Research Proposal on "Global Change Science the Negative Effects"

Research Proposal 12 pages (3243 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Global Change Science

The negative effects of road surfaces on local, regional, and national ecosystems is empirically evidenced and a large contributing factor to the increasingly large carbon footprint of developed nations (Switalski, et al. 2004). The use of primarily asphalt and tar-based paving techniques though providing an effective road surface is damaging not only in the retention of solar radiation which raises the internal temperature of the earth, but also in the associated chemical run off, and necessary disruption of existing vegetation and animal life (Forman, 1999). The impact of human manufacturing and agricultural business on the climate is seemingly an inevitability of civilization. However, there are areas of waste which can be limited or repurposed granted initially at an expense, but ultimately beneficial in the long-term not only for individual nations, but also for the global environment as well (Switalski, et al. 2004).

Road surfaces are composed primarily of tar and asphalt-based pavement. This static substance leaches harmful toxins such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the soil and ground water not only as a result of asphalt's inherent chemical makeup but also as a result of the interaction with vehicles and their associated waste (Kosson, et al. 2002). Further, when road surfaces must be replaced approximately once every ten years, there are large tracts of road material which must either be reused or disposed of spreading the effects of such toxins further than road ways and surrounding areas but into landfills and playgrounds where it may potentially come in direct contact with community water tables or even children an

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Using alternative paving materials, while still utilizing the highly inorganic and ecologically disruptive method of "paving" is counterproductive in that the inherent problems with road surface is as much its construction as its chemical composition (Reid, 2000). There is enough paved roadway in the United States alone to drive to the moon and back again. This incomprehensibly large space serves no other purpose than the conveyance of human beings and goods from one point to another (Reid, 2000). While transportation is vital to the successful continuation of human progress, the method by which that transportation is achieved is constrained only by efficacy and imagination.

Currently, there are technologies in development which will allow for the collection of heat energy from paved roads not only for the purposes of contributing to the national grid (through thermoelectric generation) but also for the purposes of preventing ice forming within the road beds during winter (Switalski, et al. 2004). Additionally, piezoelectric devices can convert the pressure of cars driving over the road surface directly into electricity. Finally there is also a great deal of research going into the use of alternate materials which can be used to minimize the negative effects of leaching and ecological disruption (Forman & Deblinger, 2000).

This research independently may aid in the attainment of energy efficiency and environmental protection goals. However, each of these projects is being conducted independent of each other. What this study proposes is a combination of existing and yet to be developed road surface technologies and construction techniques which would capitalize on the inherent energy transfer between both cars and the road surface, as well as the sun and the road surface. This in combination with a more effective and dynamic containment matrix may ultimately not only have a long-term positive impact on the environment but also on the immediate ecological systems surrounding the road surface. I propose to test heat sensor receptor panels utilizing both solar and pressure energy in combination with a reclaimed rubber pellet bed and in a natural vegetation matrix.

Introduction

The need for improved road surface and road construction is apparent not only in the sheer number of automobiles passing along those roads but also the extremely negative environmental effects of inorganic structures which cover an area roughly equivalent to the size of South Carolina (Forman & Alexander, 1998). Agriculture and manufacturing are necessary industries and currently the dependence on oil which is no longer abundant in North America makes disasters like the BP oil spill and the Exxon Valdez oil spill which devastate the ocean ecosystem and severely disrupt carbon cycling through marine ecosystems an inevitability. Though altering the construction and surface of the road is a somewhat indirect approach to addressing global change, the tangential effects of making even small changes in this huge system will have highly significant positive consequences in the pursuit of developing planetary homeostasis where human needs as well as environmental concerns are equally balanced .

The road surface and bed design itself will be divided into three discrete sections. The base layer which is typically ash or other waste material will instead be tightly packed reclaimed rubber pellets. These pellets will be held in place by hard rubber barriers laid along the length of the road. The use of reclaimed rubber in place of ash, slag, or broken concrete will allow for more effective drainage as well as allowing for the natural thawing and freezing cycles without resulting in the characteristic stress fractures in static materials such as concrete and asphalt. Further, rubber will allow for less negative effects of the leaching of harmful chemicals as well as the effect of natural vegetation forcing its way up through static asphalt.

The second layer will comprise of the various electrical conduits connecting each individual tile energy collection points along the length of the road surface. Though this will entail a disruption of the ecological system by building charge stations at intervals along road surfaces (ideally, fitted within existing highway service stations) the more environmentally friendly materials will ultimately work in concert with eco systems developing road works which actively work towards fuel independence as well as a healthier ecosystem. Waterproofing of the conduits and individual tiles will be necessary to ensure the integrity of the various electrical components. The conduits though more so than conducting collected heat and energy will also fix the tiles in place ensuring that when bearing the at times unevenly distributed load of vehicles they will not move or shift in unsafe manners.

The final component of this system is the actual road surface. This will be composed of solar and pressure heat collection tiles separated by a matrix of organic vegetation. Though vegetation in the road surface is extremely problematic in terms of traditional road surfaces, in the context of this new and innovative roadway solution it will provide a dual purpose. Using small sections of organic matter such as moss between the tiles will allow for carbon scrubbing from the exhaust of vehicles as well as allowing for more effective draining of the road surface as well as making it relatively impervious to freezing thawing cycles.

