Share & Voice: "Climate Change: The Evidence and Our Opinions"

Lonnie G. Thompson - Ohio State University

Climate Change Lecture

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture entitled, "Climate Change:  The Evidence and Our Opinions."  This presentation was given by Lonnie G. Thompson (left) who is a professor at Ohio State University.  Thompson's talk revolved around his studies of tropical glaciers and the evidence that they are able to show us about climate change.  He has been going on expeditions for over 20 years and has accumulated over 7,000 meters of drilled ice.  In these samples taken from all over the globe, he found some pretty shocking results.

Ice Cores and Expeditions

Ice Core 

  Thompson discussed how glaciers are excellent recorders of climate change in that they preserve long, high-resolution histories of our planet.  This is because ice preserves nearly everything that is in it.  Ice tells us a history of temperature change, vegetation, the atmosphere, volcanic history, and more.  These ice cores even contain entrapped microorganisms and plants that are over 5,200 years old.  In the picture to the left, you can see that the ice core has lines in it, much like tree rings.  These lines indicate one year each.  This means, that without a microscope, you can plainly see how much ice has built up year to year and how quickly we are losing our glaciers and ice caps.  Another indicator of climate change/global warming was bubbles in the ice.  In earlier time periods, you can see nice round bubbles.  However, once you look at more recent history, the bubbles become elongated.  This shows that the ice has melted and then re-froze.  So, why are we losing glaciers?  Thompson points out that besides natural mechanisms, there are non-natural mechanisms that WE as humans are creating that are causing 95% of our glaciers to retreat.  These mechanisms include greenhouse gases, burning fossil fuels, and more.

Solar-powered ice drill

Thompson pointed out another fact that was shocking to me.  He said that of the 6.8 billion people on earth, 1.6 billion do NOT have electricity.  That being said, he also pointed out that of the world's electricity, 65% comes from fossil fuels.  This is quite scary because we are using up our resources much faster than we should be.

Thompson went a bit over my head when he started showing an endless number of charts and graphs and data to go along with them.  But, his main point was this:  Global warming is happening and the percentage of ice loss is rapidly accelerating in the tropics.  We are causing this and need to realize that it is real.

Global Warming Does Not Exist You Say?

For those who say that global warming does not exist, Thompson had a few answers.  He kindly replied that 98% of science agrees that global warming exists and that it is cause for alarm.  He also says that some studies are only looking at satellite data and points out that this is flawed because they are not able to see the melting that is taking place from the top down.  That is why the ice cores are so crucial to our understanding of climate change.

What Does This Mean for Us?

According to Thompson, society has 3 options:

1. Prevention - we can take measures to reduce changes and educate others
2. Adaptation - we can take measure to reduce the impacts of global warming on human well being
3. Suffer - we can suffer from global warming and eventually destruct our planet Earth

Conclusions

This presentation was definitely eye opening and unexpectedly interesting.  I had never heard of ice cores before and did not realize how much information they could provide us with.  It is clear that we need to take preventative measures if we want to see a change.  If we don't, we may lose our planet.  

**All images are from the website:  http://bprc.osu.edu/Icecore/

A map of the Ice Core Sites

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

1. I want to will ride the bus to and from school 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) each week.  
2. This lifestyle change is eco-chic because by using public transportation I will cut back my gas consumption and emissions.  On the South Wisconsin Transit System Website, I found that "Public transportation reduces the nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons annually. Thirty-seven million metric tons of carbon emissions is equivalent to the electricity used by 4.9 million households."  I think that is pretty neat!  
3. This goal is really important to me because it is something that I have access to and it is free to me, yet I was not doing it.  How crazy is that?!?!  The DTA bus comes right by my apartment and drops off at UMD with plenty of time to spare.  Before this class, I had never even considered riding the bus.  I just thought, why would I when I have a car?  Well now I see all of the environmental benefits as well as the personal ones.  Clearly I can reduce my carbon footprint by using public transportation.  BUT, if I wanted to think of it selfishly, there are some pretty great perks.  First, it is FREE to students so it doesn't cost a thing.  Filling up my tank is usually between $40-$50 for me and that just stinks.  Another great bonus to riding the bus is that I don't have to warm up my car or scrape my windshield every cold, Duluth morning.  (That is reason enough for the change!).  

