"In 2009, China accounted for nearly a fifth of global primary energy use- a share similar to that of the United States, which has just one quarter of China's population."
In the beginning, this quote didn't come as much of a surprise to me, until I read the last third of it... "Oh, a similar primary energy share, that's expected", until you read that the United States population only makes up one quarter of China's. I knew that Americans were very wasteful when it came to energy and non-renewable resources, but this fact was extremely shocking. What I'm wondering is what Americans are using all of their energy on. I would be interested in seeing advances in China's energy versus that of America's, and differences in energy usage.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
An Inconvenient Conversation
Today I sat down with my parents to engage in a conversation about climate change and energy resources. Global Warming is a commonly discussed topic in our home, so it wasn't an unfamiliar conversation. We're always making efforts in our home to conserve wherever we can, and reduce our waste. In the past few years we have eliminated paper plates, paper napkins, plastic bags, we got a hybrid car, and we recycle. My parents are very invested in helping the environment every way possible.
After asking about the disconnect between science, and what politicians are doing my parents told me that politicians purposefully downplay the severity of global issues because they don't want to cause hysteria. "We've done things the way we have for so long that it's difficult to change. You have industries that are deep-rooted in practices that are not saving the environment at all, but they're so ingrained in our economy." Businesses are focused on profit, not on the environment or the future. They're primarily looking at their profit margin, and they're serving the shareholders; investors don't want to invest in a good future, they want to invest in making money as soon as possible.
Because my dad works on the UCSD campus he's exposed to the daily habits of a younger and supposedly brighter generation. He found it incredible how few people recycle, or even care about environmental issues. "Even when you're looking at the best and the brightest" he said, it's hard to find people that care. On the other hand, my mother works on the SDSU campus, where she says that recycling has taken a turn for the better. There are now recycling bins all over the campus; the medical center no longer uses medical capes and drapes, even though cloth is more expensive; and the cardboard that the medical center receives in their many shipments is now recycled, thanks to my mother.
We closed our discussion with the final question: What's the hardest thing about addressing the climate change? My fathers first answer came quickly: breaking down the wall of propaganda. Trying to make people believe that what's happening is real is the hardest part about making a change. In addition, everyone is stuck in the mindset that "I'm only one person", and that only one person won't make a difference. "You need a moral understanding of what's going on," said my mother "and you have to do what your conscience tells you to do." We're the ones that have to change, or it's not going to change at all. To turn our backs on what scientists are saying is ignorant. It's too much work for people to believe what's happening, because then they would have to make changes in their behavior.
After asking about the disconnect between science, and what politicians are doing my parents told me that politicians purposefully downplay the severity of global issues because they don't want to cause hysteria. "We've done things the way we have for so long that it's difficult to change. You have industries that are deep-rooted in practices that are not saving the environment at all, but they're so ingrained in our economy." Businesses are focused on profit, not on the environment or the future. They're primarily looking at their profit margin, and they're serving the shareholders; investors don't want to invest in a good future, they want to invest in making money as soon as possible.
Because my dad works on the UCSD campus he's exposed to the daily habits of a younger and supposedly brighter generation. He found it incredible how few people recycle, or even care about environmental issues. "Even when you're looking at the best and the brightest" he said, it's hard to find people that care. On the other hand, my mother works on the SDSU campus, where she says that recycling has taken a turn for the better. There are now recycling bins all over the campus; the medical center no longer uses medical capes and drapes, even though cloth is more expensive; and the cardboard that the medical center receives in their many shipments is now recycled, thanks to my mother.
We closed our discussion with the final question: What's the hardest thing about addressing the climate change? My fathers first answer came quickly: breaking down the wall of propaganda. Trying to make people believe that what's happening is real is the hardest part about making a change. In addition, everyone is stuck in the mindset that "I'm only one person", and that only one person won't make a difference. "You need a moral understanding of what's going on," said my mother "and you have to do what your conscience tells you to do." We're the ones that have to change, or it's not going to change at all. To turn our backs on what scientists are saying is ignorant. It's too much work for people to believe what's happening, because then they would have to make changes in their behavior.
