This was written in May of 2009 for an Earth Science class in my sophomore year:
Lately, global warming and becoming “green” seems to be a topic in many, if not most, conversations. But, what exactly is it? Global warming is a natural event. It is simply the earth trapping some of the sun’s heat in the atmosphere as well as some heat being released back into space. The atmosphere is filled with greenhouse gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other chemicals.
Many people question the problems of global warming. For example, anyone may ask this question, “If it’s a natural event, why is everyone making a big deal about it?” It’s a simple answer actually. The earth naturally has greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, those amounts are naturally the right amount to keep our planet, and only home, at a perfect temperature for life to live. This is where Homo sapiens, or humans, interfere. Many of our new technologies, especially since the Industrial Revolution, use fossil fuel to be powered. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing an increase in the amount of the sun’s heat to be trapped in the atmosphere. Other factors, such as deforestation and many farming methods to raise animals for slaughter increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to be released. Deforestation destroys thousands of trees each year. In fact, over twenty five million (25,000,000) acres of forest are cut down and burned every year (World Wildlife Fund).Trees, as with every plant, use carbon dioxide to make glucose and ATP energy and releases oxygen, decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Most of the “extra” greenhouse gases released is again for human benefit: raising animals for slaughter. Just think of how much fuel is needed to transport, feed, skin, and slaughter the animals, plus the amount of fuel used to prepare the meat, fur, and leather. As with many problems, all of these side effects and smaller issues are connected to one bigger issue that affects the entire planet: we are using resources irresponsibly. One of the scientists interviewed in The 11th Hour stated “There are too many of us using too many resources too fast.” Irresponsible use of natural resources such as oil, trees, and water means more carbon dioxide which leads to a hotter climate.
Now you are probably thinking, “So, what difference will a few degrees warmer each year make?” The issue with this common idea is that it is just that, a few degrees higher, which let the last ice age end. A few degrees let the planet rapidly change for frigid cold to our current temperature. All of these greenhouse gases and climate change also differentiate Earth from Venus and Mars. Mars is too cold for life to exist because of its lack of greenhouse gases and Venus has extreme amounts of greenhouse gases – causing heat to the point where no life can exist. Our intense contribution to global warming is causing Earth to become more like Venus. The difference between a higher climate and a normal climate leads to life, how much of it will survive and how much will fail to evolve and change. The human race, as well as many other species, will not and can not survive under extreme heat. As a young species, we have done more damage within our time this planet has ever seen (done by a single species). We as a species are so young that if we were to compare the Earth’s existence to one year, we would have fully evolved from our ancestor species on December 31st at 11:45 PM. If we have impacted the environment in just our ‘fifteen minutes of fame’, imagine what we could do with double that amount of time. We need to change our ways, our sources and uses of energy, and our technology to reverse our damage done to our only home. One of the easiest ways to explain this idea is written in An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore:
“Old Habits + Old Technology = Predictable Consequences
Old Habits + New Technology = Dramatically Altered Consequences”
Luckily, we as humans are beginning to change and evolve. Buffalo, New York is definitely going through many transitions. Schools in the Buffalo area have clubs (such as South Park High School, Sacred Heart Academy, Mount Mercy Academy, and Park School) that address environmental issues. Several high schools within the Buffalo area have also attended Environmental Youth Summit to think of and plan ideas of how to make their schools more environmentally friendly. Our professional hockey team (The Buffalo Sabres) has also started a “Green Team” where anyone can be a member. This group helps educate many of the Sabres’ fans about recycling, using energy wisely, etc. Other community organizations like ReTree WNY help “greenify” our community by replacing old and damaged trees. Buffalo is also one of the few American cities that ratified the Kyoto Treaty to reduce our carbon footprint on the world, although America itself has not fully ratified this treaty.
Buffalo still has a few environmental issues to overcome though. We have many factories throughout the city that are not the most environmentally friendly. These factories still use the old technology: fossil fuel. Yet, this may not be entirely their fault. In fact, most, maybe all of Buffalo uses fossil fuel as a main source of energy, even though we have hydropower and wind energy just a few miles away. Many Buffalo citizens question where our energy comes from and where our other energy goes. Usually, this question is left unanswered, but many say that our fossil fuel energy comes from Ohio and our hydropower goes to New York City. (The accuracy of these two statements is unknown due to the fact that the website for National Grid does not state where the energy used in our area is derived from.)
If this is true, that we are selling our energy to other places, then we are obviously selling it just for money. Consumerism and greed is said to affect how we see Earth as property instead of a planet. We drown out our sense to see the beauty in nature by allowing money and the greed of money to take over our lives. Why do we work? The most common reason Americans work and have occupations is for money to shop. There are up to five shopping malls and countless plazas within the Buffalo area. My question is why? Why do we need five malls plus countless plazas? The only logical answer I could think of is easier access. But, this want of easier access makes it harder on the planet by their use of electricity, heat, etc.
