Blog 10: Taylor Fucini, 4/18/14 5:17, climate change

                   Another report from the Panel on Climate Change has come out showing the link between greenhouse gases and national income;middle income countries like China are the biggest contributors to new emissions. The report is intended to measure how far governments have met their promises. Between 2000 and 2010 greenhouse gas emissions grew at 2.2% a year almost twice as fast as in the previous 30 years. "At this rate, the report says, the world will pass a 2°C temperature rise by 2030 and the increase will reach 3.7-4.8°C by 2100, a level at which damage, in the form of inundated coastal cities, lost species and crop failures, becomes catastrophic." In order to rein back the rise in temperatures greenhouse gas emissions would have to decreases 30%- 60% but unfortunately emissions are still rising. The panel thinks it is possible to hit the emissions mark by using low carbon energy sources such as solar, wind and nuclear power. A down side to this would require investments in energy to go up as much as $147 billion a year until 2030. I feel like even though it will cost a lot to make these changes it is needed to save the earth. If climate change keeps increasing I am worried about how we will have the resources we need.

Link to article:http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21600967-options-limiting-climate-change-are-narrowing-another-week-another-report

Blog 9: Taylor Fucini, 4/13/14 11:09, climate change

About every six years a panel on climate change produces a three part encyclopedia of the climate. One part  is the science of climate change and the world temperature. Another part is how climate is affecting ecosystem's, the economy and peoples livelihoods. "The report describes three different problems and the first are those in which climate is the dominant influence, so that no human action other than stopping it changing will have an effect. The second are those in which the climate’s influence is modest and where the news is not entirely bad. The third are the ways a changing climate alters which species (both natural and agricultural) thrive where—which from a human perspective can be both good and bad." Rising sea levels cause problems for people living in coastal cities because of flooding. The warmer climate causes more diseases to spread and cause heat related deaths. Plants are changing their migrating patterns, tropical yields are declining and food crops are changing. The solution to rising sea levels is hard but attacking the cause by cutting carbon-dioxide emissions is the best. "The most effective vulnerability reduction measures for health are programs that implement and improve basic health." A new way of looking at climate change is to determine other factors that contribute to problems like rural development and a solution is to adapt the change rather than attempting to stop it. Climate change is already a problem and one cant really stop something that has been started. The best thing to do is to figure out ways to lessen the effects and lessen the problem altogether. 

Link to article: 
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21600080-new-report-ipcc-implies-climate-exceptionalism-notion

Blog 9: Three-Quarters Of World Bank-Backed Projects Still Don't Evaluate Climate Risks: Report

Summary:
This article concerns a report from the World Resources Institute, a nonprofit organization. The researchers involved with the report uncovered and analyzed information pertaining to loans being distributed by the World Bank, and found that only around 25% of the funded projects contained no assessment regarding climate change. In 2013, the World Bank admitted that climate change could seriously undermine poverty alleviation and the path to sustainability for developing, and also promised to make climate change more a more prevalent factor regarding the projects they fund. The World Bank also continues to fund coal-powered projects, one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Despite all of this, the WRI believes that the World Bank is serious about moving forward on climate, and has made several suggestions to the World Bank, and the World Bank generally agreed with their suggestions.

Analysis:
The World Bank needs to take climate change more seriously when funding projects. The point that is lost in all of this, though, is that the West is responsible for an extremely disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases and environmental destruction when compare to the developing world. The focus and the pressure of climate change needs to be laid at the doorstep of the US and other developed nations, because we are the largest contributors. Who are we to tell the developing world how to develop when we can't even reign in our own pollution? I do hope the World Bank makes the right decisions going forward, though, and I hope they offer real, profitable, and sustainable infrastructure projects to these developing nations. 

Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/world-bank-climate-change_n_5104895.html?utm_hp_ref=climate-change

Blog 8: IPCC says the same old thing

Summary:
The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their latest report last Monday and the news is pretty much still the same. The scientists described many catastrophic scenarios for various nations around the world, focusing mostly on conditions worsening in areas that are currently being impacted. The most interesting aspect of this new report is the focus on worsening social problems as a result of a planet in upheaval. Lack of access to food and medicine, eruptions of violent conflict due to resource scarcity, and the spread of disease top the list as major areas of concern for the world. The current report utilized countless instances of "proof" that climate change is taking place, and urged a reversal of our current energy sources.

