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

>

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.

Final Proposal

It is fairly evident to most that coastal wetlands, specifically in Louisiana, are diminishing, but does this have any practical importance to the public, especially the inhabitants of this area, and nature? I plan to first provide scientific background of wetland loss and devastation from sources such as USGS National Wetlands Research Center. I then plan to back up the scientific data collected throughout the years with personal data and a canoe excursion. Therefore, this project is not meant to be a scientific presentation showing the degree to which coastal Louisiana has disappeared, but is meant to use the personal anecdotes, testimonies, interviews, and reflections of various individuals to show why others should care about the findings of this scientific data. In other words, I will show specifically how the losses of coastal LA wetlands are affecting the public, instead of merely providing an overload of scientific data. My study will focus on three main components: (1) audio or written interviews with three individuals (a) Max Latham—member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as a local of Plaquemines Parish, (b) Clark Fontaine—a local shrimper as well as construction manager, and (c) Bryan Ragas—manager of Swift Energy, a major oil and natural gas production company located in Plaquemines Parish, as well as a 50 year local, (2) personal testimonies, anecdotes, photographs, and reflections collected from my father and other family members, and (3) a canoe trip exploring the wetlands of Plaquemines Parish used to make reflections on why the wetlands are important to me. My goal is not to show the changes of the entire LA wetland coast over a 100 year period, but instead to show the changes noticed by these various individuals over a fairly short period and how these changes have affected their livelihood, hobbies, cultural traditions, etc. With all of this data, I expect to show the large degree of environmental degradation in these areas, due to both anthropogenic and biogenic causes, and the great aesthetic and economic loss to the public that results. This way people may see the importance and value the wetlands have on many people, and why we as a nation should do something about it. My method for communicating my results and conclusions will be to create a website that shows the various information I will collect throughout the course of my final project. Anyone will be able to go into the website and read through the testimonies and anecdotes, hear the interviews, and view the photographs and videos taken.

journal article

Boisvenue, Celine and Steven Running. "Impacts of Climate Change on Natural Forest
Productivity- Evidence Since the Middle of the 20th Century." Global Change Biology
12.5 (2006): 862-882.

Court Identifies Eleven Inaccuracies in Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’

* The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government's expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.
* The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.
* The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that it was "not possible" to attribute one-off events to global warming.
* The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that this was not the case.
* The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
* The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant's evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
* The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
* The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
* The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting, the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
* The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.
* The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/10/09/court-identifies-eleven-inaccuracies-al-gore-s-inconvenient-truth#ixzz0hH4qzzmW

late inspiration...

Well, the extra credit point in the exam was to write a haiku about nature (and how we discussed it in class). I tried to think of one, but did not find a last line. Unfortunately -or fortunately, depends on the point of view - I found one a couple of minutes after I went out of class...I dislike such 'too late inspirations.'

Nature: part of us.
But separated by man.
Why? Think of it now.

The reason why I share this with you: I found it interesting that I, though I tried to write something about nature, eventually came up with something that totally focuses on us. This also reminded me of the very beginning of the class when we read the poem "I contemplate a tree" by Buber and stated/ discovered that man is still the point of reference. It makes me wonder if there is any chance to change this way of self-centered thinking towards a more holistic way, where we do not see us as so apparently dominant? But how can we achieve this? I mean, it cannot be the point to completely give up our identification, can it? Probably, it all goes back to the Leopoldian thought of life in a balance. It sounds so easy, but at least I get constantly outsmarted by my 'conventional' way of thinking. And this still happens although I try to change it and dare to say that I care about environment and my influence...

Tonight Feb 28 most see tv

on the weather channel at !1 pm is doing a show on the life of the bayou. i could be a good. http://www.weather.com/tv/programs/CantoreStories.html