FedEc(osystem)
The research I have done for this literature review all had one thing in common, which are the things
Nancy H, David G. 2021. Forests Absorb Twice As Much Carbon As They Emit Each Year. [2021; 2021]:Link
we can do to save the planet. However, these are not like the more simple ideas you are normally suggested, like solar panels and planting more trees. These are unique and intuitive ideas we can use to start tackling these planet related issues from a new perspective.
Delivering ecosystem services primarily means creating large scale methods or changes for the Earth’s benefit. This can be done in many ways in which people are currently working on. Simple examples of this action include planting more trees, or creating an eco-friendly version of a product that can be used instead of the original one. Though that does not even scratch the surface of what we can do to deliver ecosystem services. This literature review can show you more of the potential lying within.
The Ocean
The ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet. It provides us with way more than just a massive amount of water. It provides us with fish, plants, minerals, and even environmental protection sometimes. However, we humans are not providing for it in return. The ocean is a victim to many things: pollution, overfishing, acidification, rising temperatures, mining, degradation, and more. We have plans to fix all of this, but we also have potential to not fix all of this.
We have positive and negative thoughts of what the ocean will be like in the future. The United Nations University says, “By 2050 our seas will be viewed as more than a platform for tourism and recreation and rather an ocean for solutions. Our sustainable energy solutions will be aided by marine algae–derived biofuel, while new medicines to treat modern diseases will be derived from sea creatures with novel chemical structures.” (Mary 2015) On the other hand, the Natural History Museum says, “Rivers of pollution flow into the ocean every day, with little sign of slowing down. Marine animals and birds now regularly eat plastic, and so do humans. It is estimated that by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.” (Katie 2021) So, which is it? Well, it depends on what we do until then. We can either save the Earth or completely kill it and lead us all to the demise we created ourselves.
Positive Reinforcement
Worrying is not always a bad thing. It means that we are aware and care about a present situation. Climate change is one of those situations. However, we cannot make a change to a global issue like that if all we do is worry about it. Change is made when people start to think of new ideas to tackle a subject with. Take it from a friend of mine. They say, “To make a change, you must stand by your word and not let anyone else convince you that you are wrong.” I gathered some of those ideas that apply to providing services to the ecosystem from my research to push those who are reading this literature review in the right direction of tackling an issue.
Things We Can Do
The first idea is making good business through the tools necessary to battle climate change. (Fiona 2021) It is supposed to encourage the distribution of items, like solar panels, across the globe, so they can be seen as essential for modern day life. The benefit is it brings new attraction to groups who are willing to help deal with this issue in this kind of way, like businessmen. The impact these people strive towards making is getting more people to invest in eco protection based projects.
The second idea is determining what should and should not be extracted from rangelands for the benefit of all of us. (Joel, Neil 2011) This is meant to mitigate the harvestation of unneeded resources from rangelands. The benefit that is brought with these actions is simple. It lessens the destruction of rangelands. They want to have people make a change in what they harvest in places all around the world, like rainforests.
The third idea is a simple list of ecosystem services. (National Wildlife Federation) It serves as a guide for the preservation of ecosystems and provide knowledge to people about what they can do to help the planet. This allows room for others to come up with new intuitive ways to protect the ecosystem.
The fourth idea is basically funding trillions of dollars to ecosystem preservation and restoration projects. This is meant to boost the productivity of protecting the ecosystem and provoke the funding of its preservation. The benefit is it gives a lot of money to businesses that can help battle the issues disrupting the ecosystem.
The final idea is creating more offshore seaweed farms in the United States. (The Fish Site 2021) These seaweed farms are meant for the production of eco-friendly bioproducts, like car fuel. They serve as a base of operations for experimenting with seaweed to invent new alternatives to the things we do and use today. This can create an alternative fuel source that does not burn fossil fuels. The impact can have zero carbon emissions coming from cars each year and destroy less seaweed based habitats for aquatic life.
The EPA says, “A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.” (EPA) There are around 1.42 billion vehicles in the world right now. (RFIDTIRES 2018) Let’s say each of those vehicles, specifically cars, emitted exactly 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That would mean 6,532,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted from the cars across the world each year.
