WEBVTT 00:00:01.870 --> 00:00:07.530 Thank you. This is Climate to Action, a CSUSM 00:00:07.530 --> 00:00:10.750 student podcast. I'm Alex Sandoval. I'm a third 00:00:10.750 --> 00:00:12.289 -year student and I'm majoring in psychology. 00:00:12.730 --> 00:00:15.130 Being a part of a Climate to Action podcast has 00:00:15.130 --> 00:00:16.850 given me more knowledge about climate change 00:00:16.850 --> 00:00:18.710 while also learning the ropes and being part 00:00:18.710 --> 00:00:21.989 of a podcast. We're here to amplify voices and 00:00:21.989 --> 00:00:24.170 explore solutions in the fight against climate 00:00:24.170 --> 00:00:26.829 change and to address climate injustice for all 00:00:26.829 --> 00:00:29.410 living things. We are committed to incorporating 00:00:29.410 --> 00:00:32.189 discussions on Indigenous knowledge in addressing 00:00:32.189 --> 00:00:34.649 the climate crisis and to provide a culture to 00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:37.770 action in every episode. First, we'd like to 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:39.810 acknowledge that our recording studio is located 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:43.170 on the traditional territory of the Luiseno -Payamcoichan 00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:46.590 people. CSUSM and its surrounding areas are still 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:49.369 home to the six federally recognized bands of 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:52.590 the La Jolla, Paula, Palma, Pechanga, Rincon, 00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:56.030 and Ceboba Luiseno -Payamcoichan people. It's 00:00:56.030 --> 00:00:57.850 also important to acknowledge that this land 00:00:57.850 --> 00:01:01.009 remains the shared space among the Kupeño, Kumeyaay, 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:04.069 and Epay peoples. Today's episode is focused 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:07.650 on Climate Change 101. We've invited a CSUSM 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:10.930 chemistry professor, Dr. Hale Keshtkar, to talk 00:01:10.930 --> 00:01:12.969 with us about this topic. Thank you for being 00:01:12.969 --> 00:01:17.709 here with us today. Hi, Alex. Thank you for having 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:20.650 me. It's a pleasure being here. Tell us a bit 00:01:20.650 --> 00:01:25.159 about yourself. Well, as you said, I'm a faculty 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:29.140 at chemistry department. I'm a lecturer, actually, 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:32.079 and I have been working at the chemistry department 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:35.060 for the past three years. The main courses I 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:38.379 teach are environmental chemistry and green chemistry. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.079 That's what my background is. I have a PhD in 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:48.040 environmental chemistry. I did my master's thesis 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.760 project on soil pollution and my PhD. thesis 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:58.980 project on air pollution. But I also teach general 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:02.859 chemistry in the chemistry department. Oh, wow. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.400 That's awesome. Can you tell us a little bit 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.239 about what got you interested in your field? 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:12.180 Yes, of course. When I was a graduate student 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:16.599 at California State University, Northridge, doing 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:23.199 my master's, I actually got interested in environmental 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.289 chemistry because... I took two courses in environmental 00:02:27.289 --> 00:02:31.389 chemistry. This was in the 90s. So it was the 00:02:31.389 --> 00:02:35.069 beginning of climate change. And as far as I 00:02:35.069 --> 00:02:37.810 knew, it was the beginning of environmental chemistry 00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:42.629 movement. But that really got me interested. 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:48.250 I pursued environmental chemistry as the research 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:54.949 project that I chose. And then I went to... graduate 00:02:54.949 --> 00:02:59.449 group at UC Davis it was called environmental 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:03.150 and agricultural chemistry it it's actually a 00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:08.069 research group made up of a lot of different 00:03:08.069 --> 00:03:11.270 faculty in different departments chemistry atmospheric 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:16.330 science food science toxicology soil chemistry 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:23.009 so I Did a lot of environmental chemistry after 00:03:23.009 --> 00:03:26.849 that. And as I explained, everything I researched 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:31.009 on was also along the lines of environmental 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:34.270 chemistry, air pollution. And then gradually 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:38.949 in different classes that I took, I got more 00:03:38.949 --> 00:03:41.710 and more introduced to the issue of climate change. 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:47.439 And then I always wanted to talk about it and 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.259 teach it. And I'm so passionate about the environment. 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:56.159 That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for telling 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.439 us a little bit about yourself. Since this is 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.349 a Climate 101 episode. Can you tell me and our 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:04.469 listeners how you first became aware of climate 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:06.069 change? I know you mentioned it was when you 00:04:06.069 --> 00:04:08.689 were in school back in the 90s. And what was 00:04:08.689 --> 00:04:11.270 that experience like for you when you realized 00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:19.470 what that was? Well, as a scientist, we learn 00:04:19.470 --> 00:04:26.209 about the, again, how it works, and it's an evolving 00:04:26.209 --> 00:04:31.009 science. So we have actually gained a lot of 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:37.009 knowledge over the past 30, 40 years. The original 00:04:37.009 --> 00:04:40.569 science of climate change is not new. We have 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:43.110 known about it. We have known about greenhouse 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:48.670 gases for the past century or so. But we have 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:52.920 paid more attention. to climate change over the 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.259 past 30, 40 years. And that's because of the 00:04:56.259 --> 00:05:04.019 IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:08.329 all these... international organizations that 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:12.029 have brought our attention to the issue and the 00:05:12.029 --> 00:05:15.449 fact that we have started seeing the impacts 00:05:15.449 --> 00:05:19.629 and scientists have been telling us the urgency 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:23.870 of the matter so as a scientist looking at it 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:28.209 again it was the urgency of the matter that we 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:36.569 need to as a society as a global society We need 00:05:36.569 --> 00:05:44.209 to change our ways to address this climate, well, 00:05:44.329 --> 00:05:51.389 this environmental issue, I mean. So my reaction 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:56.649 to knowing about it was, as a teacher, I thought 00:05:56.649 --> 00:06:02.269 that I can increase the knowledge of others. 