Blog Reflection

Now that the end of quarter is here I have went back and read my posts on my blog along with comments that I wrote and others wrote about me. It is very apparent that my writing over these eleven weeks has gotten much better. Starting out with my first couple of posts I noticed that my writing was very bland and I pretty much just stuck to the assignment answering the questions asked of me. As the quarter went on I expanded the horizon on what I wrote about and if you look at my grades, they steadily improved with each paper that I wrote. I contribute the majority of this to the class itself. I learned several new things about how to write in different styles and how to sound more credible to the audience. Rhetorical concepts such as ethos, pathos, and logos, which we learned In English 151, I didn’t start to apply to my writing until now. I really like the blog because it allows me to do exactly what I’m doing now, which is go back and reflect on what I wrote and see how I evolved over eleven weeks. If these writings would have been turned in through hard copies then the professor would have to make sure that we got them back and then I would have to try and keep them situated in a folder. This is one of my setbacks as a student in that I feel like I’m not very organized and this blog allowed me to organize myself.

When I talk about my stronger blogs I would have to say is the position argument piece that I wrote. It talked about the polar ice caps and how their melting is affecting everyone and everything around the world. The reason that I feel that this particular piece is the strongest is that it was well balanced in research and personal feelings. I actually enjoyed writing this essay and learned a ton about the subject. It sparked my curiosity to attend the lecture Dr. Thompson presented where I expanded my knowledge on the subject. My revision also made this a stronger essay than the rest of the essays I wrote. The weakest one I wrote would have to be the first one I wrote for this course which was my personal essay. This was early in the year when I feared not fulfilling the requirements of the paper. In the end, all the paper consisted of is a list of answers rather than a well thought out paper. There were not enough personal feelings or examples that paint a picture for the audience. I also feel that I did a very poor job of accepting the advice from my peers and make the corrections they offered which would have made a sufficient piece.

I feel while I writing on the blog the fact that the blog was public never really affected me a whole lot. Well let me rephrase that. While writing I never held anything back or felt embarrassed that thousands of people could read what I was writing. In the back of my head was that my class and professor would be the main audience so I wrote as if a college student would be reading my posts. I spoke truthfully and when I didn’t feel 100% on a topic I researched it and cited it to let my peers know what the truth was and where I got it from to make credible. Another important factor for me when writing on this blog was that I made sure that I left room for anyone to add or clear things up that may have been confusing. I tried to encourage my classmates and anyone that read my posts to comment on how I could make it better which is important when writing about anything. After reading the comments left I feel that my writing was cleaned up and that for the most part people really enjoyed my blog as a whole. When commenting on other writers’ posts I tried to provide the same encouragement and positive critiquing as they provided for me. I kept in mind how hard it is to read something you wrote and pick up every little imperfection. As an outsider I would try to point these mistakes out while also giving them encouragement to keep up the good work.

Overall, the positives of this blog outweigh the negatives. Once I became comfortable with the blog and realized all that I could do with it the blog actually became quite interesting. It is nice to have collection of all your thoughts on several different subjects to show others how you feel about them. The best part about it for an English class, that was ironic because of our class theme, is the amount of paper and ink you save. Especially with our struggling economy and environment, blogging allows you to post writings, grade them, and store them without the hassle of printing and exchanging the actual papers. Blogging is something that should be introduced to other courses that require a lot of research papers and I hope that over the years that this will start to become more popular.

Professor Thompson Extra Credit

Professor Lonnie Thompson a professor at The Ohio State University conducted a lecture titled, “The Human Footprint on Earth.” This lecture focused on how rapidly the climate on earth has risen over the past hundred years and what it could mean for the future. He was born and raised in Gassaway, West Virginia and attended Marshall University receiving a Bachelor’s in Geology. After this he continued his education at The Ohio State University where he achieved a M.S. and PhD in Geological Science. After graduating he immediately started studies on the polar ice caps conducting research in multiple countries. He has received two prestigious awards in the field of science. They are The Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for Science and Invention and The National Medal of Science Award that is know to be the highest honor as a researcher.

