St Paul Eco-nmist

[stpauleco-nomist]

Drought driving innovation?

The age old phrase that every kid in America generally hears in regards to an attitude adjustment is: you can either look at the glass half full, or as half empty. Oddly enough, this expression involves water, or the lack thereof, which is the topic of my blog post. 

A lot has been written about the negative effects of the lack of water in California, Kansas, Texas, and really anywhere that has experienced a drought over the past 5 years. The effects were generally hardest hitting for farmers but everyday suburban residents are even feeling the effects now from water restrictions. Droughts have a huge economic impact, including costing California over $2.2 billion in agricultural and related losses in 2014 alone. 

With economic loss in mind, I pose the question: Have the recent droughts driven innovation/will they continue to drive innovation? In agriculture alone, adaptations include drought tolerant corn, wide adoption of drip nozzles on sprinkler pivots, and subirrigation. While some farmers choose to address droughts by drilling more wells, I’m encouraged by those farmers that look to adapt to changing situations rather than just try treat the symptoms. Drip nozzle irrigation alone can reduce loss of water to evaporation by over 90% alone. Subirrigation loses almost 0% to evaporation, other than in the water holding pit. I believe the greatest changes in history have been driven by a dire need for change, and I believe the lack of water in many areas of the country and world will drive that innovation sooner rather than later.  DeMenocal, Peter. “ Fixing The Climate Innovation Gap.” “Huffington Post.”                  May 1, 2015

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Rever- make that - Forward Osmosis

In our class we have spent a decent chunk of time talking about water shortages and how pollution of water sources multiplies that problem. We also addressed recently the issue of what to do with all the waste water that hydraulic fracking creates. Treating waste water or polluted water is often impossible using traditional reverse osmosis because the water pressure required to overcome the high salinity of these waters would cause its membranes to shred.  The only option previously available to purify such contaminated waters was thermal evaporation, a process that uses 25–50% more energy than forward osmosis. 

While desalinating water is still completed cheapest using reverse osmosis, forward osmosis technology offers an option to treat extremely polluted waters using a relatively small amount of energy. Forward osmosis can be used however to treat extremely salty water solutions in countries enacting zero liquid discharge policies. These policies prevent countries from dumping the leftover solids and liquids into the ocean after the freshwater has been separated and collected. The reason countries are adopting these policies is dumping the large amounts of excess salt back into the ocean potentially damages surrounding ecosystems.  This is an extremely interesting technology and I cannot wait to see further applications it is developed for. In my mind, I see great opportunities for this to adopted for uses such as cleaning waste water from power plants and perhaps even large scale in waste water treatment facilities. 

McKenna, Phil. “Purifying the Dirtiest Waters” “PBS: NovaNext”                                      April 29, 2015

[stpauleco-nomist]

MN Fishing Opener

In a state that is labeled “The Land of 10,000 Lakes”, and has the highest fishing license per capita ratio in the US, it’s only right on a blog devoted to the topic of water to mention the MN Fishing Opener. The opener is an annual event for hundreds of thousands in Minnesota, and is even celebrated by the governor himself, who will cast his line into Lake Vermillion come Saturday. 

 Fishing represents more to Minnesota though than just an alternative way to spend a nice summer day rather than golfing. According to the DNR: “..it’s an economic engine that supports 43,000 Minnesota jobs, generates $2.8 billion in direct annual expenditures and contributes more than $640 million a year in tax revenues to the treasuries of our state and federal government.” We are talking about a very large and very important industry that thousands benefit from in Minnesota. 

That being said, two opinions to share before this upcoming Saturday event:   1: Take care of the lake you choose to fish on, whether that be properly disposing of your own garbage or even going out of your own way to pick up other peoples garbage. Keeping lakes pristine not only benefits the ecosystems, but helps keep the lakes in pristine condition for all to enjoy.         2. Consider taking you mom fishing with you as this weekend is Mothers Day! :) :) <3

“MN Fishing Economic Impact.” “MN Department Of Natural Resources.”                   May 5, 2011

[stpauleco-nomist]

A Hopeful yet Concerning Story

Santa may have brought environmentalists battling zebra mussels a Christmas present early this year. The Star Tribune is reporting that in Christmas lake, just west of the cities, a combination of three treatments appear to have completely eradicated zebra mussels from the treated portion of the lake. While some ecologists are calling this a major victory in the ongoing fight against the invasive species, others find it a little concerning.

