An Inconvenient Truth assignment

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Based on the video; please answer the questions below in thoughtful and complete sentences.

1.      What image started the modern day environmental movement?

The image is called Earth rise and is a picture of earth from space with the sun completely behind it. This allows the entire planet to be lit up instead of half of it darkened in the pictures. Its profound because it is a photo that encompasses the entirety of the human race except the one person who took the photo.

2.      What is considered the most vulnerable part of the earth system?

The atmosphere is considered the most vulnerable because it is so thin and easily breached.

3.      Relatively speaking, compared to the earth, how thick is the atmosphere?

The atmosphere is compared to a thin layer of varnish on a globe. The relative size of the varnish layer to the size of the globe is the same as the atmospheres’ size to the size of earth.

4.      How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a GOOD thing?

The infrared radiation is what allows for the temperature on earth to be habitable for humans and other life forms.

5.      How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a BAD thing?

On the other side of infrared radiation is the issue of global warming. It leads to extreme temperatures which are inhabitable for humans.

6.       What percentage of people depend on glacial melt for their drinking water?

40% of people are depending on the glacial melt for their drinking water which is huge is that resource is put in jeopardy.

7.      Why is studying ice cores important?

Studying ice cores allows for scientists to measure the amounts of dissolved CO₂ over many years in the past. This can give an idea of what levels the CO₂ was at in the past and if our levels currently are at dangerous amounts.

8.      What is the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) and atmospheric temperature?

As the CO₂ rises the temperatures of Earth also rise. This means that as we raise the levels of the carbon dioxide on the planet we are helping to trap heat on earth and heat it up. This is the basic idea of what global warming is.

9.      Over what time period have the hottest 10 years on earth occurred?

They have happened in the past 14 years and the movie is from 2006 which means they were from 1992-2006. The hottest year to that date was in 2005.

10.  As the water temperature under a hurricane increases, what happens to the wind velocity of the

      storm?

      The velocity of the storm will increase with an increase in the temperature. This means our storms will        

       become even more destructive and dangerous.

11.  What has happened to Lake Chad over the years?

The lake has dried out to almost nothing because of the increase in temperature of Earth.

12.  How much of the suns radiation gets reflected by ice?

More than 90% gets reflected by ice. That means that as the ice has been melting there is less radiation getting reflected and the melted water is taking in the heat. This is leading to more issues around the globe.

13.  What redistributes energy from the equator to the north and south poles?

The wind and ocean currents are redistributing the radiation energy which in turn is melting the poles faster than any other part of the planet.

14.   If the ice sheets of Western Antarctica were to melt, approximately how much would sea level

       rise?

        The sea level would rise a significant amount of 20 feet. This rise in sea level would cover a lot of land   

        and displace millions of people all over the planet.

15.  List the three factors causing the collision between civilization and earth

1. Population- The growth of the human population has led to an increase in our use of resources and every action we do to harm the earth is also increased with more people doing it.

2. Scientific and Technology advances- Lots of our new technology is using up even more resources than we were before and are depleting the energy sources we've been using faster. They also are emitting even more Carbon Dioxide than before which is speeding up the global warming process.

3. Way of thinking- The way we think about our planet and the environment as a whole is not in the mindset of saving our planet. We as a whole have not accepted responsibility of what we've been doing to planet earth so we cannot begin to fix the problems until we accept them.

16. Approximately, what percentages of global carbon dioxide emissions come from forest fires?

      About 30% of the CO₂ comes from the forest fires.

17. What country is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?

      America has the largest contribution to the greenhouse gases in our atmospheres. (Not surprising!)

18. Which country has the lowest government standards for gas mileage of automobiles?

Again, USA has the lowest government standards for gas mileage of automobiles. Hopefully it has changed since 2006!

19. Which two nations have not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol?

       USA and Australia were the two nations that has not signed yet.