Earth Day Climatologist Speech 2011

We may only be one person, but know matter what you do or who you are we can all make a difference in awareness of climate change, and help Mother Earth.

picture from binaryfuzion.com

LBCC had a special guest this Earth Day that made us all aware of climate change, and how we as people can get involved. Daniel Brown is a climatologist from Oregon State University that seems to know his stuff.

There was quite the turn out of interested people to Brown's speech last Friday on April 22.

Michelle Zink a LBCC student was one of many who was in for a listen to what climate change is. She is a student enrolled at OSU, and told me she would like to more about what goes on at OSU.

"I'm curious as to what the difference is between what they say on the news, and what he is going to tell us today." says Zink.

In Brown's presentation he first started out  fundamental points on what climate change is and the difference between the climate and the weather. The main points as to the difference is that climate is the long term factors of what green house gasses are doing and weather is the short term.

"Climate is something we can measure", Says Brown, "But it is very difficult to feel".

One of the main point that Brown was trying to configure is that the signals of climate change are on the increase all over the world. There is an increase in the average global temperature, and a rise in the sea level. There are already signs of coastal impacts. We see flooding, larger waves, and some erosion along homes and buildings along the beaches. There is also a higher signs of increased wildfire activity.

One of the most drastic changes in Oregon over the next years will probably be the projection of vegetation by 2070-2099. There will be minimal rain forest like vegetation like there was in the past and in the current years.

Oregon is one of the states in America that is making a difference. We are following Portland and making better transportation decisions.

Oregon's total fuel consumption was only .25% while the population increased by about 10.4%. That was a 9.2% decrease in consumption per capita. If we can learn to ride bikes, or carpool and take a bus, then every one else can see what a difference it makes around the world.

Some ways that we can help as humans is to splurge for improved efficiency. If we decide in the supermarket to buy energy efficient light bulbs, and solar water heaters there is a lesser impact on the Earth.

"While not every one can buy solar panels and hybrid cars we can make little changes in our daily lives", says Deron Carter, a LBCC physics instructor, "If we decide to spend a little more on recycled paper towels rather than the cheap bargain brand we can make a difference". 

We may not all be climatologists, but we can all help create less of a carbon footprint for ourselves. So ride a bike instead of driving a car, splurge a little more at the grocery store to make better green decisions, but most of all be aware of what you can do to help.

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