Reflection about the course

I will discuss the tools I learned and the ideas I learned. I think that the course was brilliant and the reason is simple, my teacher and serious working. First of all, it was new experience for me using new tools like blogs and so on. But I worked hard to find out those tools with my teacher's help and my friend's advice. I learnt how to use voice thread and it is a nice tool that makes your idea become much better with all these pictures around. I was having some problems with the way of putting tasks in the blog and MLA style but the teacher helped me a lot achieving these goals. In addition, I learned how to use the databases that has a lot of useful information.

In terms of global warming, honestly I wasn’t know anything about it but the facts had shocked me. The rising of CO2 in the air is causing a big damage to our earth. Not only that, the human is already increasing the problem through the daily activities. Obviously, we keep continue our life without thinking of our generations. So, we have to at least saving our earth by doing even the small things. Overall, I benefit a lot from doing this course and I hope to get a lot of similar courses the following semesters.

Protecting our environment

Our planet is in a serious situation. A lot of problems are mentioned everyday and every night. Problems such as pollution, acid rain, waste, rainforests, the animal's wildlife and last but not least the global warming. We know the fact that human is already suffering from these problems and what is worst is all of these problems are human-made problems. To live a sustainable urban life, we need to learn how we use our natural resources like air, freshwater, forests …. and so on. As a population of the world increase, the threats are also increasing. So if we need our generations to live a happy life, we need to do something about these threats or we could just expect the following consequences. The following site is to know what are the problems and the solutions in terms of those threats.

For more details, please visit the following site.

http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/environment-how-can-you-help-protect-it-/81

Tundra's main problems and solutions

There are unlimited causes of global warming. Each cause has its affect on the environment. One of the unknown causes is tundra. Let's introduce the topic with the definition of tundra. Tundra is an area which contains vegetation and trees and snow on mountains. ( Benninghoff ) . It also contains animals, microorganisms, plants, shrubs, mosses, grasses and flowers. It is basically located in the north of regions. It has incredible damage that anyone can't believe. Tundra is melting and according to statistics, approximately 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide held in a frozen area in tundra and now it's becoming a source of global warming. (Global Warming: The Causes). The following details will explain the facts of tundra's main damage from climate change and the solutions that might be provided. .



Let's firstly start with the problems of tundra. When the frozen soil melts, the organic contents start to decay causing greenhouse gasses in the air. Tundra becomes an important part of accumulating CO2 in the air. Studies also show that warm temperatures have changed the place into a net of CO2 that penetrates atmosphere. The stranger matter is that the role of history says that Tundra was completely environmental but now things have changed to the opposite side (Global Warming). Another problem that carbon dioxide which comes from tundra will cause air pollution. That will definitely affect the animals whose living there and their foods. (Global Warming).One more problem is that buildings and roads push pressure to the area causing it to melt. (Global Warming)



After looking at the problem side, now let's turn our consideration to the solution side. Apparently a lot will think that there is nothing to do about it but here is the thing. The first solution is that we could protect tundra areas to reduce the human impact (Tundra Threat). Another solution is minimizing the roads and the mining in the area of tundra. One more solution is to reduce the tourism and to establish rules like respecting the local cultures. A significant solution is to turn to another energy that reduces the human-made global warming (Tundra Threats, Tundra Species - National Geographic). If we slow down the rate of carbon emissions, we will slow down the temperature increases that cause tundra to melt.





In my point of view, tundra is causing a big damage to the atmosphere. Well, according to statistics I have already mentioned, if this is just one source of global warming and it causes 50 billion tons of CO2, imagine the impact of other sources. I believe if this continues to happen, it will be a disaster in the upcoming years, leaving our generations with our problems.

Works cited





Benninghoff, William. "Tundra." http://0-www.accessscience.com.library.hct.ac.ae/content.aspx?id=714600.

"Global Warming: The Causes." EcoBridge. 24 May 2009 http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm.

Tundra Threats, Tundra Species - National Geographic." Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living - National Geographic. 24 May 2009 http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/tundra-threats.html.

