Cool Cities

Since the start of the industrial revolution we had a rapid economic growth. In return, this growth has caused many problems such as environmental issues and the rise of carbon dioxide emissions. If we keep living with this life style we will probably need another planet because our life style will destroy the earth.

In Japan during the past 30 years GDP has gone up 100% which is small compared to other nations while their energy efficiency has raised 37% and oil consumption has declined by 8%. Most of the carbon dioxide comes from buildings and transportation which make 90% of the total emitted carbon dioxide. In the UAE there is a project called Cool Cities which is planned to be done by 2030. This project will be built by SDCJ’s 12 corporations which originated in Japan.

Cool City is a city which greatly neutralizes natural energy and it is also a zero emission city. The city consists of a central business zone and a residential zone around it while there will be a green belt of cultural, sport and resort zones surrounding the city. There will be also solar power plant farms to provide the city with energy and a forest around the city of jatropha trees to prevent sand shifting. The main methods used for transportation system are water transportation, monorail station, light rail transit station and hybrid cars parking.

In my opinion, I think this project is very well planned and taking many things in consideration but it is easier said than done. It might look very good in pictures and videos but a project like that will cost a lot and there will probably be many economic changes throughout the years which might lead to delays and problems or even cancellation of the project.

My Carbon Footprint

Footprints are caused by everyone and I used an online web site to measure my own footprint. This site basically asked me a few questions about what I eat and how I travel and for how long. After that it shows the statistics of the result and shows the rate of the footprint.

Since everyone lives differently it is obvious that there would be a difference in the footprint. Compared to my classmates I have a low footprint rate because of the life style we live. I don’t usually travel or drive my car for a long time which made my footprint rate lower than others. My footprint is at 8.36 tonnes of carbon per annum and that’s as if I live in 2.27 planets while the average of my classmates’ carbon footprint is about 3 to 3.5 planets. My figures for food, travel, home and stuff were 30%, 10%, 27% and 33% respectively but I think my travel rate will go up in the coming years when I will have to go out more often which will raise my carbon footprint.

We could and we should work on lowering our footprints because we only have one planet and we must keep it clean and protected. I think if everyone uses buses instead of cars to travel around or uses electronic vehicles and equipment instead of gas, oil or wood it would help to reduce the carbon footprint. If people just change their life style to a healthier style, not only it would save our planet and the new generations it will also keep them refreshed and healthy.

Reference: Carbon Footprint Calculator http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

The Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth

This movie has good points in it and it delivers a message to everyone about the dangers of global warming relying on facts and strong evidence. Although this movie has many good points there is disagreement about how this message was delivered by Al Gore and the real intention of this movie.

A Favorable Review:
Brandon Fibbs’s Review http://brandonfibbs.com/2006/05/24/an-inconvenient-truth/#more-130

The movie has a lot of facts that are supported by much evidence. As Brandon Fibbs said the way Al Gore presented was very good and having a little humor while sending this message helped to attract attention. Al Gore was supported by the fact that a lot of scientists agreed about global warming and he had so much evidence and studies that could convince even the most ardent skeptic. It also provided shocking photographs about the fact that the global warming is affecting the earth. Another good part of the movie is that it shows other studies supported by older records to let people know about what might happen in the future if it kept going the way it is now. On top of all these good points, Brandon says that the movie had a very positive note in the end when Al Gore mentioned that it is a moral issue not a political issue.

Unfavorable Review:
Scott’s Review http://brandonfibbs.com/2006/05/24/an-inconvenient-truth/#more-130

Although there are a lot of good points in this movie Scott and Eric think that Al Gore has made the movie politically biased and doesn’t support his fact with better references. They think that Al Gore is a really good speaker but he has made some mistakes that would make almost half of the people forget about what they heard in this lecture. One of the bad points that showed was when Al Gore talked about his personal life and about his family members to convince people emotionally. Scott also said that this movie looks as if it was presented to sell Al Gore as a saint and possibly future presidential candidate. Another good point that Scott has noted is when he heard Al Gore telling jokes against Bush and other republicans which might have made half of the people angry since they are republicans.

My Opinion:

In my opinion, I think this movie was well presented and it will surely help to deliver the global warming message. There might be a lot of people who aren’t convinced yet, but after watching this movie, whether it has political or moral intentions, I’m sure that it has increased the numbers of people who became aware of this problem and maybe even made them take action to help solve this dramatic fact.

Riches await as Earth’s icy north melts

There might be a war, there might not be. With the global warming affecting the Arctic, many countries race to the north to take claims on oil, fish, diamonds and shipping routes. They are waiting for the ice in the north to melt and give them access to the resoursces that have been hidden in the frozen waters. There has been a survey estimating that the Arctic has 25 percent of the world’s oil and gas that hasn’t been discovered yet, while there have been reports about the potential of minerals in a part of the Arctic sector reaching $2 trillion. These are more than enough reasons to bring a war to the Arctic to decide the countries ownership in the north forgetting there are people who have been living there for years.


Main Ideas:

- Global warming speeds the ice melting in the Arctic while some countries try to take advantage of this fact.
- The discovery of resources in the Arctic is worth trillions of dollars.
- Countries race to claim ownership of the frozen seas in the north.

Comments:

- I think in time if these countries don’t get to a solution for these claims about owning parts of the Arctic they will make global warming's effects even worse in the Arctic by starting wars over it.

Dangers of Global Warming

Global warming has started to take a serious effect on our planet yet many people decide to turn their backs and be ignorant about this fact. It affects the climate which made it become more aggressive and if it keeps on going this way the climate may enter a critical state.

There are many different causes that will lead to global warming; some of them are natural causes and the others, which are the worst, are the human causes. The main cause comes from production of greenhouse gases that can change the ability of the atmosphere to absorb and reflect the heat. It will also have an effect in the long term for the rise of sea level and arctic shrinkage which may lead to a disaster.

Even though there are a lot of negative effects on the globe, there are some organizations that work hard to help reduce these effects and send a message to the people around the world to participate in their campaigns to work out a solution for this problem.