October 2016 – Page 4

Urban environment Transport In my urban environment there is many different popular methods of transport. There is a train station, busses, cars, cyclists and many people choose to walk. The most popular method of transport is cars as the majority … Continue reading →

Urban environment

Transport

In my urban environment there is many different popular methods of transport. There is a train station, busses, cars, cyclists and many people choose to walk. The most popular method of transport is cars as the majority of houses have at least one however, many people choose to use public transport to get to their work. This is a benefit to the environment as it helps to prevent the amount of harmful fuel affect the atmosphere.

Community space

In my environment there are three schools. One of them is a new build as there was four schools but two of them have been combined into one. This is good for the environment as it cuts down the amount of electricity being used and it cuts down the cost on materials allowing the money to be spent on other areas of the community. There is also a library which anyone can use but it is particularly targeted toward children from pre school to primary school age which helps to aid in their crucially important development. There are also parks and scenic walkways which encourages people to be outside and exercise.

Recreational spaces

In my urban environment there is a sport centre. It offers gymnastics, swimming, dance, multi sports, football, a gym and fitness classes. The sport centre is used my people of all ages but usually retired adults and young children during the day and working people and teenagers later on and the class times are made to suit this.

Industry and work

In my urban environment there is a lot of agricultural work as there is many farms. The farms no longer have animals in them but are used to grow and sell crops. There is retail services such as supermarkets and clothing shops which are heavily used by the people who live in the local area. My urban environment has services such as health centres, a police station and a prison which helps to keep us healthy and safe.

Physical characteristics

There are a few different types of building in my environment. These many include churches, flats and houses. The road organisation is a mix of minor and major roads and motorway access. There is quite a lot of green spaces for example walkways along the canal and pathways around the ‘moss’.

Population density

My local area had a population of roughly 105,000 people in 2011. However this is a decrease on the number of people that there was ten years previous to that which was roughly 108,000. This could possibly have been due to the financial crisis.

Air quality

The air quality level for pollution level in my urban environment is low (1) according to Scottish Air Quality.

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Sustainable Development- Climate Change

The Climate Change Act which was passed in 2009, made Scotland commit to a 42% reduction in emissions by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050. The act also states that there should be annual reductions between 2010 and 2050. When talking about “emissions”, it is in relation to greenhouse gases: gases in the atmosphere that are attributable to human activity. Scotland has already surpassed the goverments first target of a 42% reduction far earlier than expected as the countries emissions have fallen by nearly 46% between 1990 and 2014. Although this is great news, 2014 was the first year that the annual emissions target was met since the targets were introduced. It is also thought that the Scottish goverment had little to do with it and that the fall in emissions was due to factors outside of the governments control, including a warmer winter than usual in 2014.

There are still a lot of actions that can be taken to reduce Scotland’s emissions. Individual action is very important, as if everyone contributed we could have a big impact. However the Scottish government need to lead the way by introducing big policies for major emission reductions. Scotland needs to focus on areas like transport where our emissions have remained stalled since 1990. Also on housing, as the emission levels have only been reduced by 1% in this area since the passing of the Act in 2009.

Learning about this act and finding out that our emissions still have to be reduced by almost 40% to reach our next target in 2015, made me realise that a lot of changes are necessary in order to reach this. I used to think that climate change was not something that I had to worry about and that it wasn’t a serious threat. However I now realise what a huge issue it is and how we all need to act on it.

Learning Log: Climate change

This weeks input on climate change really opened my eyes as to whats going on in the world. I was shocked after seeing some of the visuals on the build up of CO2. Before this weeks input I had not realised how bad the pollution in the air is. During the spring and the summer many … Continue reading Learning Log: Climate change →

This weeks input on climate change really opened my eyes as to whats going on in the world. I was shocked after seeing some of the visuals on the build up of CO2. screen-shot-2016-10-02-at-15-44-31

Before this weeks input I had not realised how bad the pollution in the air is. During the spring and the summer many plants can absorb some of the CO2 during photosynthesis. However after summer there is a build up of CO2 and although this change is expected, we are seeing a increase each year in the volume of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is contributing to the long term trend in the rise of global temperatures.

Another thing that I hadn’t been aware of was the amount of carbon monoxide that the southern hemisphere releases in to the atmosphere during summer. screen-shot-2016-10-02-at-15-49-21

This carbon monoxide build up is not as talked about as much as the CO2 build up, even though it is a harmful gas to not only the environment but humans as well.

I think because Climate change is something we do not always see the effects of, unless we were to watch a documentary about the icecaps melting in the antarctic, I think many people often forget about it. Also because it is something which is happening over a long period of time and changes are happening gradually this is another reason people forget about the importance of it. I think the media need to be publishing more stories and visual images like the ones above to show people the harm that is being created.

I also hadn’t been aware of how rapidly we have started using up our carbon budget. To not exceed 2 degrees celsius of warming means we cannot realise more than 3 trillion tones of CO2. However by 2011 we had used 65% already and if emissions continue to rise with the historical trend, we will have exceeded our budget of 3 trillion by 2033. I found this quite a scary fact and it is obvious that more needs to be done to prevent this.

When looking into ways to reduce my carbon foot print, something that I hand not considered before was my diet. I had never thought about how the things I eat can have a large impact on the planet. I will try to at more veg and slightly less meat and I will also try to make sure I purchase more locally grown food whenever possible, rather than imported fruit and veg from supermarkets. There were also a number of tips on how to make your car journeys more efficient, which I spoke about in my direct study task, that I will now take into consideration when driving.

I think it is important that children learn about climate change as, without scaring them about the dangers that are arising, they still need to be aware of what is going on in the world. If they all change 1 thing about their current lifestyle, wether it be recycling more or putting a jumper on instead of putting the heating on, all of these small actions can make a difference. After all, it will be their generation and the generations after them that will be the most affected by climate change, so it is important that they are well educated on it and know what they can do to prevent it.

Direct Study Task: Climate change

After completing the carbon emissions test, my result was 162% of my share of carbon emission, which I was very shocked by. I had thought that my result would’ve been much lower, as my family always try to recycle as much as we can, don’t waste food, use energy saving lightbulbs and insulation etc. However … Continue reading Direct Study Task: Climate change →

After completing the carbon emissions test, my result was 162% of my share of carbon emission, which I was very shocked by.

screen-shot-2016-10-02-at-13-01-54

I had thought that my result would’ve been much lower, as my family always try to recycle as much as we can, don’t waste food, use energy saving lightbulbs and insulation etc. However I think the main reason my carbon footprint was so high was my travelling. As I live in a small remote town with a lack of public transport, I have to drive almost everywhere. The bus services are very infrequent and unreliable and we do not have a train station, therefore even if I was to try and be more green by getting public transport and get the train, I would still have to drive to the nearest train station which is in the next town.

Although it may not be realistic for me to quit driving and use public transport all the time, after doing some research I found that there are a few things I could do to make my car journeys more efficient and reduce my carbon footprint. Making sure your tires are properly inflated can can increase your petrol milage by 3%, which would mean I wouldn’t have to use as much petrol. Planning my driving routes to avoid traffic as much as possible would also reduce my carbon footprint as being stuck in traffic wastes petrol and creates more CO2. Something else which I hadn’t considered was my style of driving, unnecessary acceleration and speeding wastes petrol, releases more CO2 and can reduce your miles to the gallon by 33%. These are all things that I will take into consideration when driving in the future, as well as taking public transport whenever it is possible.