Cool cities

A cool city is a way to achieve the sustainable urban life. It shows the ways of reducing the amount of CO2. It contains of business public zone, the residential zone, the resort zone and last but not least the cultural sports zone. Modern cities have problems and the cool cities are the way to solve this problem. Let's have a look at both of them.


Modern cities cause a big damage towards the increasing of CO2. The main problem of cities is buildings and transportation which is about 90% of increasing carbon emissions. Another problem is that residents in modern cities depend on cars and coals a lot. One more problem is the use of energy in homes (Which U.S. Cities Contribute Most to Global Warming?: Scientific American)


Let's have a look at the advantages that cool cities provide. The $22 billion on Masdar enterprise which is a cool city will be existed in UAE (Masdar). Significant advantage is Hybrid cars and solar ships. Further explanation is that those innovations will save the earth by not allowing the burning of cars oil. Another advantage is in terms of public transportation like monorail station. One more advantage is light rail transit station.



In my point of view, I believe that a cool city is a big movement to protect us from global warming but it’s costly. Some will say, no matter how much it costs, the most important factor is protecting our generations and our future!! So I think it's a nice idea.





Work cited


"Cool ideas to beat the heat - The National Newspaper." Home Page - The National Newspaper. 30 Apr. 2009 .
"Masdar." Home Page - The National Newspaper. 06 May 2009 .

Welcome to MASDAR. 30 Apr. 2009 .
"Which U.S. Cities Contribute Most to Global Warming?: Scientific American." Science News, Articles and Information Scientific American. 06 May 2009 .

"YouTube - Masdar Initiative - Worlds First 100% Carbon Free Community." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 30 Apr. 2009 .

Carbon footprint

Carbon footprint is a summery of how our movements can be measured. It an implement to identify the main problem to global warming which are us and how simply we increase the problem by increasing carbon in the air.


To measure carbon footprint we have a unit is which called carbon emissions (ponds, tons or kg) and it means the amount of CO2 in the air. I have visited two sites and a lot of questions can be explained to describe how we measure carbon footprint. Let's mention some of them. The diet like meat, fish and vegan. In addition, what kind of vehicle you travel on? What kind of house you live on? And the number of persons lives on that house. One more point is the types of waste do you recycle and compost.



I compared my carbon footprint with my classmates also with my country. I found that the majority of persons have high carbon footprint which is unbelievable including me. My average is 7.23 and it is lower than my country average. I have also compared myself with the some numbers in the classmates and with the world and it's varying from one country to another. A lot of countries have high carbon footprint and it's definitely unacceptable. Herewith pie chart explaining our carbon footprint.

Absolutely we can reduce carbon footprint in many ways. Let's have a look at some of them. We can reduce the consumption of energy. In other words, switch the lights off. Another solution is to have a sustainable transport options like electronic cars. Yet another option is to decrease waste by recycling. One more point worthy of mentioning is the diet. We can reduce the consumption of meats.


To sum up, the cumulating of CO2 in the air will still continue to rise if we don't response. A moral principle is one way to reduce it. Helping each other and take care of the easiest thing that can be harmful to our planet.

Work cited


Footprint Calculator." Http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/home/calculator_complete.

"Going Greenhouse Gas Neutral." Http://www.yogaindailylife.org.au/Articles/Environment/Going-Greenhouse-Gas-Neutral.html.


"How Big is your Ecological footprint?" Http://www.myfootprint.org/.

"Re-think your lifestyle." Http://extinct.wwf.org.uk/whatyoucando/rethink.htm."Take Action." Http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/car

Opinions

Global warming is with no doubt a serious problem. Several lines of opinions were put forward to explain the performance of Al Gore in his movie. Let's have a look at the negative side following by the positive side.




On the negative side, the main the main trouble is the presenter of the movie (Berardinelli) . The movie reflects Al Gore's personal life more than Global Warming. (Berardinelli). Also, significant point is the political partiality shown by Al Gore in his presentation (Berardinelli). No new facts have been shown in the movie (Berardinelli) .




