In "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz, climate change stands as the central and urgent theme, permeating the narrative with its far-reaching effects. Through the protagonist's journey, Gratz vividly portrays the challenges and repercussions of a planet grappling with the consequences of global warming, highlighting rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation. The novel effectively captures the real-world issues of displacement, resource scarcity, and societal upheaval caused by climate-related disasters, serving as a poignant reflection of the profound impact of climate change. "Two Degrees" powerfully underscores the ethical and moral dimensions of this global issue, prompting readers to contemplate the interconnectedness of human actions and their environmental repercussions, ultimately urging a collective call to action for environmental …show more content…
The novel explores the complex issues of displacement, resource scarcity, and societal upheaval caused by climate-related disasters, resonating with the real-world challenges posed by a changing climate. It underscores the profound responsibility to safeguard the planet for future generations, compelling readers to consider the ethical implications of individual and collective actions in the face of environmental crisis. "Two Degrees" powerfully advocates for sustainable solutions and the ethical imperative of addressing climate change. It highlights the role of individuals, communities, and governments in contributing to meaningful change, urging a collective effort to combat the far-reaching effects of global warming. Through its thought-provoking narrative, the novel underscores the moral responsibility of preserving the planet's biodiversity and ecosystems, emphasizing the need for resilience in the face of climate-related
In this book, Kolbert travels to many places to find out what is happening with global warming. Quite often she ran into the same fear at the places she went, the fear for loss before the next generation. When she went to Alaska, many people were fleeing from their homes because the sea ice surrounding them, creating a buffer zone for storms, was melting and that was causing houses to just be swept away.
Society portrays the Earth as a resource, a place that provides an abundance of tools that are beneficial to one’s way of living. As time continues on, humanity’s definition of sustainability with the ecosystem becomes minor, meaning that it is not essential to their own lives. Thus, leading to the environment becoming polluted and affecting the human population. These ideas are demonstrated through these four sources: “Despair Not” by Sandra Steingraber, which provides the author’s perspective on the environmental crisis in terms of climate change.
Scranton believes that human beings are killing present life by ignoring the effects of global warming on the world. He continues to warn the reader that change is coming regardless of what people do now and that they human race must prepare for what is inevitably coming, as it will be the collapse of global civilization as it is known. Scranton states that this time we are living in, the anthropocene, presents humans with multiple challenges but mostly, “what it means to be human” (page 234). How to control the inevitable
According to the World Bank’s report, climatologists predict greenhouse gases will cause temperatures to rise 7.2 degrees before the next century (par. 8). While the rise in temperature might seem trivial, Scranton elaborates on the detrimental effects this change would cause by quoting James Clapper. Mr. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, argues that extreme weather disasters will “increasingly disrupt food and energy markets, exacerbating state weakness, forcing human migrations, and triggering riots, civil disobedience, and vandalism” (par. 7). Dr. Scranton mentions these sources in order to convince the audience that an increase of only a few degrees can have a devastating impact that will inevitably leave the planet radically different during this epoch; the current epoch we live in, named the Anthropocene, is a term invented by geologist and scientists for the epoch that is “characterized by the arrival of the human species as a geological force” (par. 10). The name of the epoch inspired Scranton to title the article “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene” since it reaffirms his claim that we must accept that the future will not be the same as the present. Furthermore, Scranton includes a book in his article written by geophysicist David Archer incase readers remain skeptical of the scientific evidence with
Bill McKibben's "The Environmental Issue from Hell" argues that climate change is a real and dire concern for humanity. His essay deals with the methods and persuasive arguments needed to spur American citizens and the government on to change to more eco-friendly choices. The arguments he proposes are based largely upon emotional appeals calling for empathy and shame, and examples of what in our daily lives is adding to the changes we're seeing in the climate.
The two essays by Michael Pollan and Curtis white talk about climate change in regards to the relationship between the environment and human beings. Although the two essays share the same topic, they take the subject and engage the readers in totally different points of views. Pollan’s essay talks about global and ecological responsibility being a personal virtue while Curtis discusses the socio-economic or political issues underlying sustainability (Pollan; White). These two essays are very different in terms of voice; however these pieces of writing are both important for people all over the world to read. Climate change and environmental disasters are a real issue. Just this year, there have been more storms, cyclones, earthquakes and typhoons all over the world. One cannot look at the state of many developing counties where the majority of the population is exposed and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This issue on developing a viable solution for the problem of anthropogenic gases and global warming is long from being found. Not only this, many people do not want to hear about this issue since they do not think it is real. Unless people have tangible proof that their cars, thermostats and aerosol cans are contributing to climate change, they are not going to give up their lifestyles. By synthesizing the two essays, one can see that there is a need for change and that it is not an issue which should be dealt with in terms of ecological factors or even personal virtue. The social, economic and political factors affecting this problem and the move towards real sustainability should also be a topic that will raise awareness.
