The Role of Wilderness in My Life

Throughout my life, I have always equated the word “wilderness” with a place where people were not. Although I have always taken wilderness to hold the same meaning, what I view as wilderness has greatly transformed. As a young child, I would walk out of the front door and onto the neighboring abandoned lot— a 1.5 acre piece of overgrown land—to embark on what at the time I thought was an intrepid adventure. Despite the fact that this was merely a parcel of tall grass and trees, I saw through my eyes wilderness; it was not primmed and groomed as our own yard, there were no permanent structures in sight besides the natural trees, and most of all there was no trace of any human presence. As Marshall and Nash recognized, I used this “wilderness” to appease my physical, mental, and aesthetic needs. As I grew older and began to explore more vast areas, such as the 5,000 acre hunting tract I frequented in Alabama and the winding bayous of my hometown, I saw wilderness as a much more vast and much less disturbed area than previously before. Although my picture of wilderness changed, it was always a place for me to find “quietude and privacy” and to renew my spirit. It was a new place to explore and a chance to learn about the world we live in. Cronon argues that this vast, overwhelming concept of wilderness decreases the emphasis placed on small, seemingly insignificant tracts of land. However, like Waller, I agree that “individuals who care strongly about their nearby oaks and wetlands seem more likely to work passionately to preserve remote wild places…” This statement is made true through my personal experience. My appreciation for this mundane, abandoned lot as a young girl allowed my concern and passion about wilderness to grow to more vast areas such as the wetlands. Without this experience, I may not have chosen the path towards an environmental career. I do not believe that this concept of wilderness takes away from the value and appreciation of these smaller areas. Instead, I personally see mundane, local areas as an opportunity to increase the awareness and concern of the public to protect and preserve particular wilderness areas. In my own life, this is exactly the case. Nature, big or small, still serves as a means to spiritual renewal as well as an outlet for my adventurous side. It allows me to relax, to explore, and to learn. And because of this I am able to appreciate and be grateful for the remote, vast wilderness environments as well as the mundane local ones.

Journal article summary

This article describes a series of experiments run using the Hadley Centre Slab Ocean Model (HadSM3) to determine whether the global sulfate burden would ultimately increase or decrease with an increase—specifically, a doubling—of CO2 concentrations. The experiment analyzed the effects of CO2 concentrations (due to global climate change) in potential scenarios of both fixed and increased anthropogenic sulfur emissions. The article explained the sources of sulfur emissions and that the amount of sulfur produced by anthropogenic means is greater than that from biogenic processes—and comes mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. It also traced the chemical processes by which DMS or SO2 emissions became sulfuric acid and later, the sulfate aerosol, the measurement of which determines the global sulfate burden. Precipitation and cloud cover play a role in this process, although the correlation between amount of precipitation and amount of sulfate is unclear; both direct and inverse correlations have been demonstrated. The study found that global climate change may induce an increase in the sulfate burden regardless of whether or not anthropogenic sulfur emissions increase. In the case of anthropogenic emissions increasing, the effect would be greater. The study also concluded that in future research on the topic, changes in greenhouse gases would need to be considered.

It's a TWISTER!!!!

This article discusses one of the many horrifying things we may have to look forward to should global climate change continue on its current path. Based on geological evidence from the Pliocene era when the global mean temperature was 4 °C warmer than it is now, causing permanent El Nino conditions. With global climate change scientists say we are facing similar conditions. This article suggests that these conditions may have been caused by tropical-cyclone activity that increased as the temperature rose. These cyclones caused oceanic mixing which pumped warmer surface heat deeper into the oceans and thereby changing conditions and prompting El Nino. El Nino affects weather patterns around the world (as we are currently experiencing) and having it be a constant condition as opposed to one every 3-8 years would drastically alter the world as we know it, probably for the worse. Cyclones and El Nino are just one more in a series of things to look forward to as we make our way to Armageddon.

Effect of GCC on Distribution of Rodents in Texas

To predict the impact of climate change on the rodent population, the study collected material from databases on rodent species distribution, used climate models to map the temperature and precipitation rates in Texas under conditions of twice the amount of CO2 as averaged now, and also used vegetation models to predict vegetation changes under such conditions. Next the study compared the current species distribution to the predicted distribution under “2 x CO2” conditions using the Holdridge model of vegetation distribution. Extinction of a species was only predicted when the conditions of “2 x CO2” allowed no suitable habitat for the specific animal. The overall theory of the case was that vegetation is influenced by climate change, and rodent species depends on finding suitable habitats. The results were that two rodent species (Oryzomys cousei and Microtus mexicanus) seem likely to become extinct under “2 x CO2” conditions. The habitats for these two specific species would not be “predicted to occur” by the model. The study predicts new types of vegetation would occur under the “2 x CO2” conditions and that most species of rodents would adapt. However, the actual impact on rodent distribution depends on if the climate becomes drier or wetter; if climate becomes warmer, rodent species will more than likely decrease for the most part, because forests will decrease and the species will have difficulties adapting to new types of vegetation. If the climate were to become wetter, forest growth would expand, and rodent species population would increase.

Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles

If one is looking for an alternative to carbon-emitting vehicles in order to combat climate change, then look no further—hydrogen fueled vehicles are the answer. Luckily, hydrogen is hailed as a non-polluting synthetic fuel that could replace oil, especially for transportation. The technology to make this a reality has been a long time coming, but the first commercial vehicles might now only be a few years away. Schlapbach’s article first discusses the pros and cons of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. Pros: Hydrogen is carbon-free, non-toxic, and its thermal or electrochemical combustion with oxygen yields nothing but energy and water. Another advantage is that the main source of hydrogen is water, which is essentially an unlimited resource. Cons: Hydrogen is a gas at room temperature, so it takes up an impractically large amount of space, and it is an energy carrier, not an energy source. Next, it is not naturally available in sufficient quantities for widespread use, and must therefore be made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Splitting requires energy, whether in the form of electricity, light, heat, or chemicals. But most of that energy is recovered when hydrogen is combusted. After discussing the pros and cons, the author dispels the dangerously-explosive hydrogen myth, using the Hindenburg example. In fact, safety studies performed at the University of Miami clearly demonstrate that hydrogen-fueled cars pose less of a fire risk than petrol-fueled vehicles. In the middle of the article, the author discusses the ways in which hydrogen can be widely used as a fuel, pertaining to economics and storage systems. Then, going into technical matters, the author elucidates the mechanics of hydrogen storage, hydride performance, and hydrogen absorption by physisorption and chemisorption. But even more important, for hydrogen-fueled vehicles to be economically successful, a trend towards lightweight vehicles would have to kick-start the market. Though, at present, customers show a weak preference for lightweight vehicles, this preference can be reversed by fuel economy, car prices, and new safety devices that not only give drivers warnings, but also act directly on the car, which should decrease the probability of accidents, reducing the need for heavy protection in vehicles. Ending on a hopeful note, hydrogen-powered buses in Germany and Japan have already been successful, and about 50 prototype cars—both thermal combustion and fuel-cell types—have so far been tested with good results. One shouldn’t be surprised to see hydrogen cars for sale in 5 years.

summary.

