Since our group decided to focus on how climate change will affect indigenous peoples, such as the Maasai, Turkana, and Kamayura we discussed in our presentation, we wanted to create a PSA that focused on the problems they face.
Inspired by a group of Maasai warriors running the the NY Marathon, we decided to draw attention to the cause they were trying raise funds for.
Here are some of the sources our group used in order to put together our presentation. Also, we have included some suggested sources for further education on these issues. *This is not a complete bibliography.*
“AFRICA: Trees ‘vital for food security’”. IRIN.com. 28 August 2009
Benhin, James K. A. “Agriculture and Deforestation in the Tropics: A Critical Theoretical and Empirical Review” AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 35. 1 (2006) 9–16
Ellis, Jim and Kathleen A. Gavin. “Climate Patterns and Land-Use Practices in the Dry Zones of Africa” BioScience, Vol. 44, No. 5, Global Impact of Land-Cover Change (May, 1994), pp. 340-349 < http://www.jstor.org/stable/1312384>
Cattaneo, Andrea. “Regional Comparative Advantage, Location of Agriculture, and Deforestation in Brazil” Journal of Sustainable Forestry 27 (2008): 25 – 42
Godoy, Ricardo, and Susan Tanner. “The effect of rainfall during gestation and early childhood on adult height in a foraging and horticultural society of the Bolivian Amazon.” American Journal of Human Biology 20.1 (2008): 24-34.
Roessig, Julie M. “Effects of global climate change on marine and estuarine fishes and fisheries” Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. Vol 12, No.2, (June 2004), pp. 251 -275.
Tidwell, Mike: Bayou Farewell. New York, NY: Random House, 2003
Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Lush Land Dries up, Withering Kenya”. Nytimes.com. 8 September 2009.
“Remarks at UN-REDD Programme press conference”. UN.org. 24 September 2008.
Rosenthal, Elizabeth. “An Amazon Culture Withers as Food Dries Up”. Nytimes.com 24 July 2009.
What is Global Dimming?
A widespread decrease in surface solar radiation caused by particulates in the earth’s atmosphere. Over the last 50 years, scientist have noticed a trend of solar irradation across the globe. The more particulates in the atmosphere, the higher the degree of dimming occurring because of thicker cloud formations.
What are the causes of Global Dimming?
Revelations:
Currently the globe is experiencing a decrease in solar radiation by 2.7% per decade. However the most affected areas of radical dimming occur in industrialized areas of the world.
Mainly China is currently experiencing the heaviest amount of solar irradiation at about 10% per decade. The Former USSR region currently experiences 3% to 5% solar irradiation per decade.
How does Global Dimming relate to Global Climate Change?
Global dimming contributes to less solar radiation and results in bouncing back the sun’s rays and reduce the global temperature. However, greenhouse gases that we exceedingly emit into the atmosphere continue to grow and still make it possible for the temperature to rise. In areas where dimming is significant (i.e. China), it may seem that the earth is cool, but once particulates are removed from the atmosphere, the temperature will rise, dramatically.
An example of such an event occurring, we can look at the continent at Europe. The countries in that continent have undergone various reform to regulate green house gas emissions. When the particulates reduced from various sources of fossil fuel burning (shut down of factories, hybrid cars), the temperature rose. In the summer of 2003, France recorded the highest recorded temperatures which led to nearly 15,000 deaths related to heat stroke.
Aside from that, continual pollutants into the atmosphere can only generate negative outcomes:
Global Dimming serves as a reminder that we must deal with green house gases and not only reduce our current emissions.
This page has some good links for legal music for your PSAs. I recommend Jamendo.
The Arctic is seeing dramatic changes over last several decades as the region experiences increased air and sea temperatures, leading to decreasing extent of sea ice, decreasing glacial coverage over Greenland, degrading permafrost, increasing atmospheric water vapor, and increasing discharge from rivers.
