1) In preparation for next week, read about what New York City (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and Central Park looked like during the Pleistocene (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (the last Ice Age). Write a brief summary about the climate was like and this location’s history. Then conduct independent research on what New York might look like in 2050. Given what you have learned in this class and based on your research, what do you think New York’s climate will be like in 2050?
Back during the ice age, new york area was almost covered by ice – the glacier that almost covers the whole north america. And manhattan island was located at the most southern part of the whole piece of glacier. And surely, I believe, it is gonna be really freezing. And as the climate at that time turned more warmer, the glacier started to move and in this way the original rockbed on the surface of the land was scratched and influenced. And as the glacier started to melt, the rock and sands or other material, originally frozen in the glacier, came out and were left on the ground, forming the current geographic features at New York city.
In 2050, people will be fine, able to survive living a normal life. However, it would be noticeable that the weather is going to be warmer. We would have less freezing winter day, like 50 not like currently 75 freezing days during the winter every year. And also because the climate turns warmer, the glacier will melt so the sea level will arise. And New York city will face more often flooding, which is going to cause a lot of trouble. However, people have finished the Big U at that time, and might be started to building more projects or construction to prevent the flooding.
*next week we will take a class field trip to Central Park together. We will meet for the first 45 minutes in our classroom before going by subway to the Park. Please come dressed to be outside and have a Metrocard with fare on it. You do not need to bring your laptops next week, but please bring your favorite media to work with (drawing tools, audio/video/cameras etc.).
2) Read the following article, “Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change” (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and write a response describing which question surprised you the most. What other, new information did you learn? Do you feel encouraged by this article? How aware do you think your friends and family are of this information?
It’s quite interesting to see this article to talk about the the speed of warming up of the planet, as 2 degrees Fahrenheit from 1880. I mean, it sees not a big deal until the author talked about the related consequences.
I’m surprised by several things in the article. I don’t know we can avoid taking flights as a way to create less footprint. I really don’t buy the idea of certificates, but I think it would be good if customers would be encouraged by the companies to choose more green products. And I also don’t know the beef production actually cause the warming up of the planet since the growth of the cow food and the animal itself actually created green gas which accelerated the warming. And now I know I have a greener choice of meat! Aha. And another reason to try to be vegetarian.
As I was terrified to see the possible consequences will be, like heavier rainstorm and more serious drought, I feel very puzzled and sad about what people who are really against the climate change had done. And this is actually a mysteries that haunted me for a long time. I just cannot figure out why they just don’t choose to believe it. I mean, when people or scientists warn us the coming serious climate change, they give evidence or proof. But I seldom see people who defend the non-existence of climate change gave proof or scientific evidence to support their saying. Anyone, it really makes me feel hopeless.
Surely, my mom and daddy in China do not really care about the climate change, because Chinese now currently are dealing more with the air and water pollution. And the policies on environment protection and green energy seems actually will help the country to be resilient to the coming changes.
3 Research and read an introduction to the Sixth Extinction (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. then visit artist Maya Lin’s project: What’s Missing: whatsmissing.net (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. After reviewing the “About page” on this site, what is one species that you learned about on this site that has gone extinct? What did you learn on the “what you can do” page? What do you think of this site — as an artist’s project?
Red Panda, it’s so adorable!! The info page said the red panda was distinct in some part of China, but still was found in Sichuan province. I really like it, it looks so cute. I once visited panda park at Sichuan where they protect pandas, help them with reproduction and train them to adapt to the wild environment.
I think we can paying attention to everyday routine. Like eating, we should have food from a more responsible sources. Like fish that from a sustainably managed fisheries. Eat shellfish or others that are at lower part of the food chain. And really appreciate the long lasting design, AVOID FAST FASHION!!!(now I really know it is bad!!!) .We should really use an object for a long time instead of keep getting new things and creating trash. Also, eat meat. It’s good for both earth and us. (I should really try eating less meat.) And never buy products made of species at risk. In China, there are some people still do this following the tradition.
4) Pick up your kits and start experimenting with natural materials (kombucha leather and natural dyeing). You can order and pick-up kits at the Material Store, 2 West 13th, ROOM 305 between 12-4pm. Once you have completed your experiment, create a post on your LP and send me a link. This is an open assignment that is due by the end of the semester. It is required that you try either the kombucha leather or natural dyeing, but your attempt will be counted as extra credit and you can work in groups. All members of the group must create their own LP post, including reflection and documentation.
I’m going to do the natural dyeing, and I already scheduled the orientation on next Wednesday. It was full booked for this week.
