Just a few days ago, on August 19, the New York Times published an article previewing the work of the International Panel on Climate Change. This panel was made up of several hundred (!) scientists, working under the aegis of the United Nations, and includes some Nobel Prize winners. The upcoming report is the fifth time that the panel has published a report since 1988, and the news is not good. Basically, the panel rebukes those who doubt climate change, or speak of the process slowing down. The panel states that temperatures are continuing to rise in many areas. So are ocean levels. In fact, this huge committee reached consensus on stating that sea levels have the potential to rise more than three feet by the year 2100. This level of change would flood major cities across the globe, including Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Boston. Not to mention Shanghai, Venice, Sydney, and London.
What's striking about this report is that for the first time, the panel members laid the blame on us. The report states that human activities, particularly those resulting in increased emissions, are the principle cause of the climate changes being observed and recorded. What are those changes? Well, carbon dioxide levels, up 41% since the end of the 19th century, have increased at a faster rate in the past 20 years than has ever been seen in human history (at least as far as we can tell using ice core samples retrieved in the arctic and antarctic - I'll talk a bit more about this in class). And if you were born after April 1985, as all of you were, you have never experienced a single month of "below average" temperature.
Think about that for a second. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (our country's main weather and sea conditions information source) reports that 2012 was the warmest year - ever. (I'm assuming that they are referring to "ever" in the sense of human history. My guess is that the earth was a lot warming when the dinosaurs were roaming around the planet chomping on 30 foot tall ferns).
The main concern is that every increase, every single degree of temperature, adds a tremendous amount of heat energy to the planet. This energy has an exponential effect on other systems. This means that a 1X increase will cause a 10X increase in say, ocean temperatures, that would then cause a 100X increase in something else. Looking at things exponentially, the possibility that human activities may lead to an increase in temperature of up to 5 degrees in the coming 200 years has the potential to be catastrophic. We may not be around to be effected by its full impact, but is that the type of environment we want to leave to our children's children?
Every major scientific academy in the world, or at least 99.8% of them, agree that climate change is real and that it is happening now. Some scientists however question the role of mankind and human activities in creating this situation (or at least, in making it worse). There seems to be consensus that the panel has tried to be conservative in their predictions. In fact, they have even laid out some scenarios in which the temperature and sea level increases might be bad, though not nearly as catastrophic as many think. What to do, what to do.
Well - what should we do? How should we react to this news?
I invite you to watch the video clip that I have embedded below, titled "The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See". It's a 9 1/2 minute long lectur-ette (not counting whatever ad YouTube as in front of it which I encourage you to skip!) and well worth seeing. After you watch the video, I'd like you to reflect on what I wrote, and what was presented in the video. After thinking about for several minutes, I'd like you to post a comment on the blog that reflects your personal response to the question: "What should we do?". One paragraph to relate your response to the video, and another with your top 3 choices about changes that you, or all of us, can make in our lifestyles right now to help things out a bit.
Because, the thought of doing nothing at all is, frankly, terrifying.
Interesting way of laying it out. I think the only real flaw here is that so many people are entirely satisfied with their own assumptions of the future and absorbed in their own decisions about what they're willing to believe. Not even a message as reasonable and heartfelt as thiscan get through to them. "Nah, I'll just let someone else save the world". Anyway, on to the question. It's difficult to come up with an answer , because although the obvious choice is to start implementing drastic changes now, the people with great power in this world depend on the way things are currently to keep it that way. Those that try to create alternatives don't have the resources they need to make change. For example, electric cars are now an option, but several factors are stopping a match from igniting change in our culture. No one will buy these electric cars because they're just too expensive. The manufacturers don't have the resources to make their ideas available to everyone. And besides that, people are stubborn, and difficult to wink over. Who wants to throw out their current car and invest into an expensive alternative that they are unfamiliar with? No one does. What needs to happen to ignite change is for higher powers, the moneymakers and CEOs to change their tactics and take risks with better alternatives. Another example is alternative energy forms. Although systems like wind turbines provide great sustainable energy, no one wants to invest when places like Vermont Yankee are just down the road already providing lots of energy. The longer everyone is comfortable with living the illusion that everything is fine the way it's being done, the sicker the earth will become, and there's no end is sight to piercing this illusion. Even videos such as this have little power in changing minds. The only way to change now is to take action and just start.
