A Little TOO ‘Inconvenient’?

Al Gore accepted the oscar during the Academy Awards with a speech that reiterates something he says in his documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’: “This is not a political issue, but a moral issue.”

Al Gore has certainly hit the spot light with his crusade to enlighten people about the looming danger of global warming. But not everyone is jumping on the green bandwagon and going out to buy solar panels, hybrid cars, and plant trees as a result of his movie.

The Christian Science Monitor calls ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ a ‘Docuganda’. From the Urban Dictionary:

"A film that uses documentary style to spread propaganda. Usually, docuganda will set out a premise and then attack any skeptics, rather than actually attempt to prove the case. The effect is that you either agree with the premise or you look like a fool. The word was specifically coined to refer to UFO "documentaries," ; such as "In Search Of," which provide anecdotal evidence for a phenomenon, draw a conclusion based on that evidence, and then attack any possible competing conclusions."

But you may argue, is that so wrong? So what if Al Gore’s documentary is one-sided? Sometimes, in order to correct social behaviour, you need to over-emphasize to get people to take action. It certainly seems to be working judging by the cultural influences it is having in North America.

How did ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ (AIT) affect you? Do you accept what it is telling you? Or is there more to the story? What should you believe?

Post on your blog:

1. How did you feel after seeing AIT?
2. Find 2 references that support AIT, and explain how they do (provide links).
3. Find 2 reference that criticize AIT, and explain why they do (provide links).
4. Do you think AIT is a docuganda?
   

Environmental News

Need a good website to find the latest environment and resource related news? The Environmental News Network (er, sorry, its the new Environmental News Network now) posts daily on stories from around the world on environment related topics. It even has a e-newsletter you can subscribe to, and organizes stories into 'channels' based on subject i.e. 'Animals & Ecosystems' or 'Energy & Natural Resources'. This website is an excellent resource for secondary sources when doing research.

One of today's stories for example is how Australia is now switching to a system that no longer allows incandescent light bulbs. The only light bulbs available for people to buy will be compact fluorescent light bulbs. This is an interesting move; Australia's environment minister Malcolm Turnbull states that this should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 800,000 tonnes by 2012. Despite this, Australia still shows no interest in signing up for the Kyoto protocol.

Did January Seem Warm to You?

Ok,
We all remember December. A 'Green Christmas' was on everyone's lips, and you could argue that the unseasonably warm weather we experienced before holidays was part of the reason that the environment and global warming has 'suddenly' become a major concern to the public.

But didn't all that warm weather suddenly end in January? Didn't we have a return to seasonal temperatures? Didn't temperatures actually go below the seasonal averages?

Perhaps locally it did, but gobally, last January was the warmest on record! This map shows that the greatest temperature anomalies occured mostly in Asia, which contributed to the above average global temperature.

Does this mean global warming is a fact? Perhaps there are other reasons for this warming trend? Read the article in the above link, and post your opinion on global warming. Also, what is the NOAA? And what is this 'Goldilocks Effect'?

Incentives? Where??

We’ve discussed this week the idea that in order to get people to change their lifestyles, they need to be ‘motivated’ using incentives or disincentives. So what incentives does our government currently offer us?

There are quite a few, actually! But the problem is that few people know about them. However, if you go to the following website: www.incentivesandrebates.ca, you can search through a database of all the current programs offered by the government of Ontario designed to help Canadians use more renewable sources, or less non-renewable sources.

1. Search the database for incentives and rebates currently offered in Ontario.

2. Pick 4 incentives that you think are particularly effective.

3. Summarize each program in a blog entry.

4. Explain what you like about each incentive, and what you think is particularly effective about them.

5. Be sure to include links to www.incentivesandrebates.ca, as well as to the incentives you chose so people who read your blog can find them for more information!

In addition, check out this article on how reducing consumption, and going green is starting to become 'trendy'!


Mr. Holmes

First Post

Welcome to Environment and Resource Management. This is a very exciting time to be taking this course, because the environment is a very hot topic in the news these days. It seems global warming is on the tip of everyone's tongue.

The conservative party and the liberal party are currently battling it out in the house of commons over who has the worst record on the environment. The conservatives contend that the liberals talked the talk for 7 years, but never actually walked the walk. The liberals, on the other hand, are accusing the conservatives of never even talking the talk!

Last week, over a 1000 scientists congregated in Paris, France as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and released an extremely grim report last Friday, February 2nd. The report states that we, humans, are very likely responsible for the change in our climate, and that climate change is not occuring due to natural circumstances.

The Kyoto protocol is a mere one year away from the beginning of the end of phase 1. Canada is legally bound by the Kyoto protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emmissions to less than 6% of what they were in 1990. Instead, we are currently sitting at 27% above 1990 levels. What will be the consequences of this?

A report released in November of 2006 predicted that all marine life in the oceans will collapse to extinction by 2048 due to overfishing, pollution, climate change and habitat loss.

On January 17, 2007, scientists moved the 'Doomsday clock' 2 minutes closer to midnight due to the increase in the use of nuclear fuel by countries around the planet. The idea behind the clock is that when the hand strikes twelve, the end will be upon us... by our own doing.

This course will endeavour to do a few things for you. One, teach you about the resources we use on our planet, their importance, and how we manage them. Second, to get you up on the current issues that are occuring even now as you read this. Third, to maybe.... just maybe... get you to consider your lifestyle choices and how they affect the planet, because after all, we're all in this together.

Mr. Holmes