Readings: Environment, Technology & Society Sec. 82 (2009)—Due Week 2 Day 1
Tim Flannery 2005, The Weather Makers. How man is changing the climate and what it means for life on earth. Grove Press, NY.
Liquid gold: changes in rainfall 123
1. What are some ways in which either too much rain or too little rain present problems for people?
2. How is a drought different from a drier climate?
3. What did we used to think caused the Sahelian drought, and what do we now believe caused it?
4. What activities can lead to global dimming?
5. Why does a change in the Sahelian climate matter to us?
6. What has caused the 15% decline in rainfall in Australia?
7. How have land use patterns changed in southwestern Australia?
8. Why is the southwestern Australia water turning salty now, when it didn’t before?
9. What has caused the change in water input to the Perth reservoir?
10. What cities on the West Coast of the US are at 35 and 40 degrees of latitude?
11. How has the snowpack of the SW US changed?
An energetic onion skin 135
1. Draw a little diagram showing us, the troposphere, the tropopause, the stratosphere, the ozone layer. 2. Why should we be concerned about events in the tropopause and the stratosphere?
3. Why does warmer water lead to increased hurricane potential?
4. How far back do we have to go to get a hurricane as strong as Mitch?
5. Imagine yourself owning an insurance company. How do you feel about redistribution of rainfall?
6. How much of a health problem are heat waves?
7. (pg. 139) What year did human activities seem to start changing US temperatures?
8. About how much do we think that global climate has heated up so far?
Playing at Canute 142
1. Who was Canute, and why is he so famous?
2. What proportion of the world’s people live within 50 miles of the coasts?
3. What plans are being made by European countries to deal with the expected rise in sea level?
4. Have you been to Glacier National Park? Would you like to? Would you like to take your kids or grandkids there? Do you expect to see glaciers when you do?
5. How much could melting the continental glaciers raise sea level? How about the big ice caps (Greenland, Antarctica)? The sea ice caps?