Author Archives: Ben Sawyer

The Global Perspective to Climate Change

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A large part of the climate issue is addressing the social justice aspect of it. Many people are not aware of the disparities in how climate change affects different groups of people. Unfortunately, the places that produce the least amount of CO2 emissions are many of the countries that are suffering the most from the effects of climate change. Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are extremely vulnerable to climate change, but use the least energy per capita out of the entire world. These populations are highly vulnerable to floods, droughts, hurricanes, and countless other negative effects of climate change. In some parts of these regions, the changes in climate are actually forcing large populations of people to migrate to different regions. When we look at some people who live in areas that are reaching a wet-bulb temperature so high that the human body cannot physically survive in these temperatures. Accordingly, “Even heat-adapted people cannot carry out normal outdoor activities past a wet-bulb temperature of 32 °C (90 °F), equivalent to a heat index of 55 °C (130 °F)” (Wiki). These mass migrations that we are going to see in the future are going to cause huge social problems, and lead to economic strains and conflicts in other parts of the world. In order to address this issue, we need to educate people on the issues that are going to affect them. One of the problems with addressing this issue is that many people think that climate change is not going to affect them or their children. This is false, climate change is a global issue, and we are not going to be able to address the issue until everybody realizes that this issue will affect them.

 

Works Cited:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature#:~:text=The%20wet%2Dbulb%20temperature%20is%20the%20lowest%20temperature%20that%20can,C%20(130%20%C2%B0F).

 

Geothermal Sustainability. Advantages and Disadvantages

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Geothermal energy has become more popular in the past few decades as scientists race to find more sustainable forms of energy to fix the climate crisis. Countries like Iceland have been able to use their abundance of geothermal energy in order to power a large portion of their country. One of the many problems of other forms of energy like Solar power and wind power is that the amount of energy produced is based on the weather. You don’t get any power for wind turbines if there is no wind. And for solar power, you never get any power at night. This is one of the benefits of geothermal energy. There is essentially a limitless supply of energy in the earth’s core, however, it is not always coming out at the same rate. Financially, however, geothermal is quite effective. It is a large supply of energy that is just waiting to be harnessed. Perhaps one day we will figure out a way to harness geothermal energy more effectively, and it could be a better way of sustaining our planet.

 

Works Cited:

http://www.withouthotair.com/

 

The for Profit Prison System

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The United States has the largest prison population in the world. Despite being a developed country with countless resources to help the process of rehabilitation, the United States has created a policy of incarcerating people for crimes that many people find to be a problem of our society and not individuals. The war on drugs has been a prime example of this. The US has created a system where non-violent drug offenders can be sentenced to prison for a long time, despite having problems with addiction or mental illness. The problem is that many of the prisons in the United States are private, and designed to make money. When there is such an incentive to have people locked up in order to make money, people who otherwise would not be put in prison, are incarcerated for low-level offenses. This has created a system where people that grow up in low income neighborhoods, that are surrounded by drugs a violence, are extremely susceptible to being put in prison, simply because of the situation that they were born into. We know that people of color are much more likely to be incarcerated for the exact same crimes committed by white people, and this has created and even greater divide in our country.  This for-profit prison system has been one of the main contributors to the racial divide that we have seen in our country.

 

What's the deal with private prisons? | Jacqui Ford Law | Oklahoma City

 

Works Cited:

What’s the deal with private prisons?

Vegetable Oil as a Fuel Source for Cars

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Believe it or not, there are ways to run a car on energy sources that are not diesel or petroleum. As fossil fuel emissions have become the object of concern in the past few decades due to due climate change, people have been eager to find energy sources that are more sustainable than basic petroleum. They have recently discovered that it is possible to power a car on vegetable oil, which is a much more sustainable energy source than petroleum. Burning vegetable oil is known to be less toxic, and it “produces up to 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and particulates” (Choosesq.com). While vegetable oil is not a perfect solution to climate change, it makes you wonder what other renewable energy sources are possible. This is why we need to invest more money into innovation and invention, so that the brightest minds in the world can figure out ways to save the planet.

 

Works Cited:

https://choosesq.com/blog/how-to-run-a-car-on-vegetable-oil/#:~:text=It%20is%20possible%20to%20run,SeQuential%20for%20your%20biodiesel%20needs.

