This weeks seminar, and presentation were very interesting for me. I enjoy many outdoor activities, all of which are impacted by climate change. I thought the presentation was very informative, and the choice of video was excellent. Its obvious that climate change in occurring. I always wonder how some people choose to argue against it. Almost every chart/graph i have seen indicates that change is happening whether we are getting warmer or colder. I thought the video documentary an Inconvenient Truth really summed up how increased temperature are a result of humans.
One startling fact that i took away from the video was after the glaciers melted in North America to form one giant lake (now the great lakes region) and the impact that had on the ocean currents after the St. Lawrence Burst, ultimately causing an ice age in Europe. It makes me wonder what happens when the ice on Greenland or the Arctic melts, and how this will effect the ocean currents, and climate. Will there be another ice age? Another thing i took away from this is the spread of new insects and pests that have serious effects on the environment. I know there are new insects that feast on trees, and now mosquitoes can climb to new heights because of increased temperature.
The inequality of climate change is something that i never really thought of. People who live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America face more serious and frequent effects of global climate change. Floods, droughts, and new diseases disproportionately affect those who are poor, and live in the global south. It seems that no change will come about until every nation recognizes the need to change for the better. We have the resources to make this change, we just need the collective will to do so. Until there is that urgency to reverse climate change i doubt anything will really happen.
Unforced Variations: June 2026
5 days ago
I agree that we need the urgency to reduce climate change, but I think it is important for us to go at it globally, but with local decisions about the changes to be made. I feel as though many think 'we' have the resources to limit climate change, but climate change and inequality go hand in hand, and what 'we' might have others do not. At the global scale it is not possible to make regulations that everyone can abide by, local regulations have the ability to better suit the needs of the community. Local changes will keep in mind the uneven distribution of resources, alternative cultures, and alternative economies. What one person does in the north to reduce climate change will not be the same as what one does in the south. Similar what a rich person can do and a poor person will not be the same.
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