Category: Students

Posts written by students

Water Sustainability

Caroline Zuba

Water sustainability is an important topic, especially in regions missing adequate water supplies. In this TED video, Fahad Al-Attiya discusses how Qatar creates its water supply. With suddenly increasing populations, the country utilizes technology to create a water supply. In this case, they use the process of desalination from lakes and rivers.

He also mentions the crisis that is about to occur. People are demanding more meat and other energy-needing foods. At the same time, climate change is declining yields. Qatar only has enough water reserved to last under two days. Big companies are also ruining the small farmers.

In our classroom discussions, we have often talked about how important companies are to sustainability. Though he mentions industry, Al-Attiya is the one who creates them – they are not the ones monitoring, lobbying, or forming policies. He intends to promote education and technology to support a sustainable solution for the water needed.

Rising Sea levels in NYC

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023182558.htm

The risk of flooding has increased in NYC due to a rise in sea levels caused by pollution, global warming etc. The research preformed in this article shows that Antarctic ice sheets will melt, green house gases will increase and this will become visible  in sea level in New York City. We need to further exam this because flooding itself does not cause shock value/great concern but flooding will cause loses to biodiversity and property damage. Along with organism displacement future NYC residents are at risk by, “2100 the estimated 500-year flood height would be 17 feet, and by 2300 the 500-year flood height would be about 50 feet” (Penn State). Although 2100 seems far far away, it is not. Future changes in sea level and storms would be smaller if policies were put into place.

Policy makers should tax corporations more (specifically tax oil/fuel companies) if they chose to continue with non eco-friendly methods. This will push companies to develop better practices and dimish the risk of future flooding especially in NYC. Along with this NYC residents should reduce their waste because if not future generations will have to deal with the mess we’ve created and perpetuated.

Climate change can really harm your health… yikes.

Althouhg climate change has consistently been identified as an environmental issue, it has also been revealed to cause major health problems for people. Many medical journals, including the Lancet, have “reported that pollution of the air, water and soil is “the largest environmental cause of disease and death in the world today, responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths (Nesbit).” Many outdoor labor carreers have found that employee capacity has fallen about 5.3 percent due to sickness from heat stress and many other conditions make the work environment much more difficult. Additionally, “Temperatures much higher than the rising global average are occurring in large urban areas, afflicting, in particular, the elderly, children under 12 months and people with chronic cardiovascular and renal disease (Nesbit).” Studies show that lower income countries have been taking big hits to resources and gross domestic products due to climate risks. Not only is the environment and human health affected but the economy is affected as well. Climate change has increased the risk of spreading infectious diseases and is affecting treatment as aid decreases rapidly. Citizens need to be alerted and changes need to be made to ensure a healthier and safer society.

Are we better prepared for superstorms?

Superstorm Sandy hit the east coast with such strength that many neighborhoods are still trying to get back on their feet five years later. Although some undated infrastructure has been repaired and improved, there are still way too many plans that haven’t gone anywhere passed the planning portion. Actions haven’t been taken to increase the safety of cities and neighborhoods and shield them from other natural disasters like Sandy, leaving many people defenseless and scared for the future. Some of the plans that are in place include: looking for every area in which water can come in and sealing it, “installing submarine doors, Kevlar curtains and mechanical gates to plug more than 3,000 openings into the subway below 14th Street (McGeehan and Hu),” and building walls around buildings to create flooding barriers. Some of the actions that have already taken place in the effort to prevent damage include: raising equipment and living establishments, as well as hospitals, schools, and etc. “The utility installed a submarine door that can seal off a tunnel that runs under the highway to the river, which originally was used to shuttle coal from barges (McGeehan and Hu).” Although there have been many efforts by the city and by government officials to push for better preparedness, there is still a long way to go to ensuring that our city and other cities are safe from natural disasters that could possibly create more damage than even Sandy did.

Gabriel Vizgan Discussion Questions 11/1/17

Water Sustainability:

Would private home owners employing green space make enough of an impact on flood prevention or would city planners need to devote more space than private home owners can supply? If yes what percent of home owners would be sufficient?

 

Climate Change:

Do we have a duty to protect all endangered species, or only the ones that we as humans have endangered through our tampering with the environment?