So why are zebra mussels considered to be harmful to lake ecosystems? When zebra mussels enter into lake ecosystems, their voracious filter feeding depletes the availability of microscopic organisms that play a critical part in each lake's ecological food web. Zebra mussels consume considerable amounts of these beneficial microscopic organisms and this creates less food for larval and juvenile fish that grow to be the trophy fish many anglers chase.

The positive takeaway is that researches now believe they have discovered how to exterminate these organisms from infested lakes. There is reason for concern though as no long term studies have been compiled to determine how large scale treatments of large lakes would affect native mussel species, other fish, or even humans. As of now, I am cautiously optimistic, as I strongly believe we should eradicate zebra mussels from MN lakes, but only using safe methods. 

Smith, Kelly. “Treatments on Christmas Lake kill off Zebra mussels”                            Star-Tribune. April 20, 2015

[stpauleco-nomist]

Minnesota’s Aging Water Treatment Facilities

Some experts are projecting a budget surplus of upwards of $4 billion dollars in Minnesota during fiscal year 2014. That has raised almost as big of a debate at the capital as if they were instead told they had to cut the budget. While some wealthy businessmen in the state would like to see their tax rates cut and their soccer stadium’s funded using tax breaks, wiser individuals are looking in the direction of Minnesota’s aging infrastructure.

There are 294 sewer systems and facilities listed on the 2015 Clean Water Project Priority List. A recent report put the cost of updating those sewer system lines and water treatment plants at $1.5 billion dollars. This is clearly an astounding number that is not exactly a walk in the park to convince the state legislation is necessary spending.

Number 15 on the list in order of importance to receive funding for the infrastructure upgrades is Mountain Lake. Residents there have already been forced to pay for upgrades to their sewer systems, most funding their portion through a loan offered by the sewage company. Mountain Lakes system was equipped for average daily volumes of 350,000 gallons per day, but large rains often stressed the system with volumes pushing 1.5 million gallons. These influxes resulted in many flooded basements among other problems. I am in favor of using majority of the state’s surplus for infrastructure upgrades and sewer system projects would be a great start.  “Aging Sewer Facilities May Cost Minnesota Over a Billion Dollars”                                “KEYC News 12″ April 26, 2015.                                                                           http://www.keyc.com/story/28903703/aging-sewer-facilities-may-cost-minnesota-over-a-billion-dollars

[stpauleco-nomist]

A Dirty Olympics in Brazil?

As summer approaches, so do summer sports such as gold, tennis, fishing, etc. I’m also starting to get excited for the summer sports to be played during next year’s Olympics in Brazil as well! While looking up the event the other day, I came across multiple articles voicing concern not only over the safety of some areas of Brazil, but also over the cleanliness. 

According to multiple sources I found, Brazil will not make good on its commitment to clean up Rio de Janeiro's sewage-filled Guanabara Bay by the 2016 Olympic Games. So why exactly is this body of water so polluted? Well for one, nearly 70 percent of the sewage in the Rio, home to 12 million inhabitants, continues to flow untreated, along with thousands of tons of garbage daily, into area rivers, the bay and even Rio's famed beaches like Copacabana. Brazil has much more lenient pollution laws than other developed countries such as the USA, but this amount of pollution even breaks their own laws. 

So how exactly were they planning to complete this monumental task by 2016 and where have they went wrong? Olympic authorities and planners in Brazil  pledged to cut the flow of pollution into Guanabara Bay by 80 percent by the 2016 Games through multiple infrastructure improvements. These include the expansion of the sewage network and the construction of River Treatment Units built at the mouths of rivers flowing into the bay. The facilities would filter out much of the sewage and trash. Money of course is the limiting factor as now, as Brazilian authorities are pleading with Olympic officials currently to receive more funds to build these treatment facilities.  I love the Olympics and personally hope all the necessary facilities are built in advance of the games. I’d hate to see the US rowing team having to clean toilet paper off their oars right before they accept their gold medal.