Using our old habits and technology increases the rate global warming increases not only affects our species, but also many others. Over twenty different mammal species may become extinct within the next thirty to ninety years, including the vulnerable Ursus maritimus more commonly known as the polar bear.
Polar bears are native to the arctic where it is on average 32oF in the summer and -29oF in the winter. Some polar bears only spend part of the year on land, the other part in the ocean where the climate can be warmer by up to 32oF in the winter, but in the summer the ocean’s climate is below the land’s climate by about 4oF. When they are on land, they are usually eating, hunting, sleeping, or migrating. The bears handle these frigid temperatures by the sun being attracted to their dark black skin under their clear fur.
The ice sheets polar bears live on are melting due to the warmer climates. Since the ocean has a higher climate than the ice during part of the year, the ice does slowly melt naturally but it is repaired during the time when the ice climate is higher. Because of global warming and an increase of climate, the ice melts away faster and is unable to repair itself as quickly as it should. The polar bears depend on the land to hunt for ring and bearded seals. They need at least two kilograms of fat each day to live. If the polar bears cannot stay on their native land to hunt, they migrate into human territory, starve to death, or drown.
Global warming is limiting the amount of food supply as well as the amount of habitat available for the polar bears. It is affecting their right to live by their next generation of wild polar bears. The cubs depend on their mother until they are up to two and a half years old. If their mothers are not able to hunt, both the cub and mother can die allowing the species to possibly become extinct by the end of this century. (Different areas of polar bear habitats may be affected differently see attached graph for more information.)
Extinction, however, is not as bad as we see it. It actually helps the planet evolve with new life and new species. This is where earth science and biology meet. If the ice sheets continue to melt, wild polar bears may become extinct allowing the seal population to either increase or decrease depending on how they will survive with no ice. It then links to the rest of the world by the food chain as well as the effect of increased sea levels. The melting ice will cause many places such as parts of the United States, the Netherlands, and China. Millions of species will have to adapt to these changes, making it more difficult to live. It would be similar to dropping an ice cube into a cup of water that was about room temperature and comparing it to another cup with a temperature of about 28oF to 34oF with an ice cube. Then, if you heat the two cups by just a few degrees, you will see that your end result will be only liquid.
The main concern about global warming and climate change affecting polar bears is extinction. I know that I have stated that extinction does help the planet produce different kinds of life, but should humans really be known as a force against nature; a force so strong that we managed to wipe out many species because of our irresponsibility? We will be historic for being able to do this much damage, but no life will be able to learn of this tragedy. We need to change our ways and evolve to meet our Earth’s needs, not our individual needs.
Bibliography
Books:
Gore, Al. (2006) An Inconvenient Truth. New York, New York. Rodale.
Documentaries:
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (Producer). 2008. The 11th Hour. United States of America: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Internet/Websites:
Single WebPages:
PETA. (2008) Meat’s Not Green. People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals. http://www.peta2.com/meatsnotgreen/index.asp
Unknown Author. (2002) Polar Bears. Sea World/ Busch Gardens. http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/PolarBears/pbhabitat.html
Multiple WebPages within One Site:
Various Authors. (2007-2009) Various Articles. World Wild Life Fund. http://worldwildlifefund.org
Monday, February 8, 2010
Notes of a Tree Hugger: Why Don’t They Care about This Earth-icide?
This was written in June of 2008 for an English project during my freshman year:
We are at the point in life where we are potentially killing our only home. Deforestation, pollution, and global warming are becoming a huge threat to animal and plant species throughout the earth. Most of these threats are caused by humans, but, we can change this by the way we act and think.
For my research, I determined why people care more about useless, material things, instead of the earth- the one thing we cannot live without. To do this, I used An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, The 11th Hour directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, and a survey I constructed. Using these resources, I determined that humans barely care about the earth because they don’t know about the earth and the effects of our actions, others believe that they cannot live without material things, and that some care, but don’t take action about it.
One of my conclusions is that people believe they cannot live without material things. In my survey, 77% said that they could not live without electricity. I also asked “what is the one thing you can/ cannot live without?” According to the survey, people cannot live without: television, their pet(s), water, their ipod, family, and friends. They also said that they can live without: bees, having a certain pet, pickles, television, school, their ipod, their cell phone, homework, vacations, and outdoing neighbors. By gaining interest in material things, we loose interest in the environment and the effect of these material things on the environment. If we took the time to realize how and where something was made, the materials used to make them, how long we’ll use the product for, and what short-term and long-term effects the product will have on us and the environment, we probably would buy fewer products. Everything we buy has an impact on the environment by how they are made and used. Greenhouse gases are naturally given off by non-manmade products, but, it is the manmade products that are dramatically increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. All electronics release carbon dioxide, causing global warming to increase.