Back to 1983 for a day
My day without modern technology wasn't going to be too difficult, seeing as I had already completely disconnected myself from my daily life... I was in Italy.
We woke up to the beautiful city of Venice that morning. We were going to be traveling to Florence and Siena that day, so after eating our hotel breakfast, we were all packed up and on a two hour train ride to Florence. I had my phone in case of an emergency, but unless I wanted to come home to angry parents and an enormous cell phone bill, I was prohibited from using it. There were never available televisions, but even if there were, we were always too busy to even care about our lack of TV entertainment. As easy as it was to go without most technology, we were traveling a lot that day, so this particular train ride was a quiet one without my iPod. To pass the time I ended up taking a much-needed nap, and I spent a while staring out the window as we rode through the hills of Tuscany.
We finally arrived in Florence, and after leaving our bags at a bag-check room in the train station, we walked to the Duomo, where Dominic then let us go do what we wanted. A group of friends and I decided to check out the inside of the Duomo, a cathedral with an extremely tall and intricately painted dome at the top. We decided that we wanted to hike the 467 steps to the top where we would be able to overlook all of Florence, but first we needed lunch. We went to a cute little restaurant where most of us ordered sandwiches. I had prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella on crunchy Italian bread. After powering up we were ready to begin our trek. By the time we got to the top we were extremely exhausted and a little freaked out, but the view was breathtaking. After spending some time at the top we decided to head back down for some gelato and a little bit of souvenir shopping. But soon it was time to leave for Siena.
After getting our bags from the train station we walked to the bus station where we began our one hour ride to Siena. Yet another hour spent traveling without use of my ipod. Once we arrived in Siena we checked into our hotel and went out for pizza. Our evening in Siena was then spent wandering around for a little bit, and playing bananagrams in the hotel.
Overall my no-technology day in Italy was a success. Although, there was one thing I used willingly and would do it again if I could, and that was my digital camera.
We woke up to the beautiful city of Venice that morning. We were going to be traveling to Florence and Siena that day, so after eating our hotel breakfast, we were all packed up and on a two hour train ride to Florence. I had my phone in case of an emergency, but unless I wanted to come home to angry parents and an enormous cell phone bill, I was prohibited from using it. There were never available televisions, but even if there were, we were always too busy to even care about our lack of TV entertainment. As easy as it was to go without most technology, we were traveling a lot that day, so this particular train ride was a quiet one without my iPod. To pass the time I ended up taking a much-needed nap, and I spent a while staring out the window as we rode through the hills of Tuscany.
We finally arrived in Florence, and after leaving our bags at a bag-check room in the train station, we walked to the Duomo, where Dominic then let us go do what we wanted. A group of friends and I decided to check out the inside of the Duomo, a cathedral with an extremely tall and intricately painted dome at the top. We decided that we wanted to hike the 467 steps to the top where we would be able to overlook all of Florence, but first we needed lunch. We went to a cute little restaurant where most of us ordered sandwiches. I had prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella on crunchy Italian bread. After powering up we were ready to begin our trek. By the time we got to the top we were extremely exhausted and a little freaked out, but the view was breathtaking. After spending some time at the top we decided to head back down for some gelato and a little bit of souvenir shopping. But soon it was time to leave for Siena.
After getting our bags from the train station we walked to the bus station where we began our one hour ride to Siena. Yet another hour spent traveling without use of my ipod. Once we arrived in Siena we checked into our hotel and went out for pizza. Our evening in Siena was then spent wandering around for a little bit, and playing bananagrams in the hotel.
Overall my no-technology day in Italy was a success. Although, there was one thing I used willingly and would do it again if I could, and that was my digital camera.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Possible essay intro
Your mouth begins to water, and you suddenly find it hard to focus on anything else. If you're female you're most likely craving sugar. If you're male you're most likely craving a more satisfying meal like pizza. Your craving is most likely caused by one of these two: low blood sugar, or low serotonin levels. INSERT THESIS HERE, more research requried.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Blue Gold Commentary
Water is the most abundant compound on Earth. It covers 70% of the Earth's surface, yet only 30% is safe to drink, and that number seems to be dwindling. The human body requires 1 to 7 liters of water per day to survive. And to think that humans have resorted to fighting over natural resources. The film Blue Gold was a wonderful depiction of the corruption behind the business of water.