Associated Press.  “World sailing body threatens to move Olympic sailing                    events.” April 24, 2015

[stpauleco-nomist]

Land of 10,000 (Polluted?) Lakes

A recent report that used data from half of the state of Minnesota’s watersheds show half or more  of lakes and streams monitored in the southern half of the state are plagued by bacteria, sediment, nutrients and other pollutants. This is very concerning, because legislation was passed 6 years ago which allocated money towards improving water quality in the 81 watersheds of Minnesota. 

The report said improvements are possible through strategies such as planting stream buffers, managing fertilizer and manure, restoring wetlands and controlling stormwater runoff. Coming from an agricultural community, the past five years have delivered record high prices for farms and really pushed environmental issues to the back burner. This is evident in the amount of CRP acres being taken out, the amount of tile drainage being installed, and the lack of buffer strips being planted around waterways.

While the report painted a grim picture of the state of the lakes in Minnesota, I don’t believe the future is completely morbid. Crop prices have reverted to normal levels and incentivising farmers to plant buffer strips will be much easier. The advancements in technology on farms have been funded by high crop prices resulting in much more efficient application methods of fertilizer, manure, and other crop inputs. Restoring wetlands will continue to be a challenge along with storm water runoff, but I don’t think the future is as bleak as the report initially stated. Heck, 50 years from now, there will be giant robots filtering every waterway in Minnesota, and pollution will be right up there with polio as a worry of the past.

Dunbar, Elizabeth. “Pollutants still plague many southern Minnesota waters.”              MPR News. April 29, 2015

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Chinese French Fry Producer Produces Polluted Waters

A recent article in Reuters looked at how China was aggressively trying to address its water pollution problems. Approximately one-third of China's major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water is contaminated. As China develops into a global superpower though, they are no longer receiving breaks given to some developing countries. Criticism has grown exponentially about the status of the environment in China and the health of its citizens. To address criticism over its polluted water issues, China plans to close numerous small-scale enterprises in nearly a dozen industries, including dyeing plants, oil refineries and pesticide producers. This is a good start to help achieve their goal of  making 93% of water supply for China’s several hundred largest cities reach a level of 3 on a 5 point scale (drinkable).

The pollution also contributes to public-health problems in China. In 2013, China acknowledged the existence of “cancer villages” that cluster along areas with wells contaminated by industry and agriculture. As China continues to grow in world prominence, it will need to continue to address the needs of its own people, first and foremost.  Jourdan, Adam.  “McDonald's fries supplier fined in China for water pollution.”            Reuters. April 30, 2015

[stpauleco-nomist]

How much water does Kansas have left?

Within the last month, I visited Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. I was there on a graduate school visit, but oddly enough, one of the professors I ended up speaking with is involved in studying a very controversial topic in Kansas, the Ogllala aquifer.  The sprawling Ogallala Aquifer in the Great Plains provides freshwater for roughly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cattle and cotton in the United States. Key parts of the underwater aquifer, however, are being depleted faster than they can be recharged by rain.

I have previously written about the water debate currently going on in California, but this hits a little closer to home. Dr. Peterson from Kansas State explained to me that the problem lies once again in how people view the aquifer. In some areas of Kansas, it is viewed as a renewable resource that should be around forever, however, in other areas of the state. There is no desire to decrease water usage and when the water is gone, it’s gone, and people accept that. Needless to say, developing policies and legislation around the water issue becomes very controversial, very fast.  Some counties in Kansas have been proactive about the issue, creating incentives to use efficient water systems when watering crops or to simply stop using water altogether in some areas. Dr. Peterson pointed out though that even with reduced water usage, the supply is not expected to reach the end of the century. An economic approach would be to install a cap and trade system for water from the Ogllala aquifer, but how do you convince a farmer who will lose his job because of this legislation to enact this policy. This is a complicated issue that only gets more complicated every year.