00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:07.730 give the information, give the background that's 00:06:07.730 --> 00:06:11.050 required for people to take action, hopefully. 00:06:12.209 --> 00:06:18.350 So I incorporated climate change in every class 00:06:18.350 --> 00:06:23.649 that I taught. And hopefully now we have a lot 00:06:23.649 --> 00:06:27.189 more students who are knowledgeable about climate 00:06:27.189 --> 00:06:33.779 change. And again, the more people... in the 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:39.319 movement of prioritizing climate change as a 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.360 problem that we all need to address because it's 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:48.959 going to impact all of us, the faster we can 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.240 make a change. We need to have more people in 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.399 the movement. And the movement gets bigger when 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:01.579 people are more informed. Do you think it makes 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:05.459 a difference if you mentioned it's a global issue? 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:10.040 If, say, like one half of the world is tackling 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:12.620 it, but the other half isn't, it's still going 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:15.699 to be the same sort of magnitude of a problem? 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:23.199 Well, the problem, as you said, is global. Everybody 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:27.939 is going to be impacted, but everybody is not 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:30.839 really responsible for it. There are certain 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:35.259 countries that are mainly responsible for the 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:38.399 issue of climate change that we are facing today 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:45.160 as a global community. So because some countries 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:49.560 have been more responsible in creating the problem, 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:54.139 they are also more responsible in addressing 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:59.250 the solutions. So that's only because of... because 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:04.170 of the impact each country has had. But the other 00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:07.230 aspect is that there are some countries in the 00:08:07.230 --> 00:08:11.750 world that have more ability to address climate 00:08:11.750 --> 00:08:15.550 change. They have more financial resources. They 00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:17.829 have more knowledge. They have more research. 00:08:18.329 --> 00:08:21.910 So again, those countries have more responsibility 00:08:21.910 --> 00:08:29.689 in addressing the solution. depends on who we're 00:08:29.689 --> 00:08:33.539 talking about actually. So those countries that 00:08:33.539 --> 00:08:36.000 are more responsible in creating the problem 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.879 and those countries who have more resources to 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.820 address the problem are definitely the ones that 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:46.440 can make a bigger difference when it comes to 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:49.820 the solutions. Yeah, that makes sense. I understand 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.279 that in conversations around the climate crisis, 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.600 people sometimes confuse weather and climate. 00:08:54.700 --> 00:08:56.779 Can you tell our listeners what the difference 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:01.370 is and why that's important? Yes. Weather is 00:09:01.370 --> 00:09:06.309 what you experience when you step outside. It's 00:09:06.309 --> 00:09:10.649 the status of our atmosphere at any particular 00:09:10.649 --> 00:09:16.590 location for a short period of time. You can 00:09:16.590 --> 00:09:20.389 see that weather can change quickly. Last week 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:23.409 we had rain. This week we have a sunny, nice 00:09:23.409 --> 00:09:30.000 weather. So change is within a few days. Climate 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:37.620 is the long -term weather patterns for any location, 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:42.200 usually over a longer period of time, around 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:50.860 30, 40 years. So, for example, we know that here 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:54.740 in San Diego in Southern California, we are right 00:09:54.740 --> 00:10:01.039 next to an ocean. So is New York. So is North 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.320 Carolina. But we see that our weathers are completely 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:08.279 different. I never thought about that. Yeah, 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:14.899 here our weather is usually dry. We don't usually 00:10:14.899 --> 00:10:18.080 have a very high humidity in the West Coast. 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:21.220 But the East Coast you go and the humidity is 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:26.409 very high. That's because our oceans are different. 00:10:26.590 --> 00:10:29.169 Oceans are a big part of our climate system. 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:34.730 So Pacific Ocean is a lot cooler because of the 00:10:34.730 --> 00:10:37.929 cooler currents that we have in Pacific Ocean. 00:10:39.169 --> 00:10:44.090 While Atlantic Ocean has warmer currents and 00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:48.470 it's a lot warmer. So what does that mean? A 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:53.340 warmer ocean has more evaporation. More evaporation 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:57.440 means you have more water molecules in the atmosphere. 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:01.279 What is humidity? Humidity is presence of water 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:05.879 molecules in the atmosphere. So you have more 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.519 water molecules in the East Coast because oceans 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:11.779 are warmer, and that completely changes the pattern 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:21.860 of their climate. So again, here are... Climate 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:28.820 means that we have low precipitation. We don't 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:38.000 have any snow generally. And we have warm summers 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:44.019 and usually mild winters. So over the long term, 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:50.720 that's the climate for our region. Thank you 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.379 for that explanation. Many people also don't 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:55.600 understand the difference between climate change 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.279 and global warming and tend to use the terms 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:00.759 in the same context. Can you help clear up that 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:07.940 confusion? Global warming means increase in average 00:12:07.940 --> 00:12:12.879 temperature of Earth's surface. Climate change 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:18.830 is actually a broader definition. all the changes 00:12:18.830 --> 00:12:24.809 that we are seeing in our Earth's system. Global 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:29.269 warming is one of them or the main cause of them. 00:12:30.330 --> 00:12:35.669 So as a result of increasing the temperature 00:12:35.669 --> 00:12:40.909 and also increasing the heat content in our atmosphere 00:12:40.909 --> 00:12:46.639 we have increased The heat content of our oceans. 