Our Melting Future

Recently an estimate was released stating by 2040 the world will face it's first ice-free summer, in which, during their respective warm months, each hemisphere will rid itself of all ice (National Geographic). Although this information may seem unimportant and even trivial, it is crucial in every facet. Delicate ecosystems rely on remaining ice in each hemisphere. When these ecosystems are damaged or wiped out entirely it will cause a chain reaction destroying many others and causing food chain adaptations to take place. When the food chain adapts certain genus and species are left out of the new chain, so they die off. Homo Sapiens could be one of those species. Even with all of this fact-based evidence and likely predicted scenarios, three in fifty people in America believe global warming is not happening, and nearly one fourth of people in America are not sure it is happening. These numbers are inexcusable. Although global warming appears to currently not be making an evident impact in the climate, it is, and in doing so global warming is drastically and permanently altering micro-climates, causing more severe weather all over the planet, and pouring ludicrous amounts of fresh water into the ocean causing a large number of other side effects.
Many people argue since the signs of global warming are not visible global warming is not happening. They are wrong in two major ways. Currently, the signs of global warming are more evident than they have ever been. Strange new weather patterns are emerging, causing extreme natural disasters all over the planet. Certain animals are now on the brink of extinction due to the rapid death of the animals they eat. Many of the animals they eat are being killed by lack of natural resources and unfriendly environments, which can all be attributed to global warming. In addition to animal extinction, another reason the average skeptic would be wrong is: just because one sees no crime does not mean no crime occurred. Although there are only a few locations on earth that have experienced little to no change in weather, one should never assume the rest of the world is in line with this sheltered island. Others also assert these periods of heating and cooling are natural. To a certain degree they are right. The earth does go through standard periods of heating and cooling. In the end, the climate is restored to a normal state; the cooling and heating cancel each other out. It is not the period of heating that people should fear. It is the scope at which it occurs and the damage it does to our ecosystem. Newton's law of relativity could explain the balance of the climate quite well. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". When a heating occurs, it is balanced out by the same level of cooling, thrown back at it through natural processes. Now that our climate is heating more than it has in centuries, we can expect the eventual cooling to be massive in scale. This is how ice ages occur, and this is what people should fear.
Although the changes to the climate may seem small, they are actually more significant than most people believe. It has only in recent years been discovered how volatile the natural cycles that take place can be when disrupted. Weather patterns can shift, bringing snow to Malibu or heavy rains to Albuquerque. Sea currents can shift, bringing 70 degree water to parts of Canada. This all just goes to show no one should mess with the natural order of things, yet people are. Each year the United States releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is naturally occurring in the atmosphere in low percentages, and assists with the trapping of heat from the sun. Now that the air contains too much, the world is slowly heating. Average temperatures around the world have climbed 1.4 degrees since 1880 with an exponentially increasing rate. Even though 1.4 degrees is a little number, it drastically impacts micro-climates all over the world. A microclimate is an area or habitat with a fairly uniform local climate. In a microclimate that was previously frozen tundra, whose temperature never reached higher than 31 degrees, is now having brief periods of melting. It is highly probable this melting would allow the introduction of invasive species. An invasive species is an organism that was not part of the established food chain in an area. When introduced they can rapidly multiply and deplete many animals food supply. This causes an unnatural shift in the food chain, which simply cuts native organisms out, leaving them with no food, to slowly perish. About 40% of all species that are endangered or threatened on earth are so because of invasive species. One example or an "exotic species" is the Brown Tree Snake, a species introduced to the island of Guam. Now, because of this snake's hunting habits over half of all species of bird, lizard, and bat have been wiped off of the island. Those species can not be recreated, and they will not come back. When native organisms become endangered or extinct, which is a possibility for over a million species, a little of our worlds natural wonder vanishes.
