Week 13 Blog Post

What did you do in lab?

    -  This week in lab we learned the difference between climate and weather. Climate is what temperature you expect to occur in a certain area and is determined by what the average weather is measured over thirty years. On the other hand, weather is the temperatures that you get day to day. We also analyzed multiple graphs in order to come up with a statement based upon the earth's climate. Some of the graphs showed that we are having a higher number of frost free days, we are using the furnace less, we are having more precipitation, longer growing seasons, etc. These all show the intensity of climate change and how it is continuing to become worse as the years go on. 

What did you learn in lecture?

    -  This week in lecture I learned that the public is 50/50 on whether or not climate change is real. This may be due to the fact that there are "trusted" sources, such as the Climate Depot, that are telling them, "No warming for 18 years 5 months". While this is misinformation that is being given in various articles, I learned that 99.9% of studies are in agreement that climate change is being caused by humans. Something else I learned is that there are five factors in explaining why some regions have a climate that is hot and some have a climate that is cold. These factors are latitude, ocean currents, wind and air masses, elevation, and relief. I also learned about the currents in the water and that they will get slower as the water gets warmer. Lastly, I learned that when water freezes it expands, but it also expands when ice melts. 

Textbook Questions:

1. What did you learn?

        -     Something that I learned while reading the textbook are the consequences of climate change specifically related to the state of Iowa. One of these consequences is a large increase in the amount of precipitation we are going to receive, which will lead to rising water levels and eventually flooding. The other consequence mentioned is that we will have more drought than before that will greatly impact our agriculture.

2. What was most helpful?

        -     Something that I found helpful from the textbook reading was all of the different graphs that showed the affects of climate change. For example, the graph that showed a calendar with the number of 90 degree days in the years 1976-2005, and then multiple calendars that showed the number of 90 degree days predicted in the year 2050. The first graph showed 23 days per year, while the predicted number of days in 2050 is 67 days. I feel that it is helpful to have a visual of this data as it can be hard to fully understand without one.

3. What do you need more information on?

        -     Some I need more information on is the habitat changes that are occurring with climate change. It explained that these habitat changes will impact where certain plants are able to grow and because of this, living things will have to learn how to adapt to these changes in order to survive. I would like to know more on exactly what these adaptations will have to be and how much this will impact the human population.

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

        -     Based on what we have learned so far and by looking at all the charts with collected data, it is very clear that with how climate change is going right now, it is going to have a huge impact on our population and we need to make adjustments to our day to day lives if we want to make a change.