It is said about a total of 39,099,662,294 metric tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere in 2019. (World Counts) We also have information on the amount of carbon trees absorb from the atmosphere each year, is around 16 billion metric tons. Unfortunately, half of that CO2 comes from themselves due to deforestation, so only around 8 billion metric tons that come from other sources are absorbed each year. (Nancy, David 2021)
There is a 47% difference between the amount of CO2 we will have in the atmosphere by 2030 if we keep on using gas-fueled cars and deforestation versus the amount we will have by 2030 if we use seaweed fuel instead and stop deforesting so many trees.
This shows how big of an impact we can make in just a decade. Big things like this start small. At first, it is just an idea. You would either think it is cool but don’t feel like it is worth your time spending your dedication towards making it reality, or you would try to push forward from there and change it into something that can be seen by the naked eye. I have heard some of my friends say that it is near impossible to reverse the affects of climate change from where we are now. I can see why they believe that because all I see on TV and hear on radios when they talk about tackling those subjects are people only proposing ideas to fight it. However, it is not like those ideas can’t become something greater. The internet we have today started out like that in the mind of one man and now we are here with all the benefits it gives us. The same thing can happen for our battle towards having a clean and healthy planet. All we have to do is dedicate ourselves to our own ideas.
Citations
Fiona R. 2021. Earth Day: creating a market for ecosystems services. [2021; 2021]:Link
(Fiona 2021)
Joel B, Neil M. 2011. A site-based approach to delivering rangeland ecosystem services. The Rangeland Journal. [2011; 2021]. 99-108:Link
(Joel, Neil 2011)
Katie P. 2021. Will the ocean really be dead in 50 years?. [2021; 2021]:Link
(Katie 2021)
Mary H. 2015. Envision 2050: The Future of Oceans. [2015; 2021]:Link
(Mary 2015)
National Wildlife Federation. Ecosystem Services. [2021]:Link
(National Wildlife Federation)
The Fish Site. 2021. First offshore seaweed farm established in US tropical waters. [2021; 2021]:Link
(The Fish Site 2021)
EPA. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle. [2021; 2021]:Link
(EPA)
RFIDTIRES. 2018. How Many Cars Are In The World?. [2018; 2021]:Link
(RFIDTIRES 2018)
World Counts. Global CO2-emissions. [2021; 2021]:Link
(World Counts)
Delivering ecosystem services primarily means creating large scale methods or changes for the Earth’s benefit. This can be done in many ways in which people are currently working on. Simple examples of this action include planting more trees, or creating an eco-friendly version of a product that can be used instead of the original one. Though that does not even scratch the surface of what we can do to deliver ecosystem services. This literature review can show you more of the potential lying within.
The Ocean
The ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet. It provides us with way more than just a massive amount of water. It provides us with fish, plants, minerals, and even environmental protection sometimes. However, we humans are not providing for it in return. The ocean is a victim to many things: pollution, overfishing, acidification, rising temperatures, mining, degradation, and more. We have plans to fix all of this, but we also have potential to not fix all of this.
We have positive and negative thoughts of what the ocean will be like in the future. The United Nations University says, “By 2050 our seas will be viewed as more than a platform for tourism and recreation and rather an ocean for solutions. Our sustainable energy solutions will be aided by marine algae–derived biofuel, while new medicines to treat modern diseases will be derived from sea creatures with novel chemical structures.” (Mary 2015) On the other hand, the Natural History Museum says, “Rivers of pollution flow into the ocean every day, with little sign of slowing down. Marine animals and birds now regularly eat plastic, and so do humans. It is estimated that by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish.” (Katie 2021) So, which is it? Well, it depends on what we do until then. We can either save the Earth or completely kill it and lead us all to the demise we created ourselves.
Positive Reinforcement
Worrying is not always a bad thing. It means that we are aware and care about a present situation. Climate change is one of those situations. However, we cannot make a change to a global issue like that if all we do is worry about it. Change is made when people start to think of new ideas to tackle a subject with. Take it from a friend of mine. They say, “To make a change, you must stand by your word and not let anyone else convince you that you are wrong.” I gathered some of those ideas that apply to providing services to the ecosystem from my research to push those who are reading this literature review in the right direction of tackling an issue.