The Sahara desert is a source of dry air which causes hurricanes. Due to the heating of the region and the expansion of the desert, more dry air than usual has been pushed out to sea, allowing for the construction of more hurricanes, leading to an abnormally high number of tropical storms these past few years. Weather events such as tropical storms, floods, droughts, wild fires, and heat waves, have all been linked to global warming by many experts in the field. There are many feedback loops contributing to global warming. A positive feedback loop is a never-ending cycle that ultimately causes a higher level of something(temperature, water, etc.) over a period of time. The only way to combat a positive feedback loop is to fight it directly, for example, by adding cold water to hot water until the temperature is neutral. One example of a positive feedback loop is the atmospheric water vapor loop. When the atmosphere warms it is able to hold more water vapor. Since water vapor in the atmosphere is one thing that causes further warming, more water can be stored. The cycle continues as a general trend and heats the earth. This changes common cloud types, makes downpours more severe, worsens moisture fueled storms, and overall, causes much of the catastrophic weather that the United States has seen as of late.
Another significant problem is the melting of the ice in the north and south polar regions. This melting is a normal process that occurs every year, only now the heat is intensifying certain aspects. In a full year there is normally a melting of some ice and then the re-freezing of said ice, either with slightly more or less ice than the area started with. Now with the warming intensified, the melting is starting earlier and ending later. Not only does this cause an increase in the melting; it also causes a decrease in the freezing. Without as many months as these polar regions normally have to refreeze the season's melt, the amount of ice built back up is a fraction of what was started out with. In addition, the water, once melted, speeds up the melting of the rest of the ice. This means with the longer warm season, more water is helping melt even more ice. The final result? Massive amounts of fresh water are being dumped into the ocean each year, the sea-ice needed by numerous animals is disappearing, and the sea level is rising. Fresh water has no effect on the actual habitats of the ocean; only on the sea currents. Currently the northern arctic area is melting and, on average, pouring the equivalent of the Amazon River in freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean. Because fresh water is less dense than salt water it floats. This means that the surface currents, driven by one of the most critical underwater currents in the world, would stop flowing north causing a drastic cooling, and as some models predict, an ice age for Canada and all of Europe. Although these current predictions have not yet had time to come true, it is only a matter of time. Some early studies show deep circulation in the Atlantic Ocean is already slowing. Another problem with the melting is the depletion of sea ice used by animals. The polar bear is among the afflicted. During pre-industrial times, when there was little change going on with the atmosphere, polar bears were plentiful and healthy. Now it is estimated that fewer than 25,000 remain. In addition, the polar bears that do remain are on average ten kilograms lighter than they should be and in poor health. Normally the polar bear awakens from its hibernation and heads out on the sea ice to hunt for seals. With their fat reserves gone, their life now depends on catching one or more seals. Now with the sea ice disappearing quicker and quicker after they wake up, the number of them that can make a catch before the sea ice is gone is sinking. They have been hunted in the past, but never have they come closer to extinction than now. One of the most known effects of global warming is the rise in sea level. When the ice melts more water is put into the ocean causing a gradual rise in sea level over time. For cities like New Orleans and Miami that are already at or below sea level, this spells trouble. It is estimated that if all of the ice in just Greenland melted, the ocean would rise 27 feet. That much water would cover entire states and cut the world's water to land ratio even lower. Since 40% of the world live within 60 miles of the coastline this would cause mass death. Unlike a flood, the water would not just go away after a while. It would stay there, with ruins of highly populated cities below the surface.
Although global warming appears to currently not be making an evident impact in the climate, it is, and in doing so global warming is drastically and permanently altering micro-climates, causing more severe weather all over the planet, and pouring ludicrous amounts of fresh water into the ocean causing a large number of other side effects. Global warming is not a problem, it is a disaster. The solutions available only work with mass participation and effort (Renewable). People need to start conserving energy. Turn the lights off when they're not in a room. Drive a hybrid or electric car. Use clean energy like solar, wind, and hydro electricity. Start to recycle. Live a waste-free existence. Plenty of people do all of this already, but it isn't enough. To stop what is happening everyone must put forth some effort, otherwise man kind might not survive much longer.

