Blog Activity: The Political Chemistry Of OIL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-85KAYKOT4

 In this video, Lisa Margonelli described oil, its physical components, and how it relates to different fields of life. she went through citing the emotional side that concerns consumers, and how they feel about oil. moreover, i think she had a point in that the industry manipulates our perception of oil, when she said that fuel pumps at gas stations look like ATMs, and the green color that one of the gas stations used to make their consumers feel as if they were doing something beneficial for the environment. she also mentioned taxes, and her proposal, in my opinion, of raising taxes with a warning on the receipt would make a difference in the long run on oil consumers. however, she focuses on numbers that are not always a good reliable justification for a fact and do not always reflect the reality.

Blog reflection: environmental ethics.

I believe that we should work on the stability of the ecosystem before anything else. considering the current ecological crises, and the fact that humans had an important role in altering the ecosystem. it is time to value the diversity and rethink our actions and take an ecocentric position. indeed, the ecosystem has became more important than the individual since the time we started managing it to maintain a civilized style of living. the ecosystem is in great danger and demands more attention, monitoring and study. we should be more than aware that it is easy to decide a permission of an extinction of a particular species; however, natural ecosystems and species can never be restored. deteriorating the fund of biotic information, we diminish our capacities scientifically and technically.

selection 11: Will Hurricane Katrina Impact Shoreline Management?

This natural disaster that happened caused shoreline properties in coastal zones to be wiped out, wave impacts extended 0.5 km inland leaving large debris along southern Mississippi. Moreover, Dauphin Island, met more destructive consequences of this tragedy. Because of its strategic location, Katrina destroyed 150 homes in the west of the island which was on the periphery of the hurricane. During Katrina, width was added to the back of the island leaving boathouses driven ashore on land as the Island washed northward during the storm.

• Beach Replenishment.
  It seemed that beach replenishment is a desperate attempt to keep at distance the natural response of the shorelines to a rising sea level. On the other hand, hurricanes became an urban renewal for the coast in a way, but the government spending and efforts on beach nourishment would double, and would meet several problems to replenish the beach.
• Abandon the Coast?
  From research studies, the climate change and especially the increase in sea water temperature in water will result in even more powerful storms of longer duration. For this matter, it is believed that it is time to cut federal ties with coastal areas which are most vulnerable. For instance, Mississippi wave land has been destroyed twice in 35 years. As a result, they should not receive any federal tax dollars for rebuild. This is not impossible, if national policy for each storm can be developed. The areas from which federal support is to be pulled can be determined

A better and more direct presence of scientists is definitely needed by engaging in public hearings for instance. More engaging and responsibility would mean that not only those with a direct financial interest can participate in the debate. Those whose main goad and priority is not fiscal responsibility, environmental preservation or human safety.

Blog reflection: Can parks meet a dual mandate?

in my opinion, parks and can meet a dual mandate only by managing them and deciding what resource use levels are appropriate. this means, starting to apply policies such as park system planning and natural resource management, improvement of visitor services, and in the same time preserving park wilderness. these policies can be applied to park Wapusk as well. recognizing that the essence of providing public enjoyment is part of the service's assigned duty. to be more specific, the service would let users in the park but only those who are appropriate to the reason for which the park was established.

blog reflection: Alberta Tar sands projects

i think that these projects have to consider the costs involved before they continue forward. In other words, they have to look thoughtfully at the carbon dioxide emissions that result form the tar sand extractions and the amount of water lost for every barrel of oil pulled, not to mention the amount of heat to extract the oil. all these facts and many others should be measured and deemed before these projects, which are considered to be the most destructive ever, are given green light to continue on what they are doing.

selection12: Ecosystems and Human Well-being.

It is obvious that the world depend clearly on earth's ecosystems and its provided services. Humans have gone too far beyond benefiting from these services, they even changed these ecosystems rapidly in a very short period of time. These changes contributed to substantial acquisition in economical development, but other fields have been dramatically affected. Managing the world's ecosystems have caused drastic harm to particular people. The most common issues that resulted from out control of the earth's ecosystems are as the following.