"Impacts of climate change on natural forest productivity-evidence since the the 20th century" by Celine Boisvenue and Steven Running, tells about how climate changes have changed in the last 55 years and are affecting all types of forest. Increasing temperature can increase vapor pressure of air which increases transpiration rates, resulting in adverse effects on dryer sites.  Temperature also controls the a plants metabolism rate which can determine the amount of photosynthesis. The charts in the article show that the ecological response to global climate change is greater at high latitude. The article breaks down the different responses to climate change in tropical, boreal, and temperate forest, some of which have received positive results because there water is not strongly limited. 

YouTube Alaskan Native Thoughts

Article Summary

Chust, Guillem. “Regional scenarios of sea level rise and impacts on Basque (Bay of Biscay) coastal habitats, throughout the 21st century.” Estuarine Coastal & Shelf Science Vol. 87 issue 1 Mar2010: p113-24, 12p


This article basically summarizes the findings of research pertaining to sea levels rising in the Bay of Biscay. The rising water is due to global climate change. Rising temperatures make for warmer water which in turns melts ice caps that contribute to rising sea levels. The research concludes that this will severely impact nine specific habitats. Those being sandy beaches and muds, vegetated dunes, shingle beaches, sea cliffs and supralittoral rock, wetlands and saltmarshes, terrestrial habitats, artificial land, piers, and water surfaces.

Journal Article Summary

This study investigates the increases of atmospheric CO2 and its affect on northern forest productivity and species distributions. Nevertheless, forest response to climate change is generally associated with soil water and nitrogen availability, which in turn, limit tree growth. Therefore, in order to observe the changes a forest undergoes when placed in a warmer and drier climate, a forest productivity/soil process model was linked with a climate model corresponding to a doubling of CO2. Four sites with initially different climates, Shefferville (northern Quebec), Kapuskasing (south-central Ontario), northeastern Minnesota, and northern Maine, were examined in detail. Along with the response to enhanced CO2 levels, soil water-holding capacity and the subsequent positive feedbacks that are initiated as a result of changes in the nitrogen cycle was also observed. Based on the data collected, the greatest changes occurred at the current boreal/cool temperate forest border. Simulated productivity and biomass increased on soils that retained enough water for tree growth, and decreased on soils that did not.

summary of my article

I read an article from the “Electronic Publication Information Canter From Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research” about the changes in sea level. Since the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago the sea level has risen by 120 m. The water has risen more rapidly in the last 6,000 years by 10 mm per year. The article made a point of saying that there has not been a significant increase in the 20th century. Some of the factors that are affecting present day sea level change are thermal expansion and ice caps and glacier melting. Ice caps and glacier melting contribute a rise in seawater by .2 to .4 mm a year. The article project for the next 100 years that there will be continue thermal expansion by .11 to .43 m per year and the glacier contribution will be .01 to .23 m per year. The article did not really go into the effect greenhouse gas had on the melting ice caps or glaciers. It did say that if greenhouse gas concentrations were stabilized the sea level would still continue to rise.

Soot climate forcing via snow and ice albedos

Hansen, James, and Larissa Nazarenko. "Soot Climate Forcing Via Snow and Ice Albedos." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101.2 (2004): 423-8.

This research study deals with the question if and how soot influences snow and ice albedos and thus serves as a climate forcing, contributing to global warming. The researchers compiled empirical data on fossil fuel black carbon (BC) aerosols amount in snow and compared calculated effects on snow albedo with field data. Main cause for increasing soot is fossil fuels and biomass burning, thus anthropogenic and predominant in the Northern Hemisphere (twice as large as in the Arctic). Soot in snow and ice reduces the visible albedo and increases the absorption of sunlight, measurements in the Alps i.e. show a BC concentration that reduces the albedo by 10 % and doubles the absorption of sunlight. The Soot snow/ice albedo effects contributes to global warming in two ways. First, it raises the global temperature closer to the level of dangerous anthropogenic interference (global warming should be less than 1°C). Second, it leads to ice melting and sea level rise, the meltwater additionally speeds up the process etc. The researchers conclude that the soot climate forcing via snow and ice albedos leads to a rising temperature of +0.3W/m² globally (+ 0.6W/m² in the Northern Hemisphere). Thus the soot effect on snow albedo may be responsible for a quarter of observed global warming. They admit, however, that technology to reduce soot and restore snow albedo to almost original values is within reach, and that cleaner processes are possible or already happen.

Comment: The researchers nevertheless concede that there are several factors which complicate the evaluation of BC amount in snow. Further research is compulsory. Plus this study was accomplished in 2003 (published in 2004), so the data at hand might be outdated.

Global Temperature Change Summary

Global surface temperature has continuously increased approx. 0.2°C per decade in the past 30 years. The main climate forcing is claimed to be the dominance of greenhouse gases (GHG). These gasses have caused the ice-snow albedo to decrease and alter the responses of the ocean and land. Dangerous anthropogenic interference with climate has led to the sensitivity for the doubled CO2 referring sea ice, snow, water vapor, and clouds as feedbacks; and ice sheet area, vegetation cover, and non-H2O GHGs as forcings.
The Ice sheet areas decrease in area and their sensitivity to temperature changes is accounted for practically the entire global temperature change. Also, vegetation has begun covering the pole ward in the Northern Hemisphere causing a positive climate feedback. This can lead to increase of GHGs because of the melting permafrost. ”Some of the largest warmings in the Earth’s history and mass extinction may be associated with such GHG releases.” It was suggested that if global warming was not limited to <1°C, feedbacks may add to emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, 03 and create a different planet ice-free of the Arctic.
Global warming is expected to slow the mean tropical circulation and the longitude winds by approx 3.5%. This relaxed longitude wind would reduce the temperature found within the Western Equatorial Pacific (WEP) and the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP). This alteration could result to the different strengths found within El Niños, a complex series of climatic changes affecting the Pacific regions.