 

Deforestation and the Consequences

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Deforestation has become a serious problem in the past few decades. Forests around the world have been destroyed due to increased demands for lumber supply, as well as many other resources. Many people don’t know how important forests are to the ecosystem, however. Forests “help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air” as well as by “soaking up carbon dioxide” (worldwildlife.org). Recently, more attention has been placed on forests because of the raging wildfires that we saw in the Amazon rainforest as well as in Australia. It is essential that we maintain the integrity of our rainforests because it is the habitat for millions of animals, as well as a supplier of jobs for millions of people. Unfortunately “in the Amazon, around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years” (Worldwildlife.org). If this continues, a vital part of our ecosystem will be destroyed in the next centuries. When we talk about the huge amount of land that is being destroyed, many people have a difficult time visualizing exactly how much it is. To put it into perspective, “In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields’ worth of trees every single minute” (Worldwildlife.org). This is an incredibly large amount of land. By saving the forests, we are really saving ourselves. We need to put more emphasis on the conservation of resources and realize that although the earth is tenacious, we may do damage that is not reversible.

 

Works Cited:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation#:~:text=Deforestation%20is%20a%20particular%20concern,forest%20conversion%20for%20cattle%20ranching.

 

Water is Life

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Water is an essential part of the human experience. We are made of water. We use water to drink. We use water to clean. We use water to cook. We use water to bathe. In fact, the origins of life on earth stem from the water itself. Water is essential for life on earth, however, it is being jeopardized by the huge amounts of pollution that humans are creating. Companies and industries are particularly bad for producing waste that ends up in our water. This is a serious threat to human health. Unbelievably “Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined” (Denchak). While citizens of developed countries may not think twice about the water that they drink, and how they get it, citizens of developing countries are still at risk of being poisoned by unhealthy water. Many people believe that water is a basic human right. In my opinion, the fact that Americans use 5 times more than the global average is pretty sad. Access to water is a human rights issue as well. Another huge problem is that the vast majority of water on earth is not drinkable. Most of the water on earth is saltwater that cannot be used as a drinking source for humans and  “Less than 1 percent of the earth’s fresh water is actually accessible to us”. This means that the amount of freshwater that we have as a resource for the almost 8 billion people here on earth is very limited. While the human population continues to grow, eventually it will get to the point where there simply is not enough water for everyone on earth. This is a very depressing thought to me. I believe that developed counties have a responsibility to help provide developing countries with access to water. If the United States wants to be a great country, it must act like one.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know

 

Carbon Dioxide and its effects on Coral Reefs

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Carbon Dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas that has been at the center of political discussions surrounding Climate Change. As humans release more CO2 into the atmosphere, the “Greenhouse Effect” causes the earth’s temperature to rise, having devastating consequences for life on earth. While much of the CO2 stays in the atmosphere, a huge amount of the gas is absorbed into our oceans. This has terrible consequences for life on the seas. Coral Reefs have taken the brunt of this damage. Coral Reefs are dying at an increasing rate. This is a major problem because “Coral reefs specifically contribute to more than half of the oxygen our planet relies on, and these are vanishing at an unprecedented rate” (Gannon). This will have terrible consequences for other forms of life, as well as for humans. Unbelievably, “Over 2,838,240 acres of coral reef are lost every year, totaling an area 10x the size of New York City” (Gannon). This is a terrifying figure. Regardless of whether people want to admit that this is going to have terrible consequences for humans, it will. Human beings need to come to the realization that as a global community, we need to figure out a way to reduce the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.

 

Works Cited:

https://reefrevive.org/reefcrisis?gclid=CjwKCAjwi6WSBhA-EiwA6Niok3YkXou-JfFjIx84rGg6gZneWHDNWg3uVi8sPbKLgT9G9IlEY3fyBxoCjMkQAvD_BwE

 

 

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Hello! I am Ben Sawyer and I am Junior Political Science Major here at Union College. I love hiking with my dogs and exploring sandy beaches. My understanding of sustainability is that we need to sustain what we have. We need to make sure that the resources that are available to the current generations, will still be available for future generations. We don’t want to leave a world that is destroyed and depleted of all necessary resources. Climate change is something that could put this goal at risk.