 I started this change this morning and rode the bus to school.  In some weird way I felt great knowing that I was doing myself and the environment a HUGE favor.  I think that 3 days will be realistic for me to start off, but I am hoping to increase that as the semester goes on.


Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain.

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

Picture from Obama's website (linked above)

President:
Barack Obama - Democrat
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1111






Congresspersons:

     House:
     Jim Oberstar (DFL)
     2365 Rayburn House Office Building
     Washington, DC 20515
     (202) 225-6211

     Chip Cravaak - Cravaak will serve when the new term starts.

     Senate:
     Al Franken - Democrat
     St. Paul Office
     60 East Plato Blvd Suite 220
     Saint Paul, MN 55107
     (651) 221-1016

     Amy Klobuchar - Democrat

     302 Hart Senate Office Building

     Washington, DC 20510

     (202) 224-3244

Governor:  Because of the slim margin, there may be a mandatory recount between Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer for the new term.  

State Legislatures:

     House:

     Mary Murphy (DFL)

     343 State Office Building  

     100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

     St. Paul MN, 55155

     (651) 296 - 2676

     Senate:

     Thomas Bakk (DFL)

     75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

     Capitol Building Room 226

     St. Paul MN, 55155

     (651) 296-8881

County Board President (St. Louis County):

Kevin Gray

(218) 726-2448

Mayor of Hermantown:

Wayne Boucher
4263 LaVaque Road

Hermantown MN, 55811

(218) 729-3675

Reflection: Weeks 5-8

Over the past few weeks, a lot has been brought to my attention.  Between the eye openers, read 'n' seeds, and all of the documentaries we have viewed, I was almost on information overload.  It wasn't a bad thing, just a new one.  In finishing my book, I gained a new world view.  My book focused a lot on human connection to nature and how many of us have lost that connection.  I am starting to realize that we are all connected and that even the smallest microorganisms have a role in our environment.

One of my favorite in-class activities had to be creating the graphical header for our blogs.  I loved working with Picnik and enjoyed seeing everyone's creativity.  I am also looking forward to seeing even more creativity from my new group members in our junk projects.


 I thought the concept of junking was really cool but I wasn't so sure it was practical until I saw all of the great projects from JUNKMARKET Style.com.  I am glad to see that there is a whole community of people out there who turn junk into treasures.  It's great that you can junk just about anything.  You can make something small, such as a trinket, OR you could reuse something larger, such as furniture.  I love it!

Another final thing that really stood out to me was watching "Tapped."  Although it was one of the more recent films we viewed, it definitely had the biggest impact.  As Dr. V and many others said, it makes me feel like I don't want to touch another bottle of water EVER again.  I know that that may be unrealistic, but I definitely am committed to cutting back on bottled water.  It is something that all of us can do.

Overall, I have really just opened up my eyes to different issues and have learned that there is always more to things than what we are led to believe.  Hearing about Nestle just really threw me for a loop.  I see now that we have to look behind the curtain, if you will, and see what injustices are really going on.  In the final chapters of my book, the author talked a lot about hope and change.  I am now hopeful for change.  Change in myself, our community, our environment, and change in our world.  I hope that everyone is growing as much as I have and that we all continue to learn how to make an impact.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's JUNK!

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

PART 1

1. Antique:  any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or thelike, created or produced in a former period, or, according toU.S. customs laws, 100 years before date of purchase.
2. Antiquing:  to shop for or collect antiques;  to make or finish (something, esp. furniture) in imitation of antiques.
3. Junk:  any old or discarded material, as metal, paper, or rags;  anything that is regarded as worthless, meaningless, orcontemptible; trash.
4. Junking:  the retrieval of ordinarily discarded things and materials.  (http://www.davmagic.com/junk/PAGES2.html)
5. Flea Market:  a market, often outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stallsselling old or used articles, curios and antiques, cut-ratemerchandise, etc.
6. Thrift Shop:  a retail store that sells secondhand goods at reduced prices.
7. Upcycling:  is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycling)
8. Resale Shop:  the selling again of something purchased.  (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/resale)

*  Unless noted, these definitions were found on Dictionary.com.  

PART 2

All of the above terms relate to environmental health in that they are bettering our environment.  Instead of throwing our "junk" away, we can breathe new life into it.  If we really see no use for it, then we can donate it to other shops so that others can reuse our unwanted "junk."  It is all about using old items in new, sustainable ways and creating less waste.  

