Month: April 2020

1. The debate or controversy that I am writing about is how we need do to save this river, by government or individuals?
2. The Debate in this Topic is on government and watershed organization are helping to save the river, but those policies are not enough, also the government need to afford the tremendous money that will bring them an economics stress overload, we might deal this situation in a natural or being volunteer to help.

Flavelle, Christopher. “E.P.A. Is Letting Cities Dump More Raw Sewage Into Rivers for Years to Come.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/climate/epa-sewage-rivers.html.

Fragoso, Alejandro Davila. “Toxic Pollution Is Still Seeping Into The Anacostia River.” ThinkProgress, 29 Mar. 2016, archive.thinkprogress.org/toxic-pollution-is-still-seeping-into-the-anacostia-river-58ceebcf5022/.

Ryan, Kate. “DC Grant Aims to Bulk up Mussel Count in Anacostia River.” WTOP, 9 Aug. 2019, wtop.com/dc/2019/08/more-mussels-to-be-reintroduced-to-anacostia-river/.

3. In this debate, I think/believe/argue this situation need a smarter way or a group power, the government is dealing this in a slow way
4. My position is important because it helps us understand/know that due to Christopher’s article, that their way to building a channel to store sewage is way too expensive, and it’s a financial changeling, at this point, volunteering is another power to help effectively.

In this op-ed, the author stated that the coronavirus problem will really give a bad influence on the climate environment because many cities and states take the money from the climate environment to preventing coronavirus.

I think this is an op-ed because, in this article, the author stated his opinion is that people shouldn’t only care coronavirus, we also need to care about the climate and environment. This is also a very serious problem. The author used many logos and ethos to convince the audience. He posted data about how much money that the environment project loses because of Coronavirus in San Francisco. “San Francisco expects a budget shortfall of as much as $1.7 billion because of the virus” He also said, “experts warned, even if climate change is not at the forefront of the public’s attention.” and let readers start to pay attention to how serious this problem is.

A critical article I found in the New York Times is “A crash course on climate change, 50 years after the first Earth Day”. The author discusses that the world is warming dangerously, and human beings are the cause of this problem. Today’s inaction will have a profound impact on the future of the earth.
Reporters at the Times’s Climate desk answered a series of big questions:
How serious is climate change now? How can we stop fossil fuel emissions? Is my job important…

And  for why I think it’s an op-ed, it is because the author expresses his opinions clearly and persuasively in these columns, which may affect millions of people, swing their minds, change their minds, and even change public policy. The author used some ways of Q & A to attract the audience and increase their sense of substitution. The author uses detailed logic and evidence to prove his point of view on each subdivided question, and the author will answer the question directly and throw out his point of view.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/19/climate/climate-crash-course-4.html

1. The debate or controversy that I am writing about is “Will COVID-19  have a lasting impact on the environment?”
2. The Debate in this Topic is on COVID-19 and climate change: Both of them threaten people’s lives and health.

Mona Sarfaty & Richard Carmona, “COVID-19 and climate change: What can we learn about saving lives?”. THE HILL, April 11, 2020. https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/492352-covid-19-and-climate-change-what-can-we-learn-about-saving-lives

Renee Cho, “What Can We Learn From COVID-19 to Help With Climate Change?”. March 26, 2020. https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/03/26/covid-19-lessons-climate-change/

Martha Henriques, “Will Covid-19 have a lasting impact on the environment?”, BBC. March 27, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment

3. In this debate, I think we should tackle climate change is like facing COVID-19 now.

4. My position is important because it helps us understand that college students should also pay attention to and understand the impact and knowledge of climate change.

The debate that I am writing about is the impact of the COVID 19-influenced societal changes. With questions lingering regarding the connection of human activities and the virus, controversy has arisen on whether the temporary lockdown and halting of various activities contribute to positive impacts on the environment. The Debate in this Topic is on whether the halting of many human-related activities such as manufacturing and use of vehicles reduces global warming and climate change (Bayeh& Alemayehu, 2019). It is factual that human activities cause changes in the environment given the connection that has been established between carbon emissions and global warming, as argued by (Crist, 2020). (Summarize some of the major positions in the debate in a couple of sentences. Klare (2020) also notes that scientists agree that human activities are the major contributors to the environmental issues that are associated with climate change, hence the view that a reduction of some of their activities will contribute to a positive impact on the environment. In this debate, I believe that it is important to take note of the role that emissions related to human activities play on the environmental change issue witnessed. Global warming is a reality that requires that people take drastic measures, which is the justification of the argument that the temporary lockdown due to COVID 19 will help provide the earth a chance to ‘heal’. My position is important because it helps us understand the connection that exists between human activities and environmental degradation that is becoming a major concern.

