An Inconvenient Truth Investigation Assignment
I researched if the Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050. After my research it is safe to conclude that it is quite possible for that to happen. While investigating I discovered that the maximum ice coverage of the ice caps in September 2050 could be about half of what they were in September 1980. (http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/features/ClimateChange/receding_arctic.html) (http://www.world-mysteries.com/newgw/sci_globalwarming.htm)
There is a lot of man made technology to help deal with climate change including wind power, solar power, and much more. Other green energy solutions are geothermal, marine, and hydroelectric. Two forms of non-green energy are still used; nuclear and coal but are being used less and less now. Some scientists are desperate to combat climate change; they made some plans which include firing giant mirrors into space and covering the earth in a cloud of sulfur. Now there are less emissions being produced due to fuel efficient cars, reduction of coal usage, and much more.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8338824.stm)
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3309657/High-tech-solutions-for-climate-change.html)
People can reduce their carbon footprint by doing simple things like walking or taking the bus to school or work, turn off the lights at home, and take shorter showers.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Essay of Truth
The Essay of Truth
In the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” our pal Al Gore made some very bold statements. Among them was “The number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.” This movie happened to take place in 2005, a year which has shown to be a bit of an anomaly. Over the last 30 years it does appear that the number of large hurricanes has increased. The year 2005 was fuel for Al Gore’s self-serving rant, but it does appear that for the most part his claim was accurate. After the year of 2005, the level of hurricanes hasn’t increased any more - in actual fact there have been fewer each year to date. In an “El Ninio” year the waters are warmer; these years are usually predicted to be worse for hurricanes. There is no denying the fact that warmer water increases the power of hurricanes… but the year 2005 was by no means an example of things to come.
Sources: google search – hurricane timeline graph on 11th hit
Wikipedia – list of category 5 Atlantic hurricanes
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricne/atlantic/
When humanity is faced with a problem there are two things we do: declare war on it, or invent some expensive high tech thing to combat it. It seems that tonnes of new ideas have been produced. One of them is of course the hybrid car, including the favourite of middle-aged women, and one or two other people around the world… the Toyota Prius. Others include those giant wind turbines, hybrid buses, electric trains, and solar panels. Some low tech options are: using the costly bike lanes that prevent parking, walking instead of driving, taking public transit, and carpooling. Although Al Gore likes to exaggerate, it would be a good idea to cut down on carbon emissions.
Lifestyle changes that could be made to reduce our carbon emissions include: getting away from our dependence on cars, and finding a way to be in less of a hurry (so cars are not as needed). Societal values include a high value on cars. Most people would not willingly give up something that has such financial and/or sentimental value. Communities like Vancouver and Sutherland have options for helping to end Global Warming… Vancouver can actually make its transit system better, Sutherland can give prizes to people who walk or bike to and from school, and make people pay to park. Our government’s role in supporting should be to educate us of what is going on, and to enforce major violations of the environmental restrictions that they should set.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in the Colombian Andes.
Malaria has spread to higher altitudes Stephanie Wamunga
March 2, 2011
The Inconvenient Truth statement that I chose is, “Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in
places like the Colombian Andes”, according to the movie this is a result of global warming
making temperatures higher at higher altitudes thus making it possible for Mosquitos carrying
Malaria
parasites to survive at those altitudes and spread Malaria. According to these studies...
http://www.sciencebuzz.org/node/14121- 14 March 2010
http://knol.google.com/k/anonymous/global-warming/38zj4cic4np7i/2#- 30 June 2010
www.jamesdowdesigns.com/Nature_Line.../Bi-Tron_About.html - 12 May 2010
This crisis is still occuring and will continue until the global warming crisis is resolved.
It is also a serious problem because people in third world countries are at greater risk of getting
Malaria because Mosquito nets are not readily available and medical attention is usually not
available to many people.
We are making progress over time but there are still , and will be challenges that we have to face
on a daily basis. Some technological advancements that are being made are cars with higher fuel
efficiency which means that cars are able to run for a longer period of time with a certain amount
of fuel. Some high tech solutions thast have been suggested to deal with the effects of climate
change are, buildings that are enery efficient, using less energy and with lighting eqipped with
sensors that are activated by motion in a room, and energy efficient hardware with “disk spin
technology” which stops disks from spinning when they’re not being accessed.
Recycling is also a major part of reducing our ecological footprint some things that are
recycled are bottles, paper, cardboard ,metal scraps, and even computers and TVs.
