Week 12: Before the Flood / Climate Change

 

Week 12: Climate Change

·       Week 12: Climate Change

·       What did you do in lab?

We discussed the Before the Flood video and what we learned from it. The main point of the video was to educate us about the effects of climate change and the current reality of it. One of the major issues is that it is hard to make policy changes because everyone needs to be on board with it. This is a challenge because it is a worldwide problem, so there are a lot of people involved. One question that I would like to know more about is if the predictions from the video have come true. Since this video was released in 2016, I would like to learn more about updates since the video was released.

We also looked at data for rainfall in a specific region of Iowa. We used this data to predict if this affects goldfinches. We concluded that goldfinches are negatively affected by the changing climate in Iowa. Here is our data from the “Drake” region of Iowa:

A white board with black writing on it AI-generated content may be incorrect.

·       What was the big question?

The big question we discussed was: What are the national and local effects of climate change?

·       What did you do in Thursdays discussion?

These are my notes from Thursday’s discussion:

Climate vs weather

·       Meteorologists often say that climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.

·       Climate is a 30-year average

·       Weather is day to day

Climate

·       Why do some regions have a hot climate and others cold?

·       Factors that influence climate:

o   Latitude (relation to equator)

o   Ocean currents (temperate of ocean current affects the temperature of air that passes over it)

o   Wind and air masses (an air mass is a large volume of air that takes on the climatic conditions of the area where it is found

o   Elevation (the higher the altitude, the colder the temperature. As the air rises it expands because of the lower air pressure. As the air expands, it cools.)

o   Relief (precipitation created when an air mass rises to cross a mountain barrier. An adiabatic process is one in which no heat is gained or lost by the system.)

o   Near water (In the summer the water acts like an air conditioner to keep the air temperatures cool. In the winter, water acts like a heater to keep the temperatures from getting too cold. Continental climate = away from water. Maritime Climate = close to water)

Goldfinches in Iowa

·       Goldfinches are in danger in Iowa.

·       Other extinctions are on the rise more than they ever have been in earth history

Iowa Climate Change

·       On a local level, the state of Iowa has seen an upward trend in the number of days that experience more than 1.25 inches of rainfall

·       There has been an increase in extreme weather events across the United States

·       Local climate change can negatively impact crop production and degrade the quality of water

 

·       Read the online textbook chapter 2. 

Week 12: Before the Flood – Earth Space Science Elementary Methods II

o   What did you learn?

One thing I learned from the textbook chapter are the effects of the 2008 flood on the University of Iowa. I did not know that we are still rebuilding parts of campus and seeing the effects today. Some of the buildings that were affected were Hancher auditorium, Mayflower, Voxman, and the Stanely Museum of Art. After this extreme weather event, the University made some changes to make the buildings safer from floods. A misconception that some people have is that climate change is not affecting the Midwest, and it only affects states that are on the coast. Learning about the effects of climate at the University of Iowa, helped me understand how it is affecting the Midwest.

o   What was most helpful?

Something that was especially helpful to me was reading the section about what we can do to make a positive impact on climate change. It would be interesting and insightful to calculate my carbon footprint. This would help me be more mindful of my everyday habits that may be harming the planet. Another point that was helpful was educating ourselves about climate events. This is something that anyone can do and is an easy, simple step we can take towards making a difference.

o   What do you need more information on?

Something I need more information on is the effects of climate change in other states. It was very interesting and relevant to learn about Iowa since it is where we live. I would be interested to learn more about other states as well.

·       What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?

I do not have any further questions or comments. 


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