global warming

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

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The Media’s Roll in Climate Change

jhammond 3 Comments

In recent years, the world has suffered a dramatic increase in temperature which in turn has melted the polar ice caps raising the sea level slowly but surely. These are facts. However, some news sources such as Fox News don’t like to acknowledge these facts as true occurring events; rather they enjoy calling them “theories” and “ideas,” thus contributing to the distrust of scientists. When scientists who have focused their entire research on climate change and the global distribution of heat throughout the recent years are questioned for validity on news broadcasts, viewers sometimes find the need to reconsider their respect and appreciation for these proven facts. When scientists who are experts in the area of climate change aren’t believed, then who are the people believing? Contine reading →

Climate Change Ethical Issues in “The Weatherman”

Casey Leach 5 Comments

The short story “The Weatherman”, caused me to think of the blog we read about climate change ethics. One specific question from the blog that related really well to “The Weatherman” was the question that asked, “Does the adaptation effort privilege the wealthy and powerful, at unjustified cost to the poor and dispossessed?” (Moore 4). This question completely applies to “The Weatherman” because the only people who benefit from the weather being controlled are the Green people. However, the sandtowners do not receive the same benefits from the weather being controlled as the Green people do.

In the story Marly claims, “You should’ve seen them! They were filthy, starving. Half dead. And here we are, us fat Green people, getting everything we want and destroying everyone else” (Howitt 136). This statement relates completely to Moore’s third question on her blog post because the weather being controlled by the Green people is only privileging the Green people, while causing the sandtowners harm. Some of the Green people, like the couple in the story, feel bad for the sandtowners because they know that what they are doing is wrong, but they also know that in order to survive they have to control the weather.

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A Moral Obligation to Act(?)

jhammond 7 Comments

If someone were to ask me what the Tar Sands were prior to the class readings, I would have told them that I have no idea what they were. Unbeknownst to me, the Canadian Tar Sands are a 54,000 square mile area of what used to be lush Alberta Forrest, but is now the home of some of the dirtiest oil mining operations in the world. These lo mines are largely contributing to greenhouse gas emissions as well as the world’s climate change. Reading the articles and viewing the pictures on the Tar Sands were shocking to say the least. What was more shocking, however, was the fact that I, nor anyone I asked, knew anything about the Tar Sands or even knew what they were. 

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Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest

ajohnso7 4 Comments

It seems lately that a lot of focus on Climate Change right now is adaptation instead of mitigation. I think this because people don’t fully realize the effects Climate Change might have on their respective environments, so they assume that even if there is a change in the weather in their area, it won’t cause anything too drastic. This prompted me to see how Climate Change would effect the region we currently reside in right now, the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in a town about an hour south of here, and I had noticed some strange weather patterns over the last few years. It turns out, Climate Change is going to affect the region significantly within the next few decades. During the last century, the temperature here rose by nearly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit on average, and in some places rose nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit. This really surprised me, as I never really heard about it on the news, or from anyone else really, as it seems like this would be a big deal.

From my own observation, it seems that summers around here to have lasted longer and warmer with every passing year, and that the weather in the winter is more unpredictable and doesn’t last quite as long. I also read that climate change is significantly affecting snowpacks, as well as the flow of streams and forest top covers in our area. The average annual temperature in our region is expected to increase by 3-10 degrees Fahrenheit within the next 100 years, which is truly frightening, as this would be a very changed climate from the one I grew up in. The amount of winter precipitation is expected to increase, which seemed odd to me, as I thought the climate would become more arid with increase heat, but then I read that the summer precipitation is expected to decrease by a large amount, which sort of fits in with the trend I’ve been noticing the last few summers.  Contine reading →

The consequences of our actions are here…

jhammond 2 Comments

Global warming has always been a topic that I have felt passionately about. Ever since I was able to recognize that the environment was changing, and not for the better, I have felt strongly about the changing climate, as well as the reasons behind it. In recent years, I would say that I have stayed fairly “in the loop” with climate change topics, including the preventative measures on both the small and large scale. In addition to this, I have also followed some scientists predictions on what could and will happen if we as human beings stay on the same course we are on now with regards to CO2 emissions and air pollution. However, it wasn’t until viewing the Global Weirding is Here website that I truly understood the massive, global, and near future effects that climate change will have on the environment, animals, and even humans.

One of the most shocking initial facts that struck me upon viewing the Global Weirding is Here timeline was that climate change has already affected people across the world on a very large scale. Issues such as increased heavy rainfall in the United States and a rising sea level across the world have already been occurring right in-front of our eyes. Although those issues alone seem fairly large in scale, that is nothing compared to what will come if we don’t do anything. Based on the “Do Nothing” scenario where we as humans continue what we are currently doing we should expect to see rising water and surface temperatures, an increased risk of wildfires, severe drought across the world and mass extinctions of species; all in our lifetimes. The last part, “all in our lifetime” is something that is truly shocking and eye-opening. It is something that should be a wake-up call for all people, regardless of age, regardless of whether this will occur in your lifetime, your children’s lifetime, or even your grandchildren’s lifetime. This stuff is happening and it’s happening fast. It should be our responsibility as humans being to make a difference on this Earth that will benefit people for many years to come.

It’s shocking to think that something such as global warming, which is usually talked about in the future tense (“if we don’t do this, then this will happen”), is already occurring.  Contine reading →