ReplyDeleteThe 3 keys to turning this around I believe are
Finding sustainable and renewable energy,
recyclerecyclerecyclerecyclerecycle
and the 3rd may seem drastic but we need to face the grim truth that their are too many people as it is on the earth and the exponential growth is leading to exponential consequences. I honestly believe a temporary genophage needs to be implemented on the human race, because we MUST drop the populationto a reasonable level. This is key to our planet's race, so 50 years or so of denying a new greener action will aid in the future of our entire race.
Rant mode off.
Also, strange sounding parts of this are most likely because of autocorrect, not I.
DeleteActually, the Yankee Nuclear Plant has officially been decommissioned. Now we just have to hope that they are smart enough to dispose of the uranium cells properly. If not, all that waste will come right up the Connecticut Valley.
DeleteSecondly, the electric cars business is money yes, but it also has to do with economics. If the gas prices skyrocket, the public is much more likely to consider buying a Prius. Though, when the gas prices drop again, they'll just stick to their surburban because they are happy with the horrible gas mileage if the prices are low. People have to start thinking in the long run, because the gas prices will obviously rise again, not depending if you have a Prius or not. People....just buy the goddamn Prius and save money and be gentler on the earth at the same time.
It's not that simple but the general public doesn't know enough to know that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThanks for this "first" response Brendan! Yes, people do tend to see the future based on their own values and assumptions (as we saw in that old postcard of "White River Junction In The Future") I guess I'd frame the issue as needing to get people to change their assumptions, by challenging them. Hopefully, electric cars will follow the patterns of other "new technologies" that were introduced. My first calculator (we're talking 1970 here) performed basic math functions and cost $150. Today, you can a much, much more powerful calculator for a quarter of the price. As more people trust and purchase electric cares, their price should come down. But where does the electricity come from?
DeleteYes, as Audrey notes, Yankee Nuclear will be closed down in 2014 - although, as Audrey said, the disposal of the materials will be an ongoing process for quite some time.
Global warming is indeed, very real. My favorite viewpoints on how to decrease climate change are: sustainable, green energy and waste management. Yes there is a huge partially floating mass of trash bigger than Texas. But what about the barrels of nuclear waste and trash sunken off the coast of California? We just used to think that that was an okay method of disposal. What it comes down to in the end is awareness. The more aware people are, the more of a chance we have of slowing down the carbon emissions. Slowing down the process is honestly the best thing we can hope for. (We've sadly already passed the "tipping point" of 350 ppm.)
ReplyDeleteAnother very important argument is the lack of fresh water that we could face in 50 or so years. There are some theories that the next war is going to be over water. Water is going to become money, the way to get a foothold in the changing world. Basically we need to take action now before the situation reaches fatal. (The fact that the world is becoming not habitable for bees just means that the carbon emissions will soon be fatal for us.)
Recycle, be green, use less plastic, create less waste in general. RECYCLE, use efficient energy. Solar panels are becoming increasingly more available to the public (cheaper). Wind turbines are big, efficient way to create "green" energy. Wind turbines are cheap and use an inexhaustible source of energy. It may take a lot of resources to create an 100 ft wind turbine but the argument is between a wind farm in, say, Vermont or some oil stacks in Ohio. The argument is NOT between a wind farm and nothing. Other options for sustainable energy are geothermal (very effective though extremely expensive), solar thermal (effective more so in a place like Miami or California), steam chillers (not so known about), and obviously solar power.
One thing that made me proud to live in New Hampshire was the establishment of the Green Yards Program. The program dictates rules for a clean way to recycle old cars in salvage yards. Making sure that salvage yards drain their cars on an impermeable surface and things like that. Making sure that everything is recycled properly, it's really very helpful (Vermont just established their program in recent years).
There are much more ways to help the environment and many more ideas to be aware about but I would have to write a novel to state all my points. These are just some ideas that I think about frequently.
I think that the video only touches the surface of ways to think about it. Relatable, though not the most helpful. People just need to realize this problem, get over themselves, and fight for a better tomorrow.
DeleteHmmm - didn't know about the Green Yards program - that's pretty cool! Wish I had known when I got rid of an old Subaru this past summer.
