Balancing the Carbon Gap

Busy at the Reserve

NTC's Nature Reserve is an ideal place to tackle the problem of CO2. But wait, do we know why CO2 is a problem?

It's not all bad. carbon dioxide stops the planet form freezing. As a greenhouse gas, CO2 radiates heat. Too little and the planet's temperature shrinks, too much and it rises. The problem of CO2 is not just heat impacting. The gas dissolves in water. Naturally, many tonnes of CO2 is absorbed into the Earth's oceans. That sounds like a way to dispose of the excess. However, in dissolving into the oceans this causes the acidity of water to increase. This then erodes the ability of molluscs and other sea creatures to build shells and skeletons. Similarly, coral reefs are affected. Being essentially limestone, a coral reef is at best slowed and at worst eroded by acidic sea water.

So, back to our Nature Reserve. One major way to capture excess CO2 is through tree planting. Providing you do not cut and burn the trees, the carbon is only slowly released when the tree dies. Building with the wood ensures that the majority of the carbon remains captured.

To do our bit, the NTC community has spent many hours preparing the ground and, on the 25th November, planted several hundred trees. A mammoth task was achieved in one day - planting of 84 metres of trees in one strip. Alongside the carbon benefits, the trees will go on to provide habitat and food for a range of flora and fauna. Our students and staff did not stop there, the cherry and apple orchards have been tidied and restocked with several dozen new trees. An area has been set aside to plant a copse in memory of one of our staff.

The work is not yet complete. Of our 500+ trees, we have approximately 100 left. These will be handled by Mr Brown and Forest School students.

Here's a plan of where the new trees have been placed and some action shots from the 25th November.

Clicking on an image will create a navigable gallery

NTC at the Houses of Parliament

Continuing our commitment to sustainability, 4 students Miss Ball and Mr Ray were invited to the Houses of Parliament on the 14th November. The purpose of the invite was to debate climate change with sitting MPS. Policy makers facing a grilling were Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat Climate Change Spokesperson, Alex Norris, Labour (Co-op) MP for Nottingham North and Shadow Levelling-up Minister, and Phillip Dunne, Conservative MP for Ludlow and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.

Climate change, sustainability and biodiversity loss are geographic issues that go hand in hand, and impact people and the environment at a variety of levels; locally, nationally and internationally. Our Geography students who attended this event and engaged in conversation and debate with the Climate Change Select Committee demonstrated the passion they have for the subject and for holding decision-makers to account to tackle this huge global issue.

Here's the views of those involved: 

It was an incredible opportunity for us to be able to raise important issues to people in power who actually have the ability to make a genuine difference. I think it was important for us to do it as it is an issue that is likely to have a great impact on me and people of my generation for the foreseeable future and this was a chance to get a proper insight and gain awareness for any future plans that are being made in an attempt to rectify the damage that has been done to the planet.                                                                                                                         Cassius D, Y13

The experience was really interesting. We were given a tour of the Houses of Parliament where we visited the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which was really informative and interesting. We then had the opportunity to speak to different MPs and question them on the important issues of climate change and how the government planned to address them. This was a really valuable experience hearing how each MP's views and opinions differed.                                                                                                                                   Louis P, Y13

The issues that we raised are very important and will affect everyone in the future. It was good that we younger people were able to voice our concerns and issues to the government through the climate change select committee. It was also good to know that the government is listening to what we are doing and taking some of our concerns on board and raising them to the whole of government and doing their own investigating issue on their own.                                                                                                                                                                                              Ben A, Y12

t was a great experience getting to talk with the MP’s about a very important topic that is affecting us and future generations to come. It was a good idea to get the youth involved as climate change is ruining the Earth and is being damaged faster than it is being repaired. In our school we are planning to plant 420 trees in our own Nature Reserve, where we are hoping to make a difference because everybody has to start somewhere and do our bit to make a change.                                                                                                                                                                Ben F, Y12

Part of the action was captured in the Houses of Parliament in this video

What a day that was