EDUCATION: GLOBAL METHANE INVENTORY
Previous School-Based Research Projects
Mott Hall Intermediate School, 1996-1999:
Global Methane Inventory From Landfills for 1990
The topic of greenhouse effect and global warming is part of the eighth-grade Earth science curriculum at Mott Hall Intermediate School and is taught within the context of the nature of solar energy and its interaction with the Earth's atmosphere and surface, and atmospheric chemical processes.
The project began during the 1996-97 schoolyear and continued through the 1998-99 schoolyear. It was built on the research carried out at GISS during the summer of 1996 and extended the summer's demonstration product to encompass an additional methane source: landfills. Landfills were chosen because they were relevant and tangible to students, data were easily obtainable and an internationally accepted methodology was provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Each year in this three-year period, a different group of eighth grade students (groups of between 8 and 10 students) and the instructor worked on developing a 1990 inventory of methane emissions from landfills. They began with North America and the Caribbean where data were prevalent. The IPCC methodologies provide default values for several variables needed in the estimate; these include per capita refuse production, fraction of refuse placed in landfills, fraction of refuse decomposing anaerobically, methane potential of waste, and level of methane recovery. However, the students needed population statistics in order to estimate the total amount of waste generated, as well as to develop the geographic distribution of methane emission ultimately required by atmospheric chemistry modelers. Working as a team, with one student as a facilitator, each student selected several states/provinces/countries and compiled 1990 population statistics on the following: population of cities < 50,000; city latitudes/longitudes; and total, urban and rural populations for states of the United States, provinces of Canada, and other countries. Each student contributed his/her population statistics to the effort, and the team carried out the IPCC default calculation of total methane emissions from landfills for their chosen region. The students worked together to produce a report and a science fair poster on their research. The reports/posters described the scientific background for the study of methane emissions, an overview of methane sources, sources of data, details of the IPCC methodology and how it was implemented, sources of population data, and results of the study. At the end of 3 years, a dataset for methane emissions from landfills for every country of the world was produced.
Mott Hall Intermediate School, 1999-2000:
Global Per Capita Methane Emissions from Rice, Animals and Landfills by Country for 1990
The United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization Climate Convention called for every country to compile an inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocols called for specific percentage reduction in emissions for each country relative to the 1990 reference year. Poorer developing countries are asked to make sacrifices that are more economically and socially challenging than for developed countries. Most anthropogenic methane produced in developed countries comes from fossil fuel use. Developing countries produce most methane as a result of food production. Is it fair to ask developing countries to reduce their emissions the same percentage as developed countries? What is the impact on each person? Each individual is responsible for methane emissions as a producer or consumer. A large country may produce a large total emission but how much is each person responsible for?
We began to address these questions during the 1999-2000 schoolyear. A group of seven students and the instructor worked on calculating total per capita methane emissions from 3 sources (rice, animals and landfills) for all countries for 1990. As a working hypothesis the students thought that larger countries would have greater per capita emissions. Working as a team with one student as a facilitator, each student selected a geographical region. Using 1990 emissions of methane and population data for each country as developed at ICP in 1998 and 1999, they proceeded to organize the data in Excel spreadsheets and calculate per capita emissions. Bar graphs were produced for each country in each region to compare per capita emissions within that region. Bar graphs of the per capita emission averaged for each entire region were also produced for a global comparison.
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