Thompson and his crew conduct research and receive their data by drilling for ice core samples which they fly back right here to Ohio on OSU’s campus. Through these core samples they can surmise tons of information that all leads to the fact that global warming is a concern presently. Some signs that global warming is a problem are the glaciers around the world melting rapidly (most obvious), the amount of volcanic eruptions, and rise in the sea level around the world. As far humans go the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased severely over the last 50 years by 60 ppm (parts per million). The other alarming fact the Professor Thompson threw out is that the earth’s temperature has been increasing close to one degree Celsius each year.

Where the lecture absolutely blew my mine is when Professor Thompson mentioned some often misinformed notions about when and where temperature is raising more. He and his team have supporting evidence that shows that temperature has risen more at night than during the day. It has also risen more during the winter than in the sweltering heat of summertime. Finally temperature has been steadily rising more in higher altitudes than in lower altitudes. When I thought about this I would have completely guessed the opposite in each category. According to Thompson over the last 12 years 11 of them have been the hottest years ever recorded. If this isn’t enough evidence that there is a problem I don’t know what else you need. He also mentioned that while we should be concerned with the short term affects of global warming the long term ones could be even more dangerous. Research has shown that 20% of the carbon emitted daily will affect us 20 years from now. In reality the more we produce today the worse our future is looking down the road.

The final facts that Professor Thompson made in his lecture that really struck me is that estimates are saying that with current conditions, the earth could lose all of its sea ice in the 200 years. I mean when you think about it right away you think, “Oh well, I will be dead and gone by then why do I care?” However, what’s stopping that number to shrink to 100 or even 50 years. Now who’s talking? When he showed before and after pictures of ice shelves, ice sheets, and glaciers all over the world it really sunk in which is kind of what we are trying to do with our current media project. How can something so massive just disappear in less than 50 years? Take for example, Glacier National Park in Montana. In 1992 it contained over 100 glaciers and in 2004 the glaciers had reduced to a staggering 28. How could this be? Thompson was right in saying that the ice can tell a lot not only about the past but what is to come.

Overall, I thought this lecture was extremely informational, persuading, and surprisingly entertaining. Not in the sense that it’s cool to see our planet go into shambles but how something like this can go so far without doing acting upon it. Professor Thompson showed credibility with all of his educational background and awards. He had tons of evidence and data to support his theories throughout his lecture. Along, with his data he had photos and graphs that communicated with the audience better and put it in a language that everyone could understand. I would love to look further into his research to see what else he has to say about this subject.

Global Warming Cartoon Ideas

This first cartoon deals with what they call "carbon footprinting," which means when you emit off carbon you are leaving your mark behind by destroying something precious to someone in the ecosystme. The cartoon is mildly amusing in that the one bunny is so amazed at the discovery of the non-footprint bunny thinking that he is super-human but in reality all he's doing is covering up his tracks or preventing himself from making any tracks at all. This is what America needs to do is to refrain from doing things that emit carbon gases and if we do slip up then do something to make up for it.



This second video's humor lies within the little man not believing in global warming and underestimating the effects that it leaves behind. He makes several references such as how much carbon gases an individual lets off in a year, and how much the U.S. emits. He then answers by saying that the earth is so big that it won't effect him. What he doesn't realize is that otehr people around the world are just like him and it all adds uo in the end. This is at the end of the video when he realizes that after figuring out the numeber, their is a whole hell of a lot more pianos that he imagined. This video may not provide ways to fix the problem like the first one but it does speak to people who feel that global warming is still not a big deal in our times.

Third-Sun Solar and Wind Power

Third-Sun was started in 2000 by a husband and wife, Geoff and Michelle Greenfield. It all came about after they built their own solar powered home on a piece of land that didn’t have utility power. They threw out the idea of paying electric and other utility bills forever by just living off the solar grid. Michelle had said that Geoff and she had always believed in the Gandhi quote, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Their business has grown from the root mission of making the world a better place. The name they had picked has an intriguing storyline behind it as well. They have two children already and one night after they had put them to bed while conversing they had said they wanted to raise this business like another child. Hence, their “Third Son,” only they were selling solar power so it was changed to “sun”. The booming business has just reached its $1 million revenue mark in 2007 and has been involved with over 150 installations. Some of the more notable installations include: the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Denison University Library, the Carriage House at the Governor’s Mansion, and even the Lausche Heating Plant that provides heat to all university buildings at Ohio University (Third-Sun).

