Chapter 2 of Eaarth appeared to put a slightly greater
emphasis on the world’s economic stance in the midst of climate change and how
it may be in greater trouble in the future. McKibben talks a lot about economic
growth and the idea that a “temporary halt to growth that we call a recession
has-in an economy geared only toward expansion-wrecked many lives” (48).
I also noticed that McKibben addresses some possible methods
of slowing down carbon dioxide emissions, such as utilizing fuel-cell cars,
solar energy, wind power, and biofuels. However, it is a little disheartening
that these technologies are slow to integrate with the rest of the world. A
major problem is simply figuring out how to design the technology practically.
Solar energy and fuel-cell cars certainly are not energy dense methods. I
enjoyed reading about the roles of power plants for these large fossil fuel
companies. Hear
Another interesting example that I read was McKibben’s
example of potential nuclear power. He uses it to show why diverging from our
current path is so difficult. Again, the economic costs would seem to greatly
outweigh the benefits. They are somewhere around “seventeen to twenty-two cents
per kilowatt hour-which is two or three times what Americans currently pay for
electricity” (57).
After reading about the spread of dengue fever from the Aedes aegypti, I realized that rising
temperatures, drought, and rising sea levels did not simply harm the
environment and our economic well-being; it seems to contribute directly to the
loss of human lives. Insects are the one downside that I have toward the summer
season, though the outbreak of dengue fever and malaria is surely going to
scare me away from ever traveling to these third world countries. Hopefully, humans will find a way to reverse a lot of the damage that has been done relatively quickly.
I definitely agree with you that the rise in tropical diseases like Dengue and Malaria is a really scary thing. It is crazy to think that a disease like Dengue once only really existed in one part of the world, and now it has spread and lodged itself into new countries in completely different hemispheres. I think we are going to have to really begin researching not only energy efficient and eco-friendly practices, but also healthcare practices as global warming and climate change progresses.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the increase and resurgence of many lethal diseases is absolutely frightening. We not only need to develop in the medical field but also in many other technological avenues. Without further developments in clean energy sources, the CO2 level will continue to get out of control.
ReplyDeleteThe scariest part is that if temperatures continue to rise, there is potential for those diseases to spread into our country. They wont be limited to just third world countries anymore. If we don't get a handle on global warming, our world will become even more unknown.
ReplyDeleteWhat sucks about green technology is that we have it but nobody wants to use it. People still want to drive their trucks and SUV's and pay $1.50 per gallon to fill it up. One proposal to get this paradigm to shift is to cut subsidies to fossil fuels so that the true cost of these fuels is what the consumer sees (Bill Nye proposes this idea in his book, Unstoppable). The excitement surrounding Tesla motors and its all electric cars is some cause for hope but, until costs come down on their vehicles, they won't be viable for the average joe to drive. Also, the prospects of nuclear energy are promising because it is absolutely green. The issues with it though are the radioactive waste (that we have to hold for 1000 years) and the immense costs of building a nuclear power plant. Not to mention the possibility of terrorists getting their hands on some Uranium and deciding to make a dirty nuke out of it. What will save nuclear power is cheaper reactors and a better capability to use all of the fuel so that we don't have to worry about the waste.
ReplyDeleteThe author does a great job laying out a few methods to become more eco-friendly. I just hope corporate companies focus on saving the world instead of the profit aspect. But who am I kidding? Green Car Technology is something I'd love to invest in someday if I had the money.
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always interesting to read! It is very challenging to not only find a method to create technology that cuts down on the amount of resources consumed, but the cost and time is also a problem. I'm not sure what if there is a true solution to those problems, which is very disheartening.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that we both used pictures of anopheles mosquitoes in our posts! I am very threatened by the potential risk of diseases reemerging in our society, and like I said in my blog, I hope that we can combat the risk of disease before it completely wipes out entire populations.
Since this class started I have learned so much about the possible consequences of climate change. Before this I hadn't really even considered the idea that this could cause an increase in diseases. That's really frightening. It's one thing to say that our own actions have caused temperatures to rise. But that's a little less frightening because we caused it so it seems like we could reverse it. When it comes to things like the spread of disease and the release of methane things are being taken completely out of our control.I think that's terrifying.
ReplyDeleteSwitching to more green energy systems would be a great step in reducing our carbon output. It is too bad that they are too expensive to implement in our current economy. I also hope that we find a way to reverse all of the changes that we have caused and that they come soon. If we wait much longer it seems like we will be out of time.
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