And Mora has invented an “autonomous programmable plant watering device,” which got a patent last year, that automatically waters the trees from a 5-gallon bucket by detecting soil moisture. We staked down a ground cover around each tree to keep the weeds back. Invasive weeds and other pests, coupled with watering challenges, will make it hard for them all to make it. If all our trees survive, we’ll sequester about 1,000 tons of CO2 over the first five years. Initially, we wanted to offset the Wavemaker’s emissions for the year, which we’re conservatively estimating at about 3 tons of CO2 for the 2014 Nissan NV200 taxi van.
We drove 100 miles on one trip last month to talk to homeowners in Hauula and Pupukea about the lengths they’re taking to avoid losing their coastal properties to the ocean.
TOPSOIL DEPTH PLANTING XSECTION SOUND TRANSIT SERIES
The ongoing series involves getting out into communities to hear your stories about rising sea levels, more frequent storms, unprecedented flooding, droughts and wildfires.įor that, we have a new (technically used) van, dubbed the Wavemaker, to transport ourselves and gear wherever the story takes us. We grew more in tune with our impact after Civil Beat’s January launch of a special project on climate change. There are several carbon footprint calculators online for the public to figure out how much carbon they are emitting and what they can do about it.
People in India, for instance, average less than 2 tons per capita. The world average, by the way, is 4 tons per person. Hawaii’s footprint is lower largely because it’s hard for islanders to drive long distances and we don’t use as much energy to heat or cool our homes. The average American footprint is 16.5 tons of CO2 annually, Mora said, though some estimates put it closer to 20 tons. On average, a person in Hawaii produces about 12 tons of carbon each year. To ward off the worst effects of climate change, the world’s top scientists say we must make massive shifts in our behavior to prevent the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2040. The rest gets stuck in the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect that’s causing the planet to heat up. Some of those species will live for decades.Ībout half of of the carbon emitted gets absorbed by trees, reefs and other natural processes. On average, each tree sequesters 1 ton of carbon over a five-year period. We planted koa, wiliwili, alahee, lama and aalii. It’s a natural solution to a human-made cause.” “Of course, we need to reduce our carbon footprint, so to speak, but that is not enough,” said Sato, who began the center’s Ola Na Kini tree-planting initiative to help with native forest restoration, erosion control and cultural resource preservation.“Trees have the ability to absorb the carbon that we produce through our daily lives. They also provided the plants, some of which took a year to grow just several inches. Malama Learning Center’s Pauline Sato and three others - Hekili Lani, Makanani Anuhealii and Jahnna Kahele-Madali - lent their guidance and experienced hands. We woke up the next day sore, but satisfied. Clearing the invasive weeds and getting a shovel through the hard clay was no joke. And it is not only doable, it is very easy as we demonstrated last Friday.” “Offsetting our carbon emissions via restoring native ecosystems is such a responsibility today,” Mora said. Should Hawaii Tax Carbon Emissions To Combat Climate Change? February 11, 2019 It’s a record we hope falls soon, though. Teams compete to see how many trees they can plant in one outing there or at one of the other sites around Oahu, such as Hamakua Marsh in Kailua or Ala Mahamoe by Tripler Hospital.Ĭivil Beat set a new record by planting 100 trees, besting the previous leaders by a single sapling. University of Hawaii climate scientist Camilo Mora set up our day of digging in the dirt at Palehua Camp as part of his Carbon Neutrality Challenge. It doesn’t magically erase our carbon footprint, but it does help neutralize it. Last week, a group of us planted native trees on the west side of Oahu to soak up at least a chunk of those greenhouse gases. Civil Beat competed in the Carbon Neutrality Challenge, planting 100 native trees at Palehua Camp on the westside of Oahu to offset some of our greenhouse gas emissions. But we’re trying to do something about it beyond biking more, eating less meat, using public transit and switching to electric and hybrid vehicles. That’s a lot of carbon dioxide we’re emitting into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Reporting the news can take its toll on the planet.Ĭivil Beat staffers drive to cover meetings and conduct interviews, fly to investigate stories and attend journalism conferences, and work out of a comfortable air-conditioned office.
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