When asked about what people are thinking when they decide to purchase from Third-Sun, Michelle answered by saying that they are concerned about the environment, looking for a way to help. Awareness has been raised over the last few years about what we are doing as a society to the environment when we heat and cool our homes by burning coal and other fossil fuels (Green Energy Ohio). People who have the same mindset as the Greenfields are willing to sacrifice a little money in order to make the world a healthier place to live for everybody. What this business is trying to do is to get more people to think with this mindset by leading through example with solar power grids and wind turbines. They are demonstrating that burning fossil fuels are not the only way of producing power that provides utilities in homes and businesses.

Michelle responded firmly that Third-Sun’s main goal was to promote the sole idea their company was founded on, “green energy.” She proceeded to explain that they were going to achieve this by making and installing products that produce clean electricity. The reason this is important is because 90 percent of Ohio’s power is derived from coal burning (Greenfield). Their employees are also encouraged to have the same green mindset that the company is trying to promote. Michelle says they achieve this by re-using and recycling everything they can from paper, ink, even construction materials. Third-Sun also strives to provide a workplace that has a very healthy environment for its employees. Despite costs, they provide health benefits and make sure that the working area is fundamentally sound even with most jobs requiring employees to travel to other businesses and homes.

Along these same lines, according to Mrs. Greenfield, the toughest issue they face is that they provide service to such a large geographic area. The service they provide requires a ton of driving, so to cut down on the vehicle impact they have come up with several solutions. First, they reduced the geographic area where they do complicated or really small projects. Second, they do as much as they possibly can do with a customer on the phone or the internet (i.e. using satellite images and photos to plan projects). Lastly, they have purchased the best mileage vehicle and strive to complete projects in one trip. Michelle had mentioned the possibility of using bio-fuels or grease for fuel to cut down on the impact that vehicles have.

The thought that kept rolling through my head while researching and even interviewing was, “Where does the money come from to start something like this?” Michelle admitted that a lot of their funding comes from the federal and state governments who have recently shown changes in policy that give incentives to renewable energy. For years and years government has provided the fossil fuel industry with tax credits and incentives. They haven’t built their industry purely on market alone. The change has caused larger businesses to invest in solar power, states to enact legislation to favors cleaner power, and raised the awareness of climate change in the public.

Michelle chose to focus on the financial difference between solar power and utility power when presented with the question. She answered honestly when she said that solar power is much higher than the cost of utility power in Ohio. However, the price of utility power is artificially low because of the deregulation in 1999. All is not lost because possibly by the end of this year caps are set to come off and rates for utility power could rise as high as 70 percent. If this is true then the two markets will appear to be much closer in price. There is a bill going through the Ohio House right now that will require utilities to get 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025 (Greenfield). It’s already a law in 25 other states and is another way of increasing the demand for solar power. Michelle concluded our interview with an interesting statement, “When we started it seemed more like a lifestyle “mom and pop” business, but we have such a huge potential to make a positive impact that we have started to think bigger and realized that we can make an even better impact if we grow this business wisely.”

Appendix
How did your company Third Sun get its start?
What is current condition do people have in mind when considering purchasing from you?
What are some goals of the Third Sun Company?
What are you currently doing to achieve these goals?
Why do you feel like the service you’re providing is needed?
Who receives the perks from these needs when fulfilled?
How has the success of the business been thus far?
What are the toughest parts of your job and what are you doing, or plan to do, to make it easier?
Who plays large parts in your business such as funding and support?
What are some local examples that have purchased from you? (Bigger companies, certain parts of towns, etc.)
How does solar and wind power measure up to the traditional electric power?