• First and foremost, about 60% of the ecosystem services are being degraded , this degradation causes a barrier to achieve the millennium development goals. The problems derived from challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, land degradation and many more- that are the result of the human ecological management- cannot be simply solved. However, changes in policies and practices can indeed moderate some of these issues but definitely not all of the serious problems that resulted from the growing pressures on ecosystems.
• this rapid ans significant change in the structure and functioning of the world's ecosystems, resulted in 20% loss of the world's coral reefs. Furthermore, the amount of water confined in behind dams quadrupled since 1960. Nitrogen's amount in terrestrial ecosystems doubled, flows of phosphorous have tripled. The concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 32% due to combustion of fossil fuels. Humans also altered the diversity of life on earth which resulted in a loss of biodiversity.

The MA developed four scenarios in order to meet favourable futures for the ecosystems, these scenarios explore the world in two different paths, one in which it becomes globalized and the other in which it gets regionalized. As an example of such progress, eliminating hunger, child mortality, and deseases.

selection 7: The Tragedy Of The Commons.

Technical solutions are described as one that demands a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, requiring little or nothing in the way of change in human values or morality conception. However, technical solutions fail to solve some of the contemporary issues such as overpopulation. In other words, those who agonize over the population issues try to solve that problem abandoning any of the granted benefits they enjoy. In a technical way, overpopulation problem can not possibly be solved .First and foremost, let's discuss the real facts that should be looked at in order to understand how population size can be maintained.

Tragedy of freedom in commons. Taking a closer look, men rush toward ruin, by pursuing his/her own property rights and interests. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to a society that believes in that freedom. For instance, national parks are open to all public without any limitation. However, these parks are confined and restricted within certain limits and the values people seek in these parks are deteriorating.

pollution is related to the tragedy of the commons. In other words, what would result in pollution here, is the act of putting something in instead of the taking something out of the commons as it is normally seen. For instance, introducing chemical wastes into the air, and distracting the line of sight with unpleasant advertising signs. Private properties can not be the solution for such thing, as air and water cannot be fenced but they can be preserved by coercive laws.

Freedom to breed is intolerable, and conscience is self-eliminating. Breeding cannot be controlled by an appeal to conscience.

Coercion, is the carefully biased options given to the citizen instead of calling it a prohibition. Mutual coercion is the one that most people agree upon as it would favor the conscienceless. Enclosure of commons does indeed involve violation of a citizen's personal liberty. For that matter, when Men mutually agree to a sort of coercion, mankind become more free, and freedom is recognition of necessity according the Hegel.

selection26: The Physical Science Basis Of Climate Change.

election 26

• HUMAN AND NATURAL DRIVERS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

the atmosphere contains many gases that contributes to the stability of the earth temperature. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are some of the numerous gases that form the atmosphere. These three gases have increased lately as a result of human activities. Carbon dioxide increase (from 280 ppm to 379 ppm(2005)) was mainly due to fossil fuel usage, the increase of the rest of the gases is due to agriculture.

• DIRECT OBSERVATIONS.

it has been recorded that the last twelve years were ranked as the warmest in the global surface temperature. The average water vapour in the atmosphere has also increased as well as over land and ocean, not to mention that he average temperature of the global ocean has increased to depth of at least 3000m and that the ocean has absorbed more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system, resulting in a sea water level rise and expansion.

The other factor leading Ocean sea water level to rise is the mountain glaciers decline. This is mainly achieved by the increase of the average temperature of the arctic which resulted in a dramatic change in water cycles.

• CLIMATE CHANGE!

The circumstances that were demonstrated above should have had a solid reason for them to see the light. As mentioned earlier, greenhouse gases seemed to be the only strong factors to cause such a dramatic warning. This stimulation is thought to be man-made. To justify this, research in Antarctica demonstrated that there was a greater warming over land than over the ocean. Not to mention that the changes in the northern hemisphere circulation are seemed to be larger than if they were simulated in response of natural forcing changes.

• FUTURE CHANGES.

In general, 0.1 degrees Celsius warming per decade is expected. That is, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the same rate, important changes are to be expected as well. Geographically, the warming is expected to be greater over land and high latitudes then over southern and northern Atlantic ocean. Sea ice is also expected to shrink causing a unbalance in the ocean cycle resulting in a hot extremes, hear waves and heavy precipitation events to become more frequent. Moreover, tropical cyclones and storms are to become more intense.

However, Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue even if greenhouse gases are stabilized. In other words, the uncertainty in the trajectory of carbon dioxide emissions increases as the magnitude of the added carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by the carbon cycle is uncertain. Greenland ice is still going to be contributing to sea level rise as a result of ice losses. The ice sheets vulnerability to warming would also be increased to the dynamic processes of ice flows which result in sea level rise.

selection 6: The Historical Roots Of our Ecological Crisis.

