Vocabulary: 1. Climate Change: the long-term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind, and all other aspects of the earth's climate 2. Global Warming: the change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. - defined by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change 3. Greenhouse Gases: chemical compounds in the atmosphere that trap heat - They retain a proportion of the sun’s heat through a mechanism known as the greenhouse effect - Greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), are naturally present in the atmosphere in small quantities (less than 1%) 4. Biodiversity: The variety of life on earth—or its biological diversity—is commonly referred to as biodiversity - The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, and the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rain forests, and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse earth Biodiversity’s importance: it boosts ecosystem productivity - Each species, no matter how small, has an important role to play - The combination of organisms allows the ecosystem to prevent and recover from a variety of natural disasters - A larger number of species of plants means more variety of crops (less risk of huge crop failures like the Potato Famine) - A larger number of species of animals ensures that the ecosystem is naturally sustained 5. Carbon footprint is made up of: Primary footprint (direct): a measure of the direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels - This includes domestic energy consumption and transportation, including cars and planes Secondary footprint (indirect): a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole life cycle of products - Those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown 6. “Green” Building: the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources including energy, water, and materials - Also reduce building impacts on human health and the environment through: - better site planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal—the complete building life cycle - Other related terms include sustainable design and green architecture 7. Biosphere: All living things on earth – plants, animals, fungi, single-celled organisms etc - The global sum of all ecosystems: - the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment - all living beings and their relationships and interactions with each other and the lithosphere (land and ocean floor), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air) "The expression “the eleventh hour” means the last moment when change can happen to avert possible disaster. In the film The 11th Hour a variety of world experts explore how humanity has arrived at the current convergence of environmental crises while exploring steps that people can take to avert global disaster. In summary, the earth is nearing meltdown, beyond climate change. The process began with the Industrial Revolution, when people started mistakenly looking on nature as external to themselves and exploitable without limits. Forests have undergone major destruction. The ocean is becoming stagnant. Almost everywhere, the soil itself is largely damaged. In addition, 50,000 species a year are becoming extinct; no ecosystem can be identified as improving. Humans suffer from increasing numbers of diseases caused by pollution. At fault is the overproduction of non-sustainable manufactures, immense waste and destruction, and an unsupportable population. The primary cause for much of the crisis is the fuels we use, petroleum being the primary one. Through nature itself, the technology exists to solve some of these crises, and part of the solution is for people to live more consciously in harmony with nature as opposed to dominating it. According to the film, in a few years we will have reached the point of no return. We are not only at the eleventh hour, but at the last few seconds of that hour. Within this century, if nothing effective is achieved, planetary damage will be dramatic and total in every area. Although impossible to predict, extreme disaster could be quick once the balance is decisively tipped in the wrong direction, and it will happen everywhere. The 11th Hour features leading experts from around the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA James Woolsey, and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau, along with over 50 other scientists and world leaders who discuss the most important environmental issues facing the earth while presenting strategies to avert the crisis."' http://11thhouraction.com/node/1977 The above summary is from the 11th Hour Action website. These questions are answered during the film. 8. Why is it misleading when we say “save the environment”? 9. What happens when we destroy nature? 10. How are ecological disasters depicted by the media? 11. How is it possible that there is life on Earth? (What are the necessary parameters? Remember the Goldilocks analogy) 12. There are about 100 trillion cells in the human body. What percentage of those cells are not “human”? 13. If time was one calendar year, when would humans have been born? 14. What allowed humans to take over the world and throw us out of balance with nature? 15. What was the great rupture with nature that occurred in the 1800s and 1900s? We used to live on current sunlight. Meaning that the amount of sunlight that fell on the earth in a year was the maximum amount of energy we could use. During this our population never exceeded 1 billion. 16. Human population : Pre 1800s - 1 billion, _______ - 2 billion, ________ - 3 billion 17. Why has there been such a large growth in population? 18. How many people can Earth maintain with current sunlight? 19. How many people could die when we run out of coal and oil, if we can't find another energy source? (Hint: What was the answer to #18? What is the current population? You can view the world population here http://opr.princeton.edu/popclock/) 20. How much money does the US borrow every year? 21. How much money do we use every day for oil imports? 22. Name the deleterious effects of burning coal and oil (asthma etc) 23. What can an increase in average temperatures by a few degrees do to the planet? 24. What could the warming of the seas do to carbon dioxide levels? 25. What effect does the melting of the icecaps have? 26. How much have humans increased carbon dioxide and methane levels in the atmosphere by? 27. What does the tipping point mean? a. What is the tipping point? 28. What is the current estimate for Earth’s temperature change? 29. How much sea ice has already melted? 30. What else is already happening? 31. How long will it be before the Arctic is ice free? - How does the melting of the icecaps increase Global Warming? 