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:52.259 So part of the heat that has accumulated in our 00:12:52.259 --> 00:12:58.860 Earth system is absorbed by our oceans. So our 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.740 oceans are getting warmer as well. Because our 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:05.519 oceans are getting warmer, we have more evaporation. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:11.679 And that means we're going to have more extreme 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.899 precipitation. Sometimes we're going to have 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:21.659 more extreme hurricanes. All of these change 00:13:21.659 --> 00:13:28.669 in precipitation patterns. sea level rise, melting 00:13:28.669 --> 00:13:33.769 of glaciers, all of those are considered signs 00:13:33.769 --> 00:13:37.590 of climate change. So these are all part of climate 00:13:37.590 --> 00:13:42.649 change. Global warming is only one aspect of 00:13:42.649 --> 00:13:48.299 climate change. Is global warming... I guess, 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:51.980 if you will, man -made? Or you know how we keep 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:55.460 saying climate change is something we contribute 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:58.360 to our environment? Would global warming also 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.779 be? Or that's just happening because it's natural 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:06.879 on the earth to happen? Okay. I think we can 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:12.200 answer this question after we talk about greenhouse 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.740 gases. It's easier to understand that way. Perfect. 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:19.519 Well, that segues us to the next question. When 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.940 we talk about greenhouse gases, what exactly 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.740 are we referring to and how do they affect Earth? 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:32.340 Okay. You might remember from your science course 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.679 in high school or middle school that most of 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:42.259 our atmosphere is nitrogen and oxygen. In fact, 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:46.649 99%. of our atmosphere is nitrogen and oxygen 00:14:46.649 --> 00:14:50.570 and less than one percent we have other gases 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:55.029 one of the gases actually two i should say two 00:14:55.029 --> 00:15:02.009 of the gases that We have a very small content 00:15:02.009 --> 00:15:07.830 or the concentration is very small in the atmosphere. 00:15:07.889 --> 00:15:13.490 But they actually make a big impact, our carbon 00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:19.129 dioxide and water. These compounds are greenhouse 00:15:19.129 --> 00:15:26.649 gases. What does that mean? We all receive radiation 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:31.889 or energy. From the sun, right? The earth receives 00:15:31.889 --> 00:15:37.750 radiation from the sun. That radiation, part 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:40.429 of that radiation is actually reflected back 00:15:40.429 --> 00:15:46.190 by clouds. And then part of that reaches the 00:15:46.190 --> 00:15:51.370 surface of the earth. That surface is land, oceans, 00:15:51.750 --> 00:15:54.429 glaciers. All of those are part of the surface. 00:15:54.730 --> 00:16:00.950 So they all receive that radiation. And they 00:16:00.950 --> 00:16:07.929 have to reflect that radiation back. Why? Because 00:16:07.929 --> 00:16:12.830 just imagine if something keeps receiving energy, 00:16:13.110 --> 00:16:18.909 it's going to explode. It's unstable if you keep 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:21.970 increasing or accumulating energy in something. 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:29.340 So our Earth also emits some energy back. because 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:36.500 it wants to balance that radiation. The form 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:41.580 of energy that Earth reflects is in the form 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:46.679 of heat, infrared radiation, or heat as we know 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:56.059 it. So this heat is emitted back into the atmosphere. 00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:01.940 And in our atmosphere, just imagine that we have 00:17:01.940 --> 00:17:06.559 these gas molecules going around. But very tiny, 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.599 tiny parts in terms of concentration, tiny amount 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:16.019 in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide and water 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:24.799 molecules. They can absorb that heat that the 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:29.720 Earth emits. The reason for that is their structure. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:33.180 They have these vibrations in their molecule 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:41.259 that matches actually the vibration of the radiation 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:45.480 that's emitted from the Earth. So they can absorb 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:50.099 that radiation. But again, like any other body, 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:54.440 they can't just keep absorbing radiation. They 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:58.019 have to lose that energy. When they lose that 00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:02.859 energy, they lose it in all directions. So about 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:06.400 half of that energy that they lose goes back 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:11.420 to the space and half of that is returned back 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:18.480 to the earth. So that is what greenhouse effect 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:28.440 actually is. Greenhouse gases act like blankets. 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:34.279 When you put a blanket on your body, your body 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:37.500 is also emitting radiation in the form of heat. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:43.099 The blanket doesn't have any heat by itself. 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:49.059 The function is keeping the heat that your body 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:54.759 emits under the blanket. trapping that heat. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:19:01.359 So our Earth actually has had carbon dioxide 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:08.160 and water long before human interruption or human 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.279 emissions or man -made emissions of these greenhouse 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:18.200 gases. Those are part of our natural climate 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:23.500 system, actually. The presence of these greenhouse 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:33.240 gases is what has given Earth this very comfortable 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:40.599 temperature range where life can exist. So we 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:44.339 are thankful, we should actually be thankful 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:48.960 to our greenhouse gases because they made our 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:55.430 planet livable. They gave us this nice temperature 00:19:55.430 --> 00:20:00.549 range that we can survive, all species can survive. 00:20:02.089 --> 00:20:08.109 So what humans have done is increased the number 00:20:08.109 --> 00:20:13.650 of blankets, let's say. So our Earth was very 00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:19.089 comfortable. It could balance that heat, keep 00:20:19.089 --> 00:20:23.619 the temperature. at that really nice range when 00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:31.240 there was only one blanket before humans interfered 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:38.059 with the process. But what humans did was they 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.000 actually increased the number of blankets. We 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.380 have increased the concentration or the amount 00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:50.509 of those. carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere. 00:20:51.089 --> 00:20:56.890 So now we have a lot more carbon dioxide molecules 00:20:56.890 --> 00:21:00.890 in the atmosphere to absorb the heat that is 00:21:00.890 --> 00:21:05.069 radiated from the earth and return that heat 00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:11.970 to the earth. How? Well, it all started with 00:21:11.970 --> 00:21:18.339 industrial revolution. We invented steam, not 00:21:18.339 --> 00:21:23.200 we, I mean humans, invented a steam engine and 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.960 we also had access to fossil fuel. So fossil 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.900 fuels are part of what we call carbon cycle. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:39.319 So carbon, which is an element in the periodic 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:43.950 table, it's... one of the most common elements 00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:49.109 in natural systems, definitely one of the most 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:56.049 common elements in any living species. So our 00:21:56.049 --> 00:21:59.309 bodies are mainly made up of carbon, hydrogen, 00:21:59.470 --> 00:22:08.009 and oxygen. And the Earth moves carbon around 00:22:08.009 --> 00:22:12.809 in different parts. And different parts are the 00:22:12.809 --> 00:22:19.869 atmosphere, we humans or living beings, the biosphere, 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:24.829 the water system, our oceans, and Earth's crust. 00:22:25.049 --> 00:22:31.369 The living organisms, plants, animals that lived 00:22:31.369 --> 00:22:36.690 millions of years ago, they died. And the process 00:22:36.690 --> 00:22:41.450 of degradation. Their degradation actually happened 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:45.650 under a lot of pressure and very high temperature 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:50.430 in deep parts of the Earth's crust. So fossil 00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:55.369 fuels are actually what the system, the Earth 00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:59.450 system, made from that degradation over millions 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:04.329 of years. And it's mainly carbon. They are mainly 00:23:04.329 --> 00:23:12.150 carbon, hydrogen. They came from living organisms. 00:23:13.109 --> 00:23:18.289 So the earth stored most of the carbon in the 00:23:18.289 --> 00:23:22.710 form of fossil fuel in the earth's crust. And 00:23:22.710 --> 00:23:26.170 there was always an exchange between the oceans, 00:23:26.289 --> 00:23:30.569 the earth's crust, biosphere, and atmosphere 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:35.880 of carbon. The main form that carbon is found 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:39.259 in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide. And as I 00:23:39.259 --> 00:23:42.319 said, we need carbon dioxide in our atmosphere 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:45.920 because it's what keeps our temperatures nice. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:55.119 So what we humans did was we took carbon from 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:59.859 its storage, which was fossil fuel, at a very 00:23:59.859 --> 00:24:05.829 high rate. at a very high speed, and then we 00:24:05.829 --> 00:24:09.930 burned it and we entered carbon into the atmosphere. 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:16.670 The Earth was able to keep the balance for a 00:24:16.670 --> 00:24:22.049 very long time, but then we kept emitting carbon 00:24:22.049 --> 00:24:25.009 dioxide into the atmosphere. We kept increasing 00:24:25.009 --> 00:24:28.990 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:32.960 Carbon dioxide actually has a very long lifetime. 00:24:33.500 --> 00:24:39.400 So pretty much every carbon dioxide that we have 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.480 emitted since we started emitting carbon dioxide 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:45.759 is still in the atmosphere, somewhere in the 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:50.430 atmosphere. it actually can make it high up in 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:53.250 the atmosphere, and there's a very good mixing 00:24:53.250 --> 00:24:56.490 of carbon dioxide. So the carbon dioxide that 00:24:56.490 --> 00:24:59.690 we emit here can actually end up somewhere else. 00:24:59.710 --> 00:25:04.450 We have a very even, uniform concentration of 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:10.109 carbon dioxide around the Earth in our atmosphere. 00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:18.619 So basically... We disturbed that balance that 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:22.660 the earth was keeping. And now because of those 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:27.599 extra blankets, we have increased the temperature. 00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:31.220 That usually happens if you do that. If you are 00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:35.359 sleeping and you're very comfortable and nice, 00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:38.240 and then somebody comes and puts two extra blankets 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.099 on you, you get too hot, you get too warm, and 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:47.569 you wake up. So that's what we have done. So 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:50.349 with all this extra heat, what are some of the 00:25:50.349 --> 00:25:52.609 impacts of climate change that we're already 00:25:52.609 --> 00:25:56.690 seeing at this moment? Well, we already talked 00:25:56.690 --> 00:25:59.930 about some of the impacts. There are some global 00:25:59.930 --> 00:26:05.490 impacts and there are local impacts. Global impacts, 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:11.089 we can talk about, again, melting of glaciers 00:26:11.089 --> 00:26:15.049 that could impact many people around the world. 