The melting ice of the Arctic is significantly changing social, economical, and geopolitical landscapes of the region. Indigenous people of the region are seeing their way of life disappear as their homelands are washed away; commercial interest in the region is increasing with possibility of shorter commercial shipping through the Northern Passage and greater access to natural resources. These changes are also raising issues of sovereignty, security, and defense as Arctic nations seek sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the region.
Currently, there is no single regime which governs the Arctic. A framework for multilateral cooperation between the states, people, and environmental groups is needed to control the Arctic and its changing landscapes.
Geopolitical Landscape
The Arctic is without a single regimen to govern state behavior it is surrounded by eight highly developed states that compete for their own interests Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. Disputes over sovereignty such as determination of borders exclusive economic zones (EEZ’s) and access to marine passages are geopolitical issues that tend to dominate the most. Improvement technologies and market conditions have facilitated access to the Arctic regions natural resources. Climate change issues have affected the Arctic geopolitics. Melting sea ice cap is speculated to lead to increase usability of Northwest Passage for shipments of goods between Europe and Asia. Melting sea ice cap has also facilitated efforts to carry out mapping exercises.
Geopolitical issues are not exclusively conflicts over interest they also reflect cooperation amongst nations, multilateral initiatives such as the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy 1991 signed an agreement to protect the Arctics marine environment and conserves flora and fauna. The Arctic Council was established in 1996 and it takes on the functions which concern the environment, and which, social and economic matters are discussed.
Social Landscape
It is widely believed that the Arctic is one white, unending wilderness in which no life can survive. On the contrary, the Arctic regions have always been home to a variety of indigenous peoples for many centuries. The tribes who have lived in the Arctic regions of American Alaska, of Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland, in Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Russia have all evolved complex adaptations to their inhospitable surroundings, and demonstrated great resourcefulness in developing specialized skills to deal with their environment. They have proved expert at putting to a great range of uses what the land and sea provide, using every available scrap of skin, fur, flesh and bone to make food, clothing and implements. Out of this a rich, complex culture has grown. How it must have startled the first explorers of the Arctic, when they found a race not only well adapted to their circumstances but able to save the explorers from certain death when these circumstances threatened to kill them! Nonetheless, the skills acquired over millennia may soon become redundant. Global warming affects the Arctic at a rate twice as fast as the average, impacting the inhabitants of the Arctic, and changing lives and ancient customs. The consequences of global warming can already be seen, and have been measured in the behavior and the range of Arctic animals, as well as that of Arctic plants. Caribou and reindeer already have less access to their usual foods, as a result of changing patterns of melting and freezing snow. The herders and hunters who in the past have used frozen rivers as routes may not be able to do so in the near future, as the weather and temperatures alter. Thawing permafrost has begun to cause damage to the infrastructure of roads and buildings in Alaska and in Siberia. On the positive side, climate warming brings new kinds of work within reach of the indigenous peoples, and the opening up of the Arctic Ocean and the North West Passage creates a potential for new industries. Some of these, such as mining, may eventually become as important to the inhabitants of the Arctic as the more traditional industries, such as fishing, have been in the past.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mo_VA1_Vk0
Above is a link to youtube where I have found the speech made by Senator Wirth, President of the Better World Campaign and the UN Foundation, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs asked Timothy E. Wirth to testify at a hearing titled “Copenhagen and Beyond: Is there a Successor to the Kyoto Protocol?” Senator Wirth’s answer was “a resounding yes.”
According to the Better World Campaign, Senator Wirth in his testimony made several key points: “[First,] certain near-term steps would immediately contribute to solving the climate problem and help reach a global deal…. [Second,] the UN Foundation and the Center for American Progress just released a report that shows how energy efficiency, renewable energy, forest conservation, and sustainable land use worldwide could provide 75 percent of needed global emissions reductions by 2020…. [Tird,] these “core elements” of a new agreement would help developed and developing countries address strategic interests such as job creation, energy security and energy access, food security, environmental quality, and public health…. [But] most importantly, Senator Wirth emphasized that climate change is about more than proposals and metrics – it’s about people, too. To reach a successful agreement, we must move people to the center of the debate so politicians understand the global as well as personal effects on citizens worldwide.”
Arctic climate changes
Geopolitics
Natural Resources
Poster: Changing Arctic Landscapes
Abstract
According to the latest study done by the Pew Center For Research, only 49% of Americans believe global warming is due to the burning of fossil fuels, or in other words, man-made. This number illustrates a huge disconnect between public opinion and scientific consensus. We will examine how the energy industry has muddled the waters by running a very sophisticated disinformation campaign, how politicians have exploited ideological barriers to galvanize public opinion against global warming, and explore other myths/tactics used to prevent or delay action on addressing our climate problems. This is important because only in our understanding of the gap between the public and scientists can we begin to bridge it.
Energy Company
Over the past few decades, energy companies have consistently lobbied against legislation, government regulation, or trade policy that sought to decrease greenhouse gas outputs.
The United States is much more generous to oil revenues than others that let private companies drill on public lands and in public waters.
In 2007, oil industry profits before taxes were $258.3 billion.
Companies that signed leases in 1998 and 1999 enjoy an “unintended” loophole that entitles them to royalty-free oil and gas regardless of how high prices climb.
Despite billions of dollars of subsidies and tax breaks afforded to oil companies, the federal government still spends $19 billion per year to provide military protection of oil producing facilities and shipping lanes abroad.
Successfully kept hidden are the true environmental and economic costs of pollution, such as a person’s deteriorated health.
Myth vs. Reality
Myths
1) Global Warming
The earth is getting cooler not warmer
Carbon Dioxide is the only cause of global warming – Water vapor also plays a huge role in affecting global warming.
Earth’s oceans and land hold some 50 times as much carbon dioxide as is in the atmosphere
Global warming is a conspiracy – climate scientists foster alarmism about global warming to boost their funding.
2) Cloud Seeding
Manipulation of the weather will have dire consequences – these experiments can affect the weather in the area permanently and change the climate.
Putting chemicals into the air could lead to pollution –putting chemicals into the air can add to the pollution and cause acid rain.
The process of cloud seeding takes precipitation from other surrounding areas.
3) Bermuda Triangle
The disappearances of ships and aircraft can be linked to thunderstorms and electrical currents in the sky.
There is no evidence of wreckage of the ships and aircraft.
Some people believe that the area is linked to magic and there are spells/curses there that prevent ships/aircraft to leave the area.
Realities
1) Global Warming
Carbon dioxide composition in the atmosphere is rising.
The world is warming because of human activities.
The ocean actually intakes the carbon dioxide in from the atmosphere.
The earth’s temperature may have cooled for a while, but the bottom line is that, just as a few hot years do not prove global warming is real, neither would a few cool years prove it is not.
2) Bermuda Triangle
Natural gas hydrates occur on the ocean floor in such great volumes that they contain twice as much carbon as all known coal, oil and conventional natural gas deposits. Releases of this gas caused by sediment slides and other natural causes have resulted in huge slugs of gas saturated water with density too low to float a ship, and enough localized atmospheric contamination to choke air aspirated aircraft engines. The unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft along with their crews and passengers in the Bermuda Triangle may be tied to the natural venting of gas hydrates.
3) Cloud Seeding
• The Beijing Olympics used cloud seeding to prevent rainfall during the Olympic games and to decrease pollution.
• The largest cloud seeding system in the world is that of the People’s Republic of China, which believes that it increases the amount of rain over several increasingly arid regions, including its capital city, Beijing, by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired. There is even political strife caused by neighboring regions, which accuse each other of “stealing rain” using cloud seeding.
• The chemicals are let into the atmosphere by a ground generator or a plane.
Media
In 2004, media attempts at balance have led to false balancing.
The public is given the impression that there is more debate in the scientific community about whether or not climate change is an issue to be concerned about or not:
Good scientists always leave room for potential mistakes and doubt when reporting their work, but communicating their natural uncertainty can cause reservation in the public mind.
