The Consequences of Our Actions

After reading pg.37- 71 of Climate Changed, all I can say is woah. It was quite a lot to take in. Squarzoni basically bombarded us with facts. At first I thought ok I understand these facts, but after a while I have to be honest, it’s just too much to keep up with. However, I learned a lot in the first 5 pages, but that left me asking more questions. On page 48, Squarzoni says “The dependence on these minor elements is what makes our climate so vulnerable to change.” After reading that I wasn’t sure what to think about global warming. I mean if little things can affect the climate so remarkably then how much of global warming is actually contributed to humans?

On p.51 however Squarzoni actually explains how humans have sped up the process of global warming by raising the ppm. I like the fact that he allows us to understand that the environment isn’t like this on its own, in fact humans have greatly contributed since the industrial revolution. Watching the Catching Ice video also helped me with the reading. When Squarzoni talks about the air bubbles disappearing from the glaciers in the bottom left of pg.64 I was really able to imagine it because of the ice documentary. I noticed that for certain descriptions he used real pictures. At first I thought he did that to really capture the idea of what he was referring to (p.60) but after seeing other real pictures I’m not really sure why he all of a sudden begins to use them.

Towards the end of this chapter Squarzoni is returning back to the story’s plot, and ending his bombardment of facts. I enjoy that the chapter ends on a light note. I feel like after talking about such a heavy and controversial topic he uses the dialogue to ease out of how serious the situation really is. His wife/girlfriend says “But the end of the world won’t be this week.” By saying that I feel that she represents how most people view climate change. If they can’t see the impact right away, or if it isn’t impacting them at the moment then they have no need to worry about it. This is a disappointing way of thinking because even if we won’t be around for the “end of the world” our kids will be. Either way someone will have to face the consequences of our actions. By putting this single line in I feel that Squarzoni wants to address that issue, which is very relatable to how people think nowadays.