Analysis:
While I do believe in climate change, I also believe that this issue is just too big for the average person to wrap their head around. For those that do understand the risks associated with climate change, you must consider that many people will fall victim to the free rider problem. It's overwhelming. If climate change has already progressed as much as the IPCC claims, how are we to ever reverse it? It seems that at this point, climate change could only be reversed by a 100% reversal of civilization overnight, and that is not going to happen. What if climate change is supposed to happen as a defense mechanism for Earth itself? Since most of the world's population lives near the coast, maybe this is just a natural cleansing method. Disease also spreads pretty easily through water. My suggestion would be for people to prepare as much as possible for a changing climate, and to focus more effort on local environmental problems. We probably do not have time to change the way the entire world operates, so we might as well focus on making our local communities more sustainable and environmentally friendly and more prepared to endure the coming storms.

Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/30/un-climate-change-report_n_5060317.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular,climate-change

Blog 8: Taylor Fucini, 4/4/14 5:46 climate change

Summary:

Not only is climate change affecting animals but its affecting food. Jim Kim made the statement about how we had a plan to treat HIV but when the question was asked about climate change the answer was no. There is research being done with energy and there are plans being made about it but climate change is a different story.  Some people think a plan is equal to a challenge but a plan is something to convince others that there is a problem. Kim said that improved access to clean water and sanitation was necessary to help climate control. "People say that carbon is the currency of climate change. Water is the teeth. Fights over water and food are going to be the most significant direct impacts of climate change in the next 5-10 years."

Reflection:

This article brought out interesting points about comparing climate change to HIV. I feel like if there are plans for other issues than there needs to be plans for climate change. I think people don't think its serious because it is not talked about as much. If more people talked about it then it would get the attention it needs. A plan is not a challenge its a guide for a fixing a problem. 

Link to article:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/climate-change-battle-food-head-world-bank

Blog 7: Taylor Fucini, 3/39/14 6:32, climate change

Summary:

This was the 6th warmest year on record and 13 out of 14 warmest years have been during the 21st century. Typhoon's have been causing billions of dollars in damage to the Philippines and Vietnam. Australia had its hottest year ever. Climate change is not just about the melting ice and hurting plants; its about human problems like hunger, disease and flooding becoming more of a problem. North America is getting more rain that is damaging and the Arctic climate is affecting the livelihoods of people in northern Canada. "Climate change really is a challenge in managing risks." climate change is already occurring and will likely become worse over the next 10-20 years but if we take action now the effects can be seen in years later.

Reflection:

I find these facts shocking because I didn't know how warm it has been and that so many areas are effected by climate change. I didn't think about how climate change effects more than just weather it effects human conditions also. I don't want to live in a world where my health is affected because of pollution or environmental conditions that can be prevented. I think more should be done because disease and hunger especially are going to become bigger problems that don't need to occur.This makes me wonder what my children will have to face and what health conditions in terms of diseases will occur. We all know climate change is happening because it is talked about everywhere but what we don't know is what the future will hold. That's why its important to take it serous now to protect our world and our children's future environment.

Link to article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-climate-change-2014-annual-assessment/

All Time High

    Carbon Dioxide levels have reached an all time high. Carbon Dioxide are 400 parts per million, the highest ever possibly since the beginning of humanity. According to instruments in Hawaii at Mauna Loa Observatory Carbon dioxide levels reached heights of 401.6 parts per million three times this month. Last year levels did not reach these heights for another two months and will continue to stay at high levels until July. To put the figures into perspective, in 1958 the Carbon Dioxide levels were around 320 parts per million. Scientists are deeply concerned about the increase in temperature that this is likely to cause and the fear that efforts to slow down climate change are not very successful.
     It seems as if there is overwhelming evidence to support the theory of climate change so why is nothing being done to slow it down? The seas and temperatures are rising and the current rate of climate change is ten times faster than in history. Some scientists day CO2 levels could reach 600 parts per million by the end of the century. Although the idea of climate change is incredibly controversial the numbers show hard evidence that we should be worried about what is happening to the planet.  "The real message is that we are still moving in the wrong direction. The CO2 problem hasn't gone away. It continues to get worse every year."- Pieter Tans