 

 

References

Bayeh, B., & Alemayehu, M. (2019). Scientific Community Debates on Causes and Consequences of Global Warming. Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, 4(1).

Crist, M. (2020). Opinion | What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change … Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html

Klare, M. (2020). Rethinking Our Relationship to the Natural World After Covid-19. Global Trends, 5, 00.

COVID-19 has changed our lives. The economic activity stagnates as people’s movements are restricted. The restrictions on movement have reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It is prominent that air quality in the major cities across the world has improved. Then, can this be seen as a positive effect on the environment? Some argue that COVID-19 is rather harmful to the environment. Compare to similar significant events in the past, it has not been long-term effects on the climate change issue. During the periods of the economic downturn, such as the 2008 financial crises, scientists witnessed a similar pattern pf greenhouse gas reduction. However, it did not lasts long. Another reason why some argue that COVID-19 is negative because COVID-19 produced more garbage. More than 20 cities in China are suffering from overflowing medical waste. Waste from Wuhan, China, has quadrupled, which is equivalent to 200 tons a day. Also, as more people are staying home, more people would use more electricity and gas, which will lead to an increase in energy usage. Lastly, while global attention was focused on COVID-19, discussions on climate change were pushed out of the priority list. The United Nations climate change conference has been postponed due to COVID-19. We still do not know if the COVID-19 incident will have a positive or negative impact on climate change, but we may be able to change our lives in ways that are less destructive to the environment.

The issue of COVID19 has caused major changes in daily operations. One of the changes that people continue to experience is the fact that a significant number of industries remain shut amid concerns that the spread will continue with continued physical interactions. While this may not be regarded to have a significant impact on the environment, it is important to consider the nature of the changes that have been experienced so far. One of the most overlooked factors is that a significant part of the industries that are currently not in operation was among the largest producers of carbon. These emissions have been halted by the directive to have people stay at home. With this change, it is apparent that there are fewer emissions each day, which reduces the amount of carbon that is released into the atmosphere.

Yet another factor that has often been considered as minor is the drastic reduction in the number of vehicles in operations. It is noteworthy that these vehicles also consume fuel that releases a lot of carbon emissions. The fact that roads are presently free from these vehicles is yet another point of reduction of the contributors to the factors that degrade the environment. While many people may argue against the connection, it is apparent that with the continued slowing down of operation, the earth is given a chance to heal, which will help in influencing a change in climatic balance in the near future.

What the Coronavirus Means for Climate Change by Meehan Crist. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html

The article discusses the impact of lockdowns and social distancing in relation to the environment. It asserts that while the changes may not have a significant impact on global warming, it offers the world a chance to operate in a more environment-friendly way. The article features the opinion of an expert in the field and utilizes a persuasive language, which is part of the key properties of an op-ed. It is also apparent from the initial phrase that it is meant to arrest attention, as the sentence is used as a hook.

Yesterday, Earth Day 2020, was the 50th anniversary of the holiday and the signing of the Paris agreement which in turn fueled the beginnings of climate action on our planet. Environmentalism, arguably the most successful social movement in modern history, has a lot of work to do. According to the United Nations Emissions Gap Report in 2019, global CO2 emissions must fall, and continue to fall, by 7.6% each year in order for our planet to keep global heating under 1.5 degrees Celsius. As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world are now reflecting on the environmental impacts of our everyday life as we step away. “The pandemic is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of humans and the planet in the face of global-scale threats.” Scientists have statistically proven relationships between the health of our planet and the health of the flora and fauna in the present area – the better we take care of our planet, the fewer things like COVID-19 occur. In 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, people all around the world were outraged by smog, oil spills, pollution, and animal rights issues. 20 million people took to the streets, protesting the lack of legislative action towards environmental policy – eventually pressuring governments across the globe to begin establishing environmental agencies and laws. The events leading to the founding of Earth Day in 1970, really show the power of what can really happen when people come together and speak up about a problem they care about. It is hoped that everyone took the time yesterday to stop and appreciate the beauties of the natural world around us and maybe even consider taking larger action in an effort to protect the environment.

The audience of Wired is typically the younger generation, and most likely with higher education. One of the main stories on the front page is how to be able to vote during the pandemic, which goes with a younger college audience that I believe would be on the more liberal side. The purpose is to keep the audience up to date with what’s going on not only in the US but also in other countries, so the audience isn’t just US citizens.