Works Cited
About Us. Third-Sun. 24 Feb. 2009.
http://www.third-sun.com/aboutus.html

Bell, Jeff. "Third Sun's Revenue Line Is Rising With Interest In Renewable Energy." Green
Energy Ohio. 7 Sep. 2007. Business First of Columbus. 24 Feb. 2009
.

Greenfield, Michelle. Personal Interview. 25 Feb. 2009.

Growing the Green Economy

After watching this program on Thursday night a lot of information was thrown into my face and I feel like my eyes were opened to what people are trying to do about going "Green". This program really couldn't have come at a better time with my last paper being about global warming and the polar ice caps melting. So, some things were reiterated while a bigger portion was completely new to me. The first thing that stood out to me was that Chicago was considered one of the greenest cities in America. While doing research I discovered that California was supposedly one of the leading states to buy into this "green project" and doing something about it. I guess I assumed that one of the cities in California would be the greenest but Chicago's Climate Exchange seems to be working and being able to include huge corporations like AEP and Ford will hopefully rub off on to other corporations in different cities.

Another huge fact that surprised me was that the recycling business was a $238 billion industry. Not only is the money important but the jobs that its creating for a completely destroyed economy is just as, if not more, important. I think that the reason that this statistic astounded me is because I'm not a very active recyclable person, something that I'm not proud of at all. My family seems to only recycle aluminum cans and my none of my friends recycle, so when I heard this it was reassuring that there are people who do recycle and that I would like to become part of this $238 billion project.

A stat that was presented in the program that caught my attention because it was a main point in my paper is that 5% of the U.S. population uses around 25% of the world's fossil fuels. If not mistaken though China has recently became the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Now part of this is because they have the largest population of any country but another reason is that the factories that are emitting these gases are making goods that is being shipped to places like Europe, India, and the U.S. These are a couple of other civilizations that are catching up in the use of fossil fuels, especially India according to the program.

The program even talked about the production of corn, something that we have just got done watching a video and discussing. According to the show corn has doubled in price due to its high demand in the U.S. and amount of land that it consumes is not healthy for the environment as well. All is not lost however, capitalists are trying to find ways to use solar panels to run entire businesses and bring power to places in the world it was never possible before. As a nation in whole I feel that we need to use the wind and sun more to at least heat and cool our homes and businesses to cut down on the burning of fossil fuels. Another positive is that water treatment plants are becoming safer even though the consumption of water by bigger and more advanced nations could be cut. There is no reason why the amount of fresh water on earth can't provide for everyone on it. However people within certain countries are constantly withering off due to the fact the distribution of water is so "one sided" that they simply have no clean water to drink, cook with, or even bathe in.

All in all, I liked the show. It moved in fast paced manner, even for being an hour long the way information was spewed at you gave me little time to write everything down which may have caused me to miss some key points here and there. As a said before had I not written this argument piece before or even had it in my thoughts then it could have been a little difficult to follow or at least get into. After all of its through now, the research, the paper, and now the program, I know that I have a lot of work to do in my own life before I go out and start criticizing other peoples' way of living.

Pollan

Michael Pollan has written a persuasive piece just within this chapter. I have to agree with so many of my classmates and Americans in that I am not going to stop eating meat after reading this but you can make sure that the next hamburger I have will not be the same. The cruelty that these animals suffer before the inevitably meet their demise is just wrong. "You can have your cake, and eat it too," without completely destroying its whole sense of being.

Like presented in an earlier post the Native Americans hunted and ate animals like us, the only difference killing and eating buffalo was sacred to their culture and they didn't waste anything. Americans now go through cattle and other animal products like nothing and don't stop to think about what their eating. Pollan was very persuasive and respected the notion that this wasn't going to prevent people from eating meat, which wasn't his intentions, but to just think about what they are eating and hopefully be able to get slaughterhouses and cattle farms to change how they treat the animals.

I thought a powerful comparison, I guess you could say, was when he compared slave owners and they treated their slaves to cattle owners and how they raise cattle. This presented a lot of emotion to the reader. I know after reading this chapter my thoughts on meat will change even though my consumption won't. My only hope is that people feel the same way I do after reading this so that we can finally get something changed once and for all.