1. Antiques/Antiquing: Father Time Antiques 395 S Lake Ave # 1, Duluth, MN 55802-2311(218) 625-2379 ‎.
2. Junk/Junking:   Old Town Antiques & Books 102 E Superior St Duluth, MN 55802 218-722-5426.  
3. Flea Market:  Downtown Hinckley Fleamarket 100 Old Hwy 61, Hinckley, MN 55037(320) 384-6938.
4. Thrift Shops:  Salvation Army 2101 West Superior Street, Duluth, MN 55806-2012(218) 722-7723.
5. Upcycling:  I was unable to find any local resources for upcycling.  
6. Resale Shops:  Goodwill  700 Garfield Avenue Duluth,MN 55802 Phone: (218) 722-6351.

I do use places such as Goodwill or Savers quite often actually.  I recently went to Goodwill to look for items for a Halloween costume.  I love looking through antique shops as well.  Sometimes, it is a total dud and I find nothing, and other times I find tons of trinkets and treasures.  It is always a unique experience.  My mom an I always used to browse through an antique shop on our way to the cabin.  I have never been to a flea market, but I have never really looked for one to go to.  I am now able to use my resources and get out there more.  

PART 3

Here is a project that I instantly fell in love with.  It is simple and anyone could do it!  This is a dust pan bird feeder.  All you have to do is mount it to a fixture and put bird feed in it.  It actually looks pretty cool too.  

Here is another easy project.  Instead of spending money on a valentines present or just a little trinket, this was made of leftover bits and pieces found around the house.  This project is great because anyone could make it, but each person would have creative reign with the items that they find.  I want to go dig through my mom's scraps and see what I can create!

This junk-turned-treasure is an old typewriter that did not work.  The new owner turned it into a decorative centerpiece and rotated pictures throughout the years.  I love the concept here.  Just because something doesn't work like it used to doesn't mean that it can't be used in a different way.  This is a great example of upcycling.  

Share and Voice: Generation T

Have you ever gone through your closet and thought, "I haven't worn this T-shirt in years!"  Many of us have probably had a moment like this and just threw the T-shirt away.  Well, there are actually many ways to re-use T-shirts that are great projects and can also make great gifts. 

I was recently at a spa part where my friend showed me how to make a scarf out of a T-shirt.  All I needed was a pair of scissors.  I don't have my charger for my camera otherwise I would post some of my own pictures.  Here is an image taken from Kaboodle.com that shows the scarf I made with an old basketball T-shirt: 

All I had to do was cut the T-shirt into loops, pull, and BOOM...I had a scarf.  I decided to do some digging and came across a website called Generation T that has over 100 ways to transform your T-shirts.  This site has already got me cutting up old shirts and transforming them into new, useful items. 

What is great about this site is that almost anyone can make these projects and they require minimal materials.  Some projects are more advanced, and as you progress you can really show your creativity.  Other projects include notebook covers, pillows, bags, Halloween costumes and even a bean bag chair.  The possibilities are endless. 

Have some fun exploring the site and see which projects interest you!

Share and Voice: 30 Days 30 Ways

In most of my posts, be they assignments or share and voices, I have pledged to do something "green."  Usually, I give the disclaimer that I will take action in small steps.  Most of you have agreed with me that change needs to be feasible and is something that takes time.  So, I set out on a quest to find out how to make those small changes, while adding up to a greater cause. 

I found a website entitled 30 Ways in 30 Days which gives us exactly that.  The main purpose is to show individuals such as ourselves that we have the power.  No, we cannot save the world with our wishes or the snap of our fingers.  BUT we can take action each day.  It is important for me to not be overwhelmed when jumping into something new.  This site provides the opportunity for you to tweak one thing each day to live in a more sustainable way. 

Day 1 is to evaluate your life...all eyes on you.  There are days inbetween that include simple steps that you can focus on and incoporate into your life.  It ends with Day 30 which is to talk it up...live proactively.  The message in the final day is that it really isn't the final day.  Once you have taken the challenge and gone through the transformation process, you have the decision to make.  Will I continue to live this way? 

Check out the 30 Days 30 Ways page and tell me what you think.  Is it something you could incorporate in your life?