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/climate-carbon-dioxide-record/

Blog 6: Taylor Fucini, 3/21/14 5:14 ,climate change

        The world is at a growing risk of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes because of a warming climate. Due to greenhouse gas emissions being so high if they aren't lowered there will be a risk o leaving a climate catastrophe for future generations. Scientists are not here to tell people what to do they are here to help people understand about human-caused climate change is happening and how to respond to lower the risks. Japan is going to release a report about how a changing climate is affecting rainfall and heat waves, sea level and the oceans. Climate change is happening faster and changes could lie ahead such as large scale collapse of ice sheets, Gulf stream, rain forests and coral reefs. Another change is mass extinctions. The sooner we make a concerted effort the lower our risk and cost will be.  Climate change effects all countries because we all live in the same world. Also many animals have migratory patterns that are effected by climate change. Many products are shipped between countries and climate change is disrupting the routes and places to ship. I am worried for my children's future because of the way climate change is happening faster.

Link to article:
 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/18/climate-change-world-risk-irreversible-changes-scientists-aaas

Blog 5: Taylor Fucini, 3/8/14 8:36, climate change

Summary:

This is about a survey that was done to see if mangers are concerned about the impacts of climate change on their businesses. Some companies like Coca-Cola and Nike are taking this issue seriously. "Water availability, extreme weather brings unpredictable dangers for physical assets or massive disruptions to supply chains." Companies are becoming more understanding because they now understand how this problem is going to affect them now and in the future. "Only 9% of respondents thought their organizations were really prepared." Companies struggle with long-term thinking, preparing for multiple contingencies so companies "need to fight the short-terminus that plagues business, set goals based on science to drastically cut carbon fast enough, innovate in heretical new ways and collaborate with friends." Its okay if a company doesn't think about climate change but if they do they are more engaged and more innovated.

Reflection:

It was surprising to me how many companies and organizations are prepared for climate change because this is a big problem. Resources that are available now may not be available later which is going to leave businesses stuck. It is better to prepare now and make plans so employees know what to do and the companies wont face issues. Its going to be bad if they aren't prepared because not only is productive going to decrease it could hurt businesses. Climate change effects everyone around the world because many companies are worldwide. Many countries depend on big companies like Nike for products. Companies need to realize how big climate change is, make goals to prevent climate change from getting worse and find ways to innovate in case of sudden big changes. No one knows what is really going to happen and make countries are dependent on companies so its best to start preparing now. Climate change is happening more companies need to start taking action.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/how-much-do-companies-really-worry-about-climate-change/

Malaria and Climate Change

 A recent study shows that the warming planet may increase the rate of malaria in Africa. In areas that are warming malaria has begun to climb to higher altitudes that are warmer as a result of the warming climate. This is threatening populations that once lived in malaria free locations and now have become a place where mosquitoes carrying a plasmodium can now survive.
   It is continually surprising to me how much climate can affect life all across the planet. A change in a few degrees can open a gateway for morbid disease. The populations of people that will be exposed to malaria have no history of resistance and will be especially vulnerable. The article predicts that a change in 1 degree Celsius will increase the amount of children affected each year by three million. The ways that a changing climate can destroy our earth and the people in it are limitless and we can make a difference.

Innovations

      There are many methods for reducing the speed of climate change that are being studied. Scientists have begun to look into taking preventative measures such as reflective mirrors in space, pouring cold water into oceans, and growing plankton  to absorb heat put off by carbon dioxide emissions. The idea behind these techniques is to essentially hold off more harmful effects of climate change until the global economy has cut down on the use of "dirty energy". Although these ideas seem all well and good, some are worried they could make matters worse.
        There are so many methods by which we can attempt to clean up the planet but the most effective is one which includes humans changing the behaviors which are so devastating to the climate.many if the methods suggested, such as planting large forests, may be effective over time but the climate is changing right now and if we do not act quickly enough we will lose beautiful parts of the planet and animals. I am curious as to how mirrors in space will affect other aspects of the solar system. What will the extra sun exposure do to surrounding planets, stars, the moon? The saddening part of this is that even with combined methods to prevent climate change it still may not be enough to counteract human produced contributions not to mention some of the methods are costly and could have side effects that are unknown, as of now. What we need desperately is a deeper motivation to use environmentally friendly energies and resources. Until then our planet will continue to try and compensate for our dirt.


