For+The+Love+of+Earth+&+Humanity

Aaron McDonald PUB209 Assessment Three Student Number: n8354294 =**Cultural Artefact **=  ‘An inconvenient truth’ is a documentary from 2006 that follows former vice president and Nobel peace prize recipient Al Gore’s fervent crusade to expose the myths and misconceptions of Global warming and America’s feelings towards the issue. Furthermore, the documentary aims to address the lack of knowledge the first world has as far as their impact on the Earths’ environment is concerned. ‘An inconvenient truth’ has gone a long way to achieving its’ goal of first world enlightenment receiving two academy awards and is one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time (The Film, 2011). This documentary is a perfect example of a cultural artefact as it popular and is directed at the layman and as such marks a turning point in 1st world culture.

=**The Public Health Issue **= “Climate change poses the greatest threat to our world in human history and requires urgent local, national and global action” (Schild, 2011, pg 1). There is no debate as to whether or not global warming is occurring; the literature clearly states the Earth is most definitely getting hotter (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2007a). The major point of conjecture that has been debated, often quite intensely, is whether or not this increase in the Earth’s average core temperature is a result of human activity. An increase in the average temperature on Earth has significant negative ramifications for the health of the human population. An increase in the Earth’s temperature causes both severe drought and extreme rainfall (Karoly, Risbey, Reynolds, Braganza, 2003; Schiermeier, 2011) and also increases the severity and frequency of storm events such as cyclones (IPCC, 2007b). Australia has recently experienced such occurrences with South East Queensland feeling the effects of both drought (calling for the need for high level water restrictions), and extreme rainfall (resulting in thirty-eight deaths and two and a half billion dollars worth of damage; Fraser, 2011).

=**Literature Review **= In order to examine the public health implications of global warming, the cause of global warming needs to first be explained. Understanding the cause of global warming is vital as this cause can subsequently inform what social change needs to occur in order to best deal with the issue. There are two major schools of thought regarding the occurrence of global warming. Firstly, the sceptics believe that the global warming Earth is presently undergoing is the effect of natural planetary cycles. The second school of thought is perhaps the most widely accepted explanation of global warming. This explanation is the idea of anthropogenic emission contribution. Anthropogenic emissions contribution is the human-derived emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. This wiki will first provide a brief explanation of these two schools of thought. The health implications that global warming has will then be examined so as to truly appreciate the severity of the problem, irrespective of its cause.

The theory that the Earth cycles through hot and cold periods naturally was first theorised by Serbian civil engineer and mathematician, Miltutin Milankovic. Milankovic theorised that the Earth does not rotate around the sun in a perfectly circular orbit. The Earth’s rotation is, instead, an eccentric pattern. Milankovic hypothesised that the Earth’s rotation around the sun, over a period of approximately one hundred thousand years, varies in the eccentricity in which it rotates around the sun. As such, when the Earth’s rotation is less eccentric the temperature warms up as a result of the planet being constantly closer to the sun (see figure 1). Conversely, when the Earth’s orbit is at its most eccentric the planet has time to cool as it is further away from the sun. Obviously, this change in temperature is slow as the cyclical time frame in question is extremely large. In fact, for one complete cycle to occur (high eccentricity to low eccentricity and back to high eccentricity) approximately one hundred thousand years must pass. Milankovic also states that the Earth’s axial tilt varies over a period of 41 000 years from 22.1 degrees to 24.5 degrees (see figure 3). Again, this means that at certain points over the 41 000 year cycle the Earth is hotter (Lee & Poulsen, 2009). It was not until Hays and colleagues (1976) published their article “Variations in the Earth's Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages?” that Milankovic’s theory obtained notoriety and backing.   //Figure 1 // : Eccentric rotation of the Earth.

 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 2 // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: The magnitude of the eccentricity of Earth’s rotation. The lower the magnitude the hotter the Earth is. As can be noted here the magnitude of Earth rotational eccentricity is relatively low therefore an increase in temperature is to be expected. <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 3: The axial tilt of earth

