Playing God with Planet Earth
In my opinion, the worst of the proposed ideas was the sulphur spraying. Although it would most definitively cause the Earth to cool, too many problems would accompany it that may very well not end up being a solution at all. This rapid cooling could cause some animals and plants to die. The excess sulphur in the air would also be a cause for decline of animal and plant populations. A lack of plants and animals would undoubtedly cause food shortages in a world where famines are already present. Health issues could develop due to excess sulphur in plants and animals, including humans. For example, respiratory issues could form. Because of this excess of death that could easily occur due to this solution gone wrong, the food chain will become disrupted, thus speeding up the process of endangerment in certain species, and eventually, potential extinction.
I would assume that robotic trees could prove to be one of the best solutions. They are something that could be placed in numerous places, such as outside in forests, lining streets, potentially they could be planted on peoples property, even on top of buildings depending on how they would work. If they are genetically modified organisms, the places they could grow are a bit more limited, but if they are closer to being robots, metal and all, they could be planted in an abundance of places where trees would not normally go. These are a good idea because they are simply an enhancement of something that already occurs in nature, as opposed to something such as spraying an excessive amount of sulphur into the air. Animals and other such wildlife would not necessarily be able to harm the trees if they were genetically modified organisms because the ability to take in a more substantial amount of carbon dioxide would be in their genetics. Depending on its genetics, however, the robotic trees may be able to reproduce, thus making this a much cheaper alternative in comparison to other ideas which may be much more costly. If they are robots, they would be susceptible to damage, and when destroyed if they are not strong enough to survive everyday wear and tear, would create litter, but are still less of a threat to natural wildlife than other ideas, such as sulphur spraying, which could cause an abundance of health issues in people and animals alike, as well as potential extinction of certain plants and crops.
Tiggy Hog reflection
I found that this project was rather successful. All work was evenly divided, therefore no one was allowed to sit around and take credit for other peoples work, nor was anyone left doing an excessive, and most unfair amount of work. This was most undoubtedly a successful group project that allowed me to work with someone I had never really worked with prior to the project in question. Next time, I would opt to put more imagery of the experiment into the sway as opposed to just a video from one angle. Overall, this project was one with minimal error, and high amounts of success.
Human Impacts on Natural Systems
Due to the fact that we have a rapidly expanding population, the production of chemicals and toxins will likely increase at least for the short term because to some, the environment doesn’t matter when you can be rich. As a society, however, we have begun to decrease the release of toxins, such as CO2 by switching to electric vehicles and other sources of energy. Because we have begun to improve as a society, I think the world could get better over several hundred years if we stop doing things that harm the environment in excess. Until we really put a concerted effort into fixing what we have done, our world will continue to deteriorate, or remain at a state similar to where we are today. However, there is a slim chance we will not make it worse.
I do not have access to the video. It is on a device belonging to someone else, it is too big to email, and it cannot be found on youtube, therefore I do not have the embed code.