Many Americans believe that there is disagreement in the scientific community.
STEPS:
-Step 1: Invest millions of dollars into an industry funded partisan think tank that can be trusted to churn out reports who consistently present the industry in a favorable view.
-Step 2: Write checks totaling tens of millions of dollars each year to political campaigns and various Political Action Committees (PACs) and ‘get to know the right people’.
-Step 3: Wait patiently and the creative minds at the think tank will come up with a report using fuzzy logic, tilted numbers, and selective, out-of-context statements to advance the industry’s agenda.
-Step 4: Be patient again and wait for the loyal politicians you bought and paid for to read those reports and release a press statement or political web ad quoting the report.
-Step 5: Sit back and relax, because in most of the cases, you can count on the network and cable anchors to let the fallacies of the statements slide.
Conclusion
According to our research on the role of politics, examples of different myths and realities, alongside the role of media on global warming, people are either unconcerned with the consequences of global warming or unaware of what the scientific consensus is. Even more so, some people think that there is still debate within the scientific community
PSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhza5Pl-7As
REFERENCES:
Le Page, Michael. Climate myths: Any cooling disproves global warming. 21 September 2009. 12 November 2009 <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17808-climate-myths-any-cooling-disproves-global-warming.html>.
McKenna, Phil. Climate myths: Antarctica is getting cooler, not warmer, disproving global warming. 16 May 2007. 12 November 2009 <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11648-climate-myths-antarctica-is-getting-cooler-not-warmer-disproving-global-warming.html>.
National Science Foundation. Federal R&D Funding by Budget Function: 2007-09. September 2008. 17 November 2009 <http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf08315/content.cfm?pub_id=3880&id =2>.
Schmidt, Gavin, and Joshua Wolfe. Climate Change: Picturing the science. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.
Don’t Take Global Warming with a Grain of Salt!
Meg Tarr, Alina Romanoff, Erik Roldan
Our research goal has been to develop a clearer understanding of the world’s ocean systems and the vital role they play in the climate and temperature processes of the continents in order to show how we, as humans, are active participants in both the cause and effect of global climate fluctuations. Thermohaline Circulation, particularly within the Atlantic Ocean, is presently undergoing a monumental shift in temperature and salinity thus causing significant alterations in the patterns of storms, droughts, marine life, and human habitation throughout the world. We are presenting an explanation of how these natural occurences operate, the extent to which humans are a part of the cycle, and ways in which people can alter the current course of instability. Hopefully our conclusions will help to encourage other people to view climate change as a complex process in which we can make efforts to slow the detrimental effects on our earth while incorporating innovative eco-dynamic sustainability practices.
When indigenous diets are altered there are both health and cultural implications.
Changes in diet can lead to nutritional deficiences and increased susceptibility to disease. The foods that tribes eat are not only based on region, but also on cultural heritage. While some groups may go on to adapt, others may find new locations do not fit their nutritional or cultural needs. Therefore, this study can be used to inform policymakers on the effects deforestation on not only climate change, but the peoples of certain regions.
Deforestation is a causal agent of climate change, accounting for 20% of carbon dioxide emissions – a known greenhouse gas. Looking at the Turkana and Maasai tribes in Kenya and the Kamayurá tribe of the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil, we will study how deforestation removes nutrients from the soil, changes rainfall patterns and affects agriculture. By studying these regions we will look at how food procurement strategies are increasingly affected by climate change and how this influences traditional tribal diets. Using soil analysis, literature on nutritional deficiences and diseases, as well as charts of rainfall patterns, we will combine this information to form an analysis on the effects of deforestation and climate change, on indigenous diets.
Bibliography & Suggested Sources
Group 1 page: Deforestation, Rainfall Patterns & Indigenous Diets
Group 2 page: Flying from Myth to Reality
Group 3 page: Salinization
Group 4 page: Global Dimming
Group 5 page: Melting Ice and Changing Landscapes of the Arctic
