Soapbox Project

This video is my final project for this class, in which I chose to focus on the effects of climate change on Michigan and the Great Lakes as I feel it will make a stronger impact on Michiganders to take action to help protect our planet and our state.

"Pure" Michigan

This is the link in case the embedded video does not work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TaPKO_7FC4&feature=youtu.be

Thank you all for a great class this semester!

"Choosing Our Future"

In the final chapter of Mark Lynas's book, "Six Degrees," the author helps readers process the haunting information they just read in the journey through an average global temperature increase of six degrees. Lynas breaks this chapter up into several important sections, which I shall break this blog post into as well.

Knowing What We Don't Know
This section focuses on two major ideas, future warming and climate sensitivity. Both of these carry a great importance and are often ignored when discussing climate change, simply because there is no way to prove their occurrence.  Future warming is just that: even if we stop raising the Earth's temperature by our emissions, the carbon already in the atmosphere would still cause a possible 1 to 1.5 degrees of warming. This relates to positive feedback loops, where the Earth will continue causing its own problem, even without any further stimulus. Climate sensitivity describes just how reactionary the environment is to carbon emissions, in that low sensitivity means that high emissions would not increase the temperature much, but high sensitivity means high increases. Because these factors are so unknown but would definitely have a high effect on the future of the planet, scientists ran many, many calculations with changing scenarios and typically base their information off of averages calculated. They did this by a website called climateprediction.net, a project by Oxford University that seems to no longer be available.

Setting a Target
In the following section, Lynas gives his ideas on what our goal should be for carbon ppm and by what year. Unfortunately, his goal was having "peak carbon," or the highest emissions amount, by 2015, and decrease from there. He said that the peak carbon amount should be 400ppm or less. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Lynas also states that he predicts 450ppm will bring 3 degrees of warming, 550ppm will bring 4 degrees, 650ppm will bring 5 degrees, and 800ppm will bring 6 degrees. This includes his observations on future warming and climate sensitivity.

States of Denial

As predictable, humans don't like to admit they are in the wrong, especially when it comes to causing climate change. Every excuse possible is used to defend their Earth-killing behaviors--excuses we have all used. This can most obviously be evident with cars and the dependency on them in our country. Many people value their individual needs above the needs of the collective, making these excuses easy to justify. This goes back even further, in a societal sense. As a whole, we believe that natural resources are the same as free resources, and never account sustainability into the economic equation. Perhaps if we did, we would value it more. We also equate a high carbon lifestyle with societal status, especially with fancy cars.

Knocking In Wedges

In this section, Lynas really focuses on what we can do to save the planet. One of the key factors from this section is that there is not gonna be some radical technology that comes out soon and automatically fixes everything. We already have the tools we need, now we just need to implement them. He simplifies this down to seven things, which he calls wedges: halve the distance people drive annually, double vehicle fuel economy, increase efficiency of buildings and fossil-fueled power stations, build two million one-megawatt wind turbines, cover five million acres with solar panels, cease tropical forest destruction, and increase tree coverage. Even with these, we still need to find another four or five additional wedges to stay within a two-degree target of warming. Unfortunately, this requires two majors changes, one in societal expectations and thinking, and the other in international governmental policies. Together, these two changes allow the seven wedges to come to life and prevent further damage.

In a final thought and analysis, I really enjoy how Lynas illustrates both the threat and reality in a manner that is not entirely terrifying, but still scary enough to motivate change. The individuals, especially in the United States, need to come together to inspire these changes. Only then will we have a chance. And while we have surpassed the 400ppm goal, there is still hope if we take action. I hope that this past Earth Day has helped inspire more people to think green, act green, and most importantly, vote green!

Thoughts on "Cowspiracy"

I've heard about this documentary many times, yet have never got around to watching it. So this assignment gave me the perfect opportunity to finally watch "Cowspiracy," a documentary about the animal agriculture industry. This film covered many aspects involved with the topic, including politics, sustainability, facts, and the solution. Overall, I found the documentary both informative and interesting, as well as very eye opening.

