Minh Dang

Biology II
Global Warming Lecture at Botanical Garden
Dr. Steven Jacksons resentation dislayed that !arth is al"ays changing
and that the e#ects o$ global "arming should be looked at. %here "as a steady
increase o$ carbon dio&ide levels since the '()*s and the trend seems to be linear
and about to turn e&onential. +e addressed that !arths climate and temeratures
change "hich can also change the environment. !arth is also a lanet o$ ,doom- as
natural bottlenecks occur and huge losses o$ communities come natural. .limate
change is eisodic and rarely smooth. !arth undergoes eriodic temerature shi$ts
and he believes "e are in the middle o$ one right no". !stablished oulations "ill
continue to ersist in adverse climate changes. /dation "ill occur and secie
interactions "ill lay a ma0or role in the dynamics o$ the changing "orld. !arth is a
lanet o$ survivors "here secie range greatly outnumbers e&tirations. Biodiversity
loss is more like cause by destruction and trans$ormation by humans than by
natural climate changes.
Dr. 1atty 1arkers resentation "as about the e#ects o$ health and human
oulation $rom the climate changes. She e&lained the ossibility o$ malaria
becoming a ma0or issue in regions "here it "as not an issue be$ore. 1eole in richer
arts o$ the "orld "ill have a bit o$ a anic "hen it hits then as they "ould not kno"
ho" to deal "ith it. She believes that these eole "ill in the end have a better
chance at 2ghting the disease because o$ their 2nancial and economic situations.
3egions that are o$ten a#ected by malaria are usually the southern hemishere and
those regions are the ones that are considered oorer. %he oorer nations "ill have
to deal "ith more health roblems as the situation "orsens. %hey "ill not have the
means to combat these issues. /$rica4 India and South !ast /sia "ill be the hardest
hit regions. %he 5orthenr +emishere is actually mostly resonsible $or these
climate changes and she urges that they take resonsibility $or it. !ven though
there "ill not be a signi2cant change in the northern hemishere it "ill hit everyone
else very hard. Since "e have the technology and the climate advantage "e should
begin to take care o$ others.
Dr. Lea63achel 7osniks resentation "as ho" the economic situation cannot
be redicted as o$ no". Some economists argue that climate change is occurring
no" "hile and action must be taken "hile others say that climate change is
occurring but at a rather slo" and unremarkable rate. 8ne side says that lans
should be resented and carried out in order to sto the markets $rom crashing. %he
other side dismisses that idea and rooses that markets should not "orry and
continue to roduce as normal. %here are t"o economic imlications. !conomic
imlication number one states that i$ climate changes $ast4 the markets "ill not
have enough time to adat and a crash "ill occur. I$ climate change is gradual4 the
ad0usted costs "ill rise4 but "ill be lo"er than i$ the oosite had haened.
!conomic imlication number t"o is that the rich "ill ultimately do better than the
oor. %he 5orthern hemishere countries "ill be able to coe "ith the ne" changes.
%he changes may a#ect the living conditions a bit but overall4 everything "ill stay
the same as it had be$ore. 1oor countries may "ant to become rich by using "hat
they can and ollute to become industriali9ed. What usually haens is that once a
oor country becomes rich they "ill soon become environmentally $riendly. %hat is
"hat haened in the :nited States and !uroe. .hina is no" on the rise.
Dr. David 3obertsons resentation "as about olitics and climate change.
Many eole "ill "ant to make legislations and 2ght $or o;ce o"ers. /lso he
resented the di#erent vie"s o$ global "arming $rom around the "orld. %he :nited
States seems to be the least "orried o$ nations that are concerned about the
environment. :S reublicans also vie" that climate change and global "arming are
not as imortant as the democrats. /lso eole "ith religious vie"s are less likely to
vie" climate change as an imortant $actor.