Author: aweltin

The Polar Bear

aweltin 1 Comment

I thought that this blog would be a good opportunity to relate a post to my final project for this course. I am doing some research on the polar bear and how human interaction is directly affecting their lives. As the earth gets warmer every year with the increase in our carbon emissions, their habitat is deteriorating. Their typical climate is dependent on sea ice, which allows them to swim freely and hunt for seals, their main source of food. As the world continues to heat, open seas ice is deteriorating and often stranding polar bears on floating ice sheets often leading to them drowning while in search of solid land.

Polar bears are in serious threat of going extinct due to human interaction. They were the first vertebrate species to be put on the endangered species list directly caused by global warming. Since they can only survive in an area that is cold enough to create sea ice, the warmer temperatures are destroying their natural habitat. The future of polar bears in the wild is looking highly unlikely at this point. Sea ice is beginning to be more and more uncommon and there is not enough to keep the polar bears sustained. Many experts believe that we could see wild polar bears extinct as early as the next 10 years.

It does not stop at polar bears. There are countless animals that are on the brink of extinction due to human interaction and climate change. These animals we often can take for granted because they have been in our world our whole lives. But what about the next generation? How do you think they will feel when polar bears, sea turtles, elephants, tigers, and many other species in the wild are a thing of the past? We should not rob the future generations of the opportunity to have the same interests and experiences that we did because we were too lazy to recycle or ride our bikes instead of driving and wasting fossil fuels. The time to start saving the future is now.

Heres some links to check out:

http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/mammals/polar-bear.aspx

Contine reading →

Our Planet: Before and After Climate Change

aweltin 4 Comments

The reality of climate change is getting to the point where it is impossible to ignore. A large percentage of Earth’s population is in a state of denial about the effects that our race is having on the planet. No matter what evidence and numbers and statistics of the past weather are placed in front of them, many find ways to deny it. A common response is that the Earth is just going through another cycle like it has done for the last billions of years. Although the fact that the Earth has gone through phases of global temperature is true, the rate at which the temperature is increasing has never been seen before.

Most of these past climate changes took millions of years to change, and even then, the Earth’s global temperature has never been higher. I found an article on Business Insider written by Dina Spector titled, “Before and After Pictures Show how Climate Change is Destroying Earth“. The article states that since now almost all scientists agree that global warming is happening, the White House has invested $1 billion towards climate change and preparing for our near future’s inevitable storms and natural disasters. “Rising global temperatures, largely due to man-made greenhouse gases, are the source of widely-discussed observable changes to the Earth like melting glaciers, rising sea levels, warming oceans, and more extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, forest fires, and floods” (Spector).

Along with the article there are numerous before and after pictures taken different locations around the world. The devastation that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution has completely transformed our planet. The Great Barrier Reef was once filled with color and life, and now the coral, which is crucial to the survival in sea life, is white and on the brim of death. It doesn’t stop at sea life. The Muir Glacier in Alaska in now completely gone and has transformed from icebergs to a body of water. These pictures are a powerful tool to stop the nonsense that our current climate change is just another  part of the Earth’s natural weather cycle. The facts are in. Humans are the cause.

 
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-before-and-after-pictures-of-earth-2014-2?op=1#ixzz3S9An7qeJ

 

Hot Planet/ Cool Athletes

aweltin 7 Comments

While researching information for my blog post, I came across a program created by The North Face called “Hot Planet / Cool Athletes”. They also paired up with sponsors Cliff Bar and MEC to educate middle and high schools about the truth of climate change. They use the influence of pro athletes to energize the youth about the future of our planet if we continue at the same rate we are at. These athletes, many of whom are professional snowboarders and skiers, provide a different perspective of the reality of climate change that they have experienced first hand.

I think this is a great idea to connect with the youth. For many students hearing from a teacher about the effect the human race is having on the world is often not enough to influence and fully educate them. This program brings in professionals who have first hand experience with the changing of snow levels in mountains all across the world in just the last decade. The Hot Planet Cool Athletes program has reached over 27,000 students since it was founded in 2011 by speaking and inspiring the youth in classes and assemblies.

I think that the education of climate change needs to go farther than the classroom. The youth of today is the generation that really needs to step up and change the way that humans live and pollute. With an increasing focus on climate change in schools, the information may become repetitive or still not have a personal impact with students, especially those who live in an urban environment. Field trips should be mandatory that physically display the effects that humans have on the environment. Once the evidence is displayed to students first hand, then maybe the next generation will be motivated and eager to change the world.

Is “Interstellar” our future?

aweltin 4 Comments

The climate change that we are bringing to Earth is believed to be nearly irreversible. Most automobile, electric, and fossil fuel companies are taking steps to minimize and maybe even neutralize the damage that their industries are causing to our planet. Although less emissions in our atmosphere is ideal and necessary, many scientists believe that the damage is already done.

With our population increasing every year, our societies need to look past just the emissions and pollution to our planet, but also focus on how we are planning to sustain human life. Food and clean water are necessary for our prosperity. But how long until our planet cannot sustain the population? One day our food supplies and resources will be drained and humans will have no way to provide food for their families. Modern farming can only provide so much before the land refuses to provide the amount our world’s population will need in the near future.

The first week of class we were asked what questions we had about climate change. Mine was, “How will climate change effect how or what we eat in the future?”. This led me to think about the recent blockbuster film by Christopher Nolan “Interstellar” starring Matthew McConaughey. The film is based around the main character who is a farmer in around the year 2070 (an exact date is never given). The conditions of this society is that of the dust bowl in the 1930s. Dust is killing all the crops every year as well as causing major health problems to those who live in the dusty areas. On top of this, a disease called blight is spreading and replacing the oxygen in the air with nitrogen. These factors are making it impossible for farmers to provide for their families, let alone a population of nearly 9 billion people.

The storyline of this film is that Coop (McConaughey) locates NASA after it has been shut down for almost 20 years. They were working on a way to leave Earth and find a new planet that humans can prosper on. NASA’s efforts were unsuccessful and the government shut them down in order to stop providing the population with false hope. After they locate a worm hole that has possibilities to reach 3 planets possible of holding human life, Coop is sent on one last mission in an effort to find humans a new home.

I am not here claiming that we will one day be able to go through a worm hole and find a new planet to prosper on. I am more focusing on the inevitable problems that Earth is going to face in the not so distant future if something doesn’t change. Someday our population will reach a breaking point and our planet will not be able to provide enough food. Famine and starvation will spread through the underdeveloped areas, while the developed countries will have wars over food, water, and other resources. Farmers today are more important than ever. They are more vital to the human race every year as our population increases and our planet perishes.  Contine reading →