Assignment 3. An Inconvenient Truth.
NOTE: This assignment requires viewing a DVD - "An Inconvenient Truth." You have four options. 1. Go to the CSUDH Library Instructional Media Center (LIB C121) and ask to view “An Inconvenient Truth”, which is posted on their web server. Note that the IMC is closed on weekends and certain Fridays. 2. Most public libraries will have the video for checkout. 3. You can also rent the DVD (check Wherehouse, Blockbuster, etc.). 4. Go the following website (foreign subtitles are a bit distracting) - http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/an-inconvenient-truth/
Answer the following questions, some of which are taken from the “Special Feature Update.” Please note: Whether you like Al Gore or not, please keep in my
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How many of these articles disputed that global warming is indeed occurring?
17. Are we ahead of – or behind - China in regard to vehicle fuel efficiency?
18. Why did Ford, GM and Chrysler undergo a harsh downturn relative to other car makers?
19. Do we currently have the technology to solve the global warming problem?
20. We have made great progress in fixing another major environmental problem – which one was that?
21. What is the correlation between temperature increase and global catastrophes? List four types of catastrophes related to temperature, and discuss the role temperature plays (some obvious of course!).
22. What are the implications of ocean acidification?
23. Why does reduction in soil moisture content pose an impending disaster for many areas in the world?
24. Global warming causes permafrost to melt. Why is this important in regard to: a) infrastructure, and b) future CO2 levels?
25. The Bush administration ignored the problem of global warming, e.g., refused to sign the Kyoto protocol. Further, it went so far as to suppress scientific data, silence scientists and alter scientific documents (drastic “editing” that is almost comical). Why?
26. Who sang the theme song “I Need to Wake Up”?
27. What did this film win an Academy Award for?
28. What are your thoughts regarding the role humans and the burning of carbon-based fuels in global warming? This is an opinion question
Scientific studies have proven that the earth’s climate is increasing and claim that humans are the blame as their activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels affect the earth. Nearly two weeks ago, the United States had one of its most important days of the year: Election day. The vote came down to Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and now, President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump. Before Trump won the election, one of the most controversial issues he and Clinton argued upon was on climate change. Rebecca Harrington of Business Insider writes that Clinton said, “Some country is going to be the clean- energy superpower of the 21st century. Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it's real.” Harrington then adds that Trump responded by saying, “I did not. I did not. I do not say that.” The article continues and explains that Trump “does not accept the overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is real.” Hillary on the contrary, according to writers Steven Mufson and Brady Dennis, “had been adamant that she would follow through on the promises Obama made under the Paris climate accord, and vowed to defend and implement the Clean Power Plan and reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a third by 2025, relative to 2005 levels.” This issue is very relevant in today’s
3. Discuss the significance of a predicted increase in global temperatures of 3 C, as opposed to a predicted increase of 1 C.
In fact, the average fuel efficiency of new passenger vehicles steadily declined from the 1980’s until 2004. This was due to the loopholes which car manufacturers found in the CAFE standards. CAFE treated “light trucks” much more leniently than cars, and allowed them to have considerably less fuel efficiency than cars. This caught the attention of car manufacturers, who then looked at how CAFE defined a light truck. They
Ideas introduced in the article assist in understanding Ford’s current situation. Ford reported sharp falls in U.S. auto sales in May 2008. Sales of its most profitable pickups and SUVs suffered the most (“US Auto Sales Slide”). Some of the main
27. How is climate change damaging the Australia environment? Think aboput the land, watewr and animals.
Ford’s F-Series experienced a 46% drop in sales for 2006 compared to 2007, making a once most wanted truck in the United States almost abandoned by the consumers. The second and the current recession that began in 2007 brought a new wave of impact on the auto industry. At the time banks were more flexible with approving loans and the interest rates were low which attracted a lot of consumers into the housing market. Since many of them were not able to afford it, eventually they turned to foreclosure leaving them with debt and no credit worthiness; thus, banks started raising the interest rates on auto loans. But foreign competition, higher oil prices, and higher interest rates were not enough to destabilize the auto industry on such a scale; it was the recession that shocked it the most.
The Heartland Institute is well known for funding deniers of global warming and climate change, and is mostly funded by large corporations like Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline, and wealthy Right-wingers like the Koch Brothers. Recently leaked documents from the
Moving on from this, Miller helps discuss one of the side issues that leads to confusion; medias’ portrayal of events. Because the media (“New York Times,” “Los Angeles Times,” etc.) wants to “show both sides of the story,” they allow deniers of the issues, less reputable scientists, and advocates for non-environmental friendly companies to essentially blow off the issue of global warming, and publish their opinions, when in reality, the problem is only becoming ever more present. From the increasing amount of fossil fuels burned, deforestation taking place, and emission of pollution (from electricity generated, transportation, etc.) scientists and researchers have been able to collect data of the global climate’s rise, as well as
A combination of warm temperatures and a plentiful water supple are necessary in order to combat the negative environmental effects of drought and restore crop production to its normal capacity (Kemper et al., 2012, p. 2). Further explorations into the future availability of groundwater supplies are also critical to maintaining proper soil moisture (Bonsal et al., 2010, p.
Nowadays, global warming has increased dangerously in a way that affects every creature’s existence and health. On the one hand, there are the natural causes. Over the years there have been massive explosions from volcanoes which have affect the atmosphere and the temperature. Another problem is that the sea levels are rising worldwide because the ice is melting. To be exact, many cities are in danger of sinking because of that.
B. Global warming, Geological Time Scale, Stratospheric Ozone, Global Water Resources and Use, Greenhouse Gasses and the Greenhouse Effect
a. According to that study, the increasing of the atmospheric climate over time is a direct result of human activities that cause significant and harmful climate changes including. Therefore in this manner numerous countries confront that immediate international action has to be performed to diminish greenhouse gas emissions to avoid serious atmospheric changes
When the “Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis” began in 2008, it triggered a global recession. Demand decreased across all industries, but the auto industry was hit especially hard due to vehicles being big ticket items. Even prior to the recession, the high prices of raw materials and fuels, as well as increased pressure from the government and consumers for automakers to build “greener” cars meant trouble for automakers. Within the industry, Canadian and the American auto makers were hurt the most. The strong presence of unions meant that they had a much higher labour cost than their competitors. Also General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, known as the “Big Three” primarily focused on manufacturing pickup trucks and SUVs because of
So it can be concluded that due to a change in fuel prices and the recession, the American automakers saw a huge drop in sales. Since the sales were not enough to match the high fixed costs the automakers were quickly burning through cash. This led to the pleading of GM and Chrysler for government aid, without which they would run out of money for functioning. This would lead to
Countries have taken notice of the ill effects that greenhouse gases are having on the environment. Although climate change could prove to be a real problem, the most effective means of confronting it are by taking small steps, such as reducing government activity in areas that could prove to be maladaptive, or unleashing the market to solve problems(Why Go Nuclear?).