1)Summary:
There was a piece of glacier at where New York is today. The melting of the last deglaciation left marks in the city. According to the observations in Central Park, the drainage goes from northwest to southeast. Dr. Schaefer and his team cooperated with the Central Park Conservancy and collected samples for their experiment. The melting is a slow process, but it happens faster then we perceive. According to their analysis, the deglaciation happening now may leave to another ice age, because the water goes into Atlantic that potentially cool down Europe and Northeast.
New York Climate in 2050
I was almost convinced by the “The Very Cold Case of the Glacier” that there would be another ice age coming. It is very strange that even thought the glacier is melting due to temperature rises, the water may cool down Europe and maybe the Northeast. Overall it seams very contradicting, but it has scientific basis. However, according to the data we could collect, New York would not be cooler in 2050. The temperature will be 6°F warmer. Because the glacier is melting, the precipitation will increase up to 12%. Correspondingly, the sea level will rise and increase the risks of coastal flooding.
2) Read the following article, “Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change” 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?
In question 4, it was mentioned that the Earth became less sensitive to the greenhouse gases and the plants and animals are adapting to the climate changes. It seems really sad and helpless that these two are listed as optimistic cases. This question surprised me because it seems like those stupid excuses that a student told himself for being lazy. This question was just trying to make people feel better, to comfort the anxious people who was frighten by the previous questions.
I’ve long known that eating meat do harm the environment, but I didn’t know that pork harms less than beef. And chicken harms the least. Talking about the nutrient in different meat, chicken is better for the human body compared with beef and pork, because chicken is white meat. I think it would be more influential to connect these two points.
This article is pretty encouraged, because it tells people how it will affect individual’s daily life. The information provided in this article is more useful.
I don’t think my family is aware of this information. They don’t really pay attention to being environmentally friendly.
3) Research and read an introduction to the Sixth Extinction then visit artist Maya Lin’s project: What’s Missing. 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?
I learn that in 2007, Panamanian Golden Frog has distinct in the wild. One thing I really agree with is that we haven’t known a lot of the species before they extinct. They died before people get to know them. On “what you can do” page, again I saw this “eat less meat.” I feel the urgent of changing my diet… Eating less meat doesn’t only mean its literal meaning, but three ways to achieve it. I was watching a TV show about people exchanging life styles with a stranger. There is one man who follows minimalism life style. He does vegan once a week just wants to know how his life would change because of this. He is trying to treat meat as a side dish.
I think this website is aesthetic and interesting to discover. The map looks like starry sky.