How much more global warming and sea level rise?

The authors of this Science article use two different climate models—Parallel Climate Model (PCM) and Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3)—in order to predict the degree of global warming and sea level rise after the stabilization of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the year 2000. The study found that even if concentrations stabilized, there is a commitment to further global warming and sea level rise. Though both temperature and sea level rise are predicted to increase even after stabilization of GHGs, the models predict temperature to level off 100 years after stabilization while sea level is predicted to rise proportionately much higher compared to temperature. According to the models, after stabilization of GHGs in the year 2000, we are committed to further global warming of about another half degree while the commitment to sea level rise is an astounding additional 320% rise due to thermal expansion.

Meehl, et al., How Much More Global Warming and Sea Level Rise, Science Magazine, 307 (2005). pp. 1769-1772.

Global Climate Change Article

This article found that the average temperature has risen about 0.2˚C each decade in the past 30 years. It affirms that this rate of global warming is extremely dangerous. If this rate continues, sea levels will rise, CO2 levels will increase, and our planet will be in serious danger. The temperature of the Pacific surface waters is within 1˚C of its highest temperature within the past 1000 years. The article warns that stronger El Ninos will result from such warming, and many species will go extinct.

• James Hansen, Makiko Sato, Reto Ruedy, Ken Lo, David W. Lea and Martin Medina-Elizade
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 103, No. 39 (Sep. 26, 2006), pp. 14288-14293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30050366.

Science 3 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5702, p. 1686
DOI: 10.1126/science.1103618
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ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER:
The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
Naomi Oreskes*
Policy-makers and the media, particularly in the United States, frequently assert that climate science is highly uncertain. Some have used this as an argument against adopting strong measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, while discussing a major U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report on the risks of climate change, then-EPA administrator Christine Whitman argued, "As [the report] went through review, there was less consensus on the science and conclusions on climate change" (1). Some corporations whose revenues might be adversely affected by controls on carbon dioxide emissions have also alleged major uncertainties in the science (2). Such statements suggest that there might be substantive disagreement in the scientific community about the reality of anthropogenic climate change. This is not the case.

The scientific consensus is clearly expressed in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environmental Programme, IPCC's purpose is to evaluate the state of climate science as a basis for informed policy action, primarily on the basis of peer-reviewed and published scientific literature (3). In its most recent assessment, IPCC states unequivocally that the consensus of scientific opinion is that Earth's climate is being affected by human activities: "Human activities ... are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents ... that absorb or scatter radiant energy. ... [M]ost of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations" [p. 21 in (4)].

IPCC is not alone in its conclusions. In recent years, all major scientific bodies in the United States whose members' expertise bears directly on the matter have issued similar statements. For example, the National Academy of Sciences report, Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, begins: "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise" [p. 1 in (5)]. The report explicitly asks whether the IPCC assessment is a fair summary of professional scientific thinking, and answers yes: "The IPCC's conclusion that most of the observed warming of the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations accurately reflects the current thinking of the scientific community on this issue" [p. 3 in (5)].

Others agree. The American Meteorological Society (6), the American Geophysical Union (7), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) all have issued statements in recent years concluding that the evidence for human modification of climate is compelling (8).

The drafting of such reports and statements involves many opportunities for comment, criticism, and revision, and it is not likely that they would diverge greatly from the opinions of the societies' members. Nevertheless, they might downplay legitimate dissenting opinions. That hypothesis was tested by analyzing 928 abstracts, published in refereed scientific journals between 1993 and 2003, and listed in the ISI database with the keywords "climate change" (9).

The 928 papers were divided into six categories: explicit endorsement of the consensus position, evaluation of impacts, mitigation proposals, methods, paleoclimate analysis, and rejection of the consensus position. Of all the papers, 75% fell into the first three categories, either explicitly or implicitly accepting the consensus view; 25% dealt with methods or paleoclimate, taking no position on current anthropogenic climate change. Remarkably, none of the papers disagreed with the consensus position.

Admittedly, authors evaluating impacts, developing methods, or studying paleoclimatic change might believe that current climate change is natural. However, none of these papers argued that point.

This analysis shows that scientists publishing in the peer-reviewed literature agree with IPCC, the National Academy of Sciences, and the public statements of their professional societies. Politicians, economists, journalists, and others may have the impression of confusion, disagreement, or discord among climate scientists, but that impression is incorrect.

The scientific consensus might, of course, be wrong. If the history of science teaches anything, it is humility, and no one can be faulted for failing to act on what is not known. But our grandchildren will surely blame us if they find that we understood the reality of anthropogenic climate change and failed to do anything about it.

Many details about climate interactions are not well understood, and there are ample grounds for continued research to provide a better basis for understanding climate dynamics. The question of what to do about climate change is also still open. But there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Climate scientists have repeatedly tried to make this clear. It is time for the rest of us to listen.

References and Notes
A. C. Revkin, K. Q. Seelye, New York Times, 19 June 2003, A1.
S. van den Hove, M. Le Menestrel, H.-C. de Bettignies, Climate Policy 2 (1), 3 (2003).
See www.ipcc.ch/about/about.htm.
J. J. McCarthy et al., Eds., Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2001).
National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Science of Climate Change, Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 2001).
American Meteorological Society, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 84, 508 (2003).
American Geophysical Union, Eos 84 (51), 574 (2003).
See www.ourplanet.com/aaas/pages/atmos02.html.
The first year for which the database consistently published abstracts was 1993. Some abstracts were deleted from our analysis because, although the authors had put "climate change" in their key words, the paper was not about climate change.
This essay is excerpted from the 2004 George Sarton Memorial Lecture, "Consensus in science: How do we know we're not wrong," presented at the AAAS meeting on 13 February 2004. I am grateful to AAAS and the History of Science Society for their support of this lectureship; to my research assistants S. Luis and G. Law; and to D. C. Agnew, K. Belitz, J. R. Fleming, M. T. Greene, H. Leifert, and R. C. J. Somerville for helpful discussions.
10.1126/science.1103618

The author is in the Department of History and Science Studies Program, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. E-mail: noreskes@ucsd.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
LETTERS
Consensus About Climate Change?
Roger A. Pielke, Jr.; and Naomi Oreskes (13 May 2005)
Science 308 (5724), 952. [DOI: 10.1126/science.308.5724.952]
Full Text » PDF »

Oreskes, N. (2004). The Scientific consensus on climate change. Science , 306(5702), 1686.

