Sustainability Freshman Inquiry Jan. 18, 2011 Jeff Fletcher See also: Daily Log PageDaily Log Page

Logistics Any questions about Carbon Footprint Reports? – registration – – Extra Credit Opportunities –MLK service day – how did it go?MLK service day –Food Justice Conference in Eugene Feb 19-21Food Justice Conference Shared housing and transportation –2nd annual PSU Earth Day Festival Planning Thursday, January 20th, 1:00pm in SMITH 338 Read Kolbert Chapters 5, 6, and 7 for next Tuesday –Reading notes Movie Night this Thursday Jan 20 at 7:30, Ondine lobby Mentor session today: –footprint peer reviews use assignment handout when reviewing –TED Talk: James Balog: Time-lapse proof of extreme ice lossJames Balog: Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss

Field notes Chapter 3 (Glaciers) Swiss Camp, Greenland –Konrad Steffen research groupresearch group –Above arctic circleAbove arctic circle Acceleration of Greenland Ice –13 inches a day in 1996; 20 inches a day 2001 –A Positive FeedbackPositive Feedback “acceleration of Greenland ice sheet suggests yet another feedback mechanism: once an ice sheet begins to melt, it starts to flow faster, which means it also thins out faster, encouraging further melt” p. 54 “Particularly alarming, Corell said, were the most recent data from Greenland, which showed the ice sheet melting much faster ‘than we thought possible even a decade ago.’” p. 63 –“The rate of ice loss increased by 250 per cent between the periods April 2002 to April 2004 and May 2004 to April 2006” –I. Velicogna & J. Wahr, Nature, Vol. 443 (2006),

Chapter 3 (continued) Freshwater ice from snow fall, on land –Unlike melting sea ice, changes sea level –Greenland Ice = 23 ft rise in sea level –Sea level timelineSea level timeline Pacific NW Glaciers –Research at PSUResearch at PSU –Some comparisons (slide 11, 16, 21)Some comparisons What models have been introduced in readings? –What animal models: what computer/mathematical models

Key Ideas About Systems What makes a system? –Elements and Relations –order vs. disorder –system vs. environment Systems States and Dynamics –Equilibria, Stability Positive and Negative Feedbacks –Non-linear dynamics Chaos Theory, Catastrophe Theory –Emergence –Structure Open vs. Closed Matter, Energy, Information

Systems can be in different states For instance, temperature or composition of atmospheric system How systems change states over time is called dynamics Equilibria –Stable vs. UnstableStable vs. Unstable –Static vs. Dynamic –Positive and Negative Feedbacks (aphids)aphids Exponential growth example of + feedback Homeostasis example of - feedback