The entirety of this new road structure would be bounded on either side by hard rubber walls which would force the rubber pellets to remain tightly packed beneath the conduits. The use of rubber again as opposed to a more static substance again addresses the issue of a road surface needing to be able to shift, expand, and contract sometimes significant distances. In the heat of summer, bridges with a great deal of road surface have been known to expand as much as an entire kilometer in either direction. While this kind of shifting and expansion would be devastating to a static material, rubber would simply flex allowing the expansion without any perceptible change in the integrity or stability of the road itself.

The proposed new road structure would not only contribute to the national grid as well as furthering the realistic proliferation of truly electric cars, but it would also contribute to the national grid allowing the United States not only to reduce its carbon footprint but also reducing it's dependence on foreign oil. The global change implications of conversion of all U.S. roadway to roadway such as that proposed above are enormous.

In the United States and Canada people drive more than any other continent. North America as a continent also has more road surface than any other continent on earth. The carbon emissions alone from the United States motor vehicles are an estimated 268 grams per kilometer (Grimmond, 2007). That is higher than any other country in the world. Incorporating organic CO2 scrubbing materials into the road surface may greatly reduce the impact not only of individual vehicles but may also put the solar radiation which asphalt and tar absorb to better use.

The impact of road systems on the environment is larger simply than the contribution to the human carbon footprint. Road ways, and the methods by which they are constructed result in far reaching consequences for ecosystems both in the immediate vicinity of the roadway and even those tangentially connected via streams and food chains (Forman, 1999). In order to lay a road, land must be cleared of vegetation and wildlife. This disruption to the homeostatic balance of an environment affects all living organisms within that environment (Forman & Deblinger, 2000).… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Global Change Science the Negative Effects" Assignment:

“

Identify an unresolved, original scientific

question within global change science that has significant implications for

policy and to propose a project to address it. (This is NOT a term paper) The

proposal must include a detailed description of the methods to be used to

answer this question (experiments, observations, an*****s, etc.). The

problem must be significant yet tractable, and the proposed approach to

solving it must be reasonable in terms of chances for success.

Must have a focused approach to a specific problem - not a description of how to solve

all outstanding issues with several trillion dollars.

The topic of the proposal is open ***** it can be anything broadly related to

global change. The only limitation is that it must contain a human dimension

***** something that can relate to an impact on society, and that would provide

guidance in how to deal with that impact (i.e. a policy). It must represent an unresolved scientific issue, towards which the project will make an original scientific contribution.

The proposal should accomplish several goals:

-identify an unresolved scientific question, relevant to global change

science and to policy

-describe the scientific background in sufficient detail to (1) motivate

the proposed research question, and (2) show command of the subject

and methods, and familiarity with recent relevant research

-propose in detail a strategy to address this question (your method:

experiments, observations, modeling, etc.)

-discuss the broader implications of the proposed research with respect

to environmental policy (how will your answers be used?)

The proposal should contain the following sections (the page lengths are a

rough guide for how to allocate effort; the 10 page guide refers to sections 2, 3, and 4 below:

1. A stand-alone Project Summary (1 page, single-spaced). The summary

should be readable in isolation from the rest of the proposal, and

should give a concise statement of the research question, the methods

you will use to address it, and its significance; (in National Science

Foundation grants, the project summary is made publicly available).

2. Main Text (10 pages not including figures), with the following sections:

o An Introduction that gives sufficient background to place the

research in scientific and societal context (~3-4 pages, double-spaced);

o A Project Description of the proposed work (how to address the problem, ~4-5 pages, double-spaced), and

o A Conclusion that describes the significance of proposed

research and expected outcomes (including how the project will

affect policy or societal issues, ~1-2 pages, double spaced).

3. A budget. (~1 page, not included in the 10 pages of main text).

4. A Literature Cited section. (no page limit, also not included in the 10

pages of main text). The proposal should draw on original scientific

publications and not just websites, although high-quality websites can

be cited (epa.gov, etc.). The proposal should be fully referenced in scientific format *****

that is, not with footnotes but by the author*****s name and year of the

publication. Example: (Schlesinger, 1999) or Schlesinger (1999)

depending on whether the author*****s name is used explicitly in the

sentence.

include 2-3 relevant figures that illustrate key points and ideas

These should be specific to the proposed work - not general global change figures, but data that supports

ideas or maps with relevant information. Note that the project

summary is 1 page single-spaced; the remaining lengths are based on

double spacing.

Please do not make this a research paper. It is a research proposal. Another

direction to avoid is to propose a policy to *****"solve*****" an environmental problem without describing the scientific research

needed to evaluate whether the policy is appropriate.

Ideal length is approximately 13 pages including a summary(one page) and 2-3 well-chosen figures (one page). about 3000 words. an approximate budget (one page), and a scientifically formatted bibliography.

A note on the budget requirement: Don*****'t worry about exact numbers,

but try to be thorough. Identify how long the project will take to

complete, including write-up of results (typical: 1-3 years). Please budget by

categories such as the following: salary (don*****'t forget to pay yourself! How

many months per year will you devote to this?), travel, analytical expenses

(e.g. isotopic an*****s at $10 per sample), equipment/materials costs, etc.

Please do not budget by tasks (e.g. *****"statistical analysis of data,*****" *****"sampling

of forest biomass and analysis of nutrients,*****" etc.). Presumably project personnel would be paid to

handle tasks, but these should be budgeted as salaries.

THIS PROPOSAL WILL BE SUBMITTED THROUGH TURNITIN.COM. MUST BE >95% ORIGINAL.

How to Reference "Global Change Science the Negative Effects" Research Proposal in a Bibliography

“Global Change Science the Negative Effects.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2010, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/global-change-science-negative/3111155. Accessed 3 Jul 2024.

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