Climate Change Summary

So, I just realized I actually already did Friday's post, summarizing the article under the bibliography but here I will re-post it!

As we began to touch on in class, climate change has a very large impact on food sources for growing civilizations. Some cultures depend on food sources not only for themselves but for distribution and income. One livelihood most affected by climate change is that of fishermen. They depend on the fish population to grow rather than recede. However, with climate change and therefore a change in water temperature some fish species are beginning to die out either quickly or at a slower pace. In Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Fishery- Based Livelihoods put all of this is into prospective and organized responsive techniques. People have been fishing since probably the beginning of time and with each new age whether an ice- age or a warmer atmosphere the types of fish choices differ and people have to learn to adapt. Fish is obviously more than just swimming cold- blooded creatures but rather a food source to 1.5 billion people. What needs to be done and as the article concludes is a way to adapt and embrace the change rather than fight it. Unfortunately, in our culture and the way we are treating the Earth, climate change will continue to push through, so something needs to be done to preserve the fishermen's livelihood and an excellent dietary food source.

Global Climate Change

Chust, Guillem. “Regional scenarios of sea level rise and impacts on Basque (Bay of Biscay) coastal habitats, throughout the 21st century.” Estuarine Coastal & Shelf Science Vol. 87 issue 1 Mar2010: p113-24, 12p

"The Sky People"

“The Sky People”
The story is well told despite its oral tradition. When I was reading the story I thought about the two men being compared to nature in a general aspect and how we can influence nature with our action and reaction to events. The couple fed the two men which I thought as a positive action toward nature as opposed to harming or capturing the men. That would have a negative effect on nature. Society as a whole has the capability to determine how nature progresses.

The Legend of Magic

“The Legend of Magic” is an Inupiak short story, which mainly portrays the influence Christianity has had on the native tribes of Alaska. The success of the one hunter who calls on “whoever created all things on earth” over the numerous other hunters repeatedly relying on magic, shows the magnificent power of a higher being. Though this is the main theme of the story, there is an underlying theme of characterization taken on by the land. Throughout the story, the ice pan the hunters were lodged on served as a protagonist. First, the ice pan is used as a safe spot during the wind- storm the hunters find themselves facing, without which they may have drowned in the stormy waters. Later in the story when the hunters seem to be in an unknown land, the ice pan is said to move toward the land and stop moving when it reaches shallow water. This line depicts the ice pan as a conscious object having free will in which to make decisions. Therefore, once again the ice pan is a means of safety to the native hunters. The land most clearly emerges as a character with the last line of the story—when the boat was off the ice pan, the ice pan floated away with the wind. Once its duty was completed—to bring the hunters safely to their homeland—it realizes it is no longer needed and leaves to return to its uninterrupted state experienced before the hunters forced themselves into its life. This reminded me of the transformative economy view in which we see the land; we view the land as a resource, as property meant only to meet our needs and once we are finished with it, we have no interest; the land continually saves us yet we have no concern except for how it can further benefit us. This isn't to say the Inupiaks saw the land in this way, instead they lived off the land in a sustainable manner; maybe we should learn from people such as these.

The Sky People

The Sky People is such a beautiful story. I think it is so incredible that oral tradition is such an important aspect of their culture. The story itself about the two men from the sky was entertaining and giving. It is so nice to know that somewhere in the United States people are still so connected to their past and therefore their past relay to their future. I feel like the Giving Tree is almost like a modern day take on The Sky People. All I can say is that if I went out into cache and came across two men hovering over the food, floating up toward the ceiling I would be a little less calm about it and rather more like a screaming banchie but that is just me. The sky people connect the land to the sky, the land people give back to the sky. They represent a cycle of life, land to sky, sky to land.

climate response article

Ackerley, Duncan; Highwood, Eleanor J.; Frame, David J.; Booth, Ben B. "Changes in the Global Sulfate Burden due to Perturbations in Global CO2 Concentrations," Journal of Climate, Oct2009, Vol. 22 Issue 20, p5421-5432.

Climate Change

Badjeck, Marie-Caroline, et al. "Impacts of climate variability and change on fishery-based livelihoods." Marine Policy 34.3 (2010): 375-383. Environment Index. EBSCO. Web. 10 Mar. 2010.


As we began to touch on in class, climate change has a very large impact on food sources for growing civilizations. Some cultures depend on food sources not only for themselves but for distribution and income. One livelihood most affected by climate change is that of fishermen. They depend on the fish population to grow rather than receed. However, with climate change and therefore a change in water temperature some fish species are beginning to die out either quickly or at a slower pace. In Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Fishery- Based Livelihoods put all of this is into prospective and organized responsive techniques. People have been fishing since probably the beginning of time and with each new age whether an ice- age or a warmer atmosphere the types of fish choices differ and people have to learn to adapt. Fish is obviously more than just swimming cold- blooded creatures but rather a food source to 1.5 billion people. What needs to be done and as the article concludes is a way to adapt and embrace the change rather than fight it. Unfortunately, in our culture and the way we are treating the Earth, climate change will continue to push through, so something needs to be done to preserve the fishermen's livelihood and an excellent dietary food source.

The Sky People

I wasn't quite sure how to take this story. Supposing we used Leopold's definition of "land", the sky people make obvious characters out of the land. I couldn't tell, however, whether their interaction with the earth people was positive or not. Clearly, the sky people were afraid to begin with, but the earth people treated them well, which would bode well for the people's general interactions with the land. However, the speaker makes a point of stating that most people did not act that way, but that this particular couple happened to be polite. If we are to take from this that the earth people were generally not kind to their land, why would the story focus on those who were good? It certainly doesn't make as strong a statement as it might if the sky people were completely rejected or locked up permanently. To cause further confusion, the sky people never return to earth once they've been treated nicely. Are we to assume that the sky people (and, therefore, the land) are by nature sneaky beings who reject kindness? I'm sure this story and its morals were evident to the people among whom it originated, but to someone so far removed, it is practically unable to be interpreted.

