Beneficial Environmental Impact

Climate change happens. Can we make it hotter by dumping carbon dioxide into the air? Sure. Would not dumping CO2 into the air stop climate change? Not likely. Climate change has been a regular occurrence for the last 400 thousand years as demonstrated by data from the Vostok ice core[1].

Clearly, we can affect things dramatically, but climate change has been happening without us and will continue to happen in spite of us. Further, of all of the affects that we have on Earth ecosystems, climate is one of the least measurable and most unlikely to be impacted positively by human activity. If we really wanted to affect climate change we would have to change our thinking and technology in revolutionary ways. Our automobiles would have to produce byproducts which counteract the accumulation of carbon dioxide. It is not important whether the source of a greenhouse gas is human in origin, geologic and caused by volcanic ash, or the result of bovine flatulence. If we want to prevent the impact of increased carbon dioxide we must create technologies (or perhaps just plant trees) to reverse it.

I think that we all agree that pollution sucks. And most pollution isn't just affecting our climate, it effects our ecosystems, it effects our lifestyle. It effects us. New research suggests that soluble nano-particulate matter produced by automobile exhaust contributes to or causes cardiovascular disease [2,3]. This might mean that we need to take drastic measures to prevent long-term exposure to the disease-causing particles. And we are currently faced with auto-mobile-ization by the developing world as incredibly cheap gas-powered automobiles are released. Even at 50+ miles per gallon, millions of new vehicles will still increase emission of harmful pollutants and CO2.

I find it very frustrating to realize that of all of the many things we do that we consider 'environmental' still do not have a beneficial impact on the environment. All of our gas-electric hybrid vehicles, solar panels, wind-power; the whole lot, still have a detrimental effect on the environment. The creation of these devices and their use still have a overall detrimental environmental impact. In a very self-serving and shallow logic, this is OK. It is better than if we had not used these things. Agreed. Better to pollute less than pollute more. At least some of us are somewhat more conscious of our environment. But it is not enough.

If we really wanted to 'control' the climate, we cannot do this by minimizing our impact. We must to optimize our impact. And the impact must be of positive benefit to the environment. We must create human by-products that have the effect of reversing environmental damage or removing pollutants from the air.

There are a few examples of this.

• Planting trees
• Preventing asteroid impacts: treaties and methods
• Preventing volcanic eruptions (we don't currently think this is possible, but it should be)
• Careful environmental monitoring and management
• Awareness and protection of endangered species (who are endangered for reasons which are not related to human activity)

Most of the things that we currently do as individuals, which are necessary but not sufficient, simply decrease our overall footprint:

• Buy local produce and products
• Grown your own crops and support community gardening
• Use recycled paper as much as possible (office supplied, toilet paper)
• Use cold-water wash in the laundry
• Don't use bottled water
• Recycle everything that is recyclable
• Re-use paper products (bags, printer scrap paper) and plastic containers (bags, washable food containers)
• Compost waste food instead of adding it to the landfills
• Bring your own re-usable bags to the grocery store
• Buy bulk cereals, grains, loose-leaf tea, and other bulk packaged products when possible
• Use greener transportation (use public or mass transit, a hybrid vehicle, or ride a bicycle)
• Use non-toxic and biodegradable cleaners and detergents (e.g. http://www.seventhgeneration.com/)
• Re-use 'grey-water' from the kitchen and bathroom for gardening (requires use of non-toxic cleaners)
• Use low-flow (aerated) faucets, shower-heads, and low water use toilets
• Use passive solar heating in the home

Note that all of these things are great things to do to minimize your footprint. However, none of them has a beneficial net effect on the environment.

References:

[1] Barnola et al. CO 2-climate relationship as deduced from the Vostok ice core: a re-examination based on new …. Tellus B (1991)

[2] Mills et al. Do Inhaled Carbon Nanoparticles Translocate Directly into the Circulation in Humans?. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2006)

[3] Zareba et al. Cardiovascular Effects of Air Pollution: What to Measure in ECG?. Environmental Health Perspectives (2001)