Endangered Animals and Climate Change

Livia Albeck-Ripka’s article, “For an Endangered Animal, a Fire or Hurricane Can Mean the End,” published on October 25, 2017, is simply a list of all the endangered animals that have dwindled in numbers and/or lost their habits due to recent natural disasters. This is, of course, the reality of climate change. With natural disasters becoming more frequent, articles like this one are to be, unfortunately, more common place. It is unfortunate that little is being done protect these animals, but even more so that they are endangered only because humans have tampered with the environment. Mostly unable to fend for themselves in the case of natural disaster, these animals are reaping the most harm from the damage humans caused. And because their numbers are so insufficient, few will likely survive the winter to reproduce. This should be a story of national coverage. Immediate money should be set aside for the capture, protection, and proliferation of these species and their habitats. However, under the current administration, this is unlikely to happen.

Los Angeles, City of Water

Jacques Leslie writes of the drastic improvements Los Angeles has made to its water distribution system in the New York Times article, “Los Angeles, City of Water,” published on December 6, 2014. To illustrate the process, Leslie writes, “The house’s roof was lined with gutters that fed rainwater into two 1,800-gallon cisterns, and the lawns in the front yards and backyards were lowered six inches to form a wetland.” During a test, houses outfitted in this manner were able to absorb 4,000 gallons of water, which was then, naturally, cleaned of pollutants and was able to be redistributed for consumption. “These projects will treat polluted and even sewage water, capture rainwater, store water in aquifers, and use (or reuse) all of it, often while mimicking or supporting natural processes.”

By replacing concrete with green space, Los Angeles has been able to reduce its reliance on outside sources of water as well as consume less water than it did in 1970, even though its population has grown about a third since that time. I see this as an example the rest of the country, and even the rest of the world, should follow. I think this could be particularly useful in Red Hook, New York where there are many concrete lots used for parking which could be converted into wetlands that would absorb and naturally purify water.

Global Warming Activism Graffiti

This street art shows the irony created by Climate Change Deniers as they continue to say they don’t believe in Global Warming when the facts are so clearly right in front of them. The graffiti just simply says “I don’t believe in global warming” with a large body of water cutting off the words global warming. This water is meant to represent the rising sea levels as a result of global warming.

There is so much evidence that climate change is real. Not just scientific evidence buried in articles that some people may not be able to comprehend, but it is so clearly visible in our everyday lives as well. The fact that some people still won’t understand that this problem is going on is emphasized by this simple street art.

Take a Look at the Future of New York

Works on Water is a collection of art works and performances that can be seen in June. These works aim to show the relationship between humans and water. This specific presentation, titled “Sunk Shore,” will provide an look into the future of Manhattan and what the city might look like as sea levels continue to rise.

I’m sure seeing this exhibition will inspire viewers to think about what they can do and what needs to be done by the city to protect from future storms as much as is possible so that humans and the oceans can continue to live in peace.

 

Fire, Water, and Ice—Graphed

Jill Pelto’s piece Landscape of Change combines bright, sweeping reds with swirling deep blues and spaces of white—each created in the effect of a texture. Simply looking at this watercolor painting, one can tell that the piece has many layers, both in color and texture. From the right corner of the page, Pelto evokes the depth of the ocean. Emerging from the waves, a glacial shelf rises to the bottom left, just a bit lighter in color, but clearly distinguished in texture. Division between earth and air is created by bright red, almost reminiscent of a fire. Finally, air spans the upper right space, but not quite, because surprisingly Pelto created something far from just air—she created a trend. In fact each element in her painting is a graph, scientific data gathered and then formed into a painting. Her sweeping skies and air are, in fact a graphical representation of the rise in fossil fuel use, and the deep blue ocean underlies a graph of the rise in sea levels.

In each of Pelto’s artworks, she incorporates links of the actual graphs she uses. Looking into these graphs, it is clear that there can be many, and at times might be deceiving or too dense. One of the sources she offers from NASA, showcases a large file of a 2015 global analysis. The graph incorporated into the red, fiery peaks represents El Niño and Global Temperature dating back to 1980. Even thinking back to our lecture, there are many aspects involved in climate change. While it may be difficult for us to combine this information when viewing them from a variety of sources, Pelto’s art allows us to view each element visually and perhaps even be more affected by the landscape rather than a series of numbers.

Image taken from:

http://www.jillpelto.com/landscape-of-change

Works Cited:

Schmidt, Gavin A, and Thomas R Karl. “Annual Global Analysis for 2015.” NASA/ NOAA, Jan. 2016, www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/noaa_nasa_global_analysis_2015.pdf.