Journal Article

"Response of northern forests to CO2-induced climate change"

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v334/n6177/pdf/334055a0.pdf

The Sky People

In the story, "The Sky People," the main theme is the use of land and its purpose through the eyes of an Iñupiaq. The couple in the narrative are portrayed as incredibly kind people; something uncommon, even in Point Hope. Always willing to share their stored food, the couple views the "sky people" as unexpected guests rather than intruders and gives them "as much food as they could possibly carry." This act of kindness is not only selfless, but it reflects a uniquely humble and forgiving mentality. Nevertheless, the narrator makes frequent mention that the couple from the story was not tightfisted, and that they enjoyed sharing their hard-earned food, specifically in the winter. Although the use of land is evident: the husband hunts sea mammals, light at night can only be achieved by soaking wood pieces in seal oil, the "sky people" use the new moon as an indicator of when to descend to earth, etc., the main theme is the purpose of the land. Despite it being the winter season when food is scarce, the couple's altruistic actions represent the ideal way of living: to share the land with one's neighbors. Modern day society has lost sight of just how fruitful and essential the natural world is, and instead of preserving it, sharing its resources with those less fortunate, it views everything in terms of profit.

The Sky People

In "The Sky People," as Madeline pointed out, the land does not exactly come up as a character. Rather, the story is indicative of a world that could be if we continue to treat the land as we currently do. Literary analyzation is not my strongest suit, but here is my stab at it. I think that Point Hope is supposed to represent a sort of utopian environment that has not been degraded, as earth has been. It is a world in which people share their livelihood. This world's people are generous and bountiful. The "sky people" of the story are supposed to represent the dwindling earth race. Their desperation for food leads them to rely on this bountiful, responsible society of people. The compassion of the family in Point Hope gives a glimpse to a path of salvation, a path of hope in which the care of others can restore the earth and the human race.

I think the point of the story portraying the desperate people of planet earth as alien sky people is to point out the unnatural state that they have found themselves in. Massive resource depletion is most likely an unnatural disaster, as we are seeing on the earth today. The mindset of the people of Point Hope is much more down to earth (pun intended), which is why they are the people of the earth in the story.

Final Project Proposal

1. I will be studying the Ute Native Americans and the Yanomami people of the Amazon Rainforest. I will study the respective cultures and compare their relationship to the environment with modern western society’s relationship. I will use my personal relationship with nature as a basis and lens of western society.

2. This is an important subject to be studied as we see indigenous people and ancient lands being destroyed in the name of capitalism all across the world. Indigenous cultures have a more holistic and intimate relationship with the land. Whereas western society’s relationship and understanding of nature is mainly expressed through a scientific lens. What we may see as mystical is actually an insightful interpretation that we may not understand because it is placed out of our cultural context. I will hash out this claim in my research paper. Understanding different cultures helps us understand the world better and understanding the world and its people helps us to treat it more justly.

3. I will study these cultures by examining their communal structures, their societal makeup, their food consumption, and their artistic representation of nature through folklore and other art. For example, the Ute prayer in which the people call upon the earth to teach them “regeneration…courage… limitation” etc. is indicative of their dependence on nature for wisdom as well as livelihood. I will also discuss how western society has encroached on these cultures in the belief that their “uncivilized” ways are inferior to western society. I will discuss the validity of this basis for imperialist conquest.

4. I anticipate that I will come to a deeper understanding of these cultures. I predict that I will discover that these two cultures have very profound connections and understandings with the land they have inhabited for centuries. I suspect that this understanding will be more holistic than the western understanding of nature, which is dominantly scientific.

5. I will communicate my final results via a research paper.

Sky and Land

The land does not emerge as a character necessarily in the “Sky People” or the “Two Men from the Moon” stories, but as a secondary element. The two “guests” from both versions of the story are representative of another world—the sky, or the moon—but a world supposedly similar to ours. “Animals that lived in the mountains like the caribou and the mountain sheep also lived in the land they came from” (p.83). However, the home of these visitors is suffering from a shortage of food and supplies, which is directly related to the land and the sea. The land from their world has suffered, but now the land of the Inuit’s is just bountiful enough to help the guests. This is paralleled by the Inuit’s courtesy to the two men, who were technically thieves. In this way, the land in this story seems related to balance—what is lacking in the “sky” world can be balanced by the excess in this world. It also parallels the Inuit people themselves, who are warm and welcoming as opposed to the secretive nature of the guests. The land is both a symbol of suffering, in the Sky people’s case, and of hospitality and bountifulness for the Inuit people. This might have been used as an analogy for times when the Inuit people flourished off the land, as opposed to harder times.

Sky people

I read the first two stories about the men from the moon who came down to the village. What really interested me was 1. That the men looked just like the people of the Earth and 2. that they were welcomed with open arms. I was discussing this weekend how selfish the personification of God can seem, and how much more unbelievable it makes religion for me. But in this case the anthropomorphising of the sky almost implied a sense of equally, particularly since the world the men described on the moon is very similar to the one on the Earth. This indicates a respect for nature that one might have for a fellow human being. They also welcomed into their village and their caches men who had come to steal from them. Although this seemed somewhat like a storyteller's ploy to make his people sound generous and forgiving, it also relayed a sacrificial feel, offering up what they had to the people of the sky. In addition their generosity and acknowledgement that they had more than enough showed that they wanted to fill their basic needs but that they realized that what the land provided was not just theirs for the taking and therefore should not be selfishly hoarded but given back into the cycle of need.

Climate Response reference

Cameron, Guy N., and D. Scheel. "Getting Warmer: Effect of Global Climate Change on Distribution of Rodents in Texas." Journal of Mammalogy 82.3 (2001): 652-80. JSTOR. Web. 9 Mar. 2010.

Ice caps rapidly receding

http://ezproxy.loyno.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=48232460&site=ehost-live&scope=site

ICE CAP RAPIDLY RECEDING. Current Science [serial online]. February 26, 2010;95(12):12-13. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 9, 2010.

the legend of magic

although the shortest (and yes i read the others) i like this one the most because even though they all deal with mysticism and folk in relation to the land, this one seemed the simplest and the most magically real. it talks about a people whos subsistence relies on the water and the food it can provide, but who must ultimately return to the land. in their hunting excursion (we could take this to be a symbol of human en devour of any kind) they get stranded on an ever shrinking piece of ice, frozen water, that from which they gain a living supports them, but barely, and shrinks as men argue on solutions. the beauty is that the least knowledgeable in their contemporary science, the science of magic, finds the solution, not by turning to God necessarily, though it is implied, but by turning to nature and speaking frankly to it, acknowledging creation in a way, and hence gaining their safe return to Terra firma. their livelihood and existence is put in perspective them, as only having importance if they can "return to the land"

"The Legend of Magic"

"The Legend of Magic" is an interesting short tale that ultimately suggests that there is a higher power in nature. Magic does nothing for the men looking for land, however, asking for guidance does. "We" are a small part in nature and OUR "magic" won't be able to force land to move. The characters in the story must overcome a higher more supreme character, the land, and submit power to nature to receive benefits. 