DeleteSlowing down the process would be very beneficial. In order to do that, we would probably need to slow down the pace of growth in global population. Can that be done? I don't know -
The Hunger Games.
Deleteyum-yum
DeleteGlobal warming is definitely not real. The earth goes through cycles. of warming and has been since the last ice age. The ocean rising causes an issue but until a solution is found the current status will remain. Freakonomics says there is a potential way to cool the ocean.
ReplyDeletehttp://freakonomics.com/2012/11/06/another-look-at-an-unorthodox-hurricane-prevention-idea/
-Richard Parshall
Thanks for clarifying this in our later conversation Richard! I now understand that you believe that global warming/climate change is real, and that it has gone through natural cycles but human activities may be responsible for speeding things up.
DeleteAnd all evidence does in fact point in that direction.
The earth's temperature fluctuates on a tectonic scale meaning hundreds of millions of years. Humans are responsible for speeding the process up exponentially!
DeleteWell - I hope that it's not exponential (+10 degrees, +100 degrees, +1000 degrees etc.) but there certainly seems to be overwhelming consensus that human activities during the past 50 years have increased the patterns of warming at a speed, and on a scale, never before recorded in geologic recorded history.
DeleteClimate change, global warming, earth cycles, or as I prefer to think of it, Global Weirding, the fact remains that the Earth is changing more rapidly than ever from what we can tell. This is a bit of a problem. The planet is changing every day and the longer we as a species delay action the worse the outcome. Our society is so full of greed and close minded to the facts that stare them in the face everyday. Record high temperatures, an increase in massive storms, hurricanes and tropical storms is not something to be brushed aside with no concern. Our species is most definitely to blame. We have created huge disasters that would never have taken place if we were not here. Huge oil spills in the ocean killing wildlife and endangering others that once thrived. Everywhere on earth there is immense rapid change taking place, faster that it should be.
ReplyDeleteThe money that is needed to address this matter is nothing compared with the cost of making a mistake and saying that one global weirding isnt real and lets not try and do something now! Something needs to be done right now and not in the next 20 years, by then the consequences will be even more severe. The longer we wait the worse our situation becomes. At the rate that the world is taking to respond to this global problem is far to slow. Everyone is going to be affected. The world will not be a pleasant place to live if we dont act soon. I guess people arent responding very quickly because the change is still very slow and we think it wont affect us very much and since our lives are tiny in comparison to the earths we have no experience of how fast the earth should be changing. However, science does show us that what is happening is not normal.
In our everyday lives we need to stop filling the land fills and start recycling everything that can be recycled and composting so food that is biodegradable isnt going into the land fills. Also stop polluting the air with so much gasoline. There is a limited amount of fossil fuel available and it is likely to run out in the next 15 to 20 years so we might as well start using and finding other ways to power things. Electricity! Electric cars are incredible and they are a fabulous idea. If the giant car companies weren't so greedy and if they didnt have such a big influence over the government then we might all be driving electric cars today. The movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" is incredibly eye opening about all that. Another thing that we can do in our daily lives is to not eat so much processed food and also massed produced meat is incredibly unhealthy not to mention the affect farming beef cattle in mass quantities has on the environment. Local organic farms are the way to go. Also fish from the ocean like sword fish and tuna are becoming smaller and smaller and also less common. Tuna is no longer the chicken of the sea. These fish have been fished out so much that they dont have enough time to mature and reproduce and then grow to maximum size. The food industry is fraught with these kinds of problems. Know where your food comes from and if it is something that was environmentally raised. There are some fish that can be grown that are eco friendly to raise and grow very fast, unlike the tuna, sword fish and other fish that are commonly eaten, and also taste good. I added a link below about eco friendly food and stuff like that. The way we eat has a huge affect on the environment. Also take 5 minute showers.
Eco friendly food
http://ecofriendly.com/
Sadie, you've touched on some very important points, including some that are very near and dear to me (the overfishing of the oceans). Raising the moral issue of "greed" is both interesting, and potentially inflammatory! Is it greedy to want to own a private home on a private piece of property? Is it greedy to want a car/private transportation? Is it greedy for those in less developed countries to now seek those things for themselves? Or do we say - no, not at this point - the earth can't take any more?
Delete
ReplyDeleteMy original response is too long, so hopefully I can fit it in multiple comments....
