Question One
Read the Case in Point on Hurricane Katrina on page 79 of your textbook as well as from external resources. Then, use Google Maps to investigate the region and try to identify hills/mountains nearby, if any present. Based on numbers given in the text, and the prospect of more severe hurricanes due to climate change, comment on the potential outcomes of the next hurricane, supposing it hits in 2050. By keeping in mind the reasons why the city was built in its current location in the first place, propose a sustainable solution to the problem.
The Hurricane Katrina was category 4 storm that hit the United States with New Orleans city, Mississippi, and Louisiana is among the most affected areas. In the history of the United States, the natural disaster was one of the costliest and third deadliest storm that affected a large area of the U.S population within the Coastline and New Orleans metropolitan.
There are several potential outcomes that may occur in case the Hurricane Katrina hits in 2050. To start with, with the intense nature of the storm, this may lead to the destruction of most of the buildings and the structures of the communities in the affected areas. Additionally, the storms may destroy the communication networks. Subsequently, the Hurricane Katrina are associated with tidal surges and high waves that are extremely destructive and may result in catastrophic flooding. In 2050, it is expected that the world population will have increased, and thus most of the cities and metropolitans in U.S will be overpopulated. Considerably, with the high population, more people will be affected by the storm. Lastly, more deaths may be reported as a result of the Hurricane Katrina, while others may be left homeless attributing to the destruction of their homes (Boyden et al., 2014).
By keeping in mind the location of New Orleans that was adversely affected by the Hurricane Katrina one of the feasible solutions to prevent the effects of a similar storm is the construction of anti-flooding system consisting of levees and flood walls. Construction of new anti-flooding system or replacement of the existing leeves will help lower the intensity of storms and severe flooding. In the sense, that New Orleans is below the sea level, it is essential for the government to implement public policy aimed at banning people from settling in areas that are prone to floods and storms. Considerably, the government needs to invest on emergency organizations and weather forecasting to help enhance prediction of natural disasters such as storms and enable the people to prepare adequately in the case is of similar disasters (Boyden et al., 2014).
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Question Two
Billions of barrels of oil are transported over water bodies for nations to run their economies. Inevitably, mistakes/accidents happen and the end result may be disastrous.
a. Investigate the 1989 Alaskan oil spill through online sources. Do you think the end result of the lawsuit was fair in terms of its societal, environmental, and economic impacts?
The Alaska oil spill in 1989, was an environmental disaster that happened when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Prince William Sound. The spill is attributed to have caused several long-term and short-term effects to the society, the economy, and the environment. The spill resulted in the death toll of marine species including herrings, otters, seals, salmon, seabirds, and eagles. Besides, the spill had adverse effects on the health of cleanup workers and the residents of the affected communities. Moreover, the spill led to the loss of pristine nature of Prince William Sound, reduced tourism, and loss of recreational and marine sports.
Considerably researchers have raised concerns that the effects of the spill still affect some of the marine species claiming that crude oil from the spill is evident in the subsurface on the intertidal area. There have been several lawsuits filed against the case of Exxon spill. The end result of the recent lawsuit may be considered to have several economic, social, and environmental impacts. Environmentally, the lawsuit demands for Exxon to pay the federal and state governments for cleanup and environmental losses, the lawsuit, may be considered unfair in the sense that the environmental effects of the spill were spread over a long period with some residues of the spill still lingering in the water. Moreover, not all people affected by the spill were accounted for the compensation in the final lawsuit (Ballachey et al., 2014).
b. Next, investigate the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Do you think the end result of the lawsuit was fair in terms of its societal, environmental, and economic impacts?
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is believed to be one of the largest oil spill and an industrial disaster in the history of petroleum oil industry. The disaster resulted in the death of 11 workers, injuring 17 workers, and spillage of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The final judgment approved the settlement of about $20 billion to resolve the 2010 oil spill. Although the BP oil company has offered to settle the fines imposed by the lawsuit, there are several impacts of the lawsuit on the society.
To start with, it may not be effective to conclude that the recovery of the Gulf will be attained with the imposed fines. This poses dangers to the environment in the sense that it may be difficult to clean up all the oil particularly that buried beneath the sand. With the hurricane and stormy season approaching, the buried oil may be remobilized to the offshore. The lawsuit may have been a successful end for the litigation processes affecting the BP oil company. However, it may be unfair that the effect of the spill, is still evident today and thus the BP oil company needs to be accountable for any lawsuits in the future and clean up demands (Shultz et al., 2015).
c. Further, investigate the chemical dispersant used during clean-up efforts and discuss whether it was a good decision made by BP.
