October 2016 – Page 3

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Sustainable Development: study task climate change

The climate change act 2009 was passed by parliament in on the 24th of June 2009. This act was brought into place to try and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to make people more aware of energy efficiency and also to … Continue reading →

Part 1 -The 2050 target – this is to ensure that the net Scottish emissions account for the year is 2050 is at least 80% lower than the baseline.

Part 2 – In this part this is to ensure that the net Scottish emissions account for the year 2020 is at least 42% lower than the baseline.

Part 3 – In this part for each year between 2010-2050 set a target for the maximum amount of the net Scottish emissions account.

This is just naming a few parts of the acts and outlining what they do.

This act has had quite and impact on our lifestyle for example when they brought in the 5p charge for carrier bags, this is to encourage more people to recycle and reuse their carrier bags as even though this is just a small act this can have quite a large impact. Before the charge came into place I did not think twice about throwing carrier bags away but now I tend to reuse more (maybe not as often as I should) and after doing this input and finding out even more about the environment and climate change I will me more aware of my actions and the steps I can take to help change things for future generations.

After taking the carbon footprint test my carbon footprint was 168%. I found this quite interesting doing this test as even some of the things you do in your day to day life that you think wouldn’t effect this is in fact having an effect for example buying clothes and footwear. After researching further I found a few simple tips that I can do to reduce my carbon footprint, I can for a start walking more places as I rely on my car far to much when there are times I can easily walk. I can also start buying more seasonal food.

Climate Change: Learning Log

Key Learning: Fridays lectures and workshops definitely made me more aware of climate change and the impact we are having on issues such as global warming. It specifically allowed me to […]

Key Learning:

Fridays lectures and workshops definitely made me more aware of climate change and the impact we are having on issues such as global warming. It specifically allowed me to gain a deeper understanding into:

What climate change actually is and it differs from day to changes in the weather. I now have a better understanding that climate change is taken from the average weather and temperatures over a considerable period of time.
How politics and climate change are so closely linked and the impact our politics and our beliefs can have and are having on climate change. Louise’s workshop allowed me to see that as humans we are far less likely to support a party that is aiming to fight climate change and global warming as the language we use when discussing it is always so far in the future meaning we struggle to want to take responsibility for it when we aren’t going to see its affects immediately in our day to day lives.
Some interesting ways of teaching or doing practical activities in class related to climate change and the weather. In particular I found the cloud in the jar and the thermometer task quite interesting experiments and our both something I would consider doing with a class in the future.
The impact that climate change is having. The lectures and work involved in this module to do with climate as always when dealing with the issue of climate change and global warming makes it shocking clear the impact its having on the planet with videos of ice caps melting and others showing the amount of CO2 that we are putting into the air.

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice:

This weeks work has impacted on my views of climate change. I am now far more aware of it than I have been in the past and far more concerned about doing my bit to help reduce my own carbon footprint which while already not too bad at 71% could probably be slightly lower. As a flat I know that we are now trying to recycle a lot more, this is something that I have never really done in the past but as Ayrshire council provides recycling bins and with their being a bottle bank near by it seems only fair that we start to our bit their and recycle more.

In practice I can definitely see myself using a lot of the activities and experiments Andrew showed us linked in with some lessons on climate change as I could see how making a tornado in a jar and building their own thermometer could be very interesting for children. It is also very important that we educate children in climate change from a young as they will want to do something about it they will be keen to do walk to school weeks and recycle more and contribute to other environmentally friendly projects in and around the school. This then makes them more aware of the impact they are having on the environment and gives more hope for a healthier future for the Earth.

Areas of interest to explore further/develop:

I plan to look into the politics behind climate change slightly more as it was something that I had never truly considered just how much it impacted in how we try to tackle the issues of climate change and global warming.
I also plan to look further into the experiments Andrew showed us to see what other ideas are available when teaching about climate change and how others would suggest linking them into a lesson.

Sustainable Development Learning Log : Climate Change

Key Learning: After this week’s lecture and workshops on climate change I have learned about: What climate change is, that climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year, over a long period (typically 30 years). … Continue reading →

Key Learning:

After this week’s lecture and workshops on climate change I have learned about:

What climate change is, that climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year, over a long period (typically 30 years). We expect the weather to change a lot from day to day, but we expect the climate to remain relatively constant.
Evidence of climate change is collected by: weather recordings , ice cores , rocks and fossils and analysis of pollen and trees.
The impacts of climate change
The Greenhouse effect
Global Warming and weather
Politics and Global Warming

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice:

Prior to this week’s input on Climate change I did not have a great deal of knowledge on the topic however after both lecture and workshops from Louise and Andrew, I now feel that I have expanded my knowledge and can see the benefits of teaching children the impacts of climate change. Also before the inputs I believe that I had been quite ignorant to climate change and the effects it has on our planet.