My second thought of why people do not care about the environment is that they simply are not educated about the earth and the effects of our actions. Out of the eighteen people surveyed, only four (less than 25%) could state at least one fact about global warming. This survey also asked if the person believed in global warming, 50% said yes. Although global warming isn’t the only cause of death (of humans and other species) in the world, it is a major cause. Hurricane Katrina is nothing compared to what will be seen in the future (Gore).
The third reason is that some people care, but they don’t take action. Those who are not taking action believe that there are enough people who care about the earth already, so why should they bother? In the survey, 16% believe that there are too many people who care about the environment. Also, 50% chose animals or nature as the one thing they care about, yet only 5% are vegetarian/vegan but surprisingly, 89% recycle. You don’t have to be a vegan or a vegetarian to love animals, but obviously some people cannot make a simple sacrifice to stop murder.
Using a survey, a book, and a documentary, I concluded the reasons why some people care more about the ipod, the new car, their money - the useless material things compared to the one and only earth. If we don’t stop this ‘earth-icide’ all species will die. You wouldn’t want to read a newspaper titled “Human causes death of over one million species” while waiting in purgatory, would you? We need to change way we act and think about our only home. We can live without electricity, we can learn, and we can take action. Won’t you help stop this earth-icide?
Bibliography
Gore, Albert. An Inconvenient Truth. New York; Rodale 2006
The 11th Hour. Dir. Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. DVD.
Leonardo DiCaprio et al.
Survey created by Katie F.
PLEASE NOTE
* The survey I created and used consisted of eighteen people. The results are accurate for those eighteen people and are not to be used to assume the same results will occur in a larger, more diverse survey.
We are at the point in life where we are potentially killing our only home. Deforestation, pollution, and global warming are becoming a huge threat to animal and plant species throughout the earth. Most of these threats are caused by humans, but, we can change this by the way we act and think.
For my research, I determined why people care more about useless, material things, instead of the earth- the one thing we cannot live without. To do this, I used An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, The 11th Hour directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, and a survey I constructed. Using these resources, I determined that humans barely care about the earth because they don’t know about the earth and the effects of our actions, others believe that they cannot live without material things, and that some care, but don’t take action about it.
One of my conclusions is that people believe they cannot live without material things. In my survey, 77% said that they could not live without electricity. I also asked “what is the one thing you can/ cannot live without?” According to the survey, people cannot live without: television, their pet(s), water, their ipod, family, and friends. They also said that they can live without: bees, having a certain pet, pickles, television, school, their ipod, their cell phone, homework, vacations, and outdoing neighbors. By gaining interest in material things, we loose interest in the environment and the effect of these material things on the environment. If we took the time to realize how and where something was made, the materials used to make them, how long we’ll use the product for, and what short-term and long-term effects the product will have on us and the environment, we probably would buy fewer products. Everything we buy has an impact on the environment by how they are made and used. Greenhouse gases are naturally given off by non-manmade products, but, it is the manmade products that are dramatically increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. All electronics release carbon dioxide, causing global warming to increase.
My second thought of why people do not care about the environment is that they simply are not educated about the earth and the effects of our actions. Out of the eighteen people surveyed, only four (less than 25%) could state at least one fact about global warming. This survey also asked if the person believed in global warming, 50% said yes. Although global warming isn’t the only cause of death (of humans and other species) in the world, it is a major cause. Hurricane Katrina is nothing compared to what will be seen in the future (Gore).
The third reason is that some people care, but they don’t take action. Those who are not taking action believe that there are enough people who care about the earth already, so why should they bother? In the survey, 16% believe that there are too many people who care about the environment. Also, 50% chose animals or nature as the one thing they care about, yet only 5% are vegetarian/vegan but surprisingly, 89% recycle. You don’t have to be a vegan or a vegetarian to love animals, but obviously some people cannot make a simple sacrifice to stop murder.
Using a survey, a book, and a documentary, I concluded the reasons why some people care more about the ipod, the new car, their money - the useless material things compared to the one and only earth. If we don’t stop this ‘earth-icide’ all species will die. You wouldn’t want to read a newspaper titled “Human causes death of over one million species” while waiting in purgatory, would you? We need to change way we act and think about our only home. We can live without electricity, we can learn, and we can take action. Won’t you help stop this earth-icide?
Bibliography
Gore, Albert. An Inconvenient Truth. New York; Rodale 2006
The 11th Hour. Dir. Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners. DVD.
Leonardo DiCaprio et al.
Survey created by Katie F.
PLEASE NOTE
* The survey I created and used consisted of eighteen people. The results are accurate for those eighteen people and are not to be used to assume the same results will occur in a larger, more diverse survey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)