With the several effects of the oil spill on the economy and other industries such as tourism and fishing, the BP oil company saw the need for clean up to reduce the effects of the spill. However, concerns have been raised regarding the effects of chemical agents used to disperse the oil. This has given rise to controversies relating to the health hazards and harms of the cleanup dispersants to the cleanup workers and residents of the coastal communities. From the several lawsuits over alleged hazards of the cleanup dispersants, I think it was an unethical decision for BP to use hazardous cleanup dispersants. For instance, one of the cleanup workers filed a lawsuit against BP claiming the gross negligence of the company to expose the cleanup workers to hazardous and cancer-causing compounds found in the cleanup dispersants. Considerably the harmful compounds in the dispersants may cause adverse health effects to the coastal communities’ residents and the cleanup workers as well as affect the marine life (Shultz et al., 2015).
d. Next, find examples of oil spills that occur outside the U.S. (i.e. internationally) and compare the actions of affected governments/societies and oil companies involved.
There are numerous oil spills that have both in U.S and outside U.S. These spills have contributed to environmental, health, social, and economical in the affected communities. The governments and communities respond differently to the oil spills. One example of an international oil spill is the 2012 Guarapiche River spill in Venezuela. There were crude oil leakages at Monagas state that made its way into Guarapiche River. The government took initiative to respond to the disaster by containing 90% of the oil spill. Additionally, employees from the PDVSA state oil company participated in the cleanup process. The cleanup efforts involved the use of absorbent barriers to contain the oil and industrial skimming machines to extract it from the river. Additionally, Venezuela government orders the closure of the water purification plant near the Guarapiche River (Lezama, 2016).
Secondly, the Montara oil spill in Australia was caused by the uncontrolled discharge of oil and gas from the Montara oil drill owned by PTTEP Australasia Company. In response to the disaster, the government took action to combat adverse effects of the spill by implementing the national plan to combat pollution of the sea by oil and other noxious and hazardous substances. The Indonesia farmers raised claims against the effects of the spill on the Indonesian coastline whose farms were affected by the oil spill (Spies et al., 2017). Lastly, the Prestige oil spill that occurred in 2002 when an oil tanker MV Prestige sank in Galicia coastline. The oil spill caused great damage by polluting the Spanish and French coastline and destruction of the fishing and tourism industry.
The Galicia coastline territory was significantly affected by the spill, which led the government to suspend fishing activities in the region for six months. In response to the spill, the government appointed the TRAGSA Company to carry out the cleanup procedures. Moreover, environmental activists in Galicia triggered the action of the government to respond to the disaster. Consequently, the French and Spanish coastlines banned oil tankers similar to the Prestige of these coastlines (Acosta-González et al., 2015).
Question Three
Visible impacts of climate change
Read “The American Dust Bowl” on page 296 of your textbook as well as from external resources. Use a satellite imaging software (e.g. Google Earth/Maps) and explain what you see in the affected area shown in Figure 14.11. Also, comment on how climate change is expected to affect precipitation and temperature patterns at the same location (go back and check the lecture on climate change).
The “American Dust Bowl” is an environmental catastrophe that led to degradation of the environment by erosion of the Great Plains in the United States. The catastrophe resulted to bare plains and massive clouds of dust as well as erosion of agricultural land. The land is covered with depressions and gullies resulting from the Dust Bowl catastrophe. The Great plain regions including Texas and Oklahoma are covered by grassland ecosystems, Rocky Mountains, river valleys, rangelands, and some parts of dryland ecosystem. Climate change results in global impacts affecting the weather conditions as well as the economic lifestyle of communities.
Considerably climate change alters most of the weather elements including precipitation and temperature. Great Plains region including Texas and Oklahoma are experiencing average precipitation of 15 inches per year and 50 inches per year respectively. With climate change, the precipitation patterns are projected to change in the future. It is expected that the precipitation patterns will change with some regions receiving lower rainfalls while others receive longer rainfalls. There are expected changes in temperatures with projections of temperature increase and increased drought frequency as climate change impacts intensify. The changes in temperature and precipitation patterns will affect the frequency of winter and summer seasons. Additionally, these changes may affect the water supply levels and threaten the agricultural activities in the location (Bird, 2013).
b. Back when it happened, California was not populated as it is today and survivors were able to migrate at the expense of leaving everything behind. If aquifers of the region feeding agriculture were to dry up or become contaminated, what do you think would happen? (This is not a remote possibility when you consider slide 32 in the ‘water’ lecture slides)
If the aquifers of the California region such as the Ogallala aquifer dry up most of the agricultural activities in the region will be paralyzed. The aquifers are the heart of irrigation activities in the region, and thus if they dry up, there will be irrigation. Considerably the food production would reduce and crops would dry up while livestock deaths would increase. If the aquifers dry up completely, the agricultural lands that depend on them will dry up. Consequently, soil erosion and wind erosion that carries away top soul may erupt contributing to a similar catastrophe as the ‘American Dust Bowl’. In case, the aquifers, are contaminated, more livestock deaths will be reported and the agriculture will be affected. Adversely the human population that depends on these crops and livestock for food will face hunger strike and other health-related problems from consuming contaminated agricultural products. Consequently, the people may be forced to change into other economic activities to cater for the rise in food costs (Konikow, 2015).
