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This video and animation based section of class introduces the geography of natural resources, human impacts, and climate change.
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Mark Twain said it first: "Water, is worth fighting for!" Reviewthis 19 minute audio clipof Peter Gleick hosted on this website in which he discuss the history ofwater conflict. Then use thiswater conflict chronology compendiumto investigate water conflict in different regions and time periods. In this optionalclipformer UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali says "Water will become more important than oil this century"
Summarize Peter Gleick's points. Using the water conflict compendium describe two events listed for North America in 2016. |
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What's up with life in the ocean? Learn about theimportance of coral reefs(4:00) here and some of the threats faced by coralhere (3:00). Optional images of changes in reefs are availablehere.
Why are Coral Reefs important? What key challenge does this keystone species face?
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What else are we driving? Other than consuming fuel and providing us with power what else do our engines produce? Vulcan Project researches have produced this high resolutionanimated data set(4:52) of US carbon dioxide emissions in space and time. View this very cooltutorial animation(5:00) which describes historical national emissions and some projections.
What four countries currently lead the world in carbon dioxide emissions per capita? List the most polluting countries or regions and their percentage of cumulative global carbon emissions since 1850.
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The mass production of atmospheric carbon dioxide is, not surprisingly, associated with consequentrise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels(view this graph). Understandthe ocean conveyor belt.Vieweither this2006 lectureWhat do we know and what do we need to learn about Climate Change(59:00), in which Dr. Bader describes the essential climatological dynamics of climate changeor this2013 lecture by Dr. Somerville "The Scientific Case for Urgent Action to Limit climate Change" (58:59; starts around 4 minutes into the film)or this2017 lecture by Dr. Beirbaum "Confronting Climate Change. Avoiding the Unimaginable" (51:52 starts around 4 minutes into the film) all of which arebroadcast byUCTV
What is the atmospheric carbon dioxide level today? How does this compare to the last 650,000 years. What three atmospheric gases are most important to the greenhouse phenomenon? What dynamic takes the excessive solar heating from the tropics to the poles? Describe the basic evidence and theory of human forced climate change.
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To hot to handle? NASA's record ofGlobal Mean Surface Temperature. ThisNew York Times Interview(3:27) with America 's top NASA scientist, Dr. James Hansen. This optional video ofDr. Hansen at TED(17:46) and this60 Minutestranscript, this brief by theUnion of Concerned Scientistsand thisresponse from NASAexplain more about how climate science has been suppressed.
Has the earth heated or cooled over the last century? Is there a major scientific debate over human caused global warming? What happened to Dr Hansen?
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Change at the ends of the world. This Channel 2news report(2:20) illustrates the extentofArctic Sea Ice
1,2,over several years (animation to the right 0:24). At this site NASA asks and answers the question"Is Antarctica losing ice also?"
1.What is happening at the southern pole?
What ice sheet is discussed? The second animated data set shows the Ice Minimum both as a spatial map and as a graph. Name an advantage to both data visualizations- what year shows the least ice on record. Is Antarctica losing or gaining ice?
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How's the ozone hole? Thiscartoon illustrationshows the location and role of the ozone layer and discusses itsrole in blocking Ultraviolet (UV) radiationfrom the sun (Here is anoptional tutorialon the ozone layer). Learn about the international effort to limit ozone depletinggasesthe 1987Montreal Protocol.(5:10)Learn more about the efficacy of this treaty (and its follow up phases) with these optional resources onslowing ozone depletion.
What is the Montreal Protocol? How effective has it been in reducing CFC pollutants? How has the treaty impacted atmospheric ozone depletion? What unintended benefit might this treaty have? |
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Measurements of the rate of extinction among various species suggests that we are currently in and are a part of a massive die off of life on earth. Human success is having consequences on the biosphere. Watch the clip,Call of Life(9:13) in which several scientists discuss the current mass extinction. This optional lecture presented by Peter Ward (at TED) outlines a recent line of scientific inquiry into the history and causes of,Mass Extinction on Earth (19:42).
What reasons are three reasons given for the current mass extinction? Are the researchers in the film concerned about human survival as well? What do we depend upon biodiversity for? What is the hope expressed in the clip?
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Dontkill the messenger unless that is the message. Episode 9:Biodiversity Decline(28:56) in theAnnenbergseries The Habitable Planet series explores the current mass extinction.
Describe the two studies reported on in this film. What have they found? What is the shifting baseline and why is it important? |
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How do civilizations end? This 2005 radio interview with Ronald Wright regarding his text,A Short History of Progress(~35), presents a challenging perspective on the collapse of human civilizations throughout history. The first five minutes are not related to the interview, after clicking "Listen" near the middle of the page, skip to 7:30 in order to listen to this important interview. The host concludes and breaks into a fund raising event at around 45:00. On this topic, here is an optional 18 minute discussion ofWhy societies collapseby UCLA scholar J Diamond.
What is a progress trap? According to Wright what are the critical factors involved in the collapse of the Sumerian, Mayan, Roman, and Easter Island civilizations? What is ideological pathology? |
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How to put our best foot forward? In this short clip partly funded by the EPA, Dr.Wackernagelexplains the concept and importance of theEcological Footprint(4:60). Theecological footprintof different countries are shown here in aninteractive map 1
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What is the purpose and definition of the Ecological Footprint?
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Elements of an Eco-Revolution? Watch the first 36 minutes of this fifty minute film documenting theThe Coconut Revolution.
What raw material was mined at thePangunamine? What waste was introduced into the local river system and what effect did the mine have on the local environment? What is the story of theBougainvilleRevolution? How manyBougainvilleansdied in the fighting? What products do they make from the coconut? How do they produce electrical power for themselves? |
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What are the primarysources of renewable energy(3:16)? Watch the first 15 minutes of this filmBreakthrough in Renewable Energy. The following maps show thewind,solar, andgeothermalpower available within the US. This map showsthedistribution of US wind farmsand thisinteractive US Energy mapallows you to visualize existing solar, geothermal, and fossil fuel based power plants.Use the Layers option on the interactive map to adjust what phenomenon are shown on the map.
Broadly speaking what regions of the US are most promising for wind, geothermal, and solar energy projects? What do the maps of geothermal energy tell us about this resource?
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Total ~ 4:30
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