00:26:15.789 --> 00:26:22.869 The global warming is impacting people. It means 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:29.950 hotter days. We have higher temperatures in summertime 00:26:29.950 --> 00:26:35.630 in many parts of the world. And we have the longer 00:26:35.630 --> 00:26:41.549 periods of hot days. For example, we can have 00:26:41.549 --> 00:26:48.450 extra month. or hot days, or two months of hot 00:26:48.450 --> 00:26:53.809 days. Of course, that not only impacts humans, 00:26:53.910 --> 00:26:58.930 it also impacts agriculture. So we're already 00:26:58.930 --> 00:27:02.410 seeing the impact on agriculture and food production. 00:27:03.170 --> 00:27:10.910 We can have periods of drought. And again, we 00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:18.140 can have periods of extreme precipitation. Whenever 00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:23.980 we have precipitation, it could be faster, much 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:28.200 harder, like again we have seen in many parts 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:34.759 of the world. We had flooding in the U .S. last 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:40.920 year. We had a very extreme flood in Spain last 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:45.680 year. caused a lot of damage. We have seen increased 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:54.500 hurricanes here in the U .S. One global impact 00:27:54.500 --> 00:28:00.200 is sea level rise. So as I said, our oceans are 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:03.240 warmer and when they're warmer, they expand. 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:11.339 And also we have these glaciers in... the Arctic 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:16.240 regions, in Greenland, in Antarctica, that are 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:22.779 melting as we speak. Those add, where does the 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:27.380 water go when they melt? They add to the oceans. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:32.880 Those actually change currents in oceans. They 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.339 change in temperature. They added fresh water. 00:28:37.869 --> 00:28:46.869 into oceans, they change currents. So one impact 00:28:46.869 --> 00:28:54.410 that we see is the impact of the increased temperature 00:28:54.410 --> 00:29:00.029 in our oceans, the change in currents on marine 00:29:00.029 --> 00:29:03.319 ecosystems. and the impact on marine ecosystems 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:07.480 can actually impact people who depend on those 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:12.920 ecosystems for their lives sea level rise can 00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:16.819 impact communities that live around the coast 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:23.240 in fact there are some people whose entire lives 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:27.059 are going to be impacted by sea level rise those 00:29:27.059 --> 00:29:31.359 are the people who live in low -lying islands 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:39.380 so there are islands all over the all around 00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:47.380 the earth that they are very low what they call 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:50.319 low -lying it means that they're not really high 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:59.000 they're not in high elevation basically So as 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:07.180 the sea level rise, then their whole entire island 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:11.380 can actually go underwater. By end of century, 00:30:11.500 --> 00:30:14.940 we know that some of these islands are the islands 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:17.339 of Maldives, for example. I don't know if you've 00:30:17.339 --> 00:30:20.920 heard of them. They're called heaven on earth. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:25.769 They're so beautiful. But unfortunately, those 00:30:25.769 --> 00:30:28.690 communities, those low -lying communities are 00:30:28.690 --> 00:30:34.670 some that are going to be impacted by sea level 00:30:34.670 --> 00:30:38.430 rise. And as I said, their whole community can 00:30:38.430 --> 00:30:46.650 be wiped out. And these people are not responsible. 00:30:47.490 --> 00:30:52.839 You know, they're a very small part of the population 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:58.200 on this planet. They're not very industrialized. 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:03.720 They have not had a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:07.480 So they're not responsible. But they're going 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:12.819 to be impacted greatly, immensely by climate 00:31:12.819 --> 00:31:17.660 change. So the impacts, we have some global impacts 00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:22.259 and we have some local impacts. Here in San Diego, 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:28.359 of course, we are going to see, again, more extreme, 00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:40.299 hotter days, longer, hotter days, extreme precipitation, 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:47.960 flooding, which we have seen also, and drought. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:56.480 And drought causes wildfires. So locally, we 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:59.079 are going to see some sea level rise because 00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:06.059 we have coastal communities. And our agricultural 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:10.440 community is going to be impacted by increased 00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:19.790 number of hot days and periods of drought. And 00:32:19.790 --> 00:32:27.269 again, wildfires are very close and vivid in 00:32:27.269 --> 00:32:31.289 our lives right now with the fires that we saw 00:32:31.289 --> 00:32:35.190 in Los Angeles going out of control and impacting 00:32:35.190 --> 00:32:39.730 so many people. Yeah, that was scary to witness. 00:32:40.369 --> 00:32:45.269 Yes. What can we do to mitigate climate change? 00:32:45.430 --> 00:32:47.750 I hear that term a lot, but what does it actually 00:32:47.750 --> 00:32:54.589 mean? Okay, so we said that we have increased 00:32:54.589 --> 00:32:58.509 the number of blankets. What does that mean in 00:32:58.509 --> 00:33:01.230 terms of science? It means that we have increased 00:33:01.230 --> 00:33:08.730 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 00:33:10.549 --> 00:33:16.410 How? by emitting carbon dioxide from different 00:33:16.410 --> 00:33:22.210 activities and accumulating carbon dioxide in 00:33:22.210 --> 00:33:25.670 the atmosphere. So to address climate change 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:32.490 or to limit the increase in temperature, we have 00:33:32.490 --> 00:33:38.369 to address the sources. So we know that with 00:33:38.369 --> 00:33:42.970 climate models that we have today, And our climate 00:33:42.970 --> 00:33:47.589 models are a lot more sophisticated now than 00:33:47.589 --> 00:33:50.890 20, 30 years ago, mainly because we have a lot 00:33:50.890 --> 00:33:57.769 more data to feed them. So our climate models 00:33:57.769 --> 00:34:03.109 can actually predict what would happen or how 00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:08.110 much our temperature is going to increase under 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:12.880 different scenarios. So the scenarios are if 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:17.699 we keep emitting carbon dioxide at the rate that 00:34:17.699 --> 00:34:23.719 we are emitting or if we decrease our emissions 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:29.760 by certain percentages. So we know that if we 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:34.880 keep emitting carbon dioxide at the level that 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:41.849 we are now, which is around 37%. billion tons 00:34:41.849 --> 00:34:48.769 every year globally. 