10 minute writing on Butterfly Lessons

1. Kolber believes that the Earth is entering into a grim future because of the temperature change. She believes that the increasing CO2 levels are playing a major role in this increasing of global mean temperatures. Two sentence that displays this are as follows; "The equilibrium warming associated with doubled CO2 is estimated to be between three and a half and seven degrees, and with tripled CO2 between six and eleven degrees. A global temperature rise of just three degrees would render the earth hotter than it has been at any point in the past two million years." This increase in temperature could have a devastating effect on the Earth and all of its inhabitants.

Butterfly Lessons

I didn't know what to expect from this article before I started reading it.  After the first couple paragraphs, I was starting to think this paper was going to be a hard read. Then it got interesting. With all the discussions going on about global warming and climate change, this paper is relevant to today's talks. Personally I believe in the fact the Earth is getting warmer each year because of different reasons with the biggest reason being the increase in CO2 concentration. This paper talks about how this change in climate can be observed by studying various organisms. The major factor that is studied is the change in the range of their habitat. Plants and animals that couldn't survive cold and harsh winters can now live further north than they could have in previous years. This is all because of the warming of our planet due to our civilization becoming more and more dependent on fossil fuels. There are some arguments saying that this is just part of a natural cycle but its hard to argue against the point that humans have definitely sped that process up. This paper opened my eyes to the fact that there are gauges out there that can measure climate change in the form of various organisms. If nothing is done to slow this climate change we are speeding up, some of these organisms might run out of area that they can call home.

A tree's perspective on deforestation

The issue of deforestation needs to be looked at under a more serious light than it has been previously. I have lost a good deal of relatives to the cruel hand of deforestation. Up to this point, I have just turned my trunk to it, hoping that it would just stop. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Just recently I lost my twin brother to deforestation. This event along with the other family members I have lost have pushed me to start a movement to advocate the stopping of deforestation. Not only is deforestation killing my family and other innocent families, it rapes the soil of all its nutrients and takes away an important carbon sink, us, the trees. If deforestation continues, our whole species could be driven to extinction, and then where would you humans get your oxygen from? All the trees have come together and want to ask you humans to please help us, help you!

1491

This piece is about the controversy regarding the amount of people present in North America before Columbus arrived. Some people say that there were more people present in North America than in Europe. While there is evidence for both sides of the debate, it seems like there is more evidence supporting the latter. With all the various studies that have been and all the experts in this field of study, it's hard to believe that there hasn't been a definite answer to this debate. It is also discussed that Amazon Rainforest, in some areas might have been created by humans. This definitely stirs up some controversy. Everyone wants to believe that the Amazon is all natural because thats what provides fuel for the fire that is the argument over stopping deforesting the Amazon. Regarding the population of America before Columbus arrived, it seems like the disease explanation is just a convenient way of saying thats why nothing has been discovered to really back up this scenario. Until some hard evidence is found, I will stick to what I learned all throughout my schooling career. What will you do?

Denial

What does it mean to be in denial? Denial is defined as the action of declaring something untrue. People who have drug addictions are said to be in denial when they don't think they have a problem. Denial is the first sign of someone having a problem. People can be in denial without having an addiction or problem, there are people who deny that there's a God or that evolution is actually occurring. Denial can be applied to anything that can perceived as true or false.