The role that climate change will play in the next 200 years is astounding. I recently read an article in National Geographic about the melting of the ice caps, and how the sea levels will rise as a result of this occurrence. All of the low-lying areas along every single stretch of coastline will be submerged. Some beach-front towns, states, and even whole islands will be submerged after the complete melt of the polar ice caps.
Many people have argued, discussed, and even denied the existence of global warming and the role that the human race plays on the environment around us. I believe that the human race has played a major part in the current climate crisis, but is not 100% responsible. One of my main reason for this, is that I once read an article (Unfortunately, it was a few years ago and I cannot remember who wrote it, NPR maybe) that was based on the information that was collected by the Mars Rovers. The average temperature on Mars is also increasing, though not at the same pace as the increase on Earth.
Unless the few Mars Rovers roaming the Red Planet’s surface produce the same amount of pollution as 7 Billion humans, there must be another source that is contributing to the climate change that is affecting the world we live in today. I do not doubt that humans have been a part of climate change, but not necessarily the sole cause.
NOAA’s report about 2012 does not surprise me, and I would not be surprised if in a few more years that record-high is broken again. The population on Earth has been increasing exponentially, and with that comes the increase in all the pollutants that are in the air, which build up the Greenhouse Gasses and cause more and more heat to be trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere.
One of the main topics that I will be thinking about most during Environmental Science will be the following: the current ‘population explosion’ needs to be stopped. Earth can only hold so many inhabitants, and soon we will reach the tipping point. When that happens, there will not be enough food, clean water, jobs, and homes for everyone. If this happens, then the population will (presumably) start to shrink back to a more average size.
I base my hypothesis in the above paragraph on what I learned from middle school science at WRVS. In all ecosystems, there are relationships that are based on a balance of animals in that ecosystem. For instance, when the population of, let’s say, mice in my barn, increases, there will be more prey/food for my cat, Saladin, to hunt. Soon more cats will come and kill more of the mice, which will lead to a food shortage that will cause the cats to die/move/vanish. There must always be an adequate food source for a population, or that population will die off until their numbers are appropriate for the food available to them.
My little cat-mouse example is not that great, but it gets the point across. Once the human race has reached it’s ‘tipping point’, then we will begin to slowly decline and reduce the rate of impact on this world. Nature has a way of keeping things in balance, and I have no doubt that this balancing technique will affect the human race eventually, no matter how advanced we become.
When it comes to alternative energy, I could go on for hours, but I will quickly state my opinion. I am very glad that the plans for the closing of Vermont Yankee made a monumental leap this week, and hopefully the plant will be closed within a few years. In my opinion, I would rather have nuclear power than coal/fossil fuel power, but that opinion is not shared by many, due to the ‘recent’ disasters at the nuclear plant in Japan and the Chernobyl incident. Solar, in it’s current form, appears to be inefficient, and does not have the capacity to supply the amount of power required for the current population. Eventually, a solution will emerge that is adequate for the current issues.
CONTINUING---Electric cars, AKA a mixed blessing. I have seen a lot of commercials for those “plug-in” cars. You know the ones, where the perfect family is out on the swing set in the backyard while the small compact car charges in the garage, plugged into an outlet. I’m sorry, but where is that energy coming from? Not directly from gas in the gas tank, but from the local power station. Chances are, that power station is not a solar farm, and produces pollution just like a regular gas car will (chances are, not as much, but still.)
DeleteElectric cars have been around for a long time. Not many people realize this, but they have actually been around for longer than gas powered cars. Not that far before the first internal combustion engine, a select few electric cars were made. I do not know how they were charged, perhaps by a local mill with the classic wooden wheel turning in the river. They were going to be a success, but soon after they were invented, the first internal combustion engine came onto the market. People thought that gasoline would never run out, and they obviously never considered the climate. Without these concerns, the internal combustion engine quickly squashed the rival electric engine. The internal combustion engine offered more power, faster speed, with smoother handling, and that was all people seemed to care about at the time. I wonder what the world would look like today if we had chosen electric engines over internal combustion engines... We will never know.
