In class when reviewing “An Athabasca Story” I noticed a plethora of people had questions on who Elder Brother is and what the last part of the story means. I did my essay on “An Athabasca Story” and figured out Elder Brothers part in the story and analyzed it. I thought I would share my information with everyone and thought it would also help with studying for the midterm.

As we all know Elder Brother cannot die but is alive through all of us. He is in our cars, our heaters, and anything we use that needs oil. In the last part of the story the narrator says, “you might hear a knocking, rattling sound down deep in the bowels of the machine. Thats Elder Brother, trying to get your attention, begging you to let him out” (Cariou, 75). When we hear these noises Elder Brother wants us to stop our car and turn it off and think about him inside of our car as oil. What he really wants us to do is to stop and think about the tar sands. He is trying to get our attention through the noise he is making by telling us to stop the car and stop the tar sands. Some may or may not have noticed when reading the story that there is also a motif, with this quote and a quote in the beginning that says, “His stomach was like the shrunken dried crop of a partridge. It rattled around inside him as he walked, and with each step he took the sound made him shiver even more” (Cariou, 70). The motif is the rattling of the partridge and the rattling of Elder Brother in the car. Elder Brothers shrunken up stomach is foreshadowing what is going to happen in the end of the story. In the end of the story Elder Brother is trying to make us more aware of the tar sands and stop them or else our world is going to shrivel up like a dried crop of a partridge.

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In class today, we were asked to write down answers to the question, “Why don’t people care about climate change?” My classmates and I came up with many reasons, for example: global warming hasn’t personally affected people, it’s not viewed as a serious issue in our society, people aren’t properly informed, etc. With our current technology and knowledge of global warming, we have an accurate picture of what our Earth could look like in the next couple years. I think it’s important to start creating ways to get the public involved and informed of global warming and how it’s going to affect our communities if we don’t address it.

First, we need to start by educating the younger generation that will be growing up and living in the aftermath of our current actions. The government or activists should supply school funding to provide environmental classes that inform students of the changing climate and how to adapt. By learning about this issue at such a young age, this generation will be innovative and motivated to adapt and maybe reverse global warming. Adam Dyster stated in his article, Comment: education is the key to addressing climate change, “It equips youth with the skills to help combat climate change, and be part of a green recovering, and positive future.” Contine reading →

In class we have been reading fictional stories about the future of global warming. I personally have never read a graphic novel. When I read a graphic novel I think it is harder to understand because I have to read the texts and look at the pictures. When I read the text the images that come into my head is not what the photo illustrates. The book I.D.P takes place in 2043 and is told by six different authors. A different author tells each chapter and they put their own flavor into the story. In the reading so far there is a separation between the rich and the poor. The key themes through the story are about survival, government, wealth, and more. There is a tower and all the rich live in the tower and there are farmers located at the top. Food is scarce and everyone is trying to survive in a rough time. It shows how technology has been advanced and to get into buildings you scan your hand. I feel like as the years go by new inventions are going to appearing.

In the article called, “How To Feed the World After Climate Change” by Matt Hertsgarrd was very educational. It really made me think about my future and when I have kids. It talked about how in the future making a birthday cake will be hard because wheat and flour will not be available. These raw materials will become harder to grow because of climate change and because less rainfall. When I read this I though about my birthday and how weird it would be if I didn’t get to blow out the candles. It talks about how in Iowa they will experience extreme heat in 2040 and will go without flour for three summers. Flour is in a lot of foods we eat today and that’s a resource we need. This is only one state and how it will be affected, what is going to happen to other places?

In most of the readings we talk about in class it says a solution to climate change is reducing fossil fuel. Fossil fuel is everywhere and everything is made with fossil fuel. It is located in our house, cars, stores, and other places.

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