As I was watching, I kept looking for a flaw or a reason not to like this work. I had many questions as the movie went on. If we stop animal agriculture, is there enough farm land to sustain the vegan lifestyle of all people? Is the creator of this documentary cherry-picking sources to interview to make a point? What are his sources behind the many facts he states? And as the documentary continued, nearly every question I had thought of was answered, and much more. I felt this work did a wonderful job covering every topic related to animal agriculture--some that I never thought of. And it did not simply cover them at a surface level. Instead, it was in-depth on all fronts and yet explained it well enough that someone with no knowledge would still understand.

One hesitation I had while watching still remains, however. The cost of a vegan lifestyle. Clearly, it is not as cheap. Yet I would propose that if those who could afford it switched over, then perhaps the cost would be lowered, allowing this lifestyle to be more accessible to more people. While some may argue that you could sustain this diet on a budget, it is such a large lifestyle change that those who do not have much money would not be willing to switch. But again, the hope is that when it becomes more large-scale, the costs will go down.

This documentary is meant to be inspirational to make a change, much like the narrator was inspired by Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." However, I wish he had made more personal challenges to the viewers about changing their lifestyles, or talked about what an animal-free world would look like. Perhaps that is not within the typical documentary style, but I feel it would push the message further, a final touch to really convince viewers. As a whole though, this movie is a fantastic look into the problems of the world, what needs to be done to fix them, and why. I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.

"Pure" Michigan

For my project, I wanted to focus on what climate change means for Michigan, both in the way it has impacted us and how we can fix these issues. My inspiration for this idea was the slogan "Pure Michigan," and the many commercials seen about this. We like to brag about being such a beautiful, natural state, and yet we have many of our own problems--including oil spills, invader species in the Great Lakes, and a changing climate that has affected a large amount of our daily lives.

To represent all of this, I am creating an art project that shows both the "pure" version of Michigan, as well as the reality. The pure version not only represents what our state used to be, but what we describe it as. The reality is where we are headed if we continue with our actions. However, it is in a circle, meaning we are able to get back to the pure version if we try.

This article from last August from the EPA details many of the effects that Michigan has and will experience. It details each area that Michigan brags about, including the Lakes, our snowy winters, a diverse ecosystem, and great agriculture. I like this article because it also briefly details the general cause of climate change, blaming humans. However, it does not specifically articulate things Michigan does that generates a large amount of climate change. I would like to next find an article that describes this.

"Ishmael" Final Chapters

In this section of Quinn's "Ishmael," one of the main points that struck me was the idea of perspective, and the major effects this has on problems. Certain mindsets have caused problems, prevented solutions, and done much more. The other major issue with perspective is thinking that it cannot be changed.

During the discussion about the Cain and Abel section, Ishmael explains how the Takers believed they were right and so did the Leavers. By having the narrator attempt to persuade Ishmael in a roleplay, it became very obvious just how stiff our perspectives our. When humans believe we know the right answer, we insist that there can be no other correct way. I have heard many analogies on this way of thinking but my favorite involved some simple math. 4+2 equals six, but so does 3+3 and 5+1 and many other combinations. None are "wrong" ways to get to six, they're just different methods. And things like this occur many times in all subject areas. It does not make one any less good than the others. But for some reason, because each culture has found a method that "works," we feel that is should be the only method.

Ishmael continued on this idea of perspective when he mentioned that we feel that we cannot change, specifically when it comes to saving the world. We only understand our one lifestyle and truly cannot fathom altering it. We also believe that we cannot fix what we have done. But if only people could see and understand that this is not true, just quite difficult for us, but not impossible, then we could really begin changing for the better and making a positive impact.

"Ishmael" Chapter 9

As a person who was raised in a Christian setting but is now atheist, this chapter of "Ishmael" was very jarring for me in many ways. It also pointed out a factor and side of the book I had failed to pick up on before. Additionally, I had to do some research to really understand the context behind Quinn's probable intent. This factor was the religious references, both subtly and obviously made throughout the work. 

