Author: bathan

October 15, 2047

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Instead of writing one short Cli-Fi story I chose to make my final project into a newspaper. This futuristic newspaper is dated October 15, 2047. It features everything a normal newspaper would such as articles, advertisements, photos, and a comic strip. All the articles I wrote describe how the world is being affected by climate change. Some of these articles are completely fabricated but others have a large possibly to actually occur in the future around the time of 2047. Although, I tried to make the newspaper somewhat realistic. Here is an example of one advertisement I created and included in my newspaper:

i-phone-hologram

I thought it was important to incorporate some hope into my newspaper not just negative stories. Most of the stories we read in class had a negative ending due to climate change and I wanted to show that there still is some hope for the future. I think the future is going to revolve around technology way more than it does today so I created this ad to show the possible technological advances we could have. Making futuristic voicemails is what inspired me to write a newspaper. I’ve created newspapers before for other classes and have always found the process of making them really fun and creative. I originally had the idea to write a story about one rare aquarium in the world that is home to the last living shark. Instead, I turned this story into an article for the front page of my newspaper. Deciding to write a newspaper was a good idea because I like writing a bunch of mini works of Cli-Fi in order to make one large project. I was able to incorporate multiple plot ideas I had instead of just focusing on one. Plus, I feel like this work of Cli-Fi will be very affective to those who read it because it causes people to think. If you were to read this newspaper on October 15, 2047 would you be okay with the headlines?

 

 

“Climate Change is Not My Problem”

bathan 2 Comments

Before taking this class based on the subject of climate change I never really looked into the weather patterns as factors of global warming so I didn’t expect my sister to either when I asked her input on climate change. I described to her the plot of the novel we read in class, Odds Against Tomorrow, and what Cli-Fi is. Prior to trying to strengthen her knowledge of climate change she claims the only thing she really knew was that major ice caps are melting and polar bears had the possibility of going extinct in the near future.

Thinking about a possible natural disaster that could destroy part of the world is scary. My sister has a prominent fear of the ocean so when she found out the major cities could flood, even our hometown of San Diego, she freaked. She was unaware that so much damage could be done to our planet overall. She only believed that the temperature would probably increase a few degrees and that animals such as polar bears would suffer greatly. My sister seemed worried by all these possible events but not worried enough. Frequently I would hear my sister say, “but this won’t affect me I won’t be alive then” or “if I don’t have to experience it then it’s not my problem”. In reality, it is her problem. I am worried about these type of reactions she had because climate change is affecting all of us right at this moment.

Contine reading →

Humans: The Most Dangerous Species on the Planet

bathan 7 Comments

One of my favorite weeks of the year is in the summer when The Discovery Channel dedicates a whole week to just sharks. I am fascinated by sharks so I wondered, are sharks being affected by this increase in climate? Not only is global warming affecting the lives living on land but also those that live in the oceans.

The article Sharks and Climate Change discusses how sharks are currently being impacted by global warming. The oceans around the world are warming. Sharks have the possibility to go extinct in the next hundred years because the increase in water temperature confuses and stresses out these sharks which make them unable to mate. Even though sharks are at the top of the food chain they are still being majorly affected since their food supply is starting to slowly disappear. Since these smaller fish are vanishing the food chain is most likely going to be upset. But overall sharks will most likely relocate to waters containing food sources, and that may include shallow waters off the coasts of many populated beaches. Contine reading →

Decrease in Salmon and Divestment Rally

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Last week I attended both the Columbia River Fish Commission meeting and the divestment rally. I never truly realized how many people actually cared about these problems. Not only were there many students at these events but also active community members. And not only did these community members sit in on these of events but also participated such as asking questions or protesting.

Currently the salmon of Oregon are being affected greatly by global warming. These fish are cold water fish and the river waters are starting to warm rapidly. Since the climate is also warming there will be more flooding in the fall rather than the spring or summer. This also means that there will be decreased river flow in the summer and spring. The population of Portland is also expected to increase by half a million in the next few years thus, causing an increase in water demand. At this meeting people were also able to voice their opinions on possible solutions to this problem. One presented idea was to breed salmon and a release them into the rivers of Oregon. However this idea was quickly shot down since these fish would not be native to Oregon and would most likely be treated with possible chemicals that could affect the rivers. These salmon would most likely die off quickly anyways cause they wouldn’t be use to the warmed conditions. Also, not only are these salmon being affected but the tribes with possession of this land would lose their identity once a large population of salmon is lost.

Contine reading →

The Not So Great Barrier Reef

bathan 11 Comments

After reading An Athabasca Story and viewing the photo essay on the Alberta Tar Sands I was shocked at what I read. An Athabasca Story is an actual reality because up in Canada these tar sands are dug up and cleaned out until it is just bitumen. The production of extracting bitumen from these sands produces 3-4 times more green house gas emissions than regular oil. The smell of this process is horrendous as well, even An Athabasca Story mentions how horrific the smell is, “And the smell! It was worse than his most sulfurous farts, the ones he got when he ate moose guts and antlers. It was like being trapped in a bag with something dead” (Cariou 70). But upon learning about these tar sands I thought, how much is the emission of these carbon and green house gases really affecting the rest of the globe?

One large and important part of the world is being affected by all the carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is deteriorating at a surprisingly quick pace. The article Top 10 Places Already Affected By Climate Change discusses how the oceans have absorbed a third of the gases produced by the industrial revolution. Since the oceans have absorbed these gases the water has completely shifted the pH scale and the sea animals are able to feel these affects. Ocean water is becoming warmer and the coral reefs are being bleached and starting to die off. Once the coral starts dying off fish and other sea life will start to as well. And once fish start going a chain reaction will begin to occur. At what point will it be our time to die off?

Contine reading →

Global Warming is Real

bathan 6 Comments

I am so fortunate to call the beautiful city of San Diego my home. However, during May 2014 San Diego, California faced an eruption of 20 wildfires. These wildfires burned almost 30,000 acres and cost the city over $60 million dollars. Many of these fires were due to the impact of the high changing climate.

A study conducted by the college UCSD states that by 2050 San Diego sea levels will be 12-18 inches higher, the climate will be hotter and drier, will face a severe water shortage, wildfires will be more frequent and intense, will not be able to meet energy needs, native plant and animal species will be lost forever, and public health will be at risk, especially among the elderly and children (http://meteora.ucsd.edu). What is scary to think about is that there are still 35 years until 2050 but a majority of these climate-changing results have already begun. This website also explains that about 70 miles of beach will be lost which will overall affect the economy since San Diego relies so heavily on beach towns as a major source of revenue. But not only is climate change affecting the city of San Diego, but also the world.

The book Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Maslin discusses the current and future climate changing impacts that will affect the globe. The potential impacts the world could face include sea level rising, an increase of storms and floods, more heat waves and droughts, a growth in diseases, and loss of biodiversity and agriculture (Maslin 68). However, I think the biggest problem with climate change is that people hardly realize that it’s actually happening. Contine reading →