Little Pieces Cause
BIG PROBLEMS
Everything Adds Up:
Deforestation
The Common Household
Deforestation reduces the carbon dioxide (CO2)
Nitrous oxide (N2O) in products like fertilizers, CO2
taken up by trees and increases the CO2 released by
from cars and Halocarbon in products like aerosols all
decomposition of the detritus, and other land
contribute to rising greenhouse gas levels.
use changes.
Pollution from cars and factories
Methane from plants and animals
Carbon dioxide has both natural and human sources,
Methane (CH4) has both human and natural sources, and
but CO2 levels are increasing largely because of the
levels have risen significantly since per-industrial times
burning of fossil fuels. CO2 is the largest contributor to
due to human activities such as raising livestock, growing
global warming.
paddy rice, filling landfills, and using natural gas.
THE ICE CAPS ARE MELTING “ Rising temperatures are reducing ice cover on land, lakes, and sea and this is expected to continue. The Arctic Ocean is expected to become essentially ice free in summer before mid-century.” – National Climate Assessment
How Much Are We Really Losing? Ice mass is generally measured in gigatonnes (GT). Scientifically speaking, this means that 1 gigatonne is equal to 1 billion metric tonnes. To help visualize this enormous number, consider that 1 gigatonne equals roughly 2.2 billion polar bears: On average, Greenland and the Antarctic loose 287 and 134 gigatonnes of ice land mass respectively.
The Growing Melt Ice loss has been on a steady incline for as long as we have been recording. This selection of data demonstrates the steep incline occurring this century in Greenland and Antarctica
Key:
Greenland
Antarctic
2002 1 block equals 100 gigatonnes
136.31
490.18
2004 554.29
627.90
2006 937.70
799.94
2008 1436.71
1081.68
2010 2223.99
1483.45
2012 3108.22
1731.15
2014 3402.48
1976.89
SMALL LAKES CAUSE HUGE MELTING
Recent studies show that land ice mass on Greenland is actually very porous. Rivers of water run through the pack, causing the ice surrounding them to melt faster. These rivers then collect in large pools called moulins. Moulins are large sinkholes in the ice that connect rivers on top to tunnels below the ice which flow out into the ocean. The more rivers and moulins that appear, the more ice melt occurs.
“ Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100.” – National Climate Assessment
Sea Levels Are On The Rise Ice melt from the poles and water expansion due to heat intake causes sea levels to rise. Currently, the sea level is predicted to rise 3.22 mm each year. The graph below approximates the growing trend from 1995 to 2015. 23.23 mm
31.96 mm
11.92 mm
0 mm
1995
1998
2001
2004
64.97 mm 57.24 mm
44.96 mm
37.33 mm
2007
2010
2013
2015
Take a stand, change the little things in your life. Together we can make big changes.
Bibliography B. D. Beckley, N. P. Zelensky, S. A. Holmes, F. G. Lemoine, R. D. Ray, G. T. Mitchum, S. D. Desai & S. T. Brown, Assessment of the Jason-2 Extension to the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 Sea-Surface Height Time Series for Global Mean Sea Level Monitoring, Marine Geodesy, Vol 33, Suppl 1, 2010. DOI:10.1080/01490419.2010.491029 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine. “Climate-Change-Basics.pdf.” Accessed November 3, 2015. http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/exec-office-other/climate-change-basics.pdf. Coral Davenport, Josh Haner, Larry Buchanan, and Derek Watkins. “Greenland Is Melting Away - The New York Times.” Accessed November 3, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/27/world/greenland-is-meltingaway.html?_r=1. Parris, A., P. Bromirski, V. Burkett, D. Cayan, M. Culver, J. Hall, R. Horton, et al. “Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment. NOAA Tech Memo OAR CPO-1,” 2012. Stroeve, J.C., V. Kattsov, A. Barrett, M. Serreze, T. Pavlova, M. Holland, and W. N. Meier. “Trends in Arctic Sea Ice Extent from CMIP5, CMIP3 and Observations.” Geophysical Research Letters 39 (2012): L16502. doi:10.1029/2012GL052676. Tenenbaum, Laura. “Vital Signs: Sea Level.” Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet, October 21, 2015. http:// climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level. Wiese, David. “Vital Signs: Land Ice.” Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Accessed November 3, 2015. http:// climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/land-ice.
Book Design and photography by Lauren Blackburn Washington University in St. Louis Sam Fox School of Art & Design