Ships in Desert

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Ships in Desert

• ---- A topic of Global warming

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A strategic topic Environmental Crisis What
has happed to our earth? How could that
happened ? What is the way out ?
We were anchored in what used to be the most
productive fishing site in all of central
Asia Where there should have been gentle green
waves, there was nothing but hot dry sand --- as
far as I could in all directions. The Aral
disappeared ten years ago
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Cool
hot
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Figure 2. Satellite image of deforestation in the
Amazon region, taken from the Brazilian state of
Para on July 15, 1986. The dark areas are forest,
the white is deforested areas, and the gray is
re-growth. The pattern of deforestation spreading
along roads is obvious in the lower half of the
image. Scattered larger clearings can be seen
near the center of the image.
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Photograph by Roger Ressmeyer Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis

Throngs of people enjoy the midday air in Beijing. Chinas birthrate continues to climb despite rigorous government family planning policies.

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Understanding the text

• Underlying causes of Environmental crisis
• Global Warming / Greenhouse Effect
• CO2 from Power Plants
• CO2 Dioxide Emitted from Cars Ozone
  depletion
• trucks/ airplanes/ buildings
• GHGS Methane /Nitrous oxide The loss
  of living species
• Carbon in Atmosphere and Ocean
• Deforestation

Population explosion over reliance on
Science and technology
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Local or global?

• Puzzling responses to the signals (p.33)
• Some images startle us into immediate action
• Some others produce instead a kind of paralysis
• Al Gores illustration by citing military
  examples
• Local skirmishes
• Regional battles
• Strategic conflicts

local
regional

• Water/air pollution, illegal waste dumping
• Acid rain, contamination of underground aquifers,
  large oil spills
• Local and regional problems occurring
  simultaneously all over the world

global
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Threats on Global ecosystem

• Examples (p34)
• Increased levels of chlorine disturb the global
  process of atmosphere regulation
• Increase in heat seriously threatens the global
  climate equilibrium
• Great effect on the location and pattern of human
  society

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Dominant cause human civilization

• Reshaped the earth surface
• Concrete in our cities
• Croplands in the countryside
• Over use of science and technology
• Business
• Industries
• Chemical application
• Nuclear power
• Gene engineering

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• Explosion of population
• From the beginning of humanitys appearance to
  1945 2 billion people (ten thousand generations)
• In the course of one human life (1945-2006) 6.477
  billion people

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• The scientific and technological revolution
• Important discoveries
• Over exploration of natural resources
• Nuclear arms race
• Inappropriate use of nuclear power station

Examples and illustration by the students
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Whats our relationship with ecosystem?

• To see ourselves as part of a complex system
• What if we rediscovered our relationship with
  nature?
• What if we tried treating all creatures in a
  brotherly-sisterly manner
• What if we felt the spirit of sharing
• What if we exercise the spirit of freedom
• What if we live a simple life

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Global warming
Predicted effects 1 Effects on ecosystems 2
Impact on glaciers 3 Miniature rock glaciers
4 Destabilization of ocean currents 5
Environmental refugees 6 Spread of disease
7 Financial effects 8 Biomass production
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Al Gores lifelong effort to
                                                                        
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The old questions

• What do you expect by reading this topic?
• travel notes
• scientific argument
• political appeal
• What have you learned after reading?
• Do you believe what Gl Gore says? why
• Are you for or against his theory? Why?

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depend on how you read

• How to read creatively
• Purpose of reading
• What youve brought to the reading
• Your attitude of reading
• Never take for granted

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• Atomic Bomb--- is it necessary?
• Global warming --- is it real?
• Interactive life --- is it desirable or not?

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Follow up with

• Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" Movie Fact or
  Hype?
• Stefan Lovgrenfor National Geographic News
• Updated May 25, 2006
• The message in An Inconvenient Truth, the new
  movie starring former U.S. Vice President Al
  Gore, is clear Humans are causing global
  warming, and the effects are devastating.

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• Most scientists agree that the Earth is heating
  up, due primarily to an atmospheric increase in
  carbon dioxide caused mainly by the burning of
  fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum.

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Different voices

• Gorey Truths 25 Inconvenient Truths for Al
  GoreWritten By Iain MurrayPublished In
  National Review OnlinePublication Date June 22,
  2006Publisher National Review
• Abstract  Iain Murray, a senior fellow at the
  Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes a
  devastating critique of the new movie, "An
  Inconvenient Truth," featuring Al Gore, and its
  companion book. Murray says Gore "leaves out many
  truths that are inconvenient for his argument,"
  and goes on to list and document 25 facts that
  contradict Gore's alarmist depiction of future
  climate change.gt Download full text

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Global Warming's Real Inconvenient Truth By
Robert J. Samuelson Wednesday, July 5, 2006 Page
A13 "Global warming may or may not be the great
environmental crisis of the next century, but --
regardless of whether it is or isn't -- we won't
do much about it. We will (I am sure) argue
ferociously over it and may even, as a nation,
make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to
avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful
these commitments seem, the less likely they are
to be observed. Little will be done. . . . Global
warming promises to become a gushing source of
national hypocrisy.'' More
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Why Politicized Science is Dangerous?

• After graduating from the Harvard Medical
  School, Michael Crichton embarked on a career as
  a writer and filmmaker. Called "the father of the
  techno-thriller," his novels include The
  Andromeda Strain, Congo, Jurassic Park , and
  State of Fear. He has also written four books of
  non-fiction, including Five Patients, Travels,
  and Jasper Johns.

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State of Fear Why Politicized Science is
Dangerous?

• Imagine that there is a new scientific theory
  that warns of an impending crisis, and points to
  a way out. This theory quickly draws support
  from leading scientists, politicians and
  celebrities around the world. Research is funded
  by distinguished philanthropies, and carried out
  at prestigious universities. The crisis is
  reported frequently in the media. The science is
  taught in college and high school classrooms. I
  dont mean global warming. Im talking about
  another theory, which rose to prominence a
  century ago. The theory was eugenics, and its
  history is so dreadful,ultimately, leading to the
  deaths of millions of people.

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• ICT and hypertext have helped to redefine reading
  as a highly creative act, a journey of personal
  discovery that involves the reader in an intimate
  relationship with the text that brings to it
  meaning and life. This relationship is private
  but it can also be shared through book groups or
  more informal 'book talk.'

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But one thing is definite the global ecosystem
is threatened. What are causes? What s our
attitude?
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About Al Gore

                                

                                          
       Robert Reeder The Washington Post
During the impeachment and trial of President
Clinton in 1998 and early 1999, Gore stood by the
president while criticizing his conduct.
Gallery Front Post Series
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...and two terms in the U.S. Senate.