Wilmington burns coal ... whether we realize it or not

Meredith: wow

Kurt: coal is next with 23%

Meredith: wow

Meredith: lots

Meredith: yep

Kurt: coal won't work either, it's getting too expensive and it's running out kind of

Meredith: ok - so we should really take it on our individual selves to use less . . . and hopefully move toward those alternatives as they become available

Meredith: well thanks for that Kurt

Kurt: yup

Meredith: and so that you all can be DONE with VC let's hear what Smac found out

Meredith: and I can help Smac

Meredith: if you need

Smac: ok this is a little back tracking but along the same lines and Kirk.

Smac: let me just give you a little info first

Smac: we all know what CO2 is

Smac: and we know what it does to the earth from week one

Smac: here are some facts

Smac: a TON of co2 is emitted when:

Smac: airplane travels 2,000 miles

Smac: driver 1350 in a SUV

Smac: drive 6,000 in a hybrid

Smac: car

Smac: run a home for 60 days

Meredith: that's a lot

Smac: this one is funny

Smac: graze an Ugandan dairy cow for eight months

Meredith: a whole ton

Meredith: lol

Smac: yeah

Meredith: the cows always have to enter the picture lol

No room to sit here, try another spot.

Smac: to offset 1,000 tons of co2 you could do the following:

Smac: move 145 driver from large SUV to hybrids

Smac: for one year

Smac: run one 600 kW turbine for one year

Smac: replace 500 100-watt bulbs with 18 watt compact fluorescent lights 10-year life

Smac: install 125 home solar panels in India (20 year life)

Meredith: geez - that's 1000 tons too

Meredith: wow

Smac: you get the idea

Meredith: yes

Smac: stuff we are doing is emitting CO2 and lots of it

Meredith: clearly a lot

Smac: the idea is that we can offset that with the things we can do

Meredith: ok

Smac: so going to the same things Kurt was talking about we really want to do things to try to offset things

Meredith: ok

Smac: ok hold on

Meredith: so there are companies that let people invest in these offsets in one way or another

Smac: yes people can choose to invest

Smac: for example

Smac: when I went to CA they had wind panel to help with energy

Smac: that is a start cost but worth it in the end

Sunnkist: those are becoming more and more popular

Meredith: ok

Meredith: interesting

Smac: things like Wal-Mart ran a commercial talking about how if all walmart customers installed the new

Smac: light bulbs it would be like taking 200 cars off the road

Smac: it’s like that

Meredith: ok

Smac: we want to offset

Smac: the other part is to capture

Smac: an example of that would be like this... let me get it off the page

Meredith: ok

Smac: ok can`t ... Mac...lol

Smac: basically if you have a land fill it is giving off Co2 from the decomposition

Meredith: and as she does that, I did want to mention that the clean air cool people document linked from the discussion board is worth looking over. . . there is a fair population of places trying to capitalize off carbon offsets and not exactly doing what they say they are

Meredith: so if you look into buying any, make sure you check them out first

Meredith: I'd be suspicious on average

Sunnkist: is that the really long one

Meredith: yes

Meredith: they rated various offsets

Sunnkist: ok

Meredith: and like 75% or something huge like that were found to be not really living up to what they said they were doing

Meredith: or, the didn't provide clear evidence of doing what they said they did is a better way to put it

Meredith: and good way to explain the carbon capture . . . just liquefying it and putting it underground is exactly it

Smac: if you check out that form you should look at 24

Smac: that page has good examples of capturing and i can`t copy it.

Meredith: ok

Smac: shows highest quality to low quality capturing

Meredith: ok

Meredith: and last question on the capturing

Smac: sure

Meredith: in your quick scanning did you see what size company it works best with?

Meredith: if not np

Smac: no but I would guess the bigger your company the more you have to capture...lol

Meredith: big companies often make too much carbon to reasonably have a place to put it . . . small once tend to not be able to afford the technology. . . so mid-size do the best with it. . . exactly right

Meredith: but some places are doing it and I guess with some success

Meredith: don't know a heck of a lot myself about it beyond that

Meredith: anyhow, I hope you all feel better informed on a topic that is saturating the news

Smac: that’s cool. I know my agency is looking into solar power for our offices

Meredith: so that you can make your own choices

Smac: we are mid-sized I would say

Meredith: good luck with that

Meredith: and that's it for VC

Meredith: it was nice talking with you all

Kurt: you too

Meredith: and I wish you good luck on your finals

Kurt: thanks for everything

Smac: thanks so much

Meredith: you were a great class :)

Meredith: good luck in your futures

Meredith: and talk with you through email until class is over

Meredith: bye

Smac: bye

Meredith: bye Sunn