Plumer, Brad.  “ How long before the Great Plains runs out of water?”.                          Washington Post. September 12, 2013

[stpauleco-nomist]

Nature causing climate change? Volca-NO!

Recently in our environmental class we have been learning about the atmosphere, and just how unique our planet is because we have one. In fact, it took hundreds of millions of years to form our atmosphere that we all breathe and take for granted every single day. While it is indisputable that our atmosphere is changing, some people still want to downplay the role humans have in this process. 

A recent article online published by WIRED looked at the argument made by some recently that natural sources like volcanoes are bigger influences on the atmosphere than humans. Some of these people making this claim include high profile government officials including the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. While data has shown that volcanoes can have an effect on the environment, the WIRED article below compares volcanoes output directly against human pollution.

According to the article, volcanoes on Earth emit, on the high end, about 0.26 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year. This sounds like an astounding amount of CO2, and it truly is. According to a study done by the transportation sector in the United States, the CO2 outputs of all the volcanoes on earth annually equals only 44% of the annual output of all the cars in the US annually. 

While the US is home to a significant percentage of all the cars in the world, volcanoes have such a meaningless effect when compared to the output of all industries and all countries globally. Volcanoes are an easy target for politicians because they are generally something that conjures up fear inside us, and rightly so. However, the one thing we should not fear them for is their CO2 output. http://www.wired.com/2015/04/volcanoes-still-not-source-increasing-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere/ Klemetti, Erik. “Volcanoes Are (Still) Not the Cause of Global Warming”.                           WIRED MAGAZINE. April 11, 2015

[stpauleco-nomist]

Water...? Where’d it go?

A large amount amount of press has been given recently towards the water crisis in California. Recently, the governor enacted water restrictions on the state, yet left farmers exempt from these restrictions. 

A recent article in the New York Times entitled “In Parched California, Innovation, Like Water, Has Limits” by Eduardo Porter looked at the water issues in California, and the extent to which innovation may be able to solve some of the problems.  Innovation has helped alleviate water problems thus far in California when it comes to irrigation and other intensive water users. However, innovation alone will not be enough if there is simply no water to use sparingly. 

One of the most interesting facts brought up in the article is that although there is no strong correlation between extreme one time weather events and climate change, that we can expect multi-decade droughts in the Southwest by the end of the century. This is extremely worrisome considering all the infrastructure in California already built to collect water relies upon the yearly water cycle that dates back decades. Majority of this water comes from the melting snow pack in the mountains of California. 

The author does a great job raising many other issues and I highly recommend giving the article a read as it does a great job weighing economic versus environmental impacts of climate change and water shortage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/business/economy/in-parched-california-innovation-like-water-has-a-limit.html?_r=0 Porter, Eduardo. “In Parched California, Innovation, Like Water, Has Limits”                  New York Times. April 7th, 2015

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Microbeads in the Environment

Our lecture today in ESPM 1011 was based upon water quality, and frankly, how human activity is affecting water quality around the world. The eight leading causes of water quality degradation were listed as:

1) Toxic chemicals

2) Pathogens 

3) Oil 

4) Nutrients 

5) Biodegradable waste 

6) Sediment 

7) Thermal 

8) Nets and plastic debris 

The most disturbing cause to me out of all of these was “nets and plastic debris”, because it struck a cord with me. I have used acne medications since I was in high school, both oral and topical. I still take an oral antibiotic but have switched off of a prescription face I used throughout high school to a over the counter face wash sold at Target (shown below). 