I always loved to go out into the forest and wander around hoping to find something magical hiding in its depths. I always saw nature as something to be respected and taken care of. However nowadays we live in a world where nobody cares about mother earth and nature, therefore causing global warming and greenhouse gases. Due to the ever increasing gas emissions in our atmosphere, it is causing many people across the globe to suffer. For example, when I went to Somalia in 2009, I had not experience any kind of rain for a year. It was one of the worst drought Somalia have ever seen, and unfortunately I was a victim of it. I would remember myself herding the goats for my grandmother, in search of grass so that the goats could eat and gain weight. However that was not possible due to the drought, and in the end my grandmother was left with no goats. People lack to understand that this world is ours, and if we don’t take care of it then our kids won’t have a world to live in. Most people are ungrateful and fail to recognize our duty as a human beings living on planet earth. There are high increases in tornado’s, and other natural disasters due to global warming. For example just last week a rare tornado hit Sydney, causing cricket ball-sized hail, and winds up to 200 km. It is reported that Australia is experiencing an El Nino weather pattern, therefore causing extreme droughts, storms, and floods. John Muir hinted
In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor sets out on a vengeful mission that will end Fortunato’s life in an untimely fate. Montresor appeals to Fortunato’s love for wine to tempt the unsuspecting fellow to his impending doom. While Montresor tricks the foolish Fortunato frightfully, it is ultimately Fortunato’s pride that leads to his demise in the crypt. Poe uses several literary devices to foreshadow this murderous exploit of Montresor. Through the use of irony, symbolism, and imagery, the story entices readers to delve into the relationships and differences between Montresor and Fortunato.
In the article “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math”, written by Bill Mckibben, he firstly opens up by saying that back in 2012, according to the statistics, we surpassed the global record high for climate temperature in our nation, destroying other previous records. Despite the research and the displaying of data, nobody is doing anything to adress the following issue. Mckibben outlines three distinctive numbers that outline the following issue., 2 degrees celsius, 565 gigations, and 2795 gigtons, which he uses to validitate and support his argument. Firstly, the ongoing problem of climate change in society is fundamentally a matter of individual moral responsibility that is inspired by the insight individuals are intentionally harming the environment. Secondly there is yet to be an effective collective state response to the issue of global warming, despite approaching two full decades of ongoing and reoccuring negotiations and the very near universal participation by states in the UNFCCC. Thirdly, because this issue has been put on hold for longer than it was innitially expected, greenhouse gases are being emitted into our atmosphere, polluting our environment. The South-North issue and an ongoing debate comes into effect as all the greenhouse gases that are created and used in the Northern hemisphere are being emmited into the southern hemisphere. Hence, my thesis is; despite the fact that global warming and climate change has been an ongoing problem globally for years, humanity has failed to resolve thiis issue as it quickly begins to escalate.
How would you like to live in a home that is beginning to fall apart, but only to go on about your day and continue to neglect it until it all comes crashing down? Humans and animals share this beautiful planet that we call home. But this beautiful home of ours is being regularly and increasingly torn apart by our own ignorant actions. These actions of ours have begun to unravel the very world in which we live, causing a self-inflicted crisis known as Global Climate Change. Global Climate Change is a severe dilemma, and it is continuously becoming more evident to the world’s population that climate change is being caused by changes in the reflectivity of earth’s atmosphere and surface, the ever changing variations of energy from the sun reaching the earth, and the daunting increase in greenhouse gasses.
These are conflict, poverty, instability, migration, unrest, collapse, capacity, and dependency. This film serves as a wakeup call to the audience because climate change is a very critical problem that people should address as soon as possible. It also explicitly shows that climate change is in fact in our midst and is not just a myth or a theory as some would say.
Seely’s art project explores time and space on a planetary scale through video and photo making visible the impacts of climate change in both the tropics and the Arctic. Their World is Not Our World, by Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris centers on the Netherlands, one of the most vulnerable countries presently combating climate change because of rising sea levels and almost a third of the country is below sea level as well as at risk from flooding. Through photos and video, they have captured the dichotomy between humanity’s quest to dominate the land and at the same time desire for control, particularly as society reconsider our relationship with the natural world (Canary Project, n.d.). Canary Project also is involved with Highwaterline Project, a participatory public art experience visualizing climate change in vulnerable communities and working with “experts from diverse disciplines to devise climate change resiliency at the local level” (Highwaterline.org), n.d.). They conduct workshops and public art activities with local communities to foster knowledge and educate solutions to climate change impacts.
For these reasons, global warming stands as one of the most daunting policy issues facing our world today. This is compounded by the debate over the very existence of climate change. While countless sources of empirical evidence testify to the very real presence of climate change the world over, considerable denial of the phenomenon still exists. The argument has been made that evidence about climate change is a gross overstatement, or in some cases, a complete fabrication. Despite the evidence to the contrary, many interest groups with considerable political clout have successfully perpetuated the argument that documented changes in the environment are a product of natural cyclical changes in climate, and are not associated with human activities. However, even the acceptance of this particular brand of reality is no grounds for the disregard of environmental consciousness. Even if one accepts the premise that recent climate change is not resultant of human activity, the rationale behind environmental conservation remains ...
Athanasiou, Tom, and Baer, Paul. Dead Heat: global justice and global warming. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2012.
One of the most substantial problems in the world today is global warming. This gradual warming of the earth is in occurrence at an extremely slow rate but it is happening. Many scientists believe that as human’s work and release greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere, it can become dangerous for the long lasting life of humans and our environment. “Unless we take immediate action, the impacts of global warming will continue to intensify, grow ever more costly and damaging, and increasingly affect the entire planet - including you, your community, and your family” (“Global Warming Impacts”). Everyone should be knowledgeable about global warming and the dangers that it brings to our planet. This essay will examine