Addicted

Some say we have an addiction to oil. I say we have much more than an addiction. We are entirely reliant upon it. Oil will run out someday. And when it does we will have no cars, transportation, plastic, oil-based paint, petroleum, asphalt, some kinds of wax, and 3% of the nations electricity (which is actually a lot). However, wind, water movement, geothermal, and solar energy will not run out, making them excellent alternatives to oil.
Now it is true that in the past few years considerable steps forward have been made in the domestic clean energy effort. However, considerable is not momentous. We need to look at the facts and not believe everything we hear or read. In the 1970s an embargo against the U.S., as well as other countries that supported Israel, was enacted by multiple oil producing countries in the middle east. This embargo devastated the U.S. and caused the government to start releasing energy conservation ads. At the time most sources of renewable energy were either out of reach or not thought of. During this shortage of fuel, people started driving smaller, and more fuel efficient cars. However, after the embargo was ended people began to revert to their old, wasteful selves. We could learn a few lessons from this crisis. To begin with, we can not place a significant amount of our energy dependence in oil, whether foreign or domestic. The United states is currently the worlds biggest consumer of oil. Also contrary to popular belief, the price of oil did not skyrocket in the last few months. It did rise but the spikes were caused by speculation that in the future it will rise. You see roughly two thirds of all energy used in transportation is based on petroleum. When the price of travel (which is considered a necessity) goes up, than the consumer has less money to spend in the every day world. Now that they have less to spend many businesses start to lose money, and when businesses start to lose money, their stock price goes down, devaluing the company. When all of those companies combined stocks plummet the stock market becomes a scary place. So if you think about it, oil could be blamed for the economic “Slump” we're in.
In a study published in Gallup Poll, March 2007, 53% of Americans thought the United States of America was likely to face an energy shortage within the next five years. We know the problems are there. We are just doing little about it. With this in mind, we must be more conservative and fuel efficient. It is time to stop pleasing the oil companies and start pleasing the people who comprise this incredible nation. This problem cannot be solved over night. We must wean ourselves slowly off the oil, and gradualy use our money (that our economy currently does not have due to a financial crisis) to fill in those gaps of open land with solar panels and wind turbines. It is a huge investment we must make but in the end are the results not worth it? We send billions of dollars overseas for oil each year draining the ocean that is our economy until only the fish are left to flop around and die. We must stop being so gluttonous in nature. We shouldn’t be the country where bigger is better and excess is excellent. We should be the country where efficient, is better. Many people believe that the government is to blame for all the trouble we are in, but this is not true. Although they are a large culprit, so are all of us normal folk. We are the ones actually allowing it to happen, if not causing it. We are not only the nation of excess, but we are than nation of laziness. We have the highest rate of obesity of any developed country in the world. We are the country where a quarter mile is too much to walk.
Another ill effect of our oil addiction is the cause it has on the world around us. We are releasing excess amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is naturally occurring in the atmosphere in low percentages, and assists with the trapping of heat from the sun. Now that we have too much, the world is slowly heating. Ice bergs are melting causing a rise in sea level. A rise in sea level (as well as a rise in ocean temperature) is causing delicate ecosystems to falter or fail entirely. In addition to this, warmer ocean temperatures are causing new air flow patterns in the atmosphere, resulting in strange new weather patterns. Places that need rain are no longer getting it, and places that were getting rain are now getting too much.
In short, oil is the root of all our problems. The financial crisis, our wars, and animal extinction can all be related to it. So grab a fuel efficient car, move to a city at least thirty feet above sea level, and hold on. The transition from oil to alternative energy is likely to be a lengthy one.

Did You Know: The Rise of the Rest

A while back in English class we watched a presentation known as "Shift Happens". It was about the growing world, growing needs, growing connections, and growing population. In his new blog Mr. Fisch shows us a newer version, Did You Know: The Rise of the Rest and Arabic Translation.
This presentation is based more on the Chinese people, as well as the rest of Asia. In side the presentation are arguments just as frightening as the original, if not scarier. It is difficult to try and imagine the environment we (and our kids) will grow up in. I myself am beginning to believe that we as a collective peoples need to slow down if we have any hope of surviving. We have too many pressing problems that need fixing, which we simply ignore in the hopes that they will go away.Well, they're not.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mxJZ6Jhnrk

FREEDOM! At School?

In Mr fisch's latest article, Intellectual Freedom: Where Do You Stand?, he raises many valid questions that have no apparent answer. What are the limits where the school should stop filtering our Internet? Is our system a good one? At many other schools a large amount of sites are blocked automatically, and teachers can request a website to be added. Here at Arapahoe, some sites are fully blocked while others are blocked, but can be bypassed by a teacher's password. Nearly every site with games explicit graphics or any form of entertainment is blocked. We have it much better than most. I believe that our system works, just not very efficiently. I believe it would be much better if the students here at Arapahoe were able to unblock sites, but a log was kept of what sites we unblocked. That way we would have freedom, but would still be supervised and under control.