Our technological and scientific movement seen the light, received their character, and achieved world dominance in the middle ages. In order to understand their nature and influence on ecology, it is required to examine their fundamental medieval assumptions and development.

The history of ecological changes is still not elaborated that only little is known of what really happened.

Entering the 3rth century, concern for the ecological rebound issue is climbing feverishly, the union between science and technology was not achievable until about four generations ago. To clarify our thinking, a start look in some historical depth is necessary.

*The Western Traditions Of technology and Science.

Technology of today is the result of an influence of elements from all over the world. The leadership of the west is far older in both technology and science than the scientific revolution of the 17^th century or the industrial revolution of the 18^th century. The west speedily expanded its skills in the development of power machines, labor saving and automation for instance.

*Medieval View Of Man and Nature.

From different perspectives and different point and religions, Stories of creation were provided by world's mythologies. In other words, god has created all living and non living organisms on earth ending up with human race. God's transcendence of nature is shared by Man. However, since god had made nature, nature as a result must reveal the divine mentality.

*An Alternative Christian View

our science and technology of today have grown beyond christian attitudes but toward man's relation to nature. We are way superior to nature and not in our hearts, part of the natural process according to Darwin. Moreover, what man is now doing about ecology depends only on his thoughts on the man-nature connection. One thing is sure, depending more on science and technology is not going to solve the ecological crisis until we rethink our religion or find a new one. 

.

selection16.

REINVENTING THE ENERGY SYSTEM

the internal combustion engine has dominated personal transportation in industrial countries for many decades. The price of energy today is still as low as it has been before. Technology may also help our energy economy be more efficient and decentralized.

• prime movers.
  understanding energy transitions is vital to map out the path humanity may follow in the next 100 years. The oil-based economy, is influenced by rapid scientific advances and the only force that could push the world from fossil fuels is the resource limits. Indeed, oil is not sufficient enough to last beyond the 21^st century. The world has been extracting oil, which is a non-renewable resource, dramatically. The original exploitable resource base is nearly half gone and 800 billion barrels have already been used up. The issue is not the huge amount of oil being used, but the intent of developing countries to increase their vehicles.
• Systemic change
  wind power came out as a serious option to generate electricity, it is now economically competitive with other electricity sources mainly fossil fuels. Using sun as an energy source can also be renewed by modern technology by turning the sun's radiation into electric current using photovoltaic cell. Fuel cell is a technology that can transform the energy system, using natural gas.
• Great powers, geopolitical prizes
  internationally, the energy balance has net exporters countries and net importers. Developing countries are better endowed with renewable energy sources than with fossil fuels, but have embryonic energy systems and underserved populations.
• Energy and society
  last but not least, though shifting to a more energy-efficient technology that relies on renewable resources, societies will still have to make that energy economy sustainable. Making modest actions would leaves us to live in a luxurious lifestyles by historical standards.

selection15: More Profit with Less Carbon.

       Many argues that protecting earth's climate will increase the cost of meeting society's needs for energy. Environmentalists, on the other hand, say the cost would be higher indeed but worth it. In other words, protecting the climate would reduce the costs by using energy more efficiently. Improving the energy efficiency is doing more with less, and it is what many confuse now with privation which is doing less, worse or without. Enhancing efficiency is the most vital step toward creating a climate-safe energy system.

• THE ENERGY REVOLUTION.
  Many energy efficient products, that were once costly are now inexpensive, for instance, compact fluorescent lamps that now cost only 2$. In the 90s Pacific gas and electric undertook an experiment called ACT that demonstrated that large efficiency improvements can be cheaper that small ones, for example building a suburban tract house that could indeed stay cool in the summer without any air conditioning.
• VEHICLES OF OPPORTUNITIES
  in the US only, transportation consumes 70% of its oil and generates a third of the nation's carbon emissions. However, transportation offers enormous efficiency opportunities. In other words, combining lightweight materials with innovations in aerodynamics could cut oil use by vehicles by two thirds without compromising comfort, nor safety and performances.
  However, modern cars lack any astonishing efficiency as only 13 percent of a car's fuel energy reaches the wheels. The solution to achieve the energy efficiency when in comes to cars, is simply by reducing the car's weight
• RENEWABLE ENERGY

alternatives to coal-fired power plans, including renewable sources began to hit their stride. Despite the obstacles that face generators and competition, the collective generating capacity is still growing rapidly. Wind power is the biggest success story, considering its mass production in many countries.