Quinn, before completing his bachelor's degree, was studying to become a Trappist Monk, which is part of the Roman Catholic Church, but his spiritual director ended his studies. After that he began writing and publishing more, and stopped practicing Catholicism. He did, however, continue believing in a higher power, but just not in the same strict sense. Following my discovery of these facts, I felt my view on the chapter shifted entirely. I did, finally, relate to my fellow classmates in the sense that things were being "shoved down my throat." I would speculate that I finally understood this because it was the first time I disagreed with the author, or Ishmael's teaching. While his talk of the Bible is merely another one of his many analogies and visualizations, using a story that many people are at least vaguely familiar with, I went back through the text and found that there are so, so many times he speaks of higher powers and gods. Before, this did not affect me, as I never took it literally, but knowing that Quinn really felt this way had an impact on me.

http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/data/data/home.html
An interesting article that explains the fragility of the food chain,
right here in MI!

While Quinn's religious beliefs do not truly impact his ideas, this newfound discomfort forced me to reevaluate my stance on the book. I am still in complete agreement with the ideas and the laws governing the natural world balance, but I simply believe it is just the way of science, rather than a higher power, that creates these laws and animal instincts to protect those laws. One such example was the food chain idea, and the system of not harming your competitors in order to have more food. In my freshman year of high school, we created fun food webs that illustrated a particular environment. If one species kills of it's competitor, the prey they once competed for, will, for a short time, flourish. This will then allow the killer species to grow larger, which will affect everything that eats it, allowing their populations to get larger. But at a point, when any one of these species inevitably hits 'too large,' the entire system will fail, all the way down to the bottom and all the way up to the top. This is because the food web really is like a spider web, in that it is delicate. You cannot harm just one small bit of it without also damaging the rest. It needs to be protected, which most animals naturally do so, as their instincts tell them to only kill what they need, or what their community members need. Humans, however, have destroyed many portions of the large, large web, which will eventually lead to its collapse.

"Ishmael" Chapters 5-8

Ishmael continues to lead the narrator on a journey of self and cultural discoveries in this next section of the book "Ishmael." While the gorilla may be perceived as all-knowing and therefore almost condescending in the manner that his ideas--and only his ideas--are the correct ones. However, because of his role as a teacher, rather than a preacher, I feel that he is simply explaining his point of view and it happens to be quite convincing to his student, our narrator. Because of this, us as readers are a bit more persuaded into also believing this viewpoint, as we are witnessing someone else do the same. As a reader, without any reason to believe the narrator is untrustworthy or unreliable, you tend to side with your protagonist. By implementing this technique, Quinn is, in my opinion, quite smart. Not only does he share his ideas, but he subconsciously convinces people to trust his words. An equally smart or opinionated reader may catch onto this while reading and feel a little forced into this means of thinking, but why would an author write something if he did not want others to love, live, or believe in it?

Personally, I have enjoyed this book so far. I especially connected with the passages about flight and the laws of flight. Through another one of Quinn's creative techniques of utilizing many metaphors to help readers visualize what he is saying and really feel it, I was able to truly connect. In that moment, this story was not about a teacher and his student, the narrator. Instead, I was the student and the narrator did not exist. I also really connected to this part thanks to a crazy little incident I had last summer. While doing some volunteer work, I was on a ladder that was about ten or twelve feet tall. I was near the top and just about to come down when the ladder tipped over and I fell off it. While that distance is not a super long fall, those moments before I hit the ground felt very long. And I did feel that flying sensation that Quinn described. I imagine our society kind of like me on my ladder. I felt great, was working just fine, until a few moments before it all happened that I realized everything was not fine but it was too late to stop it. Furthermore, after falling, I was told that I had been using the ladder improperly. A few days later when I had recovered, I began using it again, this time in a much more safe way, and I did not fall again! Our society believes it is totally fine continuing on the path it is taking, but soon it shall realize that everything is a disaster but it will be too late to fix it. We will then fall and fail, and after some time, probably try again. I don't know whether or not society can survive the fall, and if so, will it even learn from it's mistakes? I would not be shocked if we just tried to get right back up on our improperly placed ladder and do it all over again.