Today during Science and Technology Methods my professor, Dr. Smirnova, brought in her husband, Dr. Michael Edelstein to give a lecture on climate change and The Climate Reality Project. Dr. Edelstein has been teaching at Ramapo College for the past forty-four years and is a member of the Climate Reality Project. The Climate Reality Project was created by Al Gore after he was influenced by his professor to explore the issue of climate change. This is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change.
Throughout the class, I learned how much the Earth is actually changing and that we must acknowledge this if we want to make a difference. I was first informed on the concept of scientific distortion. Overall, this means there is a systematic effort to distort information about certain scientific issues to impact the public opinion. Climate change is a major science block that has been going on for years. Major oil companies know that climate change is an issue and this would be a huge threat to their business model, therefore, this is one of the reasons that this issue is typically overlooked. This is not the only time information has been distorted to avoid business failures. For example, cigarette companies would block the information that the public would receive about the dangers of smoking in order to not lose business. Isn't it a little scary to think information is blocked to the public for economic, political and social issues? With that being said, the United Nations formed a panel to look over scientific questions about climate change to further prove the issue, this study was compiled from reports of scientist all over the world. All of the information that was collected was found to be convergent, meaning that everyone had studies that agreed on the topic. Climate change is a reality and we have to address it. We live on this earth, but we often talk about it as if we don't, this is something that has to change. This planet is our home and in order to take care of it, we need to learn about the outcome of our actions.
Climate change is never making headlines in the news and it could be difficult to find reliable sources on this topic. However, the first step towards progress is to learn as much information as you can. Prior to this class, I was not aware of the amount of carbon dioxide that is found in the atmosphere. Our planet's atmosphere cannot pass a carbon level of 350 ppm (parts per million) or else the Earth will be permanently damaged. Are you aware of the amount of carbon dioxide that is in our atmosphere? We are now at 405 ppm so now we face challenges of the habitability of the Earth. If the Earth becomes less habitable we must make changes. For example, climate refugee, this will be intensified more in the future but people will have to move due to the climate change because of droughts, terrible storms, higher sea levels, etc. Hurricanes across the world have wiped out peoples' living spaces, but what if we continue to neglect our actions. Climate adaptation is something we also have to look at because how are we going to live in the future?
Dr. Edelstein taught me that the earth is a closed system in regard to matter but an open system with regards to energy. However, the quality of matter can be degraded therefore we must be cautious of our actions. All around us are opened and closed systems, which is something new I learned and found to be very interesting. It is important to notice the impact of our actions. For example, we should all find use in renewable energy because the sun, as of now, is a constant source of energy. Yet, we use nonrenewable energy, fossil fuels, mostly because of the financial profits companies make. The use of fossil fuels only further damages our Earth. For example, the glaciers are melting, and it is impossible to refreeze these glaciers because we passed that point already. The more ice that melts means there will be less reflectivity, hence the Earth will absorb more heat which creates a never-ending cycle of more ice melting and a warmer Earth. Due to all of this the oceans are warmer, storms are worse, weather patterns are changing, droughts and fires are more common, etc. In general, we are constantly changing the habitability of the Earth permanently. Now that we know this information it is important to make changes to help our Earth.
As a future teacher, I would like to educate my students on climate change and discuss the ways we can help our planet habitable. We can make small adjustments in our lives to help save our planet. For instance, reusable water bottles instead of plastic bottles, or even recycling those plastic bottles. Solar panels could be a great way to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. The list can continue, and in my future class, I would definitely want my students to brainstorm ways that we can help our planet. Overall, I want to teach my students about this issue because they can be educated about climate change and know how to make positive changes.
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