Month: March 2020

I believe that in September 2020 the coronavirus will be gone. I know right now it seems scary but, I believe that the rate of infection will slow down at some point in May or June allowing people to go back to normal to their everyday lives. We will all be able to go back to school in the fall and continue your education back at our respective universities. However, I believe that this virus will cause serious changes in our society. First of all, everywhere you will see plexiglass walls between you and the register at all stores to stop the spread of germs. Gyms will be a lot more sanitary than they were before. Hospitals will become more prepared than ever after all the shortages coronavirus has brought to them like mask, gloves, etc. Also, we will see people taking more sick days to protect coworkers and classmates from getting sick. The world will go back to normal by September 2020 but, the world will be a lot more cleaner and safer for humans

1. Think back on the answer you gave for the Tianna Clark essay. Reflect on what you would be willing to be an “activist” for and what you would be willing to “protest.” What emotions are involved in each pursuit? Describe the causes and your reasoning behind your “activism” and your “protesting.”

the difference between being an activist and being a protester is that for activism you bring the issue to the forefront, like writing an article about it. While protesting you actively do something to show change like a strike for example. Something I would show activism for right now is staying inside. I would show through social media we are going through a pandemic with COVID-19 and the only way to slow it down is staying inside and quarantine yourself. one thing I would protest I would have protested for would have during the civil rights movement. After learning what black people had to go through during that time that infuriates me the hell that they went through and The emotions running through me would have wanted change immediately.

2. What effect does protesting have, as seen in the movie? Were the activists/protesters able to stop the Keystone Pipeline? (*This movie ends without the final judgment from Obama. Google the issue to find out what transpired).

The effects of protest in this movie SHow innocent people getting arrested and going to jail. Unfortunately, their protest for the Keystone Pipeline did not pan out. They continued to build the line and they are still building it to this day.

FOSSIL FUELS: WHAT DO YOU “REALLY” KNOW? True/False:

3. Co2 is produced from burning fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas); Co2 is what is heating up the earth’s atmosphere b/c it is trapped and unable to be released. T/F

True

4. Fossil Fuel industry has enormous political power b/c of the money it is able to make. T/F

True

“You can’t keep increasing your economy on a finite planet.” ~ Juliet Schor

5. What does Juliet mean by this statement? If you agree, what, in your opinion, is the alternative?

What this quote is saying is that if you get too greedy you will ruin the planet. The planet has limits and if you stretch those limits to boost economy you will be ruining this earth. I agree with this statement and my solution to it is that we need to not be greedy as people and set limits on the economy.

CARBON FOOTPRINT?

6. “Reducing the carbon footprint” feels like dated language (the movie was made in 2012). Does anyone talk about the carbon footprint? Where? In what way have you heard it discussed? Do you know how to calculate your own carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is how much greenhouse gas individual releases into the atmosphere. I heard about it growing up, but not too much lately. I think that it’s hard for an individual to measure their carbon footprint because it’s hard to see what produces greenhouse gas and how much greenhouse gas an object produces.

OK BUT WHAT IS REALLY AT STAKE? Agree/ Disagree

7. Bill McKibben: “It will be an utter calamity if we do not reduce the carbon emissions.” Agree/Disagree. Briefly unpack your response

I agree because the more carbon we let into the atmosphere than the worse the climate will be and climate change can lead to serious consequences for humanity.

8. Lester Brown: “Everyone talks about saving the planet. The planet will be here, in whatever state. We need to save the humans.” Agree/Disagree. Briefly unpack your response

I can agree with this statement. The earth physically will always be here. With climate change though we lose wildlife, aquatic life, and much more that humanity needs. So although the earth will be here physically we will lose humanity if we keep it up.

9. James Hansen: “The very top level of sustainability for planet earth in carbon emissions is 350 PPM (Parts Per Million); the ocean is 30% acidity; right now the PPM is 395 [this was 2012].” Does this science scare you? Yes/ No

Yes, this does scare me because that was data from 2012. It has definitely gone up since then and that harms our aquatic life. Whether we know it or not we need that to survive and without a healthy ocean, we don’t have a healthy planet.

IT MIGHT BE COOL TO BE AN ACTIVIST:  

Bill McKibben got more likes than the Justin Bieber article in Rolling Stone in July 2012 for his article detailing the math behind 350

10. Is it cool to be an activist? When will a cooler [literally cooler!] climate morph into another right we have as citizens, like clean water, and not be seen as some fringe “movement”? Do you think people still see it as an act of activism or is it more of a global concern? Ask at least one person in your household to weigh in on this last question and share their response/your conversation

I feel in today’s world this is more of global concern as climate change is being brought up more and more in politics now. Greta Thornburg won times person of the year for her efforts in climate change and being a climate activist. My mother also agrees that climate change is getting more political now than it was in 2012.

DO THE MATH (notes from the movie):

2 degrees Celsius: the allowed increase in degrees that is safe for the planet; anything above 2 degrees is too much

565=how much carbon in gigatons we can pour into the atmosphere in order to stay below the 2 degrees as described above; the time of the movie, roughly 15 yrs beyond 2012.

2795= the gigatons of fossil fuels already in their reserves, just waiting to be pumped out [5 times than the allowable amount as shown in the gigatons above]

11. So, what does 350 refer to? [Hint, chk out the quote from James Hansen]

350 refers to the maximum ppm for carbon emissions but also keep the earth’s climate livable.