More on Environmental Geography

In Human Geo today we took more notes on environmental geography. Here is what I wrote down:

Global Warming 101 (video)

• explains in scientific terms using statistics, how climate change works 
• back in 2005 when this video was made, "global warming" was a more commonly used term until climate change was used instead 
• produced by National Geographic 

Highlights 

• for eons, millennia, multiple hundreds of centuries, the earth has cycled between ice ages and thaws 
• always been part of the natural order of thing 
• but as humans become more resourceful , they have had ore of an impact on nature and climate 
• our impact has included raising the planets temperature by 1.2 degrees F to 1.4 degrees F in the last 100 years 
• compare this to basic pattern of glacial periods which usually last between 40,000 to 100,000 years 
• human activity which is driving the temperatures up so quickly 
• burning fossil fuels : coal, gas, and other petroleum products produces carbon dioxide 
• carbon dioxide intensifies the greenhouse effect which causes heat to be reflected back to earth 
• carbon dioxide and methane have reached their highest levels in 420,000 years 
• sources: cars, factories, power plants, trucks, jets, cement production, etc 
• whats the worst that could happen? 
• rising sea levels which could flood costal areas around the world 
• severe drought that could become more prominent in warm areas 
• species unable to adapt to the changing condition would face extinctions 

Climate Change 101 With Bill Nye (the video) 

Bill Nye 

• science educator 
• writer 
• scientist 
• mechanical engineer
• inventor swing dancer
• science guy

Highlights 

• ten of the last 13 years were the warmest on record 
• more details on what is in greenhouse gases 
• pie chart supplied by EPA.gov (environmental protection agency) 
• Bill is good at illustrating things (example, greenhouse gas direction graph) 
• why he is so popular: TV guest, speaks against deniers and creationists, science guy 
• the temperature of the earth's oceans has risen more than .3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969 causing: 
• 30% rise of acidity in oceans chemistry 
• certain species such as oysters and clams to become calcified 
• shallow water corals to become increasingly at risk 
• placing ocean food chain in danger 
• since 1994, each year on average, the earth has lost form its glaciers (400,000,000,000 ton) 

Definition 

• climate change= a long term change in the earth's overall temperature with massive and permanent ramification 

What we can do

• recycle and reuse 
• walk, bike, use public transportation 
• turn off electronics when not in use 
• eat less met 
• eat more locally grown vegetables and foods