The Great Icescape (Revised)

Have you ever looked at a satellite picture of the earth and noticed the white mass at the top of the world in the Arctic Ocean? Well, if you looked at picture ten years ago and then compared it the same picture last year you would be astonished at how much this mass shrunk. According to scientists the current rate of decline in end-of-summer Arctic ice is now approximately eight per cent per decade. If these rates remain at their current pace then the Arctic could be completely ice-free in the summertime by the end of the century (CTV.ca). Now by this time you are probably wondering what is causing this tragedy and why in the hell should we care? It’s not like we live anywhere close to it, there is no way it will affect us. Wrong! In fact, we are the primary reason the ice is melting so fast and recently we have been feeling the effects of it. Our increase in using fossil fuels is causing an emission of greenhouse gases that cause the dreaded “Global Warming!” These are gases that absorb infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and clouds. These gases trap heat in the Earth’s lower atmosphere and influence global climate. Some primary greenhouse gases are: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide (Natural Resources Canada). An increase in the emission of these gases has a direct correlation with the Arctic summers having increased by two to three degrees Celsius and their springtime has arrived as early as 17 days earlier (Science Daily). This is fatal because summer time ice, when it melts, refreezes in the wintertime, but so much of this ice is melting and is not turning back into ice at all.

Before I explain why this ice melting means bad news for the world I’d like to argue why I believe that global warming is to blame for this. I plan to achieve this by discrediting some other possibilities that have been looked at as a reason for Arctic sea ice melting. According to Science Daily, “Researchers found jagged, glassy rock fragments spread out over a 10 square kilometer (4 square mile) area around a series of small volcanic craters about 4,000 meters (2.5 miles) below the sea surface.” This chain of volcanoes, in the Gakkel Ridge, has been active and erupting since 1999. This is conveniently, the same year that the ice has started its record setting melting pace. When the volcanoes erupt they secrete lava slowly rather than explode with ashes and gases like the ones on land do. The lava and the heat only make it about 500 – 1000 meters from the ocean floor constantly mixing with cold waters (Winsor). Therefore, the heat never reaches the ice and incidentally isn’t factored in when we talk about the rapid melting of the ice.

The second theory is that southern, warmer winds have blown the ice masses into warmer waters and the ice has rapidly melted this way. Scientists who study this pattern of iceberg movement have tried to shift some of the blame on nature . However, recent discoveries have proven that this may be true for the smaller chunks of icebergs that break off from the larger mass and indeed drift off into warmer waters where they melt, never to refreeze again (Skeptical Science). The fact of the matter is that this theory doesn’t explain why the ice is melting so rapidly. This process would take much longer and also doesn’t explain why the main, larger ice masses are shrinking. If this theory were true then scientists would not have the proper statistics to be making the estimations that the ice would be completely gone by the end of the century, possibly as early as 2050.

With two theories proven wrong global warming is the other option I believe to be the main reason why the ice cap is melting. When you look at the process it all seems to make sense. The world, particularly the U.S., has increased the burning of fossil fuels either through driving or heating of homes and buildings. China has recently been tagged with the biggest greenhouse gas contributor in the world according to Brad Knickerbocker, of the Christian Science Monitor. They have four times the population of the U.S. and their economic growth that consists of new coal burning plants make goods shipped to Japan, Europe, and the U.S. So the vicious cycle circles throughout the world no matter who is actually burning the coal. These fossil fuels and coal give off greenhouse gases that get into the atmosphere and raise temperatures. The rise in our climate is melting the ice caps. The ice caps are responsible for cooling the rest of the earth because they reflect the sun’s rays and give off cool air (Mongabay). However, since the ice is melting there is less ice and more water. The water absorbs the sun’s rays and heats up which in return gives off more heat melting more ice. So you see this vicious circle results from our excessive use of fossil fuels.