The other side is of course is the positive side; the movie is a copy of 30 years of great scientific slides (Fibbs). Sufficient graphs, charts and pictures are available that delete the doubts. Also, Al Gore treated his audience well. Al gore asserted that we mustn't despond, everything can be done but with cooperation. The movie is worth to watch (Fibbs)



In my point of view, the movie was brilliant and I have my reasons. One reason is the facts that shocked me like ice melting. In terms of Al Gore's style in talking , I feel sometimes you have to do it in your presentations even it is a tough issue because it brings attention to your topic. What I liked so much in this movie was the presentations and the slides which were impressive. Finally, I liked when Al Gore highlighted the fact that Global Warming is not a political issue but a moral issue that needs to be resolved.






Work cited
Berardinelli. "An Inconvenient Truth." Http://www.google.com/movies/reviews?cid=bf2328e40dcca7c7&fq=an+inconvenient+truth,movie&sa=X&oi=showtimes&ct=reviews&cd=1.


Fibbs. "An Inconvenient Truth." Http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inconvenient_truth/?critic=columns.

Summarize the film “An Inconvenient Truth” for someone who has not seen it in 100 to 150 words

An inconvenient truth is becoming more considerable from Al Gore, the presenter of the inconvenient truth. He asserted that the unexpected disaster of global warming has major causes and related effects.

Let's firstly look at the causes. The main cause described in the article was the cause of CO2. To expand, it increased rapidly the last 14 years and how it is connected to the temperature. Another cause is simply the human activities. To clarify, it makes the atmosphere thin, the weakest part in our earth which is helpful in balancing the temperature.




Let's move forward to the results. A lot of results have been mentioned. Some are worthy of mentioning. One result is the melting of ice sheet. To elucidate, if it continues to collapse, the sea level will raise by 25 feet causing flood in various low areas. Another effect is the shortage of water due to ice's melting. Yet another effect is the suffering for the lands, building and trees because of what he called "Melting Permafrost".


To sum up, some solutions have been mentioned like cooperation between countries. In addition to the inconvenient truth, he covered some of his family's life. Also, he kept saying that global warming is not a political issue but a moral issue that needs to be resolved.

Click the following link to hear the voice thread ..... An inconvenient truth

http://voicethread.com/share/431502/

"Global Warming"

Introduction to Global Warming

"Global Warming" has become more and more of a concern. It is a serious problem that needs to be resolved no matter how much it costs. It basically means the increasing of the temperature. The most significant reason is the accumulating of CO2 universally. Statistics show that in the last ten years, the temperature of the earth was the highest, the most powerful and it is expected to rise in the following 50 years. Consequences are unlimited. One example is the glacier thaw which is visible nowadays. Solutions were put forward such as higher mileage cars. So the idea here is if we continue to do our activities as usual, there will be no life for our generation tomorrow.


In my point of view, a response to global warming is necessary to protect our beings and give the opportunity for our generations to live as we do. It is common-sense to know that it is hard to stop it, at least, keep the temperature in specific limits.

personal details

My name is Mohamed Saleh. I live far away in a place called 'Al Sahama' about 40 kilometres from the college. My favourite hobby is playing games especially with my brother who's always won. This brings to my mind a special night when I won and he was just crying. Another hoppy in particular is visiting my relatives. Not to mention the best hoppy which is sleeping the whole day. There will be always useful things to do in my free time like reading books, magazines and newspapers. After discussing some of my hobbies now let turn our attention to my life in the college. Actually, I like my teachers and the reason is simple… I have a good GPA. Moreover, the arrangement of staff is great. As soon as you have a problem, your problem will be solved definitely through our modern system. One more point worthy of mentioning is my old which is around 21 years old.




A lot of subjects will be explained in this blog. One subject is my personal details. Another topic is regarding environment. Mostly, the way we protect it, the way we develop it and the way we live on it. In fact, other topics will be added as soon as new idea has become on my mind.