Climate Response: Tropical Cyclones

"Access : Climate Change: Tropical Cyclones in the Mix : Nature." Nature Publishing Group : Science Journals, Jobs, and Information. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. .

Meehl, Gerald A., Washington, Warren M., Collins, William D., Arblaster, Julie M., Hu, Aixue, Buja, Lawrence E., Strand, Warren G., and Teng Haiyan, How Much More Global Warming and Sea Level Rise?, Science 307, 5716 (2005), pp. 1769-1772.

• James Hansen, Makiko Sato, Reto Ruedy, Ken Lo, David W. Lea and Martin Medina-Elizade
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 103, No. 39 (Sep. 26, 2006), pp. 14288-14293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30050366.

Changes in Sea Level

Church, J.A., J.M. Greagory, P. Huybrechts, M. Kuhn, L. Lambeck, M.T. Nhuan, and D. Qin. "Changes in Sea Level." Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001). Print.

Climate Response...a little birdie told me

Bird migration times, climate change, and changing population sizes

ABSTRACT

Past studies of bird migration times have shown great variation in migratory responses to climate change. We used 33 years of bird capture data (1970–2002) from Manomet, Massachusetts to examine variation in spring migration times for 32 species of North American passerines. We found that changes in first arrival dates – the unit of observation used in most studies of bird migration times – often differ dramatically from changes in the mean arrival date of the migration cohort as a whole. In our study, the earliest recorded springtime arrival date for each species occurred 0.20 days later each decade. In contrast, the mean arrival dates for birds of each species occurred 0.78 days earlier each decade. The difference in the two trends was largely explained by declining migration cohort sizes, a factor not examined in many previous studies. We found that changes in migration cohort or population sizes may account for a substantial amount of the variation in previously documented changes in migration times. After controlling for changes in migration cohort size, we found that climate variables, migration distance, and date of migration explained portions of the variation in migratory changes over time. In particular, short-distance migrants appeared to respond to changes in temperature, while mid-distance migrants responded particularly strongly to changes in the Southern Oscillation Index. The migration times of long-distance migrants tended not to change over time. Our findings suggest that previously reported changes in migration times may need to be reinterpreted to incorporate changes in migration cohort sizes.

Bird migration times, climate change, and changing population sizes
ABRAHAM J. MILLER-RUSHING, TREVOR L. LLOYD-EVANS, RICHARD B. PRIMACK, PAUL SATZINGER
Global Change Biology
Volume 14, Issue 9 , Pages1959 - 1972
Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing

land: foundation of existence and a spiritual Power

Land in the Iñupiaq Narratives emerges as a character with two different tasks: as we already said in class, the land dictates how the people live. The people can hunt and gather supplies for the winter, and they always get enough (as long as they are good hunters, such as the husband in the story The Sky People). But the land also forces them to get active when they run out of food, and there is no difference made between the land as we know it, i.e. the Earth, and a more spiritual, unknown place as the moon, which is described to be very alike to the Earth, except for slight differences. One difference is that there is no open water during the winter, and so the land of the moon forces the Sky People to go to the earth to get food. So the first quality/character trait of land in these stories is that it serves as a foundation of existence by simultaneously dictating people's life habits.
The second aspect of land is of a more mystic and spiritual quality. This especially becomes apparent in the story Raven Who Brought Back the Land. This story very much reminds me of the biblical story of the Deluge and how Noah, his family and all the animals were stuck on the top of a mountain and had to wait that the water disappears. After Raven hit the tussock's dead center, the water recedes and the land forms itself, e.g. trenches become rivers. It seems that water plays a more important role than the land, because it was first, it contains (almost) all the things the people need, and it is more dangerous (cf. The Legend of Magic, where the melting ice and the open sea become a threat). But at the same time, the water appears as a helpful being, too, as it supports the people when they know the right way how to 'communicate' with it: Raven knows how to get the tussock, and the man in The Legend of Magic also finds the solution how to handle the situation. Water is a more ambiguous character, whereas land symbolizes a safe place, a home. In both stories, the people, however, interact with the surrounding water and land, they create a connection.
In Raven Who Brought Back the Land and The Legend of Magic, man seems to be very small compared to the mighty water and the endless area, particularly in the latter story. There is this picture in my head of the man, standing alone on the cliff, and around him is nothing as far as the eye can see. Complete solitude (I just blanked out the other waiting hunters).
By being so overwhelmingly eternal and impossible to conceptualize, the land as it is presented in these stories reminds us humans of our finite time and position on Earth.

Climate Response

Schlapbach, Louis. "Technology: Hydrogen-fueled vehicles." Nature 460. (2009): 809-811.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v460/n7257/full/460809a.html

Yes Virginia There Is A God

I enjoyed “The Legend of Magic” because how simple but powerful the story is. In my catholic opinion the story explains that there is a higher power in the universe. One just has to ask for help from the supreme world power, Mother Nature, Buda or God for help and help is given. A person does not need magic, but needs faith and manners to get saved. I wonder what happen to the man that no one liked after he saved the other? Land emerged as a character in the story as something the men had to be saved from. The men needed divine intervention to save them from being stranded on the ice.

The Legend of Magic

In "The Legend of Magic," land is basically characterized as an entity created by a supreme being, specifically the Judeo-Christian God, and an entity that can be manipulated by divine intervention. The short story obviously presents Christianity as more efficacious than northwest Alaskan shamanic beliefs when it comes to human needs.