Across the world we are polluting and drying out our natural sources of water. We are diminishing the supply from aquifers, drying out lakes, and sending fresh water to the ocean. One good example of our destruction is Owen's lake. What was once a large full lake is now a dry death zone because we were taking the water faster than it was able to replenish.
The government is particularly useless when it comes to issues with water. Developing countries have turned to massive cash crops, which are draining water supplies. In many countries tap water and indoor plumbing isn't even an option, and the people are left to resort to the disease ridden river water. In some countries in Africa bottled water is more expensive than Coca-Cola. On top of all that, big businessmen like George Bush are in the process of making plans to take from other natural sources, and switching business from oil to water.
Water has become so inaccessible and so expensive, at what point does it turn from a necessity into a luxury?
Across the world we are polluting and drying out our natural sources of water. We are diminishing the supply from aquifers, drying out lakes, and sending fresh water to the ocean. One good example of our destruction is Owen's lake. What was once a large full lake is now a dry death zone because we were taking the water faster than it was able to replenish.
The government is particularly useless when it comes to issues with water. Developing countries have turned to massive cash crops, which are draining water supplies. In many countries tap water and indoor plumbing isn't even an option, and the people are left to resort to the disease ridden river water. In some countries in Africa bottled water is more expensive than Coca-Cola. On top of all that, big businessmen like George Bush are in the process of making plans to take from other natural sources, and switching business from oil to water.
Water has become so inaccessible and so expensive, at what point does it turn from a necessity into a luxury?
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Annotated Bibliography Continued
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/comfort-food.html
Accessed: 2/23/11
This article was about comfort foods and their link to genders. While the majority of the males' favorite comfort food was pizza, soup, and ice cream, women preferred ice cream, chocolate, and cookies. They go more into detail about gender preferences when it comes to comfort food, and basic trends in comfort food and the emotions associated with it.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100517172300.htm
Accessed: 2/23/11
This article talked about cravings, and why people have such strong cravings for specific foods. After reading this I'm actually starting to think about narrowing my broad topic of "The Psychology of Food" to food cravings, why we crave food, and it's effects on our bodies.
Accessed: 2/23/11
This article was about comfort foods and their link to genders. While the majority of the males' favorite comfort food was pizza, soup, and ice cream, women preferred ice cream, chocolate, and cookies. They go more into detail about gender preferences when it comes to comfort food, and basic trends in comfort food and the emotions associated with it.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100517172300.htm
Accessed: 2/23/11
This article talked about cravings, and why people have such strong cravings for specific foods. After reading this I'm actually starting to think about narrowing my broad topic of "The Psychology of Food" to food cravings, why we crave food, and it's effects on our bodies.
QQC
Cart A La Carte
"Such problems suggest that street food will fade in importance as the world becomes more affluent: the unsanitary brown stalls in Manila will be replaced by clean, brightly colored enterprises hearing the globally recognizable logos of McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, and Yoshinoya."
While this article is about the importance and relevance of street vendors, here they point out that the appeal and marketing of fast-food will run out the local foods. It's interesting how small differences in advertising, location, word-of-mouth, and aesthetics will make or break a business. It's sad to me that the local businesses are suffering due to cheap, processed food. I think it might be interesting to do further research on the marketing of foods/ food businesses, and it might also be interesting to research why people still hang on so tightly to their traditions when it comes to food.
"Such problems suggest that street food will fade in importance as the world becomes more affluent: the unsanitary brown stalls in Manila will be replaced by clean, brightly colored enterprises hearing the globally recognizable logos of McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, and Yoshinoya."
While this article is about the importance and relevance of street vendors, here they point out that the appeal and marketing of fast-food will run out the local foods. It's interesting how small differences in advertising, location, word-of-mouth, and aesthetics will make or break a business. It's sad to me that the local businesses are suffering due to cheap, processed food. I think it might be interesting to do further research on the marketing of foods/ food businesses, and it might also be interesting to research why people still hang on so tightly to their traditions when it comes to food.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)