Recycling is good. My old middle school started a compost and recycling program after years of not having one. I was lucky enough to be one of the founding members of that program, and wrote an article about WRVS’ recycling/composting program that was printed in the Journal Opinion back in 2009-2010. Now, the school’s waste has been reduced drastically, and the compost is sold to local farms in the area, bringing in more money for the school to spend on education.
I sadly do not have time to proof-read this response, so I hope my response writing skills have not diminished over the summer.
-Nic Buonanduci
Interesting response Nic, and one that requires a response of equal length and breadth - but not here, not now! Let me respond to one major point you raise however, the natural ("Malthusean") cycle of predator/prey that you learned about at WRVS. That balance - numerous predators leading to decrease of prey, leading to loss of food and decrease in predators allowing the prey population to rebound - is applicable to all species except one. Humans. Humans have continually taken without allowing populations to replenish. They have hunted, increased the size of their ocean trawling nets, and deforested mercilessly throughout history. I strongly recommend the fantasy/fable Ishmael by Daniel Quinn which lays this scenario out beautifully. (And no, your writing skills have certainly not diminished over the summer!)
DeleteHere's my PS - I too, had been a cautious advocate of nuclear power (little known fact) but recent revelations about the extent of damage and contamination/leakage at the Fukushima plant has definitely given me pause.
DeleteRecycling is good, as others have noted as well. But in many instances, more material is being recycled than the market can use/sell. How do we recycle the recyclables that cannot be recycled?
There is no way to logically deny that global warming does not exist. It's honestly impossible. The video shows its viewers in both the yes and no columns for "true" that there are two financial options that the world can take in global climate control. Unfortunately or fortunately in this case, the world runs on money. Countries can either budget existing programs and research to slow or halt the current climate issues or they can be ignored and the earth's health and resources can deplete and eventually run out, thus leading to an extreme economic downturn as well as the other catastrophes the video points out. I would think that, ideally, the world would favor the first option. However, this financial aspect of climate control is bigger than you or I. There needs to be a stronger push within the governments of countries to start bettering the conditions both within those specific countries as well as globally. These pushes need to start now, though. They should have started years ago.
ReplyDeleteFor you and I, there needs to be some level of personal action. Most of the posts above mine state that we need to be green in whatever ways that are possible for us. While some people may not be able to afford solar panels right away or, for whatever reason, may never purchase one, they can still make steps in the right direction with simple actions such as recycling and composting.
Change should start within your own home and the way you function as a consumer. The problem with this is that not everyone can afford to buy locally or organically and low income families often have strict budgets or struggle with even providing in the first place. Fortunately there are other things that can be done such as taking shorter showers, making sure those around you do not litter, using public transportation when it’s available, and a number of other cheap or costless actions.
Bayley, you raise a good point: being Green is neither easy not is it cheap! While we can all make personal decisions and choices in our lives, eating local, organic food and buying hybrid vehicles may not be in every one's grasp. As you say, we should each make the best possible choice given the options that appear reasonable to us.
DeleteThis video encourages us all to take action on reversing climate change and emphasizes the fact that we need to work quickly because there is only a limited time before it is too late. My opinion is that the world needs to take action to help stop global warming because the positive costs of taking action outweigh the negative costs of ignoring the problem. Everyone needs to alter their lives to make them more environmentally friendly, realizing that even the smallest changes make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways that human beings could partake in the effort of reversing global warming. One way to help stop this process is to limit how much we drive. Finding alternate ways of transportation like riding bikes, taking subways, or carpooling all help limit the amount of carbon dioxide that is being emitted into the atmosphere. People are too mindless about how much they drive and should be conscious about how much they use their cars, and for example not drive twenty minutes into Hanover just to get a coffee. Another change couples in particular should make is to be mindful of how many children they will have. There are already too many people on this earth and not enough resources. If the world’s population continues to grow at this rate then there will be a shortage of necessities like food and water and not enough space to accommodate everyone. Another change that needs to be made is that people must limit the amount of houses being built. We only have so much land and there will be no more of the natural world if every family feels the need to build a new house and develop beautiful land that is often home to wildlife. People need to take greater efforts to preserve land by buying already lived in houses and by making an effort to put more land in the land trust.
Yes - although alternate transporation is more readily available in urban areas than rural ones. For those of us in VT/NH, long drives from small rural towns to larger communities (ie Hanover/Lebanon) may be the only way to gain emplyment.
DeleteThe one-child policy is a very tricky thing, as it involves the imposition of an external set of values on individual citizens - something that is not generally advocated for in this country! And Americans feel very distant from this issue of overpopulation - while the two coasts are densely populated, the huge swath of land in the mid-west and western states still contains open expanses on un-populated areas. Perhaps we should check-in with our students from China to get some historical perspective on their country's experience with a one-child policy?
I think that what needs to be done first and foremost is that public awareness about the immense threat of climate change needs to be raised. The people who have the power to get things done in this country are the politicians and the people who elect them are us. That really puts the power and responsibility to act in our hands. If there was an outpouring of public demand for political movement against climate change (tougher regulations on factories, increased subsidies to green corporations, more money towards research for green technology, etc.) I have no doubt that climate change and what should be done to stop it would become a key issue at every election. But instead election after election comes and goes with climate change taking a backseat to issues such as jobs, the economy, and foreign relations. It is for this reason that I strongly agree with what the man in the video says towards the end about forwarding the video and trying to raise awareness. But I propose taking things one step further. I think we should organize peaceful protests and publicly demand more from our politicians on the issue of climate change. In history class, I watched the “Dream” speech, given by Martin Luther King, and the march on Washington and it made me realize just how powerful a large group of people is if it acts collectively. That, I believe, is what must be done if the issue of climate change is going to be solved. Nothing less than the billions of people the world over collectively acting together to solve climate change and push for further reform. As far as the rest of the video is concerned, I found it interesting but not exactly the perfect solution to the climate change argument that it was presented as at the beginning of the video. It arrived at the same conclusion that most scientists and many other people already have and I don’t think it would do much to convince a skeptic of climate change.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that I think we can all do is to simply reduce the amount of trash that we produce. The amount of waste that humans put into the environment is alarming and even if we fix climate change, trash will still be a pressing issue. But, on the bright side, the ways we can reduce our trash are very simple and easy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Reduce the amount of trash you produce by buying food or other products with packaging that produces less trash. Reuse by doing things like taking that plastic bag you just used to carry your snack and bringing it home and washing it out instead of throwing it away. Lastly, Recycle everything and anything that can be recycled and compost any food you don’t eat. While a bit old and cliché I still think that those are some of the best things that everyday people can do to save the environment. Another lifestyle change we could all make is to be more aware of our energy and water consumption in our homes. We’ve all heard many times not to leave the lights on when you exit a room, or not to leave the water running when you brush your teeth but, at least in my house, these things still occasionally happen. The third thing we could all do to help out the world is to be more mindful of the food that we eat. For example, when you buy eggs from a factory farm in the midwest it takes more energy to get the eggs to the supermarket when compared to buying locally grown eggs. While all of the above ways to improve the environment are probably ways that we have all heard of before I think that they are still very relevant. - Ian Mundy
I certainly agree on the need for increased public awareness, but how do we combat the apathy that goes along with knowing, but not caring? With increasing numbers of violent storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, as well as a steadily lengthening drought in the southwest, well, you'd think that people would "get it" by now.
DeleteThe trash issue, is of course critical, and perhaps that is something the class would like to take on as a class project? (And I'm all for purchasing local food/local eggs. And in fact if you would like to purchase some and bake a local cake for the class, I would applaud your effort of sustainability!)
What's happening to the planet right now is absolutely terrifying to say the least. I also can't help but feel extremely guilty because the way Americans tend to live out there lives, we're not doing anything to help. No matter how green and conscientious we are, we still do things everyday that are not healthy for Earth. But honestly, not to sound morbid, there's nothing we can do anymore. People have known for years that something was/is amiss on our planet, but we acted too late. The most we can do now is sit back and see for ourselves. Will the outcome be alright? Horrific? Wonderful? I know it's not my fault, of course, as our climate was first influenced by humans in the 19th century but...humans have misused and abused Earth in so many ways, just by driving to work or school or taking a shower and now... now who knows what will happen. I don't even know if it will be a bad thing really if our species is wiped out somehow. Is that a horrible thing to say? A little bit... but we deserve it in a way. We really do.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things we could do to spread awareness on the
ReplyDeletecontroversies of climate change is to share this video with many
others. If most of us chose to look to column "B" and ignore the
issues of climate change and global warming despite the cause of the
issues, than we are most likely going to be regretting it in the next
decade as the video shows.