The next question that arises from this situation is, “Why should we care?” There are several extremely important reasons why everyone in the world should care that the sea ice is melting so fast. The first and the biggest problem that we would see from the rapid melting is the rise of sea levels affecting major coastal cities such as Shanghai and Lagos. Even closer to home cities in North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida will see as much as a three feet rise in sea level causing extreme beach erosion (NRDC). As far as the climate and nature goes, you guessed it; both would be inherently affected by this ice melting. As we have seen in past studies the world’s climate is steadily rising as the Arctic ice is shrinking, the two go hand in hand. In states like Kansas where they rely on their winter wheat and need the colder weather to do grow such crops, with all the ice gone winter would warm by as much as four degrees and throw off the balance to maintain the crops. However, not only would the winters be brutal. In the summer, warmer days would rob Kansas’s soil of 10 percent of its moisture, drying out valuable cropland (NRDC). As far as the rest other developed nations, global warming plays an even bigger impact for them. There are 3.5 million people at high risk of flooding by the year 2080 with property damage reaching 10 billion pounds per year according to Sir David King. However, neither one of these nations could match the damages that would be brought upon the native people of the Arctic.

This scenario wouldn’t hurt the United States one-tenth as bad as it would the native people of the Arctic lands. As Americans, and I am 100 percent guilty of this, we shouldn’t always think about ourselves. The people that live on the land that surrounds this Arctic sea that was once almost completely frozen would be completely wiped out if this ice turns into water. In fact, we are already seeing dramatic changes in the lifestyles of these people. The largest ice mass in this ocean is the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and for 3,000 years the mass has been intact with no cracking (NRDC). The year 2000 is the first sign of cracking we have seen and with this much of the fresh water and unique ecosystem drained into the ocean. This caused animals such as: polar bears, walrus, whales, and seals to change their feeding and migration habits (NRDC). This in return made it extremely difficult for native people, who rely on these animals, to hunt. The even sadder part of the story is that villages along the coastline fear the danger of being swamped. So, unlike the much of the rest of the world these people view global warming as a threat to their identity and very survival!

The final point I would like to bring up in this paper while I have your undivided attention is, “What can we do about it?” A great example comes from McDonough and Braungart. McDonough and Braungart changed that Herman Miller's factory to make it more environmentally sound. As an added bonus the man got younger workers to quit their higher paying jobs to come in work in a more employee friendly environment. This excerpt really got me thinking differently about global warming and that the change to stop it isn’t all that bad. The first and most important characteristics that we can change is reduce the amount of fossil fuels that we burn producing heat-trapping gases that cause global warming and melt the ice. If you really want to help the environment and can afford it, buy the new cars that run cleaner and use less gas. Look for alternative ways to heat and cool your homes and places of work. The most effective way is to use the sun and wind instead of electricity and gas. A governmental and economic way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted is to put a cap on the amount allowed to be emitted and then establish a market that allows businesses and individuals to buy and sell the rights to produce the emissions. A tax on imported oil matched by a decrease in other taxes would reduce our dependency on foreign oil (Siegel). The Kyoto Protocol, which is the plan used by the U.N. to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases hasn’t been followed by every nation as intended. The U.S. has been lacking in its support and President Obama has made it a point to get involved and actually start to work on a new protocol by 2012 when the current one is set to end (White). “If everyone takes care of their little part, well, then the whole world will be taken care of.”

"Arctic sea ice at lowest recorded level ever." Science Daily. 16, Sep. 2008. 9 Feb 2009 .

Battis, Todd. "Global warming causes record Arctic ice melt." CTV.ca. 2005. 9 Feb 2009 .

Cook, John. "Arctic sea ice melt - natural or man-made." Skeptical Science. 9 June 2008. 9 Feb 2009 .

"Global warming puts the Arctic on thin ice." National Resources Defense Council. 22, Nov. 2005. 9 Feb 2009 .

"NOAA offers "dramatic evidence" of Arctic warming." Mongabay.com. 16, Oct. 2008. 9 Feb 2009 .


Siegel, Jeremy. "How to end global warming." Kinplinger.com. October 2007. 9 Feb 2009 .

White, Deborah. "US refuses to sign pact stemming global warming." About.com. Oct. 2005. 9 Feb 2009 .

Winsor, Peter. "What's up with volcanoes under Arctic sea ice." New York Times 1, July 2008 9 Feb 2009 .