I am skipping the one due 8 February for the moment --we are supposed to take the "Ecological Footprint" quiz on myfootprint.org. I want to devote my full attention to it, so let me get the next entry out of the way.

We are supposed to reflect on the National Geographic Strange Days series --episode 2 --"The One Degree Factor".

In class of late we have been focusing on how just a one degree Celsius increase in temperature can radically change the world. This is a frightening concept as we are currently faced with a warming world.

"The One Degree Factor" focused on changes in habitats both positive and negative due to changes in temperature. Most interesting I thought was the investigation into the increase in asthma related illnesses and diseases affecting the fan coral in the Caribbean. They linked these with Sahara dust blown over from Africa. Though this dust had been blowing over the Atlantic for millennia, there was suddenly a wealth problems. The search took us to Lake Chad in Nigeria, where the lake is now 1/20 of the size it used to be. Fishing and pleasure boats rested forgotten in the sands of a newly arid land. Then, because of the warming of the Indian Ocean and also an increased build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere, the North Atlantic Oscillation has become stuck in its intense phase for the last twenty years. This all means that more dust is blowing over to the Americas and blowing for longer periods than before.

There are many, I think, who don't believe that what they do matters anywhere else, and that what others do is someone else's problem. This episode showed me that now, more than ever, we have to think as a global community. If you have anyone in your life who seems to eschew helping the environment, sit them down in front of "Strange Days". tell them there will be a quiz after.