Raising awareness to these issues is only the first step though. We
should also be using more alternative energy and conserving energy.
The little things definitely matter and make a difference after a long
time. Recycling as much as we can and throwing away less would be
ideal. I know from experience working in kitchens, there will be on
average 4-5 bags of garbage by the end of the day. I can't stand
seeing it all the time. Everyone is aware at this point about what
humans are doing to our environment everyday but there is a fine line
between being aware and taking action. Supporting local farms and
coops is always a good alternative.
I think that if there were more laws enforced on preventing pollution
and oil waste than that would help immensely as well. This is the most
important time to be conscious of how we can help global warming and
climate change, every little thing you do counts over time.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrifying news. The man in the video did an excellent job illustrating these choices and their consequences. I think this is what people need, something simple to illustrate a very complex problem. Many people, including myself, get confused with all the facts and opinions. In my mind it seems to be clear that Global Climate Change is occurring. From what I have heard, this could be wrong, at this point we may not be able to stop this process even if we all make drastic changes today. In my mind, and the man in the video, all we can really do is spread the word and make sure changes get made.
It also seems like some people are trying to make changes and develop techniques to slow Global Climate Change. Like this article: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/wave-goodbye-to-global-warming-gm-and-pesticides-29525621.html
This is about this new technology that energizes water, increasing crop production, size and quality. It does all this over satalite for only pennies per thousand gallons of water. In my mind we should be spreading the word and working to develop more technology to slow or stop this world change, even if by some miracle it doesn’t exist.
It is something that I haven't really thought about. The video starts off as "what if 'what's the worst that could happen?' didn't cut it anymore?" I try to shut off the lights when I leave my room as much as I can, when my phone is charged, I unplug it, I don't leave it in overnight, but I do it to save my parents money, not so much to save energy because what's the worst that could happen? But thinking about my kids and my kids kids could be in danger is something that's worth thinking about.
ReplyDeleteWith what I have been educated with so far, I can't help but believe that people, if haven't made it worse, aren't helping the Global Warming get better. A big problem that was pointed out in the video is that people don't like to spend money and people don't think about the future. I have heard my fair share of adults say, "I won't be around when it happens," but other people will. Even today, and especially down the road, people spend so much money because they haven't gone green, and yet, they're afraid to spend money for a short amount of time to save money over time.
When thinking about what the energy and environment, people think about the air we breathe in, but it goes so much deeper! Thinking about illnesses and depressions and hopelessness of the world is a scary thought, but the world is not too far gone to fix it. There isn't a single person I've heard of who hasn't spent money to make money. It has to happen. The environment is kind of like politics in the sense of there are many controversies and always will be, but in the end, it has to be fixed one way or another. The climate now isn't going to change tomorrow, but it didn't take a day to get where we are not, but looking at a geological time scale, it happened very quickly, in fact.
Rochelle Brown
ReplyDeleteI find interesting that by 2100 major cities could start to flood from climate change. With temperature rising and glaciers melting water could rise up to three feet. Already there is more water than land but with climate change is possible that water could rise so much that it could cover all the land? That Earth could become a planet of just water And with the proof of water rising and temperature going up especially in Summer of 2012, why wouldn’t people want to take action? For I believe that climate change is real, and it’s happening.
In the video it shows that if we did take action, and that climate change wasn’t real it would lead to a loss of lot money. But I feel that we need to take action and protect this planet. Despite the money risk, we only have one planet, we can’t go anywhere else, so I don’t think we should take the risk of destroying our only plant. Also if we didn’t take action and climate change was true it could be consider the end of the world. It may be a big risk but I believe we all need to take action before it’s too late.
After spending the summer at a hippy farm (Cedar Circle Farm) and sitting through monotonous lectures from the owner of the farm, I have become increasingly aware regarding the entire climate situation. It’s almost impossible to fathom a world decimated because of our carelessness. As other classmates stated, this video has put things into a much more elementary perspective in which the world has been presented with really only two options; spend the time and money to adapt our societies or continue living like we are now and hope for the best. I feel like earth is at the tipping point where we can doing something about this issue. Sooner than expected have these issues arose and they will continue to arise at an accelerated race. It is up to us as inhabitants of Earth.