http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1438078/mirrors-space-ocean-plankton-no-easy-climate-change-fix-says

Blog 3: Taylor Fucini, 2/22/14 3:39pm, climate change

Summary:

Climate change ranks as one of the worlds most serious problems and is "the greatest challenge of our generation." Too many ecosystems are being affected like Indonesia's fishing trade. There was a meeting in Brazil in 1992 about climate change problems and little has been done since then. The United States is going straight to the source which is different types of pollution and other nations should do the same. "People who refuse to look at the evidence and agree on change are burying their heads in the sand." Countries need to do more to combat the carbon pollution that cause climate change says Obama. China is the number 1 producer of greenhouse gas emissions. The United States is planning on helping other countries through the Green Prosperity program. If the whole world would pull together and go in the same directions then we can meet the greatest challenge of our generation and make the future better for everyone.

Reflection:

To think about how this is a growing problem makes me nervous for the future. If this keeps getting worse and nothing is done to stop it then our children are going to live in a difficult future. I don't want that for my children or for myself. I think people need to look at the facts and stop saying this is not a problem because it is. Our future is in danger and action needs to be taken to prevent things from getting worse. We only have one world and if we ruin it then we are stuck which is where we are heading now. There is still time to prevent these problems but it needs to happen now. I believe that if everyone and all countries put policies in place then our world would be a better place. Also out future would look brighter.

Link to article:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/politics/kerry-climate/

Blog 2: Taylor Fucini, 2/14/14 4:40, climate change

Summary:

A U.S. Olympian has seen how global warming is affecting the sport of cross country skiing. All the training has made him aware of climate change because competitions have been delayed and training camps have been interpreted due to lack of snow or crazy weather. The winter sport economy is hurting because of global warming; they lost over $1 billion in the last 10 years. Many skiers use glaciers to train on in the summer but they are melting and some countries have made indoor artificial ski tunnels. Due to climate change conditions in Sochi for this year’s Olympics have had to stockpile snow and add special salt to prevent it from melting. Andrew Newell took action and set up a website for others to elevate climate change solutions.

Reflection:

This is a global issue because the Olympics affect many people and countries. If this continues it will cause problems for Olympians training and countries on where to host the Olympics. This will hurt the economy because money will be spent on keeping things running instead of making the Olympics better. Some people might not perform as well because lack of training. This could create unfairness for certain countries. It affects all countries because they will have to work together so Olympians can train in the right conditions, the Olympics can be held and so people can go watch. If climate change continues the Olympics could be in bigger trouble for years to come.

Change in Winds

     A National Geographic article published this week made an interesting observation about the "pause" of climate change. The author, Ben Jervey, examined a study by the Australian research council centre of excellence for climate system science. The study focused on the slightly slowing climate change since 2001. Although the Earth's surface has continued to warm, it has done so much more slowly than in previous years. The study suggests that this pause is due to the increase in wind speeds across the Pacific Ocean. The theory is that when strong winds cross the pacific they carry the warm surface water with them allowing cooler water to come to the surface to be warmed and the warmer water to be pulled into the depths and stored there.
    This is interesting for me because my main focus is the effect of climate change on the ocean. If this study proves to be true, there are major consequences on ocean life. Marine ecosystems are incredibly heat sensitive and a rise in temperature is positively correlated with a rise in the amount of coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is the result of a corals release of it's zooxanthellae (algal pigmentation) in unfavorable conditions. The coral becomes dormant and can no longer supply reef inhabitants with a food source or a colorful refuge.  The question is, how much can the ocean take? If the ocean is absorbing all of the heat, eventually, all the ecosystems will be affected negatively, not to mention the many populations around the world that rely heavily on the ocean for their food source and economy. The warmer the ocean becomes, the higher the oceans rise as ice caps melt. Even though the ocean might be taking the fall for human behavior, it has already directly affected societies in all areas of the globe. In this case, pause is only a synonym for redirection.



