Science Assignment 1

1) The environment-
a) Climate Change is changes in regional climate characteristics. It is important to Americans because they fear that if action is not taken, then the world will result in global instability. Climate change includes the temperatures whether average or daily weather pattern at daytime and nighttime. This topic also includes humidity, precipitation, air pressure and winds. Also, climate change includes storm events (recording of the type, average number per year, and seasonal patterns of them). Climate change can occur in a butterfly effect to global warming. Some circumstances that can occur are some areas getting wetter, and some getting drier. Other situations that could occur are increases in severe weather events (i.e. like killer heat waves, hurricanes, and hail storms)

b) Global Warming is a warming of the entire planet, with the basis of the average temperature of the entire surface. Humans are causing greenhouse gas levels to increase quickly, so the temperature is rising faster than it normally would. This warming can lead to the melting of glaciers and ice caps. This would cause some resources to be lost since they supply a fairly large portion of the fresh water used for drinking and irrigation. Another effect could be the rise in sea levels which can put some places underwater, and coastal area having more storm damage. **Ways to cut the greenhouse gases that are used:
- Move closer to work/ use other modes of transportation (i.e. biking, walking, scooters, cycling, or car pull or use the bus)
- Reuse/Consume less
- Stop cutting down so many trees ( just in the tropics alone, timber harvesting puts 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere) + balance the trees cut down with planting new trees - Unplug (humans use more electrical power with the appliance turned off than on)

2) Nuclear Weapons-U.S.-India nuclear agreement- this agreement will end a 30 year ban on sales of nuclear fuel/technology. This ban was constituted because India tested/developed a nuclear bomb. The supporters of this agreement say that it will form a lasting alliance between the United States and the world’s largest democracy.
*They think this is right and yet it goes against George Washington’s farewell address which they may have heard but not everyone seemed to be listening.

3) Ramifications of off-shore drilling-
a. Oil Spills
b. Produced water- water that is produced along with oil and gas
c. Costly effects of removing the oil platforms- “clean-sea approach”- $621 billion i. Offshore drilling usually refers to the removal of resources that are underwater near the shoreline.
Challenge: the facilities have to be kept above sea level