Rising Temperatures: A Multi-Faceted Problem

Team Eta STEMposium 2013

Identifying the Problem and Brainstorming Solutions

Figuring out what has gone wrong, and thinking about ways to fix it.

Identifying the Problem and its Symptoms

CO2 Emissions Drought
Main Problem

Symptoms

Higher Beetle Population

Forest Fire

Erosion

Limitations/Constraints
Water

Money
Pollution Geography Fossil Fuel Dependence Man Power Public Awareness/ Communication Time Resources Environmental Health

Brainstorming Solutions: Rising CO2 Emissions

Biodegradable Plastic Algae Tanks Green Energy Recycling Green Transportation

Brainstorming Solutions: Drought

Reduce CO2 Emissions Cloud Seeding More efficient water appliances Desalination

Brainstorming Solutions: Beetles

Keep trees sufficiently watered Plant trees that are more resilient against beetle infestation Fertilize trees Remove diseased or injured trees Pheromone control

Brainstorming Solutions: Fire

Genetically modified trees Prescribed burns Monitor high-risk areas Cloud Seeding Fire breaks Releasing dirt from planes Green chemicals (Green Slime) Replacing non-native tree species Use robots for surveillance and rescue of potential victims Improved Nozzles

Brainstorming Solutions: Erosion

Planting trees Build retaining walls Buffer strips TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil Planes to seed the area with grass Hydro Mulch can keep soil in place

Generating Solutions
Decided which possible solutions will not be viable within the current constraints

Generating Solutions: CO2

Biodegradable Plastic Algae Tanks Green Energy Recycling Green Transportation

Generating Solutions: Drought

Reduce CO2 Emissions Seeding Clouds Public water conservation Desalination

Generating Solutions: Beetles

Keep trees sufficiently watered Plant trees that are more resilient against beetle infestation Fertilize trees Remove diseased or injured trees Pheromone control

Generating Solutions: Fire

Genetically modified trees Prescribed burns Monitor high-risk areas Cloud Seeding Fire breaks Releasing dirt from planes Green chemicals (Green Slime) Replacing non-native tree species Use robots for surveillance and rescue of potential victims Improved Nozzles

Generating Solutions: Erosion

Planting trees Build retaining walls Buffer strips TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil Planes to seed the area with grass Hydro Mulch can keep soil in place

Exploring Possibilities
Explaining why the unviable options do not conform with the decided parameters

Exploring Possibilities: CO2

CO2 Emissions: Long-term Prevention
Biodegradable Plastic Algae Tanks
Expensive Hard to implement Impractical for local areas Inefficient

Green Energy Recycling Green Transportation

Exploring Possibilities: Drought

Reduce CO2 Emissions Seeding Clouds
Overall inefficient Unreliable Damaging to the ecosystem

Look for environmentally friendly chemicals to use Public water conservation Desalination
Expensive Inadequate water supplies to offset deficit during drought Requires specialized facilities

Exploring Possibilities: Beetles

Keep trees sufficiently watered
Inadequate water supplies Trees over too large of an area

Plant trees that are more resilient against beetle infestation

Invasive species can weaken the ecosystem Current technology does not facilitate genetically enhanced tree specimens

Fertilize Trees
Fertilizers can pollute the ecosystem Trees over too large an area

Remove diseased or injured trees Pheromone control

Exploring Possibilities: Fire

Genetically modified trees
Current technology cannot implement such specimens in a timely manner

Prescribed burns Monitor high-risk areas Cloud Seeding

Overall inefficient Unreliable Damaging to the ecosystem

Fire breaks Releasing dirt from planes

Costly Ineffective

Green chemicals (Green Slime) Replacing non-native tree species

Unrealistic to replace such a large percentile (28%) of the trees in the forest Expensive Time consuming

Use robots for surveillance and rescue of potential victims Improved Nozzles

Exploring Possibilities: Erosion

Planting trees
Possible overpopulation Time consuming Too large of an area

Build retaining walls Buffer strips

Not practical in a forest environment

TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil Planes to seed the area with grass Hydro Mulch can keep soil in place
Ineffective after the third rain Only a temporary solution

Selecting Solutions
Deciding which solutions are viable and why they would work within the decided upon restraints

Selecting Solutions: CO2

Biodegradable Plastics
Prevents wasting of Material Allow a more forgiving test bed

Green Energy
Reduces fossil fuel consumption Gives off environmentally friendly byproducts

Recycling
Factories may reuse recycled materials, reducing their energy consumption

Green Transportation
Reduces substantial carbon emission from automobiles

Selecting Solutions: Drought

Reduce CO2 Emissions
Reduces the greenhouse effect resulting in cooler weather conditions worldwide Reduces atmospheric pollution

More efficient water appliances

Conserve water in times of drought Reduce stress on the municipal water supply Water savings can be used to relieve stress in other areas

Selecting Solutions: Beetles

Remove diseased or injured trees
Removes habitat and reproduction area of beetles Limits infection of healthy trees

Pheromone control
Certain pheromones repels beetles from trees Other pheromones attracts beetles to be trapped or killed

Selecting Solutions: Fire

Prescribed burn
Reducing the severity of future fires Eliminates fuel source

Monitor high risk areas

More rapid response Better prediction of future fires

Fire breaks
Stop fire by eliminating its fuel source Contains fire so it burns through its fuel without moving

Green chemicals (Green Slime)

Dropped from planes as a fire retardant Biodegradable A better alternative than Red Slurry

Use robots for surveillance and rescue of potential victims

Provide better surveillance than people Bring victims to elevated areas for evacuation Recue others without endangering more lives

Improved Nozzles
Provide a more controllable stream pattern Gives fire fighters the ability to better protect lives and property Can be implemented on robots

