FINAL ESSAY OF THE QUARTER ASSIGNMENT

Can you believe that the quarter is coming to an end? Our final assignment (we have no final exam, by the way) deals with our final reading of the quarter, Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

TIPPING POINT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT:

The essay should uploaded to turnitin.com. It will be 2-3 pages in length, double spaced.

There are two essay topics to choose from.

Obviously, as you read through the book look for examples that will help you build a fabulous final paper!

Write a 2-3 page double spaced essay on one of the following topics:

1. How might one or more of the ideas in the book The Tipping Point apply to your chosen major or profession?

2. Locate a trend [social, political, cultural, other] that seems to exhibit a "tipping point" phenomenon. Provide a brief explanation of why you think this phenomenon meets Gladwell's criteria for tipping point phenomenon; does it exhibit contagiousness. or little causes having big effects, or dramatic change?

THIS IS DUE NOVEMBER 23rd TO TURNITIN.COM (the syllabus says the 20^th, but it is indeed the 23rd)

LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, AND YOU CANNOT PASS THE CLASS WITHOUT THIS ASSIGNMENT, SO BE SURE IT IS IN ON TIME.

WEEK EIGHT BLOG ENTRY

Answer one of the following questions this week:

Is it true that hurt people hurt people?

Would you rather be invincible from physical or emotional harm?

Life is unfair. It is unfair to everyone. So isn't that fair?

Some physicists claim that time travel is impossible. Isn't living already travelling through time?

Would you rather have your ideal job or your ideal mate?

WEEK EIGHT READING

Start reading The Tipping Point this week. As you read, think about how the ideas of the book might apply to your major.

WEEK EIGHT WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ

What do you think of The Tipping Point thus far?

WEEK SEVEN BLOG ENTRY

THE SIX WORD POEM...This week's blog entry is easy. You have to create a 6 word poem with any theme related to the environment. The rules of the six word poem? It has 6 words. In this case, you also should focus on some theme of nature. Here is an example:

Birds, water, the ocean calls me.

Here is another: The fire destroys, green grass brown.

See the pattern? 6 words...environmental theme.
Create a 6 word poem and then comment on others that you see on here. Easy, right?

WEEK SEVEN READING

1. The Arctic sea ice melts

The melting of the Arctic's summer ice is considered to be the single greatest threat, and some scientists think we've already passed the tipping point. As sea ice melts and the Arctic warms , dark ocean water is exposed that absorbs more sunlight, thus reinforcing the warming. The transition to an ice-free Arctic summer can occur rapidly — within decades — and this has geopolitical implications as nations compete for the newly opened space and petroleum resources. Added to all that will be the damage that would result from the disruption of an entire ecosystem.

2. Greenland becomes ice free

The warming of the Arctic may also render Greenland largely ice free. While Greenland's ice loss will likely reach the point of no return within this century, the full transition will take at least a few hundred years. The impacts of the Greenland ice melt is expected to raise sea levels by up to 20 feet. Half of the 10 largest cities in the world, including New York City, and one-third of the world's 30 largest cities are already threatened by this sea-level rise. Today, those cities are home to nearly 1.8 billion people. Other vulnerable American cities include Miami, Norfolk and Boston.

 

3. The West Antarctic ice sheet disintegrates.

On the other side of Earth, the West Antarctic ice sheet is also disintegrating . Because the bottom of this glacier is grounded below sea level, it's vulnerable to rapid breakup, thinning and retreat as warm ocean water eats away at the ice. Scientists expect the West Antarctic ice sheet to "tip" this century, and there is evidence that it already began happening in 2014. However, the entire collapse of the glacier, which would raise sea level by 16 feet, could take a few hundred years.

4. El Niño becomes a more permanent climate fixture.

The oceans absorb about 90 percent of the extra heat that is being trapped in the Earth system by greenhouse gases. This could affect the ocean dynamics that control El Niño events. While there are several theories about what could happen in the future, the most likely consequence of ocean heat uptake is that El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon , could become a more permanent part of our climate system. That would cause extensive drought conditions in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, while some drought-prone areas such as California would get relief. While the transition to a world with more El Niños is expected to be gradual and take around one hundred years, the event could be triggered during this century.

5. The Amazon rainforest dies back

Deforestation, a longer dry season and rising summer temperatures are threatening the amount of rainfall in the Amazon. At least half of the Amazon rainforest could turn into savannah and grassland. Once that event is triggered, the changes could happen over just a few decades. This would make it very difficult for the rainforest to reestablish itself and would lead to a considerable loss in biodiversity. However, the reduction of the Amazon ultimately depends on what happens with El Niño, along with future land-use changes from human activities.

6. Boreal forests are cut in half

Increased water and heat stress are taking a toll on the large forests in Canada, Russia and other parts of the uppermost Northern Hemisphere. So are their vulnerability to disease and fires. This could lead to a 50 percent reduction of the boreal forests — an event from which they may never be able to recover. Instead, the forest would gradually transition into open woodlands or grasslands over several decades. This would have a huge impact on the world's carbon balance because forests can absorb much more carbon than grasslands can. As the forest diminishes, the climate will be affected — as will the Earth's energy balance. However, the complex interaction between tree physiology, permafrost and fires makes the situation tricky to understand.

 

 

Other concerns ...

As if that's not enough, there are a few other tipping events that scientists are also concerned about, but they are even more complex and harder to predict. Examples of such events include the greening of the Sahara and Sahel deserts, the development of an Arctic ozone hole and a chaotic Indian summer monsoon.

How do we keep from tipping over?

We know from measurements that the Earth has had many climate-related tipping events throughout its history. Today's situation is different, because humans are now driving these changes and the warming is occurring at a faster rate.

But as humans we also have the power to change the trajectory we're on — and possibly turn the situation around in only a few years.

http://www.livescience.com/51018-these-six-triggers-will-transform-earth-climate.html

 

WEEK SEVEN WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ

I understand that there is now a political divide over issues of global warming--but forget all that. What does this article make you think?