MGG Calgary: Environmental Action | Weekly Newsletter #8

In this month's issue, the Calgary branch is happy to tell everyone a little bit more about each board member and their passions! Along with some of our projects in the past, ongoing and future projects that we hope to complete! There will also be some helpful tips on how to conserve the environment and some fun facts about the environment!

The Calgary Branch currently has 3 board members! April Cao (the current chapter lead), Lucy Fu, and Amy Cheng. Each of us is passionate about the environment in their own right.

Amy Cheng: I am someone who is very passionate about the environment and always has been. I have done many science fair projects centered around the environment (I think all of them actually have been). To me the environment is the future of our planet and the future of mankind. There will never be a second earth and if we don’t preserve the planet we live on now, there won’t be a time to do it later. A quote about this has always stuck out to me, I don’t remember the details but it goes something like, “It is not the earth that needs saving, the earth will always exist. But it is whether humanity can survive”. There is a prevalent idea that the earth needs to be saved and there are also companies greenwashing (Lindwall) which is the practice of purposefully being misleading to make it seem as if they are sustainable and good for the environment. In times like this it is important to remember that the world is our future and we should protect and value that.

Events that have been done:

 Recently, along with much of MGG, we have hosted a book drive and have collected 500+ books! It was a pleasure seeing the community around us being so willing to donate the books in their home to help us benefit the environment in a positive manner. I even managed to get an elementary/middle school involved and managed to get in contact with a teacher that was very passionate about the environment! 

In the future, we plan to host environmental clean ups. If anyone is interested, feel free to email us at m.greenglobal.abcal@gmail.com . We hope to create a safe space where it is not only a fun time but also to create an enthusiastic environment to protect the environment.

Facts about the environment:

What is global warming or climate change, why is it happening and what are its effects? 

In simple terms the earth is getting warmer than it used to be and the climate patterns are changing. It is also important to take note that climate change and global warming are two separate entities. Climate change is a natural part of the earth’s cycle and is the earth's climate changing, this is sped up greatly by global warming. Carbon also often comes up in conversations related to the environment and global warming so some may assume that it is a bad thing but not necessarily. It is the surplus of carbon that can cause some issues. Carbon when combined with oxygen and becoming carbon dioxide is crucial to keeping our planet’s temperature above freezing and making all of life disappear. However, when there is too much of it as we see now it can make our planet’s temperature rise. Everything must exist in moderation. When fossil fuels are burned, they are releasing the carbon that plants had taken out of the atmosphere over the span of millions of years at a very rapid rate compared to the rate it was taken out. This will make the effect of keeping the earth from freezing more extreme and can cause the average global temperature to rise, and If this keeps up, the earth's environment (such as forests, grasslands, rivers and ocean, etc.) will change so that some animals will go extinct and affect food chains greatly. Some animals will go completely extinct if global warming continues. Sea levels will rise, flooding some cities near the coast. It has already caused irregular and extreme weather and climate events. We must find a way to stop it or slow it down.

Much of this is happening because of greenhouse gases, which are not a bad thing at the right amount. We need greenhouse gases to live. If they were not there we would freeze when the sun went down and burn when the sun rose, but now we are making more greenhouse gases piling up above us than needed. Think of it like a blanket, if you keep piling on more and more blankets you would get hotter right? That is what is happening to the earth. With the earth you can’t just remove greenhouse gases as easily as a blanket. That takes time and effort.

Trees and how to efficiently plant them to help the world:

 Climate change is something that will affect the lives of many. It speeds up when there is a surplus of carbon in the atmosphere that is caused by a multitude of things. Trees are a part of the natural systems of our planet and have gone through many changes in our climate and survived them. They are also one of the things that many see as being able to help us sequester more carbon while benefiting the health of our planet in many ways such as fostering ecosystems and providing a home to a multitude of species. However, oftentimes people will plant trees in a way that will not benefit the environment in the way they hope to and it can be wasteful. It is important to make good use of the resources that are on our planet today as it will catch up to humanity some time in the future if we are wasteful. Having a plan to plant trees is a good direction to go in but the direction it is currently going in is not the most optimal. After all, in 2014 there was 40 gigatons of carbon in the atmosphere (and that number has only grown) in order to offset that, you would need a forest the size of Australia.

Trees in tropical and humid climates do the best when it comes to sequestering carbon. And it does also appear that young trees have a faster rate of taking on carbon but in the long run it is best to let the older trees stay up as they are a vital part of ecosystems and tend to be able to maintain the carbon within their systems and the soil. There are also a variety of the nutrients that the trees need to grow and mature faster and the nutrients they need to survive.There are also other variables that can affect a tree’s ability to sequester carbon as many young trees may fall victim to an unexpected natural phenomenon or weather pattern/condition.