37 billion tons globally. 00:34:49.590 --> 00:34:53.349 If we keep emitting that, then our temperature 00:34:53.349 --> 00:35:01.630 is going to increase by three, four degrees Celsius 00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:08.110 by end of the century. So far, We have actually 00:35:08.110 --> 00:35:12.289 increased our temperature by 1 .5 degrees Celsius 00:35:12.289 --> 00:35:18.329 from 1880. So since 1880, which is around the 00:35:18.329 --> 00:35:22.969 time that we have started emitting, humanity 00:35:22.969 --> 00:35:26.670 has started emitting carbon dioxide, which because 00:35:26.670 --> 00:35:32.500 it was around industrial revolution. So the standard 00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:37.079 or the reference point is before or around industrial 00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:45.400 revolution. So around that time, 1880, our concentration 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:49.960 of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was about 00:35:49.960 --> 00:35:55.780 280 ppm, parts per million. That's very small. 00:35:56.300 --> 00:36:01.159 That means 280 molecules of carbon dioxide for 00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:06.920 every 1 million molecule of air. So very small. 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:10.719 Yes, carbon dioxide is a very tiny part of our 00:36:10.719 --> 00:36:16.179 atmosphere, but the impact is a lot. So 280, 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:23.280 fast forward today, 425 parts per million. So 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:26.860 that has caused our... temperature to increase 00:36:26.860 --> 00:36:32.280 by about 1 .5 degrees Celsius. That's about 2 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:37.579 .7 Fahrenheit. And we are already seeing the 00:36:37.579 --> 00:36:43.780 impacts. So we know that if we keep increasing 00:36:43.780 --> 00:36:48.699 the temperature, we are going to see more and 00:36:48.699 --> 00:36:54.150 more impacts. And how would humanity... deal 00:36:54.150 --> 00:36:59.469 with the consequences, with the cost, human cost, 00:36:59.730 --> 00:37:03.789 economic cost. All of that, all the scientists 00:37:03.789 --> 00:37:09.070 around the world, IPCC, they all agree that we 00:37:09.070 --> 00:37:15.929 need to limit this increase in temperature to 00:37:15.929 --> 00:37:22.760 around, well... The goal was to keep it around 00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:27.980 1 .5, but now that we are passing 1 .5, we are 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:31.780 hoping that we can keep the temperature between 00:37:31.780 --> 00:37:36.059 2 degrees, increase 2 degrees Celsius, increase 00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:40.300 from that reference level that we're talking 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:47.199 about. So in order to limit the increase in temperature, 00:37:48.590 --> 00:37:52.210 We have to address the source. What is the source? 00:37:53.550 --> 00:38:00.769 Our fossil fuel that is being burned and in the 00:38:00.769 --> 00:38:05.489 process carbon dioxide is emitted. Where do we 00:38:05.489 --> 00:38:10.829 burn fossil fuel? Mainly, of course, it's a little 00:38:10.829 --> 00:38:13.570 bit different worldwide in different countries 00:38:13.570 --> 00:38:18.840 depending on how industrial they are. and what 00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:23.679 they use as their source of electricity. In our 00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:29.699 country, the main sources of carbon dioxide are 00:38:29.699 --> 00:38:35.800 transportation and power plants, electricity 00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:41.360 generation. So we have to address CO2 emission 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:43.920 from these main sources. Of course, we also have 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:48.059 agriculture. Some greenhouse gases from agriculture 00:38:48.059 --> 00:38:55.639 and some from industrial processes. But our main 00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:59.400 sources are transportation and electricity generation. 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:08.139 So by transitioning to renewable sources or sources 00:39:08.139 --> 00:39:12.079 of electricity that do not burn fossil fuels 00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:16.309 in the process, which means they are not going 00:39:16.309 --> 00:39:20.489 to emit carbon dioxide in the process of generating 00:39:20.489 --> 00:39:26.110 electricity, is a form of mitigating or reducing 00:39:26.110 --> 00:39:32.309 our emissions. Changing our transportation mode 00:39:32.309 --> 00:39:38.010 from internal combustion engine, which burns 00:39:38.010 --> 00:39:41.610 gasoline, which is also part of a fossil fuel, 00:39:43.469 --> 00:39:49.130 which also emits carbon dioxide, is another mitigation 00:39:49.130 --> 00:39:56.309 strategy. So mitigation means steps that we take 00:39:56.309 --> 00:40:03.309 to reduce our emission, to hopefully make sure 00:40:03.309 --> 00:40:08.809 that we can limit that temperature increase within 00:40:08.809 --> 00:40:12.250 a range that we can manage. We know that we have 00:40:12.250 --> 00:40:16.409 increased the temperature and we know that we 00:40:16.409 --> 00:40:19.409 are going to increase the temperature even if 00:40:19.409 --> 00:40:23.349 we stop tomorrow because we still have this accumulation 00:40:23.349 --> 00:40:28.349 of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide in 00:40:28.349 --> 00:40:36.929 the atmosphere. But we need to limit it so we 00:40:36.929 --> 00:40:43.369 know how to manage it better. Right. So you talked 00:40:43.369 --> 00:40:47.230 about mitigation. What's the difference between 00:40:47.230 --> 00:40:52.989 mitigation and adaptation? Okay. So we said mitigation 00:40:52.989 --> 00:40:58.349 is reducing our emission. But we know that we 00:40:58.349 --> 00:41:03.949 have increased the temperature by 1 .5 degrees 00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:09.329 Celsius. And we are still going to increase even... 00:41:09.949 --> 00:41:15.809 If we stop emitting carbon dioxide tomorrow, 00:41:16.030 --> 00:41:20.670 which we all know that we are not. So adaptation 00:41:20.670 --> 00:41:29.550 is helping humanity or finding ways for humanity 00:41:29.550 --> 00:41:34.690 to deal with the consequences of climate change 00:41:34.690 --> 00:41:38.409 with the impacts that we are going to see. in 00:41:38.409 --> 00:41:43.909 our communities for example in agriculture so 00:41:43.909 --> 00:41:52.269 adaptation strategies basically try to increase 00:41:52.269 --> 00:41:58.130 resilience of communities and practices that 00:41:58.130 --> 00:42:03.789 we have that help our societies in different 00:42:03.789 --> 00:42:08.360 ways Hopefully, listening to this, people can 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:12.480 incorporate that to our lives. What one thing 00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:15.460 would you like students to know or simply remember 00:42:15.460 --> 00:42:17.800 about climate change? Something that will stick 00:42:17.800 --> 00:42:19.840 with them and encourage them to tell others. 00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:24.019 I know a lot of the news that we hear about climate 00:42:24.019 --> 00:42:32.139 change is not very positive. We hear about the 00:42:32.139 --> 00:42:40.230 impacts. That can cause a lot of fear. Climate 00:42:40.230 --> 00:42:45.789 change is very scary for most of us, for all 00:42:45.789 --> 00:42:52.130 of us, actually. But I want everybody to remember 00:42:52.130 --> 00:42:58.070 that we need to think positively about what we 00:42:58.070 --> 00:43:02.449 can do to be able to address climate change. 