As we have found out in our last class Alaska is a frozen Wetland. One third of its land mass is included in the Arctic Crile. So in response to the sentence previous, we must take steps to understand the growth patterns of vegetation in such climates by taking into account climate regularities as well as changes such as permafrost, precipitation, and snow cover. Ultimately the goal of researching growth patterns and weather regulation is to better understand the environment to make more efficient maps, and to understand arctic land temperature year round. Along with satellite images, the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) has helped make Arctic vegetation possible and maintainable because each tracks its changing climate on via ground samples one via weather predictions. These help determine when would be the best time to distribute vegetation and when the ground will evolve from the frozen ice masses to a fertile land mass in the summer season.
Alaska has come to the forefront of the list of environments affected by global warming climate change. But as we understand the land and the climate more and more, we may still be able to affect the rising of the tides and the melting of the glaciers and ultimately no more climate response.

Global Temperature Change

Hansen J, Sato M, Ruedy R, Lo K, Lea D. W., and Medina-Elizade M. “Global Temperature Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 103, No. 39 (Sep. 26, 2006), pp. 14288-14293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/30050366.pdf

O Alaska

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=1916645181&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1268109885&clientId=1955


Raynolds, M.. A geobotanical analysis of circumpolar arctic vegetation, climate, and substrate. Diss. University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009. Dissertations & Theses: A&I, ProQuest. Web. 8 Mar. 2010.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I will be preparing a short film about the extinction of the Caribbean monk seal and the need to increase awareness of endangered species among the younger generation. The film will address the negative effect s humans have caused on the animal kingdom. I want viewers to see the problem and also realize their part in it. I don’t think that younger kids know much of anything about other species or the risk humans pose. I admit I do not know a lot of this myself but I want to see what kids know and if their concerned. Some of the project will consist of factual information as well as interviews and observation. For the final presentation I will have the completed short film and most likely some hands outs with references for the information.

Pre/Post-K: A Project Proposal

1. 1. How has New Orleans’ relationship with the environment, specifically climate, changed from pre-Katrina to post-Katrina? Within that question: How has the city become, if at all, culturally more aware of our environmental circumstances and what effect has it already had on our environment? And finally, how does New Orleans’ relationship with its environment respond with environmental awareness nationally?

2. 2. This question is important because New Orleans is to environmental activism as Global Warming is to the polar ice caps; it’s an extreme environment where we are probably going to be able to see the most change if it occurs. If New Orleans, an American city so publicly laid bare by its environmental dysfunction, cannot improve itself what does that reflect upon the rest of America’s environmental health? Can environmental consciousness productively assimilate itself into the culture? This can be backed up and measured by data as well cultural criticism.

3. 3. I intend to track and compare environmental data pre-K and post-K from the noaa and possibly uno as well as other sources as they become available. I also intend to use local publications and possibly contact with local environmental activist organizations. I will also reference the form and structure of essays from “Acts of Cultural Criticism” by Roland Barthes.

4. 4. I hope that when the project is complete I will have compiled a clear snapshot of the state of New Orleans’s relationship with its environment and how it has changed, if at all.

5. 5. My method for communicating results will most likely be an essay, possibly with pictures. The use of any other media is not currently anticipated but could possibly occur.

Final Project Proposal: Thoreau and Ecology

1. Did Thoreau’s nature writings, still maintaining its literary/poetic roots, i.e., “The Succession of Forest Trees,” “The Dispersion of Seeds,” Journal, and “Wild Apples” (not limited to) anticipate and impact the methods and the findings of ecology and environmentalism?
2. The question is important because it illustrates the interconnections between academic disciplines, specifically literature and ecology. If we are to know how human activities affect Earth and life on Earth, then it becomes vital to study different institutions, beliefs, values, laws, economies, and history in light of what we know about the natural world. Many examples support this claim. First, because human activity contributes to climate change (which requires numerous methods to understand it from atmospheric science and oceanography to chemistry and physics), we need to examine how historical, religious, and philosophical assumptions affect climate change as well. In analyzing Thoreau’s nature writings, I’ll demonstrate how Ecology did not develop in a strictly scientific vacuum. In short, certain scientific disciplines have been influenced by and developed out of literary and philosophical disciplines.
3. I. Literary Analysis:

1. Prose: language, sentence structure, imagery and setting, and discourse features.
2. Characterization
3. Genre & Tradition

II. Critical Analysis (Science):

1. Significant Prior Knowledge/Current Ignorance
2. The Main Hypothesis and Alternatives
3. Assumptions (Explicit and Implicit)
4. Elements of Support or Non-Support.
5. Change in Reality?

4. It is quite simple to view Thoreau as an early environmentalist and ecologist in his essays “Wild Apples,” “The Succession of Forest Trees,” and “The Dispersion of Seeds.” Here’s the definition of an environmentalist: “any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants, and other natural resources from pollution or its effects. Or: a person who believes that differences between individuals or groups, esp. in moral and intellectual attributes, are predominantly determined by environmental factors, as surroundings, upbringing, or experience (OED).” In “Wild Apples,” while describing the apple tree’s flower/fruit and stages of the apple’s growth, Thoreau bemoaned humanity’s destruction of indigenous and wild apples species. His preference for the wild to the cultivated apple and, symbolically, his belief that man himself will fulfill his destiny not by exploiting the American landscape but by allowing it to naturalize him epitomizes modern environmental sentiments. In “The Succession of Forest Trees (important ecological essay as well given its place in the Bibliography of North American Forestry),” Thoreau used experimentation and analysis to explain how forests regenerate after fire or human destruction, through dispersal by seed-bearing winds or animals. In Walden, Thoreau, despite his attacks on the farmers’ misuse of their resources, recognized the potential of the farm as a means of economic self-sufficiency. Ecologically, Thoreau hoped to find more securely the vision of cosmic harmony that he had received from Emerson, and from Emerson’s Romantic sources, locating and knowing by experience the sublimity of life. During his time, Thoreau was capable of analyzing plant migration in terms that contain no teleological implication, so that the later Thoreau sometimes approached the most modern ecological thought in this respect. Next, Thoreau entered the realm of the ecologist proper by adding to his phenological data his lists of habitat groups. Also, like a modern ecologist, Thoreau was as much interested in the plants characteristics and certain locations of rare atypical plants; and it was these characteristic plants that were usually distinguished and noted on his walks. However, the chief difference in his approach to such abundant lists and that of a modern ecologist is that Thoreau’s is subjective; one true composition count in Conantum Swamp and one quadrat count of Houstonia are his closest approaches to the objective method. In his journal entries, Thoreau had made an independent discovery of the stratification of water, and made the correct deduction that such stratification would affect the distribution of fish. “The Succession of Forest Trees” reports some of the early American writing on spontaneous generation. The idea of “succession,” now a major paradigm in ecology, was phrased as a shift in forest tree species, following cutting and/or burning that illustrated spontaneous generation since the new species had apparently not been on the sites prior to the disturbance. Thoreau scotched this notion with numerous observations in and around Concord.