c. Now suppose a similar environmental problem occurred in a different part of the world. Bangladesh had a population of a little over 150 million in 2001, and a population density of 1046 people per square mile. 81% of its population lived on less than $2/day, after adjusting for a purchasing power. As a comparison, the U.S population was close to 312 million in the same year, with a population density of 32 people per square mile, and negligible (less than 0.5%) portion of the population living on less than $2/day (adjusted for purchasing power). Majority of plains in Bangladesh have elevations less than 10 m (33 ft.) above sea level, and the elevation of the coastal south is at sea level. Look at the figure on page 18 of your textbook for per capita energy use, and hence contribute to global warming. As sea levels rise and more frequent storms are observed in the region, it may be possible that millions of people will become refugees. Comment on the ethical responsibilities, and the potential political response and realities of neighboring countries.
In cases of environmental catastrophes that may result to changes in the lifestyle of individuals, particularly those that depend on agriculture, it is expected that the victims of such catastrophes may travel into neighboring regions for employment and food support. However, with the sense that most of the refugees are poor and thus a burden to the economy, political bodies may establish policies to prevent an increase in the number of refugees into the country (Beck, 2016). The refugees travel into neighboring countries with the hope to find new jobs but in essence, this is not the reality since the demand for jobs in neighboring countries is lower than the supply. For this reason, the refugees may be forced to work for lower wages and salaries. For humanity purposes, it is critical that neighboring countries set up refugee camps to collect data about the employees that may be useful in helping them find jobs to support their life’s and those of their families (Urry, 2015).Considerably the neighboring countries governments may respond to the plight of the refugees by establishing refugees programs and camps and provide essential human services such as health and education services to the refugees.
d. By comparing the predicted effects of climate change from previous lectures (temperature, precipitation, agricultural yields, water, etc.), identify other critical regions/countries that may experience similar problems. (You may also benefit from the 2011 world population data sheet posted under additional readings).
Climate change has contributed to effects in almost every aspect of life affecting most regions internationally. Climate change results in increased temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, decreasing stream flows, changing frequencies and intensities of storms and droughts, rising sea levels, shifting precipitation patterns. The climate changes effects threaten the sustainability of global ecosystems both on land and in the water masses. Consequently, the livelihoods and cultures of the communities are impacted by climate change effects. The critical regions that may experience problems related to climate change include coastal regions, islands, and mountainous regions among others. One of the regions that may experience climate changes impacts, is the Pacific islands in regions such as Hawaii. The Pacific islands in Hawaii may experience a rise in coastal temperatures and increased sea levels. Other regions that may face similar climate change problems include Alaska, Coastlines, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Gulf, Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean amongst others (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014).
Question Four
The banning of lead from gasoline presents an interesting case of what typically happens when scientific results are in conflict with the interests of special interest groups. For an educational and entertaining take on the matter, watch the following segment of the documentary series: Cosmos, A Spacetime Odyssey Season 1 Episode 7 – The Clean Room. You may access the part through Netflix if you have a subscription, or through this link:
a. At the end of the segment, science is said to have sounded the alarm on other environmental dangers and that vested interests still hire their own scientists. Name at least one global environmental danger that this may apply/refer to and discuss its similarities.
One the global danger that the segment of science and interests groups conflicts is the case of chlorofluorocarbons presence in air conditioners, refrigerators, deodorants, and cans of hairspray. Scientists reacted to the issue by raising the alarm that these chemicals are getting their way into the atmosphere and the chemicals may have a detrimental effect on the climate. The scientists with one of the greatest contribution by Dr. Molina found out that the chemicals would deplete the ozone layer which would adversely lead to global warming. Nonetheless, the issue was faced by controversies and confusion from the public attributed by the fossil–fuel industry that financed campaigns to disregard the research information (Gillis, 2014).
b. Read the posted article “Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Research” under Additional Readings/climate change within Blackboard, as well as the Wikipedia page of the researcher under mention in the article. Comment on the case.
Getting funding for scientific research particularly for global problems is not an easy task. The case at hand shows that Dr. Soon acted unethically by allowing himself to get paid by wealthy organizations that are the core cause of the social problems of climate change. His unethical move to falsify his reasons for getting finances for his research raises controversies on unethical researchers and scientists. Although blame has been put on Dr. Soon for allowing himself to be corrupted by the powerful organizations and groups, I find out that it is wrong to stay silent about the organizations that are making millions while running unethical errands that contribute to further climate changes on the world. In essence, the article points out the conflicts of interest in research. Although Dr. Soon has insufficient formal training in the field of climatology, he has published several papers in this field trying to show the variations in the sun’s energy can explain the most recent global warming. In the article, he states that human activity has contributed only a small part in causing climate change (Schwartz, 2015). In refute, I consider that credible researchers in the recent past have published data and paper providing the evidence for human activity accounting for most of the climate change impacts and global warming. Despite the fact that sun accounts for more than 10% of the earth global warming, I believe that human activities relatively account for the production of greenhouse gases which account relatively greater role in causing global warming.
