Climate Change Video

1   These are the questions I had to answer for part of my lab this week.                                                    This is the link where you can find climate change videos. 

 http://www.google.com/landing/cop15/

• Title of video, speaker name 
• The main topic (theme) of the video (2 points) 
• Ten main points the narrator addresses (5 points) 
• Descriptions of two solutions for climate change addressed in the video. Please really describe.This will take at least three sentences for each one. Remember, a description is not the same as a definition. (4 points) 
• An explanation in your own words of how climate change is related to species extinction. This will take at least four sentences. (4 points) 
• Does knowing something about the history of Climate Change policy (by watching HHMI Climate Change: How Do We Know We're Not Wrong?) help you think critically about this topic? Why or why not? Give a specific example. (5 points)

.  1.The title of the video I watched was Saving North American Wildlife in a Warmer World with Rick Ridgeway. 

2    2.       The main topic of the video is how we can save the North American Wildlife and the fact that they are in danger from loss of their natural habitats and migration routes.

3    3.       A.  In North America thousands of animals migrate on routes to find safe havens from predators, places to bred, find food and find shelter from the environment.

B.  Even animals who don’t migrate need area to roam and find suitable mates and food.

C.  As exemplified by the wolverine in the video animals need a large area to roam and they can roam much larger than we ever had thought before.

D.  Prong horns and other animals face dangers from human developments.  The prong horns for example get stuck in rancher’s barb wire fences because they have evolved to run fast they cannot maneuver over such obstacles.

E.  Man-made climate change has negatively impacted migration routes as well.  Animals have to go higher to find cooler conditions.

F.  The video suggests almost all animals may go in our time we will get stuck with the weed species that are highly adaptable to change.  Examples are rodents, roaches, pigeons and crows.  If we don’t do something the suggested forecast may come true.

G.  If we maintain our current use of carbon output it is predicted that many habitable areas for animals will diminish.

H.  One way to help is protect wildlife corridors where animals are able to spread and roam freely, in a set area.  If these areas are protected then it improves the chances of survivability greatly for these animals.

I.  Building strategic overpasses and under passes in highways and places that humans have developed can help animals cross safely and migrate around without much interference.

J.  We need to come together as a group to find wildlife corridors, allocate funds and help these animals find safe migration patterns.  This will not only the animals, but ourselves so we can enjoy these species and there would be less accidents on the highway so the animals can cross safely in these areas.

4.  A.  One solution to help protect animal migration patterns is to build natural over passes/underpasses at natural corridors.  For example animals coming off a mountain path will come across a highway on their way to get over this particularly mountain range.  If there was a natural overpass in that area the animals could safely cross it and there would less danger to them and humans.  This issue has been caused by human development in their natural migration routes.

     B.  Another suggest solution is to cut our carbon emissions so we stop warming the atmosphere.  Many animals are effected by the increase in atmospheric temperature forcing them to climb higher and higher to get cooler or find other areas to get cooler.  While the video did suggest a direct solution it instead implies we all need to do our part and reduce carbon emissions as a whole to help protect these animals.

5.   I think that climate change is causing/going to cause the extinction of most animals on this planet.  Animals have adapted to their environments for millions of years, and as such have grown accustomed to it.  Humans have begun increasing the temperature rapidly over the past hundred years more than ever causing the atmosphere to heat up.  Animals who adjust to changes over time relatively slowly cannot adapt to these rapid changes in warmth and environment alterations.  My biggest example would be the polar bears, because I am quite fond of bears, their environment is literally melting around them forcing them out of natural habitats.  They are forced into an ever shrinking environment, shortage of food, smaller hunting grounds and overall they cannot adapt fast enough to survive.  If we continue to warm the planet then they will become extinct and so will thousands of other species unable to adapt to the change.

6.  I think it just reinforces the fact we are the cause more.  For the past 5o years or so our presidents and other key figures have been talking about climate change and we haven’t listened as a country or as a species.  It is just startling to see how long we have known about this problem and how little we have done about it.  Nixon, Ford, Kennedy and others all talked about the dangers of atmospheric heating and disruption we are causing to the environment.  We need to start thinking as a whole to ensure our survival and the survival of the animals we share the planet with.