I found the practical workshop with Andrew to be most effective as it allowed us to carry out a few different experiments with regards to climate change such as making a cloud in a jar and the weather front experiment. Both experiments were very easy to carry out, engaging and would be perfect in a classroom.

Furthermore, after calculating my carbon footprint – which was larger than expected – I have taken into account my own personal effects on our planet and have become more aware on how to reduce my carbon footprint.

Areas of interest to explore further/develop:

I found that using the WWF website to calculate my carbon footprint effective and I believe that using it with children would be easy and also effective as it illustrates the areas which impact our carbon footprint such as food, home and travel.
Explore further reading and research regarding this theme.

Sustainable Development Study Task : Climate Change

In 2009, the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Climate Change Act, which aimed to reduce emissions from 1990 levels by 42% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. The Act hopes for the public body to act in the way best calculated to contribute to the delivery of the targets and also in a way that it considers is most sustainable. The Act is comprised of several parts:

Part 1 of the Act, creates the statutory framework for greenhouse gas emissions reductions in Scotland eg. The 2050 target.
Part 2 of the Act contains provisions which will allow the Scottish Ministers to establish a Scottish Committee on Climate Change or to designate an existing body to exercise advisory functions should it be decided that this is appropriate.
Part 3 places duties on the Scottish Ministers requiring that they report regularly to the Scottish Parliament on Scotland’s emissions and on the progress being made towards meeting the emissions reduction targets set in the Act.
Part 4 places climate change duties on Scottish public bodies.
The Act includes other provisions on climate change in Part 5, including adaptation, forestry, energy efficiency and waste reduction. Public engagement is a significant feature of Part 6 of the Act, which also includes provision on carbon assessment.

The Act has impacted our lifestyle choices in many ways on of which being the carrier bag charges. Legislation was passed by Scottish Parliament, on 20th October 2014, that requires ALL retailers (food and non-food) to charge a minimum of 5p for each new single-use carrier bag .The aim being to encourage bag re-use. This new piece of legislation has had a positive impact as the number of plastic bags handed out in stores was slashed by 80% – the equivalent of 650 million carriers – in the first year of Scotland’s 5p charge – the net carbon saving is more than 2,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. Personally I have seen a great change in the way people use plastic bags now, most of my friends and family re-use bags everyday instead of buying a bag with each shop. Furthermore, now schools are making children more aware of their carbon footprint and also by taking actions eg. Eco committees , to reduce carbon footprint within the school environment.

After taking the WWF ‘How big is your environmental footprint?’ I was shocked with my carbon footprint result as it was much larger than I thought it would have been at 180%. The quiz asked a number of questions, some of which I was not aware even related/ influenced my carbon footprint such as clothes, beauty products and food. The quiz also provides some useful tips after completing such as buy more seasonal foods and take up cycling or walk to work.

Sources;

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/climatechange/scotlands-action/climatechangeact

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34575364

Climate Change-Study Task

Looking at the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 was eye opening as it made me realise the government are setting more targets and plans to try and tackle climate change than I previously thought. After researching further, I found through … Continue reading →

Looking at the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 was eye opening as it made me realise the government are setting more targets and plans to try and tackle climate change than I previously thought.

After researching further, I found through WWF that there is a target for Scotland’s electricity to be 100% renewable by 2020 and we are currently on track for this to be achieved.

I completed the WWF Footprint Calculator and discovered I had a carbon footprint of 140%.

screen-shot-2016-10-07-at-10-02-05

This surprised me because I have been trying to improve my carbon footprint as I have become increasingly more aware of the dangers to the environment. My family and I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible-with double glazing, insulations and recycling.

However, I think what let me down was my reliance on my car. As I live in a rural area, there are not many amenities nearby, meaning I have to travel to a different town/city to do almost everything. I also work in a village 7 miles from my town and as I sometimes work split shifts, I find myself driving out and back up to four times a day. While there is a train station in my town, the trains do not run very frequently so most of the time it isn’t very helpful to rely on trains.