32. The climate change will alter the global water cycle. It will cause: 33. As sea levels rise, millions of people will be displaced as the waters swallow their homes. In the US ______ million, China _________ million, Netherlands _____ million, and another ______ million in Bangladesh. That is 242 million people because of a 10m rise in sea levels. The United Nations estimates that there will be at least 150 million environmental refugees by the turn of the century. 34. Every living system in the biosphere is in decline. There have been no peer reviewed studies that contradict that published in the last 20 years. Coral reefs, climatic stability, forest cover, oceans, the condition of the soil, aquifers, water, and biodiversity are all being negatively effected. Why do you think people try to deny this? (Any answer is correct so long as it is logical and fact based) 35. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a ____ year study by the United Nations was finished in 2005. The reports showed devastation and destruction of ecosystems around the world. 36. Why is it important that the world is seamless? 37. What creates ocean dead zones? 38. In half a century we have lost _____% of the big fish in the sea. 39. What is bycatch? 40. Mercury, pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals are all dumped into the water. Chemicals commonly found in plastics, pesticides and artificial food colors are highly suspected of contributing to ____________, premature _________, and degenerative diseases as well as autism, ADHD, childhood cancers and ___________, Aspergers, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, testicular cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. 41. What communities are most affected by water pollution and dumping? Why? 42. How much of the original U.S. forest is gone? 43. What happens when trees are removed from rainforests? 44. Wangari Maathai warns the citizens in her country not to cut down trees on the mountains because without the trees the rivers will stop flowing, the rains will become __________, the crops will fail, and you will die. 45. How much soil in the world is classified as “very degraded”? 46. How much water can one tree hold and filter into the aquifer? What happens without them? 47. The last time the ocean waters stagnated it caused the Permian mass extinction, and ______% of all the species on earth went extinct. 48. What is the “greatest weapon of mass destruction”? 49. How much is Exxon Mobile worth? 50. What did Thomas Jefferson say about the constitution? 51. How much would it cost us a year to do what nature does for us already? (Such as pollination) 52. For every truckload of products we produce, there are _______ truckloads of waste. 53. At what level does the main problem occur? 54. How many times does an average American shop per week? 55. If we don’t change, how much life may we lose? 56. What percent of all species, that have ever existed, are now extinct? 57. Extinction is a natural process, it is necessary for evolution and adaptation as the world changes. The problem is the rate at which we are causing it. We have caused ____________ species to go extinct. Why is this a problem? 58. Why are we at this crisis point? 59. What must we, as a society, do to ensure the survival of our world? 60. Why was it a mistake to say “Man is the King of nature?” Nature may hold the answer to solving our problems: 61. We design in isolation and then try to force it on the world, nature designs the opposite way. We use chemicals and heat and pressure to make things, how does nature do it? 62. How many times stronger is spider silk than steel? What do you think we could use it for? 63. Mushrooms remediate environments by: 64. What does “Green Building” make possible? How much energy could you save? Ask your parents/guardians what their monthly energy bill is. It could be 33% of that, or even less. 65. What proof do we have that America can respond quickly and completely change what we are producing? 66. What does it mean, to you, to be human in the 21st Century? 67. What type of energy has been developed to a point that it competes with fossil fuels? 68. What are some easy changes every person can make? 69. What are you saying every time you buy something? 70. Is nature a resource that is endlessly available? Graph of Climatic Conditions Since 600,000 BC Image from "The 11th Hour" film. - What does this graph show between 600,000B.C. and 1850? - Why is that year an important cutoff point? - What does the graph show for 1850 to now? - Why is 400ppm so important? - What is the "natural climatic fluctuation" that people talk about when discussing Climate Change? Are current temperature changes part of that? Pollution Travels and Directly Affects You Image from "The 11th Hour" film. This image was used in the movie to show how toxins that enter the waterways in the American heartland travel to the Gulf of Mexico and create deadzones - areas where massive losses of wildlife are seen. - How will runoff, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification impact the environment, water quality, and the safety of your food? Please provide paragraph long responses - How do drought and deforestation contribute to Global Warming? - Why are trees and forests so important to the environment and to you? - Why will hurricanes become more powerful? - Why will the melting of the icecaps increase Global Warming? - How could Global Warming trigger a new Ice Age? - Why is Ocean Stagnation dangerous? What happened the last time it occurred? The United Nations estimates that a 10m rise in sea levels could create at least 150 million environmental refugees by the turn of the century. That is about half of the entire human population of the United States of America in 2011. - Where will those 150 million environmental refugees go? - What will happen to the environment and people already living in areas that these refugees go to? - Is this a problem for other parts of the world, or will it directly effect America? - Why is soil degradation so dangerous? Can you think of any solutions or current practices that should be changed? (What are we doing that we should do differently?) - ADD, ADHD and many other conditions are becoming increasingly more common; what did the film say could be contributing to this? What do you think we should do to fix this? - Why should you be especially concerned about carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer, being introduced to your water and food supply? Why would this effect young people even more than adults? (Think about development, exposure times, etc)