Moving to Thoreau’s “The Dispersion of Seeds,” the critical role of seed dispersal in forest dynamics is still an important concept in ecology, and the observations that Thoreau made to build his case are as valuable as any made since. Thoreau’s descriptions of the means of dispersal and some observed distances, in rods, can still be useful data. His observations that are still of current interest include the following: multiple dispersal modes, especially the importance of water transport of seeds with specialized adaptations for dispersal by wind or animals; the spread of seeds across snow surfaces; the importance of dispersal for pioneers in succession and the strategy of producing many small seeds for this purpose; the relations between seed banks and fire; a competitive hierarchy of niche relations; the dependence on spatial patterns, specifically the shape of forest stands on the spatial process of dispersal; and, plant-animal interactions as integral to system functioning.

5. I will communicate my final results and conclusions by writing a research paper analyzing Thoreau’s nature writings.

References

Reviewed work(s): Faith in a Seed. by Henry David Thoreau

Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 84, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 746-747

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2564161

"Unchronicled Nations": Agrarian Purpose and Thoreau's Ecological Knowing

David M. Robinson

Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Dec., 1993), pp. 326-340

Published by: University of California Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2933651

Thoreau: Pioneer Ecologist and Conservationist

Philip Whitford, Kathryn Whitford

The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 73, No. 5 (Nov., 1951), pp. 291-296

Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20438

Ecology and American Literature: Thoreau and Un-Thoreau

Karl Kroeber

American Literary History, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 309-328

Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/490289

final topic proposal

I want to explore how specific beliefs and traditions in different religions influence people's views of the environment. Religion has a strong influence on how people behave, the decisions they make, and how they view the world. Because of this, religion is an important factor to address when trying to understand how people view the environment and make choices that influence it. Religion is also a strong motivator for action. One way to motivate people towards more environment friendly living is to appeal towards their sense of moral responsibility towards the environment. I plan on researching this topic and different environmental movements that are religiously motivated using library and electronic resources. I anticipate finding that different religions will all be concerned about environmental issues, but they will approach them from different angles. I expect that their beliefs regarding the environment will directly impact on their attempts to develop lifestyles that are more environmental friendly. I will write a final paper summarizing all my findings.

Final proposal: environmental awareness in/through music

Environmental awareness in/through music

Is music able to make us aware of environmental issues? What part do music and the music business/industry actually play in creating a more “earth-friendly” and responsible behavior towards nature – and what part could they play?

Throughout history, music has been used for different reasons, e.g. to celebrate, to mourn, to dance, to present power, and for spiritual/religious reasons. Music addresses humans on a very emotional level and thus can offer a different approach to deal with environmental issues, additionally to hard facts and ‘dry’ data.

Using the relationship between composed music (coming from the Romantic music as the (arguable) beginning of “environmental music”) and the sounds of nature as an introduction into contemporary “eco-music,” the main focus is split into two parts.
1. Looking at the music itself.
A deep literary and musical analysis of the songs Earth Song by Michael Jackson and The Landscape is changing by Depeche Mode as well as music by the local singer Jon Pult.
2. The role of music industry.
In this part, I will concentrate on the Live Earth concerts in 2007, initiated by Al Gore. I will research the program itself, data about the carbon footprint, the intended goals of this global events and how they worked out. Though the global event pretended to have been almost carbon-neutral, served as a starting point for Green Event Standards and encouraged other artists to rethink their environmental responsibility, the individual effects are still arguable and hardly to value.

As I did not find any data about the long-term effect of the Live Earth concerts as well as the influence of environmental music, I will argue that music needs a stronger platform in order to change our behavior, and more than only one-day events. I hope to come up with solutions/suggestions how this should exactly look like.
Finally, I will create a website to present all this. However, this website does not only deal with the issues and anticipated results stated above but will include a collection of different “earth/environmental songs” as well as an annotated resource page with further articles, topics and links concerning environmental music, such as the World Soundscape Project, Acoustic Ecology, and the Green Music Initiative.

how soot impairs the "icy wilderness"

Hansen, James, and Larissa Nazarenko. "Soot Climate Forcing Via Snow and Ice Albedos." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101.2 (2004): 423-8.

A Little Help from My Classmates

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Before we start on our posts for Wednesday and since our proposals were due today, I though it would be appropriate to ask you guys for some feedback.

My proposal is about what people believe to be Natural. I am interviewing ten strangers with very different occupations and backgrounds to draw my own conclusions. What I need help with is finding the participants. If you know anyone with these careers could you please comment with their phone number and where I could locate them.

• Butcher
• Environmentalist
• Yoga Instructor
• Exterminator
• Florist
• OBGYN
• Chemist

Thanks
Rita Girau

Final Proposal

1. A detailed statement of the problem or question that you are addressing.
The question I am asking is; what can I, Tucker Juan, provide for my self in a pot garden in an urban city as a college student? I am using several resources to answer this question. I am going to a class at the New Orleans Food and Farm Network on how to garden. I am using Vegetable Planting Guide of Louisiana as a resource of thing to grow in my garden. I am also talking to farmers at the Hollygrove farmers market.

2. An explanation of why this question is important. (Include any references that you have gathered.)
The reason I think my question is important is that I want to become more self-sustainable citizen and I want to cut down on the focal fuel I use. As a college student money is tight and I still want to eat and live healthy. A great way to eat healthy and cheaply is to grow some of the things I eat in my own garden. By growing some of my own vegetables and herbs I know were they come from and how they are grown. I also want to look at urban gardening in New Orleans

3. Detailed description of the methodology that you are using to answer the question or study the problem.
(Include any references that you have gathered.)
I have five pots that are helping me grow some vegetables and herbs. I have one pot growing onions, another pot is growing carrots, the third pot is growing lettuce, the fourth pot growing sweet peppers and the last pot is growing herbs. The herbs include basil, parsley, sage, oregano, and dill.

4. Summary of anticipated results.
I hope by the time the project is due I will have some vegetables and herbs.
5. Method for communicating your final results and conclusions.
I will have a power point showing my supplies, pictures of the growing process and a look at the cost of gardening and the benefits of saving money doing my own garden.