Tag Archives: climate change

Climate Change: Directed Study Task

Reflecting on our input on climate change, it has become clear to me that a lot must be done on an individual and worldwide level to tackle the issues of global warming. I think that political parties should be much more concerned with making improvements in urban environments to cut down carbon emissions.

From completing the WWF Footprint Calculator, which ranked my annual carbon footprint based on my day to day lifestyle, I was surprised to receive 90%, which is above the world average, however below the UK average.carbon-footprint

Admittedly, I don’t find myself paying extra attention to reducing this on a daily basis, although I try to do my bit where I can. I never drop rubbish, I turn appliances off when I’m not using them, and I choose jumpers over turning the heating on when I’m too cold. This has highlighted to me that particularly in the UK, there is a major issue with caring for our environment. Living within a developed country, I do often notice that a lot of money has been dedicated to making alterations such as wind turbines, however when I go on holiday to countries such as Spain, there is a glaringly obvious difference in people’s willingness to keep the streets clean of litter.

My carbon breakdown showed that 51% of my carbon footprint was from home. I currently still live at home with my family, so there is already this issue of the carbon emissions being produced by 4 people. This test has made me realise that there are not enough alterations in our home to promote a sense of eco-friendliness. The tips provided by WWF have been helpful in highlighting to me what can be done to save energy in a home, as well as making me think about what I can do when I’m living on my own to reduce my carbon footprint. carbon-breakdown

I have realised now that there is so much more that I could be doing. Small changes to my lifestyle, such as purchasing locally sourced food and walking or cycling wherever I can, will help a great deal. I have previously participated in earth hour, and WWF reminded me of this. I think it’s a great idea and if people were to participate on a worldwide scale, it is all the more encouraging to make even more changes.

From reading the government’s Climate Change (Scotland) Act has reminded me of the long road we have to go in order to reach our target. “The Scottish Ministers must ensure that the net Scottish emissions account for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the baseline.” Working in a department store, I easily notice the difference that it makes charging 5p for carrier bags. Constantly, customers have already come prepared with their own plastic or reusable bags, so this shows that this change has worked in a positive way. I have also observed at UWS many rooms with lights that automatically dim down and eventually turn off when there is no movement, and separate bins for general waste and recycling placed around the university. It is very positive to see our university being conscious of the issues of our environment and global warming.

 

Climate Change: Learning Log

Theme: Climate Change

Key Learning: During this session, we first took a look at what climate change is. Climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year over a long period of time, typically 30 years.  A common misconception is that climate change is the change of weather within a day. Although we expect weather to change a lot from day to day, and within a day, we expect climate to remain relatively constant. When this climate does not stay constant, it is known as climate change.

We also had a look at the effects of climate change, in various areas of our environment. Agriculture is effected, as significant amounts of agricultural land on the end of deserts has become unusable through the process of desertification. Crops are wiped out in low-lying areas that suffer from flooding, sea levels rise, and ice caps are melting. This is of great danger for many animals in their natural habitats, as their land is gradually being destroyed by the effects of climate change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The greenhouse effect is a process where the earths surface heats up. The sun’s energy reaches the earth’s atmosphere, and some of this is reflected back into space, which results in the remains being absorbed and re-radiated as greenhouse gases. An example of a greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. 

The thinning of the ozone layer is a major issue as this layer shields earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. The more this decays, the more harmful rays are allowed to reach earth.

Below is an infographic that I created to summarise some information that I learned about politics and global warming during Louise’s workshop.

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“Success has come about where science and education have been backed up by appropriate levels of funding and coupled with the political will to make decisions that are not popular with all sections of society.” (Kemp, 2004, P399)

During Andrew’s workshop, we focused on climate change and weather through various practical tasks. This gave me some interesting ideas for my future teaching, as well as furthering my knowledge.

In one experiment we created a cloud by covering the bottom half of a jar with black paper and filled it with hot water. We emptied the water and held a match in the jar before dropping it in the remaining water. We then held a bag of ice cubes over the mouth of the jar, and this in turn created a cloud.img_3787

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice: I now feel well educated on what climate change is, and this has made me much more aware of to what I extent I am contributing to climate change. Politics and climate change is an area that I had not previously looked into in much depth, and it has been highlighted to me why tackling this issue may not be their top priority. I feel much more passionate now about the government taking control of this, as the people with power are those that can make a great difference. Despite this, I plan on taking a closer look at what I can do to reduce my carbon footprint and damage to the environment.

Areas of interest to further explore/develop: This topic as a whole is one that I have become greatly interested in. I plan on reading the additional materials provided by Louise and Andrew. I specifically hope to become confident in the politics of global warming and executing practical tasks/experiments to carry out in schools. This includes explaining instructions and performing the experiment first as an example.