Things We Can Do
The first idea is making good business through the tools necessary to battle climate change. (Fiona 2021) It is supposed to encourage the distribution of items, like solar panels, across the globe, so they can be seen as essential for modern day life. The benefit is it brings new attraction to groups who are willing to help deal with this issue in this kind of way, like businessmen. The impact these people strive towards making is getting more people to invest in eco protection based projects.
The second idea is determining what should and should not be extracted from rangelands for the benefit of all of us. (Joel, Neil 2011) This is meant to mitigate the harvestation of unneeded resources from rangelands. The benefit that is brought with these actions is simple. It lessens the destruction of rangelands. They want to have people make a change in what they harvest in places all around the world, like rainforests.
The third idea is a simple list of ecosystem services. (National Wildlife Federation) It serves as a guide for the preservation of ecosystems and provide knowledge to people about what they can do to help the planet. This allows room for others to come up with new intuitive ways to protect the ecosystem.
The fourth idea is basically funding trillions of dollars to ecosystem preservation and restoration projects. This is meant to boost the productivity of protecting the ecosystem and provoke the funding of its preservation. The benefit is it gives a lot of money to businesses that can help battle the issues disrupting the ecosystem.
The final idea is creating more offshore seaweed farms in the United States. (The Fish Site 2021) These seaweed farms are meant for the production of eco-friendly bioproducts, like car fuel. They serve as a base of operations for experimenting with seaweed to invent new alternatives to the things we do and use today. This can create an alternative fuel source that does not burn fossil fuels. The impact can have zero carbon emissions coming from cars each year and destroy less seaweed based habitats for aquatic life.
The EPA says, “A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.” (EPA) There are around 1.42 billion vehicles in the world right now. (RFIDTIRES 2018) Let’s say each of those vehicles, specifically cars, emitted exactly 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That would mean 6,532,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted from the cars across the world each year.
It is said about a total of 39,099,662,294 metric tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere in 2019. (World Counts) We also have information on the amount of carbon trees absorb from the atmosphere each year, is around 16 billion metric tons. Unfortunately, half of that CO2 comes from themselves due to deforestation, so only around 8 billion metric tons that come from other sources are absorbed each year. (Nancy, David 2021)
There is a 47% difference between the amount of CO2 we will have in the atmosphere by 2030 if we keep on using gas-fueled cars and deforestation versus the amount we will have by 2030 if we use seaweed fuel instead and stop deforesting so many trees.
This shows how big of an impact we can make in just a decade. Big things like this start small. At first, it is just an idea. You would either think it is cool but don’t feel like it is worth your time spending your dedication towards making it reality, or you would try to push forward from there and change it into something that can be seen by the naked eye. I have heard some of my friends say that it is near impossible to reverse the affects of climate change from where we are now. I can see why they believe that because all I see on TV and hear on radios when they talk about tackling those subjects are people only proposing ideas to fight it. However, it is not like those ideas can’t become something greater. The internet we have today started out like that in the mind of one man and now we are here with all the benefits it gives us. The same thing can happen for our battle towards having a clean and healthy planet. All we have to do is dedicate ourselves to our own ideas.
Citations
Fiona R. 2021. Earth Day: creating a market for ecosystems services. [2021; 2021]:Link
(Fiona 2021)
Joel B, Neil M. 2011. A site-based approach to delivering rangeland ecosystem services. The Rangeland Journal. [2011; 2021]. 99-108:Link
(Joel, Neil 2011)
Katie P. 2021. Will the ocean really be dead in 50 years?. [2021; 2021]:Link
(Katie 2021)
Mary H. 2015. Envision 2050: The Future of Oceans. [2015; 2021]:Link
(Mary 2015)
National Wildlife Federation. Ecosystem Services. [2021]:Link
(National Wildlife Federation)
The Fish Site. 2021. First offshore seaweed farm established in US tropical waters. [2021; 2021]:Link
(The Fish Site 2021)
EPA. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle. [2021; 2021]:Link
(EPA)
RFIDTIRES. 2018. How Many Cars Are In The World?. [2018; 2021]:Link
(RFIDTIRES 2018)
World Counts. Global CO2-emissions. [2021; 2021]:Link
(World Counts)
Nancy H, David G. 2021. Forests Absorb Twice As Much Carbon As They Emit Each Year. [2021; 2021]:Link
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