    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140211-global-warming-pause-trade-winds-pacific-science-climate/

Neglecting climate change

Summary: The article I read discussed climate change as a "neglected topic". The author initially points out the incredibly surprising fact that 77% of Americans believe that aliens have visited earth as opposed to a 44% who acknowledge a possible global climate change.  Since 1977 there has been an obvious change in the influence a persons political affiliation has on their belief or disbelief of climate change. The oceans are rising, carbon dioxide levels are at an all time high  and ice caps are melting. Kristof touches on the idea of preparation for destruction and how civilizations prepare heavily for things they do not know will occur . "In politics and the military, we routinely deal with uncertainty. We’re not sure that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, but we still invest in technologies and policies to reduce the risks. We can’t be sure that someone is going to hijack a plane, but we still screen passengers." To sum it up, he thinks the topic has been greatly neglected if not ignored .
Analysis:   All over the world we see evidences of complete disregard for the environment and the obviously changing climate. America is only one example of a nation that prefers to turn their head to  something uncomfortable and dangerous. I read an article by Freud a couple of weeks back which spoke about an idea called the "fetishist split".  The idea is that people tend to ignore or disregard things, no matter how pressing the matter, that make them uncomfortable or cause pain to hear about. It seems as if either people don't believe that our climate is changing or they choose not to acknowledge it, both of which are dangerous. In the article, Kristof observes the correlation between political affiliation and belief in climate change. I thought this was interesting because that suggests that belief in climate change is not only driven by facts but also by party. Republicans tend to dismiss the idea of climate change much more than democrats. The scary thought is that those people who are dismissing the idea may not understand exactly what they are dismissing but rather are doing so because this is what they assume to be a general "opinion" of their party of choice. All the while, our oceans are rising and CO2 levels are increasing and we like to assume that Mother Nature will correct it and we should just let the earth cycle or just ignore the changes completely and hope that no one criticizes us for it.  One reader, Daria, mentioned how the topic isn't "sexy" but we should be aware of what is going on in our climate. This is a direct reflection of the way social media portrays the happenings in the world every day. If it is not sexy it won't sell. Well, climate change is the farthest thing from sexy, it's absolutely ugly and I believe that the "ugliness" of it is a large contributor to the obvious neglect of the topic. No one wants to give thought to issues which are upsetting or disturbing or worse, something that could potentially be a morality issue. Ignore it and you won't be a part of it, right? You can't be considered part of the problem if you don't believe it's actually a problem. The question is, how long will it take for enough people to realize we are impacting our environment negatively and make a conscious effort to protect it? In my opinion, we are going to get an awfully rude awakening  and until that happens we will most likely continue in the same direction. Ignorance is bliss.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/kristof-neglected-topic-winner-climate-change.html

Blog 1: Climate change

             This article was about a decision Obama's administration created which are climate hubs. They are created to be information centers that will assist farmers with weather conditions that effect climate and their crops. "When you take a look at the intensity of the storms that we have seen recently, and the frequency of them, the length of drought, combined with these snowstorms and the subzero weather that we've experienced, the combination of all those factors convinces me that the climate is changing." These are Obama's top priority because climate is changing and agrees it’s a big problem. Environmentalist think by reducing emissions it will eliminate rising temperatures that are now occurring. New rules are being created to limit carbon emissions from power plants but this is a major problem. This is a global problem because climate change affects everyone since we all live in this world together. It is everyone's responsibility to reduce pollution that has an impact on our climate. Big companies need to realize how they are affecting our world and rules need to be put in place to stop them. This issue is getting worse because no one is really doing anything about it. Some things are out of our control but we can do all we can to prevent global warming. The weather and temperatures are out of our control but we can control things like pollution, pesticides and runoff. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-usa-climate-hubs-idUSBREA1408120140205

2/7/14 4:19pm

Climate Change

    This semester I will be focusing on the effect of climate change on marine ecosystems throughout the world. Marine ecosystems are sensitive to the slightest of changes in water composition, temperature, and sea levels. This topic interests me because I aim to work as an Environmental Biologist.

Blog test

My topic for this semester will be climate change. I am a elementary education major but I am interested and find climate change fascinating.