Biology 370 – Environmental Science

Video Assignment #1

“Hot Politics”

(80 points total)

Directions: please access the following website:

and view the eight (8) segments comprising the program. As you watch the program, please take notes and pay careful attention to the important events. Once you have viewed the program, please answer the questions below and submit them to me at the beginning of next Monday’s class (April 21st). There is at least one question for each segment; watch, think, consider the points and listen. Each question is worth 10 points.

Segment #1: “Time to Stop Waffling”

  1. When Dr. James Hansen testified before a senate committee in 1988, he said he was 99% confident that global climate change was already present. Explain why he wasn’t 100% confident?

Segment #2: “Politics”

  1. Speculate why the first President Bush would commit to only “voluntary” emissions cuts? What is the flaw in this logic?

Segment #3: “Spinning the National Debate”

  1. Explain the mechanism how global climate skeptics placed their ideas in society. What confidential memo outlined their methods and who wrote it?

Segment #4: “Late 90s – More Politics”

  1. Could the idea “Kyoto is not fair” have been “countered” with a rebuttal? Explain the idea of Jessica Mathews.

Segment #5: “U.S. Policy Reversed”

  1. Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman was appointed as the director of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). Why was President Bush’s campaign statement on mandatory carbon emission reductions reversed? Who were the individuals responsible for this decision? What was the world’s reaction to this reversal and the ultimate decision to pull away from the Kyoto Protocol?

Segment #6: “Censorship”

  1. At the same time that the Bush Administration was pulling away from the Kyoto Protocol (its first year in office) they pulled the document “The National Assessment of Climate Change Impacts” from the EPA’s website. Explain why the administration placed constraints on scientists and their ability to communicate with the public?

Segment #7: “Big Business Steps In”

  1. In both Texas and California, states and individuals both recognized the effects of increased carbon emissions in the surrounding ecological system. Discuss one of the likely ecological effects to occur in California as the effects of global climate change occur.

Segment #8: “Epilogue – February 2007”

  1. “The World is Transforming.” Access the following website:

and examine Oregon’s and California’s CO2 emissions. Some scientists predict a 5 degree Fahrenheit increase in average global air temperatures over the next century. From 1998 to 2008 the average has already increase 1 degree Fahrenheit. Given the information the complexities, and the scientific evidence, what are the consequences to human societies around the world if no action is taken?