While it is not practical for me to give up driving, I could try and use public transport more often. If there are any days where the train would get me in on time, I could take it to university instead of driving. I could also use the train instead of driving if I go to Ayr or Glasgow to go shopping. I could also make an effort to walk more in the town instead of opting to drive for quickness.

References:

WWF, 2016. Tackling Climate Change in Scotland. Available at: http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/tackling_climate_change/how_we_re_tackling_climate_change/tackling_climate_change_in_scotland/ (Accessed: 6 October 2016).

Learning Log- Climate Change

Before this week I think I was quite ignorant to the real concerns that the effects of climate change have on our planet. I was aware that climate change was happening and had heard it mentioned on the news etc. but never really considered it to be a big issue. I always thought that ‘other people’ such as scientists were dealing with it and that it was not something I needed to worry about.

After learning about climate change this week and doing some research myself on the issue I now realise just how uneducated I was on the matter. For me, seeing the figures and evidence of the effects climate change is having on our world shocked me. I now realise that we all need to make changes in our lifestyle if we want the world we live in today to still be livable for our children and grandchilrden in years to come. Right now we are living as if we have 1.5 planets, by burning huge amounts of fossil fuels, breeding vast amounts of methane and cutting down vast amounts of forest which would naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and this is to only name a few of the issues. Although many of these issues we do not cause personally and they are more to do with the industry, there is still a lot we can do to help reduce emissions.

I measured my carbon footprint using the WWF footprint calculator online at: ‘http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/?_ga=1.176985891.745195644.1442412124’ and I was shocked to see my results.

carbon-footprint

My carbon footprint was measured at 145%. I was surprised at how high my percentage was. With my biggest issue being travel at 53%, followed by food at 22%.

carbon-breakdown

Seeing these figures I want to make changes to my lifestyle to reduce my carbon footprint. I plan on using the tips from the WWF website on how I can help to make a difference and reduce climate change. I plan to try and walk whenever I can instead of using my car for short journeys and car share whenever possible. I also plan to use public transport more as this reduces emissions significantly.

I also plan to try and change my diet. I eat meat with most meals, I am going to on change this and sometimes try other sources of protein such as beans, peas and nuts.

Climate change – learning log

This week in class we spoke about climate change. Before the class I thought the same as most people think: that climate is the weather. I learned though, that climate is the average weather at a given point and time … Continue reading →

After the lecture in the morning, we had a workshop with Andrew where we learned more about climate change and its effects on the earth. We saw how the water cycle works as well as how clouds and tornados are formed. I found this workshop very interesting as we got to see the experiments but we also spoke about how we could do them in a classroom setting with children.

In louise’s class we learned about what politics has to do with global warming. We watched a video which showed the amount of emissions which countries have given off over a series of time and it was quite astounding the rate that China’s emissions have been growing. We also learned how countries can trade oil etc for the right to give off more emissions which I was quite surprised that this is allowed.

Learning Log 05/10/2016

Theme: Climate Change Global Warming and Weather Politics and Global Warming Key Learning: Climate Change In … Continue reading Learning Log 05/10/2016 →

Theme:

Climate Change
Global Warming and Weather
Politics and Global Warming

Key Learning:

Climate Change

In the morning lecture with Andrew, we looked at Climate Change as our theme. We went into detail about the different aspects of climate change, such as:

What is Climate Change
The evidence of Climate Change
What is Causing it
The impacts of Climate Change

I learned that Climate Change is a long term shift in the weather patterns or average planet temperatures. Throughout it’s 4.5 billion years, earth has experienced both tropical climates and ice ages. Since the last ice age, earth’s climate has stuck around the 14 °C temperature. However, recently this temperature has been increasing. We expect the weather to change a lot from day to day. However, we expect the climate to remain relatively constant and if it doesn’t, we refer to it as Climate Change. In the lecture, we looked at the evidence of climate change. Things to look out for which may prove that there is a change in our climate are: higher temperatures, ice sheets, changing rainfall, changes in nature and sea levels rising . Anything that affects the amount of energy being absorbed from the Sun, or the amount being radiated by the Earth are likely to cause a change in our climate. It was made clear to me that Climate Change can have a huge impact on us, as it can lead to things such as : higher temperatures, water shortages, higher sea levels and also and extreme change in weather events.