Mrs. Crosby's blog

My social studies teacher, Mrs. Crosby, has a blog entitled The Devil's Advocate. Its a great blog with interesting topics and frequent new posts. Recently Mr. Fisch discussed her blog on his blog, The Fischbowl. Mr. Fisch, during his explanation, touched upon a view of Mrs. Crosby's that is frequently exhibited in here class. She believes that a teacher should not give her opinion out because it may form unjustified prejudices within the students when it comes to discussing the topic later. What she does with her blog is different from most teachers, because she may post something that she disagrees with entirely just to provoke thought and argument. This is a fantastic idea. There are advantages to airing your opinion, but I personally believe a moderator in a debate should not even hint to their individual ideas regarding the subject at hand. If only all teachers could share this notion of mine.

Parodys, funny but sometimes realistic.

Have you ever missed an important debate and wanted to get the general gist of what happened? Believe it or not the way to do that according to my article, Politics, Palin and 'SNL', might be to watch MAD TV or Saturday Night Live (SNL). In Many of the parodies portraying actual events, the skit itself is almost a point by point run through with a few cups of drama thrown in. Although at times the skits can get a bit off topic, their main ideas are still fundamentally the same. I personally watch SNL on a frequent basis and have seen many parodies of interviews and debates as demonstrated with the videos at the bottom. Both videos ar hilarious and i recommend you watch them both.

In This Video Amy Pohler and Tina Fey make fun of a debate between Sarah Palin and Katie Couric. Some of the lines in this skit were taken directly from the actual conversation.



This is a parody of the first presidential candidate debate between John McCain and Barrak Obama. Although the McCain impression is not that accurate in this video, the Barrak impression raises some of his actual points from the real debate.

Community leader in ADVIS

A new learning opportunity indeed. Mr. Fisch at out school, has been given the huge privilege of being a community leader for the "ADVIS Cohort". Apparently this job entails taking care of some of the technical aspects of the site as well as pushing along conservations. The only major difference from what he has been doing at Arapahoe is that he won't be taking part in the face to face meetings (and he doesn't know many people within this new group). ADVIS also has a program called PLP, or Powerful Learning Practice. This new regimen integrates modern day technology with a "long-term, job-embedded professional development program". Integrating online tools, media, and new found communities into our learning and career development paths is a great idea. It allows students to make a fully informed choice about their futures. The web is a rapidly expanding pool of knowledge. Whats the point of having a pool if you don't go for a swim every once in a while?

Hybrid Electric Bikes?

In my article, Commuters beat the high price of gas with hybrid electric bikes, a man explains how by commuting with a hybrid electric bike he saves around 25 to 30 dollars a week. That's 100-120 dollars a month or 1200-1440 dollars a year. Another plus to this fantastic contraption is that to charge it only costs about 20 cents(in electricity costs). That is a diminutive carbon footprint compared to a car. There are many different models of hybrid bikes and the more powerful ones get between 20 and 80 miles per charge. The bikes don't run completely on electricity. You still have to petal, but the bike assists you, making a ride uphill a breeze. It looks like a normal bike, just with a little plastic covering the center. If everyone started using these bikes instead of cars than this country could stop putting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Global warming is a monumental problem right now, and we as a country, and as a planet, have to do everything in our power to stop it.



http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/john-mclinden-rides-his-electric-bike-work/

The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider, a machine designed to send protons at each other and gauge any reactions, had its first successful test firing yesterday. The machine cost $3.8 billion and consists of 17 miles of underground “tube” that the protons are fired down. It traverses the border of Switzerland and France and was built with collaboration from over 85 countries. The Collider is highly controversial and is considered by some, a threat to humanity. Even though top physicists like Stephan Hawking have said it is safe, there are still those who believe otherwise. I personally think that this is a huge scientific advancement. Supposedly the collider can make protons travel 99.999999% the speed of light(wikipedia). Sure it could probably be used as a weapon, but the possible scientific advancements such as the discovery of the Higs Boson, anti-matter, or extra dimensions far outweigh the risks. The people of earth need to start viewing the glass as half full not half empty. Look at the positives for a change. If you poke fun at things that scare you, they won’t scare you much longer.

Lab set to start world's largest particle collider –my article

Also, a rap about the function of the collider is attached to the bottom. Its already gotten over 2.5 million hits on youtube.com to date.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM