Water takes up a larger percentage of the surface of our Earth than does land. The earth’s oceans are vital aspects to our environment and it is necessary that we take care of them. On another note, global warming is an issue that is having effects on almost all aspects of our environment. Global warming itself means a gradual increase in the temperature of our Earth’s atmosphere over large periods of time. There is evidence that global warming has occurred in the atmosphere, however, now we are beginning to see its effects in the world’s oceans, as well. Though some may not see the connection that it has with the oceans, it has had quite a profound effect on our Earth’s oceans. As I mentioned before, oceans are environments that must maintain each characteristic in order to survive. If one aspect of the ocean becomes altered, it leads to many consequences.
Oceans are one of the most difficult areas to measure and take data from in our environment. However, we must first explore whether the oceans are actually being affected by global warming or not. Scientists have tried to use computerized models of our Earth’s oceans in order to make predictions on global warming effects. Teams of oceanographers have also been compiling ocean temperature readings from 1948 to 1996 in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. The study done by this team came to the conclusion that ocean temperatures below 300 meters have been raised a tenth of a degree Fahrenheit since the 1950s. Also, closer to the surface, ocean waters have increased in temperature by about 0.5 degrees (Pawelski, 2000). The principal author of this study and chief of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Climate Laboratory, Sydney Levitus, said, “These temperature changes may seem small, but they represent very large changes in heat content of the ocean, and this heat will eventually find it its way back to the atmosphere.” (Pawelski, 2000). Thus, although these temperature changes in the ocean seem small, they can have quite a large effect on our Earth’s atmosphere. Levitus also mentions that a large portion of global warming that seems to be absent in our atmosphere is actually in our oceans. We have found the “missing warming” in our oceans and now it is necessary that we try to reduce it (Kerr, 2000). From Levitus’ study alone and also from recent att...
... middle of paper ...
...c ASAP. 11 March 2002.
Kerr, Richard A. “Globe’s Missing Warming” Found in the
Ocean.” Science. 24 Mar 2000: 2126. Academic Search Elite. 11 Apr 2002.
Kullenberg, Gunnar. “Global Ocean Observing System.� Geotimes.
Sept. 1992: 5. Expanded Academic ASAP. 11 Mar 2002.
Lazaroff, Cat. “Warming Oceans Attributed to Greenhouse Gases.�
Environment News Service. 11 Mar. 2002. <http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-1606.html>.
Pawelski, Natalie. “New Study Finds Warming Trend in Oceans.� 23
Mar 2000. Cable News Network. 11 Mar 2002. <http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/03/23/warming.oceans/>
Pearce, Fred. “Will a sea change turn up the heat?� NewScientist.
30 Nov 1996: 16. Expanded Academic ASAP. 11 Mar 2002.
Preston, Todd. “The unquiet oceans.� The Environmental Magazine.
Mar/Apr 1997: 21. Academic Search Elite. 11 Apr. 2002.
Rosendahl, B.R. “Pumping up the ocean.� Sea Frontiers. Sept/Oct 1990: 3. Academic Search Elite. 11 Apr 2002.
Spalding, Mark. “Danger On the High Seas.” Geographical. Feb.
2002: 15. Expanded Academic ASAP. 11 Mar 2002.
Vogel, Shawna. “Has Global Warming Begun?” Earth. Dec 1995: 24.
Academic Search Elite. 11 Apr 2002.
“Oceans”, the third unit from “The Habitable Planet” series, discusses El Nino and the discovery of a new phytoplankton, and how these effect human and marine life . This paper will highlight six facts from the video, emphasizing what they are, how scientists have discovered this information, and what makes them important. In addition to these facts, this paper will explain the term “positive feedback” as briefly mentioned in the video and provide an example of this process outside of El Nino. The first of several interesting facts discussed in the video is that El Nino is responsible for devastating occurrences such as monsoons, droughts, and floods1.
Tragedy is usually concerned with a person of great stature, a king or nobleman, who falls because of hubris, or extreme pride and Antigone is no exception. Pride and its effects are a central part of Antigone’s plot and theme. Pride, being part of their character and morality, overran in to their literature and was a complex and multifaceted concept in Greek tragedy, exemplified by Sophocles’ Antigone. In the play both Creon and Antigone were incredibly proud and unwilling to back down once they took their stands. Creon had made a decision and was unwilling to compromise. Antigone was to die for her violation of the law, the sin of burying her brother.
The "Golden Age" of Greece is noted for its many contributions to the creative world, especially in its development of the play. These performances strived to emphasize Greek morals, and were produced principally for this purpose. Antigone, by Sophocles, is typical. The moral focused on in Antigone is the conflict between physis (nature) and nomos (law), with physis ultimately presiding over nomos. Throughout Antigone, King Creon is a symbol for nomos, while Antigone stands on the side of physis. To portray these ideas, light and dark images are used as a recurring motif to reinforce the theme. Light is used to show something good that is happening, whereas dark is utilized to show something of which the gods disapprove. Following with tradition, this play uses light to portray what is right in the eyes of the chorus and darkness to reproach the other side. As the play is carried out, the chorus is constantly changing its opinions, first believing in the actions of Creon with respect to nomos, then unsure of what to believe, and finally seeing that Antigone's actions are more consistent with the morality of the gods and the truths of physis. Light and darkness are used to support in an emotional way the action of whoever the chorus is siding with at these various stages of the play.
In ancient Greece, men who died in war fulfilled the civic ideal to the utmost. The women, destined to live out a degrading life, died in bed. Certainly, not all men died in battle, but every epitaph shows in one way or another, the city would always remember the men who died in war. Additionally, not all Athenian women died in bed; nonetheless, it was left to her family to preserve the memory of her not the city. No matter how perfect a woman was she would never receive the same status or level of social expectations from the city that a man received. No accomplishments were allowed beyond living a life of motherhood and submissiveness to a man, namely her husband. In fact, in early Greece, women were typically viewed as subservient to men, submissive in their actions, and of a status only slightly above slaves; however, Antigone was not your typical Greek woman.
Based on the fact that she is well aware of her past. For Creon, she is more hazardous than Oedipus, Antigone is more dangerous than Oedipus, especially to Creon. Because of what she and her family has gone through she has a feeling that there is nothing else to lose. Due to the fate her family has experienced, Antigone feels she has nothing to be afraid of. She sheds light on the differences between God’s rule and social rule. She emphasizes that his rules cannot outweigh God’s wish.
The story of Antigone is basically a Greek mythology, which deals with how a sister deals with the politics of her country and to what limits she is willing to go to, just so that she could bury her brother with honor and dignity. Polynices is the brother of Antigone and he had died in a battle. Anyone who died in battle deserves a proper burial, but Polynices was denied of this privilege since he was viewed as a traitor to the city of Thebes and the law stated that the mourning or burial of a traitor is deemed severely punishable. Antigone, the sister of Polynices is bent on making sure that her brother gets the proper respect that he deserves, since he had fought for the Greek army and had paid a major contribution to the nation. Jocasta
A huge sacrifice is placing one’s life above their beliefs but some consider it the highest honor. In Antigone, “Yet how could I win a greater share of glory / than putting my own brother in his grave?” (1.2.547-548) displays the glory and honor she feels from burying her brother. When a society matures many of its people begin to question unjust laws and history has shown us that this is a good thing. For a society to become truly free there has to be a certain level of accountability of the government to its citizens, in which this causes a society to mature. Most of the time there are peaceful protests, mediations or negotiations, but every once in a while the situation requires a martyr. Antigone has become that martyr by paying the ultimate price in defense of her conscientious beliefs. She has placed her love for her brother and willingness to honor him in death above her own life. By doing so, she now has cast a shadow of a doubt on Creon and his laws by winning the love and affection of her
Water pollution has had devastating effects on the environment, which include irreversible effects on the oceans ecosystem. People often underestimate the importance of the ocean. They don’t realize how much damage pollution has caused to the ocean and the thousands of creatures that inhabit it. Earth is a huge place, but resources are actually very limited and will not last forever unless there is a balance. We must protect the resources we have in order for them to last into the next generation.
Scientific evidence has recently been indicating that Earth's ocean and atmosphere are becoming warmer, and its these changes that are happening because of the greenhouse gases that come from daily human activities. (US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2015)
Humans are depleting the earth’s natural resources. We are using our resources at an unsustainable rate. One of our greatest resources is now beginning to deplete because of our growing population. This resource provides for us food, climate regulation, economy, transportation, and medicine. This very valuable resource is the ocean. By over fishing, certain fishing practices, marine pollution and habitat destruction we are diminishing our most valuable natural resource. The ocean provides for us many valuable resources we cannot replace, therefore we need to make a change.
Dennis, Carina. "Reef under threat from 'bleaching' outbreak." Nature, 415. 28 February 2002: 947. January 25, 2003. http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v415/n6875/full/ 415947a_fs.html.
How important is the ocean? Plants that grow in the ocean produce half the oxygen all of the world’s population needs to survive (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The Carbon dioxide the body releases is also absorbed by the ocean’s waters (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Medicine that is used to fight cancer and cure disease is formulated from ingredients from the ocean (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). Not only does the ocean keep the people of the world healthy but it accounts for 128 billion dollars of the GDP, keeping the economy healthy also (The Nature Conservancy, 2014). The ocean is a big part of what makes Earth a place where human beings can live and flourish. It is surprising that despite the oceans great importance people are still destroying it, through a series of events that starts with a simple trip to a local sushi restaurant. Eating tuna causes destruction of the ocean because of the elimination of species and it’s effects on the food chain.
Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is so important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life, without it we would surely become extinct. People seem to think that since the ocean is so large and vast, we can dump as much waste as we'd like into it and it will never have an effect on us. However, since we've been polluting the ocean as far back as Roman times, the evidence of ocean pollution becoming a major problem is all too clear.
Change in ocean temperature does not solely affect marine life; it also affects regional land climates and ecosystems. Deep below the surface of the ocean, currents move warm and cool water, carbon, oxygen, as well as nutrients from one place to another. This process is referred to as the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt, and anthropogenic climate change is beginning to affect how it operates. One example of this can be seen in the changes occurring to the large deep-water current of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. Researchers found that recent climate change may be acting to slow down a major ocean conveyor belt. There is cause for concern because ocean currents play a major role in determining the amount of CO2 that the ocean can absorb, and consequently determines climate. (Casimir de Lavergne, 2014) When the ocean current slows, the ocean is less capable in absorbing carbon and heat from the atmosphere resulting in uncharacteristic climates across the globe. This change in deep ocean currents demonstrates another consequence of anthropogenic climate
One of the major effects of global warming is the rise of sea level due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to the melting of land ice. Now there are dozens of land areas that sit well below sea level and the majority of those land areas are very well populated. At least 40 percent of the world 's population lives within 62 miles of the ocean, putting millions of lives and billions of dollars ' worth of property and infrastructure at risk. (Juliet Christian-Smith, 2011) This means if the sea level rises to the projected level of 25 meters (82 feet) half of the world will retreat back to the ocean. (Rohrer, 2007) Also rising sea levels means higher tides and storm surges riding on ever-higher seas which are more dangerous to people and coastal inf...