According to these reports..
http://www.emc.com/about/sustainability/environment/energy-climate-change/energy-efficient-hardware.htm
http://www.fight-climate-change.com/low-emission-vehicles.html
Society is working to change the futre problems but there are still many things that we are capable
doing to make the world a better place. We can reduce the length of our showers and take baths
less often.We could also make sure to turn off lights when we are not in a room, we could recycle
paper and other recyclable materials more often. We could also walk to work or school or take the
bus instead of driving. Some societial values that affect lifestyle choices we make are that we are
sometimes stubborn and not open to change , we like to procrastinate and assume other people will
deal with an issue that is affecting all of us as a society. Vancouver could work on saving electricity,
we could have more fuel efficient buses and maybe even hybrid buses that are more fuel efficient.
Sutherland could turn off it’s lights and heat for example when we are away from school for
extended periods of time like Spring Break. We could also work on recycling and making facilities
readily available for students. Our government’s role should be to sponsor programs so that
children could learn about the effects of global warming from an early age . The government
should also fund new technologies that are being developed to combat global warming.
According to these sources...
http://www.imagineprogram.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101&Itemid=168
Myself.
The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled in the past decade
I chose the statement “The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled in the past decade”. I have confirmed that this is true, the speed of the ice flow has increased from 1996 to 2005. The amount of ice lost because of glacier decay has increased from 63 cubic kilometers to 162 cubic kilometers. Combined with other things such as snowfall and ice melting, the total change from 1996 to 2005 was 96 cubic kilometers of ice loss to 220 cubic kilometers of ice loss. This is a change of 124 cubic kilometer of ice loss, or 124 000 000 000 000 litres of water. The amount of ice melt has again almost doubled from 2005 to 2010.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Various-estimates-of-Greenland-ice-loss.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?old=2006021621775
There are many new technologies that can help, and maybe completely stop global warming. Mainly there is solar power, wind power and hydro power. There are also other things like huge wind turbines, like the one on Grouse Mountain, and CO2 scrubbers and solar powered planes. My favourite is the solar power that can create energy at night. It does this by being able to absorb more light and light that is not in the visible spectrum, such as infrared. This allows the solar panel to work at night, since the Earth emits IR at night. Some low tech things people could do are things like covering your water heater in insulation, use smaller more efficient vehicles or filter our emissions.
http://www.google.ca/#q=top+10+green+technologies+2010&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=641&prmd=ivns&ei=hoVuTc4VhtKwA57zsNoL&start=10&sa=N&fp=e067f16aedc4d01b
http://news.softpedia.com/news/A-Solar-Panel-that-Works-at-Night-25159.shtml
Some things that society could do to combat climate change are mostly simple things. People could do things like bike to work or school, turn off lights and recycle. Societal values affect choices because people believe they have rights and they believe they should be allowed to do what they want. One big thing the US government has to do is make a restriction on car efficiency so that their companies create more efficient vehicle.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Various-estimates-of-Greenland-ice-loss.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?old=2006021621775
There are many new technologies that can help, and maybe completely stop global warming. Mainly there is solar power, wind power and hydro power. There are also other things like huge wind turbines, like the one on Grouse Mountain, and CO2 scrubbers and solar powered planes. My favourite is the solar power that can create energy at night. It does this by being able to absorb more light and light that is not in the visible spectrum, such as infrared. This allows the solar panel to work at night, since the Earth emits IR at night. Some low tech things people could do are things like covering your water heater in insulation, use smaller more efficient vehicles or filter our emissions.
http://www.google.ca/#q=top+10+green+technologies+2010&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=641&prmd=ivns&ei=hoVuTc4VhtKwA57zsNoL&start=10&sa=N&fp=e067f16aedc4d01b
http://news.softpedia.com/news/A-Solar-Panel-that-Works-at-Night-25159.shtml
Some things that society could do to combat climate change are mostly simple things. People could do things like bike to work or school, turn off lights and recycle. Societal values affect choices because people believe they have rights and they believe they should be allowed to do what they want. One big thing the US government has to do is make a restriction on car efficiency so that their companies create more efficient vehicle.