00:43:03.789 --> 00:43:07.630 We have a lot of scientists, a lot of people 00:43:07.630 --> 00:43:10.789 who are working on solutions, and we actually 00:43:10.789 --> 00:43:15.030 have great solutions. We have technology on our 00:43:15.030 --> 00:43:20.909 side to help us address climate change, find 00:43:20.909 --> 00:43:28.289 solutions. We have a lot of knowledge about Earth's 00:43:28.289 --> 00:43:33.820 climate system. Many people around the world 00:43:33.820 --> 00:43:40.539 are working on solutions. So I guess my message, 00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:47.119 my main message is not to allow fear be the main 00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:52.119 feeling that you get when you hear climate change. 00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:58.260 Yes, we only hear about the bad side of climate 00:43:58.260 --> 00:44:03.409 change on... in the news but the good side which 00:44:03.409 --> 00:44:08.809 is what I try to cover in my class a lot is there 00:44:08.809 --> 00:44:12.170 are a lot of solutions we actually have a lot 00:44:12.170 --> 00:44:17.090 of solutions and we have success stories when 00:44:17.090 --> 00:44:20.130 it comes to environmental issues we have had 00:44:20.130 --> 00:44:25.889 situations where global community came together 00:44:25.889 --> 00:44:30.599 to address a global environmental issue And we 00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:34.420 were actually successful in addressing it. So 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:38.619 this could be a lesson for climate change. And 00:44:38.619 --> 00:44:44.980 one more thing is we can all contribute. We are 00:44:44.980 --> 00:44:51.340 all part of the problem, especially us here in 00:44:51.340 --> 00:44:56.920 the U .S. The U .S. is the second largest emitter 00:44:56.920 --> 00:45:02.889 of... greenhouse gases the first is china of 00:45:02.889 --> 00:45:09.070 course but historically when we look at accumulated 00:45:09.070 --> 00:45:13.329 greenhouse gas emissions from the time we started 00:45:13.329 --> 00:45:17.050 industrialization the united states is the first 00:45:17.050 --> 00:45:23.550 wow so we are the most responsible country for 00:45:23.550 --> 00:45:27.530 the emissions for the contributions to the problem, 00:45:27.670 --> 00:45:36.349 and we also have the best research, the best 00:45:36.349 --> 00:45:42.789 technology, and also financial resources to address 00:45:42.789 --> 00:45:49.409 the problems. So because the United States is 00:45:49.409 --> 00:45:53.670 the second largest emitter, and the first largest 00:45:53.670 --> 00:45:57.369 emitter is China, You know, the Chinese population 00:45:57.369 --> 00:46:04.050 is 1 .4 billion. Our population is 330 million. 00:46:04.190 --> 00:46:08.550 So when you divide the total emission nationwide 00:46:08.550 --> 00:46:13.969 by the population, you see that we here in the 00:46:13.969 --> 00:46:18.949 United States, our individual emission is larger 00:46:18.949 --> 00:46:24.320 than a Chinese. It's also larger than... People 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:27.960 from many parts of the world. We're only behind 00:46:27.960 --> 00:46:31.280 a few countries and none of those countries have 00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:34.239 the large population that we have. Those are 00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:36.440 all smaller countries, much smaller countries. 00:46:37.739 --> 00:46:43.579 So that means that our responsibility is actually 00:46:43.579 --> 00:46:51.039 very high. Each of us can change and lower our 00:46:51.039 --> 00:46:56.090 emission. And if we all do it, we can make a 00:46:56.090 --> 00:47:00.789 big difference. And our change, anything that 00:47:00.789 --> 00:47:05.110 we change, impacts people globally because we 00:47:05.110 --> 00:47:09.869 are one of the largest emitters. Right. So that 00:47:09.869 --> 00:47:15.769 means what I'm trying to say here is we can all 00:47:15.769 --> 00:47:19.510 make a difference in so many different ways. 00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:26.000 So my message is, one, yes, the news is negative, 00:47:26.079 --> 00:47:30.940 but there's also a lot of positive. And we have 00:47:30.940 --> 00:47:34.300 to focus on the positive if we want to make a 00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:38.780 change, especially your generation. And two, 00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:44.480 don't sit and think somebody else has to do it. 00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:49.059 We can all take steps to be part of the solution. 00:47:50.599 --> 00:47:54.460 Yes, I agree 100%. And it's important for our 00:47:54.460 --> 00:47:57.139 generation, like you're mentioning, to take action. 00:47:57.639 --> 00:48:01.420 In every episode, we have a call to action. We 00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:03.679 like to ask our guests their thoughts about what 00:48:03.679 --> 00:48:06.139 our listeners can do to positively impact our 00:48:06.139 --> 00:48:08.639 community. What are some simple things people 00:48:08.639 --> 00:48:10.719 can do to help with climate change in the San 00:48:10.719 --> 00:48:16.239 Diego area specifically? Okay. We talked about 00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:22.099 mitigation and adaptation. We can all individually 00:48:22.099 --> 00:48:27.760 take steps towards mitigation and adaptation. 00:48:28.539 --> 00:48:35.139 So mitigation was reducing emissions. Individually, 00:48:35.179 --> 00:48:44.599 what we can do is reduce consumption at any level. 00:48:46.840 --> 00:48:53.219 Everything that... We use every day, not just 00:48:53.219 --> 00:48:57.219 our food. We mainly think about food when we 00:48:57.219 --> 00:49:00.179 talk about consumption. We mainly think about 00:49:00.179 --> 00:49:04.219 food. But everything, the clothes you're wearing, 00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:10.099 the makeup you use every day, your car, everything 00:49:10.099 --> 00:49:17.599 has used some energy for its manufacturing and 00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:22.960 production. And that energy emitted some carbon 00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:31.760 dioxide and used water. So we have a culture 00:49:31.760 --> 00:49:38.199 of consumption here. But a lot of times we don't 00:49:38.199 --> 00:49:41.639 really need everything that we buy. Again, from 00:49:41.639 --> 00:49:44.179 the food that we eat all the way to everything 00:49:44.179 --> 00:49:49.010 else that we use. So reducing consumption. means 00:49:49.010 --> 00:49:53.550 reducing the energy use for the manufacturing 00:49:53.550 --> 00:49:57.090 of everything that you use, reducing the water 00:49:57.090 --> 00:50:02.469 used for the manufacturing, and reducing the 00:50:02.469 --> 00:50:08.909 waste. So reducing consumption at any level, 00:50:09.030 --> 00:50:14.530 that is not just local to us San Diegans, it's 00:50:14.530 --> 00:50:17.210 something that we all have to practice in this 00:50:17.210 --> 00:50:26.989 country. Reducing food waste. Food waste is the 00:50:26.989 --> 00:50:31.949 third emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide. 00:50:32.730 --> 00:50:37.630 If we set food waste as a country, it would be 00:50:37.630 --> 00:50:41.329 the third behind the United States. And we here 00:50:41.329 --> 00:50:46.769 in this country waste a lot of food. Not just 00:50:46.769 --> 00:50:50.750 at the consumer level. We waste a lot of food 00:50:50.750 --> 00:50:55.929 at the supermarket level, restaurant level, farm 00:50:55.929 --> 00:51:01.449 level. But, of course, as consumers, we can only 00:51:01.449 --> 00:51:16.679 reduce our own food waste. Composting. can make 00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:22.659 a big difference and our state has actually made 00:51:22.659 --> 00:51:28.380 it a lot easy for us a lot very