GLOBAL WARMING AND

SUGAR MAPLES Presented by Sean Nolan

Outline

•What is Global Warming?

•Types of Pollution

•Migrating trees

•The Dying Sugar Maples

•What can we do to help?

Land of Confusion by Genesis I must have dreamed a thousand dreams.

Been haunted by a million screams.

But I can hear the marching feet

They're moving into the street

Now, did you read the news today?

They say the danger has gone away

But I can see the fire's still alight

They're burning into the night

Chorus:

There's too many men, too many people

Making too many problems

And there's not much love to go around

Can't you see this is a land of confusion?

This is the world we live in

And these are the hands we're given

Use them and let's start trying

To make it a place worth living in

Oh, superman, where are you

now?

When everything's gone

wrong somehow?

The men of steel, these men

of power

Are losing control by the hour

This is the time, this is the

place

So we look for the future

But there's not much love to

go around

Tell me why this is a land of

confusion

Chorus

I remember long ago

When the sun was shining

And all the stars were bright all

through the night

In the wake of this madness, as I

held you tight

So long ago

I won't be coming home tonight

My generation will put it right

We're not just making promises

That we know we'll never keep

Chorus

Pollution

• Definition: the introduction of harmful

substances into the environment.

4

Types of Pollution

• There are 6 types of pollution:

1. Air

2. Water

3. Land

4. Noise

5. Radio Active

6. Light Pollution

5

Air Pollution

• Affects the breathable air and atmosphere of the

Earth.

• Major Sources of Air Pollution:

• Coal plants, mines and factories

• Automobiles

• Waste plants/land fills

• Other undesirable gases such as carbon monoxide,

carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

6

Fossil Fuels

• Coal, oil and gas are called "fossil fuels" because they

have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric

plants and animals.

• Coal plants use the following method to produce electrical

energy:

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Land Pollution

• The using up of land area for construction, cities, towns,

buildings, industries and most of all WASTE!

• There are over 8 billion people on the Earth!!

• That’s a lot of waste!!

• Where does your waste go?

• To a landfill?

• To get burned?

• To be recycled?

• Ever see the movie Walle?

8

Global Warming

• Definition: the increase in the average

temperature of Earth's near-surface air and

oceans since the mid-20th century and its

projected continuation

• Caused by the greenhouse effect.

• More greenhouse gases = more global warming

• What’s the BIG greenhouse gas?

9

10

Biggest Jump in Global Warming Gases

• Study done by U.S. Department of Energy in

2010:

• The world pumped out about 564 MILLION more

tons of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in

2009.

• That’s an increase in 6%

Nasty Side Effects- Acid Precipitation

• Contains high levels of nitric

and sulfuric acids in the rain

drops.

• Most acid rain falls due to

human activities

• Biggest culprits?

• Many ecological effects on

lakes, streams, wetlands,

forests, etc.

The Dying Sugar Maples • Acid rain damages forests

• Robs soil of essential nutrients and releases Al in the soil ->

makes water uptake by trees difficult

• trees less able to withstand cold temps, insects and disease

• May also inhibit ability to reproduce

• Recent research done by U.S. Forest Service-> acid rain

has contributed to the decline in sugar maple trees in PA.

• Mortality appears to be the result from deficiencies of cations

combined with other stresses such as insect defoliation or

drought.

No More Maple Syrup?

• Sugar Maples need cooperative weather conditions to get that syrup goodness out of them -> which is?

• However, what has global warming done?

• Over last century New England and NY have warmed an avg. of 0.7°F w/ bulk in winter – an avg. gain of 1.8°F (Dr. Barry Rock –UNH)

• so what?

• Such warming gives rise to new threats to sugar maples: insects and deer

• Deer populations have exploded in some areas -> no predators -> graze away the tender maple shoots and saplings

• NY and New England are the biggest producers of maple syrup and sugar

• Weird weather last 10 years wouldn’t you say?

The Big Picture • UN Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change predict a

3 to 10°F warming over the next century -> a change that

may doom the sugar maple in northeastern U.S.

• U.S. Environment Protection Agency->sugar maples will

not survive the next century in New England

• U.S. Forest Service found that a few dozen tree species in

eastern U.S. are moving north at an unexpected rate in

search of cooler climates

• Basswood and maple have seemed to move the most -> as much

as 30 miles north (National Geographic News)

Social and Economic Effects

• If sugar maples are

dying what effect will

this have on the US

economy and society?

• Think about the farmers

• Supply and demand

Renewable Energy • Energy which comes from natural resources which are

renewable or naturally replenished

• Renewable energies are:

• Sunlight

• Water- rivers, tides, waterfalls

• Biomass- from plants

• Wind

• Geothermal –”Earth Heat”

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Class Discussion

• When you own a home, are you going to install solar

panels, wind turbines, use biomass, get your electricity

from a hydro plant?

• What are some ways you can contribute to going

“green”?

• Recycle?

• Use less electronics?

• Use natural gas?

• Change habits?

• Be Captain Planet?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0D6bzxLLw

Sources Biello, David. Will Global Warming Doom Maple Syrup? The Daily Green. April 6th,

2009.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/maple-syrup-global-warming-47040601

Borenstein, Seth. Biggest Jump Ever Seen in Global Warming Gases. Associate Press. November 4, 2011. www.news.yahoo.com/biggest-jump-ever-seen-global-warming-gases-183955211.html

Dorminey, Bruce. Trees Migrating North Due to Warming. National Geographic News. February 9, 2009. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090209-trees-migrating-north.html

Acid Rain: Effects Felt Through the Food Chain. National Geographic.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/

HBEF Pierce Laboratory: Effects of Acid Precipitation.

http://www.hubbardbrook.org/6-12_education/SubjectPages/AcidRainPage.htm