Global Warming and Weather

After the lecture, we attended a workshop with Andrew where we continued on the topic of Climate change for a little bit. We also looked briefly into what Global Warming was and what causes it. After this discussion, we were assigned practical tasks to engage in. A few of these tasks that we took part in were: making a cloud in a jar, creating a tornado and comparing the density in both hot and cold water. In order to create the cloud in the jar we had to have a very hot jar with some water in the bottom of it and hold a match over the top of it and quickly place a bag of ice over the top of it. The meeting of the hot and cold eventually created a smoke in the jar which looked like a cloud. For the tornado task, we simply put some water in a jar with fairy liquid and some food colouring and swirled the jar around; creating the tornado. Finally we put hot water in a beaker with red colouring in it and put cold water in the other beaker with blue colouring. Then we placed both of the beakers in the tank of water and it showed us that the hot water had less density, therefore it raised to the top of the tank. Whereas the blue stayed at the bottom as it had a lower density. I thoroughly enjoyed engaging in these practical tasks and I feel that children will also enjoy participating in them. Therefore I feel that it will be good to carry out these ideas to children in the future.

Politics and Global Warming

We then went into our second workshop with Louise, which focused on politics and global warming. We were asked the question “Why do you think politics might be an important factor in considering Climate Change?” I feel that politicians have a lot of power and a big say in what happens with regards to climate change and sustainability. We looked into some of the Governments actions that are positive, such as being able to rehabilitate endangered and protected species like animals and plants. The Government can educate the general public at a local level. They can also cooperate with other nations and groups.

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice:

Again, due it being very early in the module I feel that there has not been a significant impact on my views/lifestyle/practices. However, I feel that my knowledge is slowly expanding and I believe that when I have went back over my notes and also done a bit more background reading that has been provided, I will be able to further my knowledge about Climate Change, Weather and Global Warming and Politics and this will then make an impact on my views as I will know much more about it.

I never expected this sort of topic to come up in this course. However, I am glad that it did as it is not something that I know a lot about and I must admit that I am intrigued to learn more about it. I feel that this module will benefit me a lot as this something that I would be interested in teaching to children in the future.

Areas of interest to explore further/develop:

From these three themes that I have studied today, I feel than an area of interest that I would like to explore further is Politics and Global Warming. I can say that I have a little knowledge on the other two topics as these are some of the things that I have touched on before in primary school and secondary school. However, Politics and Global Warming is a topic that I have never visited before. In fact Politics and Global Warming are two topics that I thought would never have been related until I started this module. After the workshop with Louise I started to develop a little bit of understanding about it. However, I definitely want to know more about it.

Climate Change

Climate change is a topic that I have had many previous misconceptions including mixing up the definitions of “climate” and “weather” as climate occurs over a long period of time and is constant whereas the weather on a particular day may change several times. Another misconception I had was the lack of public acceptance of climate change and in fact, many of the public question climate scientists and do not think it is a real issue. This is addressed in Wals A, and Corcoran, P (2012) as a UK study showed that only about 75% of the public accepted climate change (BBC 2010 and Spence et al 2010 cited by Dillon and Hobson). This result came as a shock to me as I believe climate change is a real, urgent and current issue with the most visual evidence being the melting of polar ice caps, which conveys the severity of the effect of greenhouse gases on our environment as a cause of climate change.

The most significant lesson I learned was how much of an impact was created by the choice of terminology surrounding climate change and how this affects the audience. Wals A, and Corcoran, P (2012) present a further UK study that showed the term “climate change” to create more of an alarmingly awareness of what is happening to our planet more so than using “global warming” which did not arise concern. (CRED 2009 cited in Dillion and Hobson, in press, p.6). Therefore, this made me re-evaluate how I first intended to teach this topic to children and to be consistent and clear with my terminology to inspire the desired acceptance and understanding of climate change.

After conducting the carbon footprint test which resulted in a result of 93%, it has become evident to me that awareness needs to be increased on the origin of the food I buy and consume in order to consume locally produced food, this will reduce my carbon footprint as the food will have been sustainably sourced and so the source can be repeatedly used for generations to come and not being wasted or not benefiting the environment. This action can simply be enacted by taking the time to check the label of food I buy and generally becoming more aware of where my local supermarkets source their food from. Other actions I can easily participate in is taking part in Earth Hour annually to join the communal effort of helping to become a greener planet.

References

Wals, A. and Corcoran, P (eds) (2012) Learning for Sustainability in Times of Accelerating Change. [online] Netherlands: Wagenigen