easy for us because 00:51:28.380 --> 00:51:32.800 all we have to do at home is to separate our 00:51:32.800 --> 00:51:37.960 compostable waste from recyclable and regular 00:51:37.960 --> 00:51:43.559 waste that helps us in many different ways here 00:51:43.559 --> 00:51:46.880 in san diego we have landfills that are reaching 00:51:46.880 --> 00:51:51.639 capacity so we need to reduce the waste that 00:51:51.639 --> 00:51:57.739 we send to landfills and our waste management 00:51:57.739 --> 00:52:05.559 companies i know edco has this beautiful facility 00:52:05.559 --> 00:52:10.119 to actually convert your waste, your food waste, 00:52:10.340 --> 00:52:15.559 food scraps, everything that was part of your 00:52:15.559 --> 00:52:24.800 food before, into fertilizer. Oh, nice. I took 00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:29.380 my green chemistry students to EDCO for a field 00:52:29.380 --> 00:52:34.199 trip last semester, and they showed us what they 00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:41.030 do with our waste. are compost waste. And they 00:52:41.030 --> 00:52:48.190 actually make fertilizer, as I said, and natural 00:52:48.190 --> 00:52:54.369 gas that can run their trucks. Wow. So they are 00:52:54.369 --> 00:53:00.789 using our waste to generate fuel for their trucks. 00:53:00.969 --> 00:53:07.320 And our part in this... beautiful process is 00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:10.780 only to separate to make sure that we separate 00:53:10.780 --> 00:53:16.719 our compostables from regular waste and make 00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:21.960 sure that it goes into our green bin so definitely 00:53:21.960 --> 00:53:27.239 here in San Diego where we have this opportunity 00:53:27.239 --> 00:53:31.619 to compost we should do it this is something 00:53:31.619 --> 00:53:39.280 that every household should do and what else 00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:44.320 so these are all mitigation strategies doing 00:53:44.320 --> 00:53:50.699 any of these we will reduce our emissions personal 00:53:50.699 --> 00:53:57.440 emissions and definitely national emissions but 00:53:57.440 --> 00:54:02.480 there are also some adaptation steps or strategies 00:54:02.480 --> 00:54:08.880 that we can do as individuals. Adaptation, of 00:54:08.880 --> 00:54:12.639 course, depends on the type of impact we're going 00:54:12.639 --> 00:54:16.239 to have in our community. We talked about the 00:54:16.239 --> 00:54:23.920 impact San Diego County is going to see. So reducing 00:54:23.920 --> 00:54:28.420 fertilizer in your backyard, reducing pesticide 00:54:28.420 --> 00:54:35.090 in your backyard, adaptation steps. Why? Because 00:54:35.090 --> 00:54:42.250 when you align your backyard better with the 00:54:42.250 --> 00:54:48.250 local ecosystem, you actually allow wildlife 00:54:48.250 --> 00:54:54.590 to thrive better as part of our local ecosystem. 00:54:54.869 --> 00:54:59.909 And we know that this extreme Weather, this extra 00:54:59.909 --> 00:55:02.829 heat, extreme heat that we're going to see, does 00:55:02.829 --> 00:55:07.010 not only impact us. It also impacts wildlife 00:55:07.010 --> 00:55:12.130 around us. When it comes to wildfires, we all 00:55:12.130 --> 00:55:15.909 are familiar with wildfires. I mean, they're 00:55:15.909 --> 00:55:22.090 so fresh in our minds. So we shouldn't forget 00:55:22.090 --> 00:55:26.130 it now that we don't hear it in the news anymore. 00:55:28.010 --> 00:55:35.469 Wildfires are a very serious and real part of 00:55:35.469 --> 00:55:41.610 San Diego community. So what can we do? We can 00:55:41.610 --> 00:55:51.190 change the vegetation around our houses to get 00:55:51.190 --> 00:56:00.730 them less prone to wildfires. All of us should 00:56:00.730 --> 00:56:08.710 be informed about what our cities are doing about 00:56:08.710 --> 00:56:11.230 wildfires. If they have any recommendations, 00:56:11.489 --> 00:56:15.969 we should try to implement those in our own homes. 00:56:17.849 --> 00:56:24.550 It doesn't really work if some homes get fireproof 00:56:24.550 --> 00:56:28.250 and some homes don't. We saw that a lot of times 00:56:28.250 --> 00:56:31.250 we have conditions that are not very controllable. 00:56:31.309 --> 00:56:37.789 We have high wind, very low humidity, and that 00:56:37.789 --> 00:56:45.090 means there's not so much predictability on how 00:56:45.090 --> 00:56:49.190 or where the fire is going to move. So it's very 00:56:49.190 --> 00:56:52.670 important that we move as a community, all of 00:56:52.670 --> 00:56:58.130 us. Keep wildfires. Very, very real in our minds. 00:56:59.409 --> 00:57:04.070 All our cities have climate action plans. So 00:57:04.070 --> 00:57:07.429 my recommendation is, especially for your generation, 00:57:07.590 --> 00:57:14.809 to go and see what their city is doing to address 00:57:14.809 --> 00:57:18.829 climate change in their community. One last thing 00:57:18.829 --> 00:57:23.650 I forgot, sorry. One thing that we can all do 00:57:23.650 --> 00:57:29.050 is... Change our diet. And I'm sure you have 00:57:29.050 --> 00:57:34.530 heard that before. Yes. So a more plant -based 00:57:34.530 --> 00:57:41.429 diet helps with climate change because our meat 00:57:41.429 --> 00:57:47.030 production emits a lot of the greenhouse gases 00:57:47.030 --> 00:57:49.889 that we have. That's a big part of our agriculture 00:57:49.889 --> 00:57:55.789 emission. Here in the U .S., we have a very large 00:57:55.789 --> 00:58:00.610 consumption of meat. I'm not asking anybody to 00:58:00.610 --> 00:58:04.449 become vegetarian or vegan. All I'm saying is 00:58:04.449 --> 00:58:10.989 to reduce. And again, if all of us reduce our 00:58:10.989 --> 00:58:14.710 consumption, our meat consumption, then again, 00:58:14.809 --> 00:58:17.590 all of that together will make a difference. 00:58:18.539 --> 00:58:21.239 I love that. Well, it's reassuring to know we 00:58:21.239 --> 00:58:23.460 can all make a difference, even in our everyday 00:58:23.460 --> 00:58:26.940 choices. Hale Keshtkar, thank you so much for 00:58:26.940 --> 00:58:29.500 breaking all of this down for us. It's so important 00:58:29.500 --> 00:58:31.639 to understand the basics of climate change if 00:58:31.639 --> 00:58:34.079 we want to make a meaningful and positive change. 00:58:34.579 --> 00:58:37.260 And thank you all for tuning in to this episode 00:58:37.260 --> 00:58:39.900 of Climate to Action. Remember, whether it's 00:58:39.900 --> 00:58:42.179 through learning more, making sustainable choices, 00:58:42.280 --> 00:58:44.860 or advocating for change, every step counts. 00:58:44.980 --> 00:58:47.599 Keep taking action, and we'll see you next time. 00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:52.300 Want to hear more from Climate to Action, a CSUSM 00:58:52.300 --> 00:58:54.639 student podcast? Listen wherever you get your 00:58:54.639 --> 00:58:57.760 podcasts and follow us on our socials at Climate 00:58:57.760 --> 00:59:00.590 to Action. For Instagram and YouTube, that's 00:59:00.590 --> 00:59:04.769 at climate2action. For TikTok, it's climate2action. 00:59:05.269 --> 00:59:07.570 Visit for updates, behind -the -scenes content, 00:59:07.730 --> 00:59:10.750 and more. Finally, Climate2Action wants to remind 00:59:10.750 --> 00:59:13.389 you to take climate action. We challenge you 00:59:13.389 --> 00:59:15.349 to take the first step in your own climate journey. 00:59:15.610 --> 00:59:18.949 Like Professor Keshkar suggested, don't forget 00:59:18.949 --> 00:59:21.269 climate change when you don't hear it in the 00:59:21.269 --> 00:59:26.130 news. And be mindful of... your environmental 00:59:26.130 --> 00:59:31.110 and carbon impact in every step you take and 00:59:31.110 --> 00:59:33.929 everything you do. Let's transform our climate 00:59:33.929 --> 00:59:36.710 curiosity into climate action together. Remember, 00:59:36.869 --> 00:59:39.409 every small change can create a big impact when 00:59:39.409 --> 00:59:42.590 we work collectively. Until next time, this is 00:59:42.590 --> 00:59:44.949 Alex from Climate to Action signing off.