ReplyDeleteNow back to Cedar Circle. While dozing off through lectures, I learned that agriculture accounts for like more than 50% of the world’s greenhouse gasses. I know this may seem ridiculous, but when thinking about it, it makes total sense. All the livestock we own create their own waste which in turn releases methane. The ridiculous amounts of nitrogen additives we put in our soil to help yield a more bountiful harvest also goes into our atmosphere. So I think it’s important that we cut down our meat intake to allow for lesser amounts of livestock (I’m guilty of it too) as well delve into organic, sustainable farming. By doing so we could subtract significant amounts of gases released and possibly stall this process.
The most important aspect of this situation is the awareness of climate change. This task seems impossible but really it all starts with us. If we can encourage political figures to take note of the figures and eventual outcomes if we decide not to partake in climate awareness then maybe this cause could have some backing to it. It could even create jobs if we were to have people give lectures and raise awareness on climate change while teaching sustainable ways to accomplish tasks. Who knows, it could possibly serve as an economic booster. If humans stopped thinking about ourselves and put more thought to the future and its critical state, then maybe some sort of reformation could happen. But let’s be honest here, good ole capitalism has screwed us over again (I’m thinking Monsanto).
You've hit on an important point - the creation of nitrogen based fertilizers after WW1 did greatly increase the amount of pollution throughout the environment. The advent of genetically engineered foods (i.e., Monsanto) has created a number of problems - including the "transgenic" nature of the food, as well as the legal questions involving legal ownership over the final product (as well as the seeds produced by the patented plants)
DeleteYet Monsanto has also made it possible to grow rice in much drier areas of the world than is typically needed. This has provided food for millions of people. And the transgenic "golden rice" has provided millions of people with supplemental nutrients needed when rice is their sole source of nutrition.
I'm not defending Monsanto's overall corporate acts - but Is it possible that there are tangible benefits to their "capitalism" that are worth pursuing? After all - it is the profit motive that has lead to their research and products. (We could, of course, also debate the merits or detrimental aspects of their research/products as well!)
The movie had an interesting perspective on climate change, one that I have yet to hear. I liked how he approached it as a choice for all, not only the people who can afford it. Sometimes making a difference is expensive and difficult to attain, such as buying a fuel efficient or alternative energy sourced car. His viewpoint on the idea that whether it is happening or not is hardly the issue. The real issue is how long do we want to wait around to be right or wrong about whether it is happening. The longer people wait to find out or decide that climate change is occurring, the more risk we are running that things are happening. It is a difficult idea to convey. Drafting and redrafting this post just shows how complicated it really can be to catch people's attention. I liked the rows and columns method though. He really breaks it down. His ideas were phenomenal as well. I am interested to know more about his background and what has inspired him to make this video. Sometimes understanding other people's reasons helps to strengthen your own. The mention of ocean change was something that definitely caught me. I am more interested now to find out more about what is causing this to happen.
ReplyDeleteTo start tackling this issue, I am a little overwhelmed. There seems to be a lot of options, with all good intentions but you have to wonder how much good some of this can be. For instance, recycling. Yes, you are wonderful because you recycle, but now what? Where did it all go? Oh, it's made into recycled material. Well, okay that's great! How? Oh, well some of it is shipped to CHINA- that's good for the environment right?! Just polluting the ocean with some more oil. Then, it has to get redistributed. It gets shipped all over the place. Again, more pollution. And what happens to the stuff that doesn't get shipped elsewhere? Well, that has to be compacted i.e. cans, bottles, cardboard etc. Which in turn uses more energy and manpower. So recycling is great, reusing stuff it assume and I support it; but I feel like sometimes that baggage that carries along with it might be lost in translation. So on top of reusing things, instead of buying more stuff from Walmart or wherever that you a) don't need, and b) is probably just going to be replaced in a few months. Few things are made to last anymore, unfortunately.
Thank you Susie!
DeleteYou too, hit on another important issue - the hidden costs of recycling. Every choice we make has another potential cost, in addition to its potential benefit. The scientific term for this is "relative risk". For example , what is the relative risk of NOT recycling vs shipping recycled goods to China? as you, and many others are beginning the realize, solutions are hard to come by.