Selecting Solutions: Erosion

Building retaining walls
Hold soil in place Prevent water and wind erosion

TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil

Prevents soil from becoming water repellent before the fire Treats compaction prone soil like clay Ecofriendly

Planes to seed areas with grass

Establishes a stable root system to hold soil

Putting Solutions Into Effect

Creating an outline of procedures to implement the solutions as effectively as possible

Putting Solutions Into Effect: CO2

Biodegradable plastics
Invest in further development of reusable polymers

Green energy
Slowly reduce fossil fuel usage Supplement fossil fuels with alternative energy

Recycling
Separate recyclables More widespread recycling projects

Green transportation
Fuel public transportation with renewable energy Supplement car usage as much as possible

Putting Solutions Into Effect: Drought

Reduce CO2 emissions
Reduce fossil fuel consumption Invest in more sources of renewable energy

Public water conservation

More efficient water appliances

Putting Solutions Into Effect: Beetles

Remove diseased or injured trees
Forest crews felling unhealthy trees Eco conscious logging efforts Penal labor relating to proper forest control

Pheromone control
Use pheromones to keep beetles away from trees Use pheromones to attract beetles to a central location as a trap

Putting Solutions Into Effect: Fire

Prescribed burns
Forest services choose to controllably burn areas of land Used when deemed beneficial to the forest

Monitor high risk areas

The use of un-manned weather stations Satellite images More fire watch towers

Fire breaks
Stop fire by eliminating its fuel source Contains fire so it burns through its fuel without moving

Putting Solutions Into Effect: Fire(Cont.)

Green chemicals (Green Slime)
Dropped from planes as a fire retardant Biodegradable A better alternative than Red Slurry

Use robots for surveillance and rescue of potential victims

Autonomous roving cameras allow for prediction and rapid response Attachments that allow the robot to get information humans cannot Not endanger human lives Use nozzles to eliminate hotspots identified by thermal imaging

Improved Nozzles
Provide a more controllable stream pattern Gives fire fighters the ability to better protect lives and property Can be implemented on robots

Putting Solutions Into Effect: Erosion

Building retaining walls
Implemented on high risk landslide areas

TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil

Can be used on specific areas before a fire Sprayed by forest crews from hoses Distributed to forest services

Planes to seed areas with grass

Forest service planes drop seeds over a forest following a fire

Refining Solutions
Going into further detail on how the procedures work and how to implement them in a sustainable manner.

Refining Solutions: CO2

Biodegradable plastics
Increase public awareness of the damage caused by nonenvironmentally friendly plastics Make such polymers widely available and cost effective Increase its usage in prototypes and test models on the industrial level

Green energy
Mass produce vehicles that use renewable energy Increase investment on green energy projects Diversify sources of environmentally friendly energy Make alternative energy more prolific through further research and development

Refining Solutions: CO2 (Cont.)

Recycling
Better worldwide education of recycling Implement community recycling programs Recycling reciprocals in public and private buildings More efficient collection strategies Make the recycling process carbon neutral

Green Transportation
Use alternative fuel sources to power personal and public transportation Encourage the population to use public transportation rather than private vehicles Further research and development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

Refining Solutions: Drought

Reduce CO2 emissions
Biodegradable plastics Green energy Recycling Green transportation

More efficient water appliances

Low flow toilets
Toilet usage is 38% of the water usage in an average household Use no more than 1.6 gallons to flush Reduces water consumption by 25%

Washing machine
Efficient washers use 30-50% less water Saves approximately 5000 gallons per year

Dishwashers
Use only 6-10 gallons of water Normal dishwashers use 9-12 gallons of water Hand washing uses approximately 20 gallons

Refining Solutions: Beetles

Removing dead and diseased trees
Better identification of afflicted trees Removing trees during the dormant season More service crews working cohesively with forest management Add extra work crews from the penal system Contracts with eco-friendly logging industries

Pheromone control
Protect trees using pheromones to repel beetles Actively trap beetles using pheromones to attract them to a specific location

Refining Solutions: Fire

Prescribed burn
Better timeframes of usage More improved specifications for when to use a prescribed burn Train forest services to better recognize the signs of an unhealthy forest Set prescribed burns when the fuel supply is deemed a danger to the forest

Monitor high risk areas

Use unmanned weather stations to better predict forest fires Utilize satellite imagery and Doppler radar to forecast weather that may effect the direction and magnitude of the fire Better man fire watch towers

Fire breaks
Use fire breaks to divert and contain fire Dug by forest services Break the fire triangle by eliminating the fuel source of the fire

Refining Solutions: Fire (Cont.)

Green chemicals (Green Slime)
Use of ecofriendly chemical agents like biodegradable ultra absorbent polymers in a homogenous aqueous solution Dropped from planes Is a viable replacement for Red Slurry Helps to regulate the pH levels in soil to provide a more inhabitable growing environment for plants

Refining Solutions: Fire (Cont.)

Robots
Improve robotics technology Autonomous roving cameras allow for better prediction and rapid response Increase overall performance Monitor temperature Identify circumstances where particular robot models could be implemented Train robot operators to operate during high stress situations Implement robotic units with forest services

Improve nozzles
Assist in the rescue process of potential victims May be attached to robots Increase pressure Reduce water usage Better spray pattern over distance

Refining Solutions: Erosion

Building retaining walls
Use environmentally friendly materials Educate build crews to optimize effectiveness Protect areas from landslide

TriCure Micro on hydrophobic soil

Confer with the TriCure Micro company to determine cost and availability Purchase TriCure Micro Distribute to forest services Applied to areas that are expected to be affected by fire

Planes to seed areas with grass

Forest service planes drop seeds over a forest following a fire Grass seed establishes root system to stop erosion