Global warming
The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050. On 27th of July 2010, a top Russian expert said that in 30 to 40 years, the Arctic may become ice free in the summertime, including the North Pole and this is happening because of the increasing number of greenhouse gases around earth. Currently, Moscow and Washington are discussing cooperation in Arctic at the highest political level.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/artic-may-be-icefree-by-2050-russian-expert/127548-51-96.html
http://en.rian.ru/science/20100720/159884899.html
We are reducing fossil fuel burning, by looking at renewable energy projects from large solar farms to wind power and also by using electric cars. The use of electric cars that are made by many companies can help to reduce the fossil fuel burning. However, many people don’t buy these cars because these cars are slow and they don’t go very fast. Some low tech solutions that we could use include coloring the roofs of houses white. If we painted all the roofs in 100 tropical cities white, we would be able to reflect more sunlight back to space. Also we can eat less meat and plant more trees.
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/six-low-tech-solutions-climate-change
http://www.xkaw.com/Education_Reference/Science_Mathematics.asp?id=b99116
Our society can make many changes to reduce climate change by using air conditioning and heating efficiently. Also we can recycle and use reusable products whenever possible. Communities like Sutherland can encourage people to recycle and walk to school by giving the students awards. Our government should reduce the number of gasoline cars and encourage people to buy more hybrid cars. http://www.buybackletter.com/docs/globalwarming.pdf
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/artic-may-be-icefree-by-2050-russian-expert/127548-51-96.html
http://en.rian.ru/science/20100720/159884899.html
We are reducing fossil fuel burning, by looking at renewable energy projects from large solar farms to wind power and also by using electric cars. The use of electric cars that are made by many companies can help to reduce the fossil fuel burning. However, many people don’t buy these cars because these cars are slow and they don’t go very fast. Some low tech solutions that we could use include coloring the roofs of houses white. If we painted all the roofs in 100 tropical cities white, we would be able to reflect more sunlight back to space. Also we can eat less meat and plant more trees.
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/six-low-tech-solutions-climate-change
http://www.xkaw.com/Education_Reference/Science_Mathematics.asp?id=b99116
Our society can make many changes to reduce climate change by using air conditioning and heating efficiently. Also we can recycle and use reusable products whenever possible. Communities like Sutherland can encourage people to recycle and walk to school by giving the students awards. Our government should reduce the number of gasoline cars and encourage people to buy more hybrid cars. http://www.buybackletter.com/docs/globalwarming.pdf
Global Warming
Many statements were made in the movie an inconvenient truth one of
Which were “Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense”. Many say
Global warming is a hoax than why do statements like this appear in articles so
Often, “Heat waves like those that have scorched Europe and the United States
In recent weeks are becoming more frequent because of global warming, say
Scientists who have studied decades of weather records and computer models of
Past, present and future climate” Juliet Eilperin. There are many scientific studies done on weather and heat on our planet which is indeed warming up heat waves such as the “U.S. heat wave of 2006”.
Technology advances are great in helping prevent global warming. Technology such as wind power, solar power, coal gasification, and carbon sequestration are all helping us conserve our planet as long as possible. Some high tech suggestion to prevent global warming are hybrid cars, white roofs, and solar panels. As well there are some low tech solutions any one can use such as energy efficient light bulbs, riding your bike to work or walking to cut down pollution.
Community changes can include walking to work or school. Public transit is a great way to get places and meet people in your community. Community projects such as tree planting and power save days. Schools can take energy saving to the next level by turning off the light at night. I think the government can contribute to prevent global warming by realizing global warming is a pressing issue and then start to invest in the environment.
Sources Used:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301489.html
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=251
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100729101613.htm
Which were “Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense”. Many say
Global warming is a hoax than why do statements like this appear in articles so
Often, “Heat waves like those that have scorched Europe and the United States
In recent weeks are becoming more frequent because of global warming, say
Scientists who have studied decades of weather records and computer models of
Past, present and future climate” Juliet Eilperin. There are many scientific studies done on weather and heat on our planet which is indeed warming up heat waves such as the “U.S. heat wave of 2006”.
Technology advances are great in helping prevent global warming. Technology such as wind power, solar power, coal gasification, and carbon sequestration are all helping us conserve our planet as long as possible. Some high tech suggestion to prevent global warming are hybrid cars, white roofs, and solar panels. As well there are some low tech solutions any one can use such as energy efficient light bulbs, riding your bike to work or walking to cut down pollution.
Community changes can include walking to work or school. Public transit is a great way to get places and meet people in your community. Community projects such as tree planting and power save days. Schools can take energy saving to the next level by turning off the light at night. I think the government can contribute to prevent global warming by realizing global warming is a pressing issue and then start to invest in the environment.
Sources Used:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301489.html
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=251
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100729101613.htm
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