The reason I found the fact that I use this face wash disturbing is because microbeads are terrible for the environment. Apparently, waste water treatment facilities are able to deal with all sorts of pollutants, but they are not able to deal with the medication or microbeads in the face wash I use. Dr. Blinn talked extensively about how greater and greater quantities of these microbeads are showing up in the great lakes, and inevitably, in the food chains within the great lakes. I never intended to harm food chains by cleaning my face, I just wanted to get rid of my acne. Here’s the video we viewed that addressed microbeads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OGPu-Bu4Cw The question posed to the class later on dealt with “Who should be responsible for understanding the effects of active ingredients on users, the government or the manufacturers?” I argue that that question should apply to manufacturers should have to answer to the effects of their of non-active ingredients as well, both on users and on the environment. Especially when we might be consuming those microbeads in our fish caught in the great lakes in the near future. 

Blinn, Dr. Charlie. “Water Quality” ESPM 1011. March 26, 2015 Lecture.

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Ocean Acidification

On March 10th, our class learned about ocean acidification. It was a concept that I was unaware with until this class. After the class period, I researched the topic further on my personal computer.  One of the most interesting articles I found was written by Brian Kahn, entitled “Watch Ocean Acidification in Real Time”. It shows hows scientists have developed a way to watch in real time the depressing process of ocean acidification. Besides the actual graphic that illustrates the rate of acidification, the article also discusses the economic implications. In fact, it’s estimated by 2100, the annual losses will be around $1 trillion annually.  The new satellite viewing technology is especially exciting because it will help scientists learn more about how ocean acidification works, and perhaps, how we can prevent the oceans from becoming further damaged in the future. Kahn, Brian. "Watch Ocean Acidification in Real Time." Scientific American. February 18, 2015. 

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Carbon Dioxide - DUH!

I recently read an article that discussed new research that Berkely had just published. The research basically provided concrete evidence that shows that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to global climate change.  My first reaction: "DUH!". However, scrolling the comments on the article, I was amazed to see so much doubt being cast on the research. (That being said, I've always said if I wanted to lower my IQ, I would spend time reading the comment section on scientific articles) It raised an interesting point though. There are actually thousands upon thousands of people out there that believe climate change is not linked to carbon dioxide emissions, or simply that it doesn't exist in general.  This video short on the John Oliver show sums up the debate of whether climate change happens better than I could ever hope too, mostly because Bill Nye is involved :)  :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg

My favorite line from the entire video: "The debate shouldn't be about whether or not climate change is being caused by humans, it should be what we should do about it!?" I look forward to discussing this topic in class further, and I say "discussing" intentionally, because frankly, as the study out of Berkely and hundreds of others prove, there should be no "debate".

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A Pessimistic Class..? Perhaps.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the first few weeks of my ESPM 1011 class taught on the St. Paul campus at the University of Minnesota. We have covered a wide variety of topics thus far and I have learned a great deal about each. Backtracking, I should preface this entire blog with a little background about myself. I grew up on a farm in Northwest Minnesota in a little town called Lancaster. It's more like a little village as it's population is only 340 as of the last census. It's a generally conservative place, easily thought of as a church-pew or bar stool kind of town. In a town that relies on agriculture as a main employer, ecologists are not exactly 'welcome' in Lancaster, for a variety of reasons. That being said, I'll circle back to Lancaster and how it shaped my views growing up in later blogs. I want to discuss the survey given to the class on the first day in this blog. One of the questions and responses that really caught my attention was "Do you think the next generation is better off than this one?" A whopping 52% of the class think that the next generation has it worse off than our generation has it. 52%!!! There are multiple reasons I find this astounding, and frankly, that the people who believe this are wrong, but I'll only discuss my main thought.  While there are multiple issues that at face value suggest the 52% may be right, such as the degrading health of the environment, the prevalence of poor diets in our country, or even the increase in violent crime in America. However, these people are clearly not taking into account one of the most important factors that determines quality of life, which is "medical advancements". I firmly believe that science has the ability to cure majority of the problems facing us today and those that we shall face in the future. Whether it be curing cancer, developing clean, green technologies that help save our environment, or simply devices that make our lives easier, science is moving at breakneck speeds. While all of these aforementioned advancements will probably come at different times and maybe not in time for the next generation, they will surely come!  Call me an optimist for believing the next generation will have the highest quality of life yet, but I look at the trend through out history and the data and trend is clearly on my side.