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The alternative school of thought is that global warming is a result of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. A Green house gas is a gas that has a refractive quality such that when it is in the atmosphere it allows heat (in the form of solar radiation) to enter the Earth’s atmosphere but not escape again ( <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">IPCC, 1990) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Carbon dioxide (derived from the burning of fossil fuels) is the largest human sourced contributor to global warming. There are other contributors to the green house effect, such as: nitrous oxides from aeroplanes and car emissions, chlorofluorocarbons from aerosols and gas compression air conditioning systems, and methane from livestock and rice patty farming. If anthropogenic greenhouse emissions can be proven to be the cause of global warming there would be many socio-economic ramifications that would require addressing. For example, currently forty percent of the Earth’s power comes from coal burning (see figure 4; IEA, 2011). As can be seen in the chart below coal power is the largest source of energy in the world. To stop global emissions, dependence on coal fired power would first have to be altered. And, if catastrophe was to occur, many people would be left without electricity; something that first world society is not equipped to deal with.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; line-height: 24px;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 4 // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Dependence on coal fired power world wide. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is a major problem in the acquisition of information concerning global warming. Comprehensive, empirical evidence is difficult to obtainable when trying to set a base line of what the Earth’s temperature should be. The Earth has been cycling in and out of hot periods since earth was formed, some three billion years ago. Furthermore, the warming and cooling cycles last some 100 000 years, so any research done in a humans’ life time is but a snippet of information that has to be extrapolated upon. However, the literature clearly shows that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are contributing to global warming (Allen, et al., 2006). Unlike other health problems afflicting human society, there is no way to end global warming instantaneously no matter how aggressive a course of action is taken. Due to the worlds dependency on fossil fuels for transportation and electricity (see figure 6). A meta-analysis by Meehl (2005) revealed that temperature and ocean levels would continue to increase for the next one hundred years even if the population was to immediately stop increasing their CO2 emissions. Therefore, the damage that our society does today will not be fully realised for another two or three generations. It is forecast that sea levels will rise by 0.18 to 0.59 cm due to global warming melting the polar ice caps and water expansion by the damage that has been done to date (see figure 5: IPCC, 2007a). Whilst this rise in ocean level seems insignificant, it has dire ramifications to the world’s population. Ten percent of the world’s population (640 million people) live within 10 meters in elevation from the water (McGranahan et al. 2007). What this equates to is an increased vulnerability for ten percent of the world’s population to: flooding, storm run-off, extreme tides, tsunamis, and cyclonic conditions (See figure 5: FitzGerald, Fenster, Argow, and Buynevich, 2008). The effects of global warming, however, are by no means limited to a rise in water level. Other effects of global warming include: melting glaciers and icebergs; intense heat and droughts (e.g., extreme heat waves and drought leading to starvation in Africa); landscape changes; impacts on human health (e.g., malaria, water and food shortages); disastrous weather extremes; human migration; animal extinctions. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 5 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Shrinking in landmass over the last 18 years. This rise in water level is similar to the rise in water level forecast for the next 100 years if we are to stop anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 6 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: this table show how dependant some countries are on coal-fired power the percentage shown is how much of the countries electricity is a result of coal burning.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Coal in Electricity Generation ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">South Africa 93% ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Poland 92% ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">PR China 79% ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Australia 77% ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kazakhstan 70% ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">India 69% ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Israel 63% ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Czech Rep 60% ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Morocco 55% ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Greece 52% ||  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">USA 49% ||   || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Germany 46% ||

=**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Social Analysis **= <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The social psychology of environmental health is just as complex and multi-faceted as the issue of global warming itself. There has been quite a lot research done in the field of pro-environmental behaviour. However, the results have shown little in the way of solutions at changing the enormous gap between the frightening figures that environmental research has shown and public feelings towards the environment (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Basically, the research is showing worrying health threats stemming from climate change and the environment yet the publics’ actions do not reflect the same amount of concern. So in what way are environmental problems being portrayed to the masses?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">A vast majority of public health issues use “fear campaigning” to raise awareness about a public health issue (O'Neill& Nicholson-Cole, 2009). For instance, Aids, skin cancer, smoking, and STIs (sexually transmitted infections) have all been targets for fear campaigns to promote awareness of the issues. These campaigns were met with success for the most part. In fact, the more fear that a campaign can produce (within reason) the more effective it has been proven to be (Hastings, Stead & Webb, 2004). AL Gore has used the same tactics in his documentary, presented above as the cultural artefact. As such, global warming and in particular anthropogenic global warming is seen as a fear worthy problem. However, O’Neill and Nicholson-Cole’s (2009) research indicates that for the issue of climate change fear campaigning does not work. They even go as far as to suggest fear campaigning is counter-productive to the cause. The use of fear tactics when talking about global warming distances the problem from the individual. When they hear about numerous negative things happening as a result of global warming and then walk outside and the sun is shining the same as it was the day before people tend to ignore the problem feeling that it is not yet urgent enough. Also, global warming very rarely causes death or illness directly. O’Neill and Nicholson-Cole (2009) have shown that a fear campaign is good for turning people’s attention towards the issue; however, a fear campaign falls short of having people actively participating in the cause.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the population is flooded by the negative imagery associated with global warming (and its side effects) people tend to feel helpless and over whelmed. This is due to the small role that each individual plays in global warming. Furthermore, considering the use of negative imagery is largely ineffective, for it to be used further creates a desensitisation effect that further distances the populace from the problem (O'Neill& Nicholson-Cole, 2009). The posed solution to overcome an aversion to participating in green house gas management is: using pictures and logos that appear happy and non-threatening so contributors associate good feelings with participation rather than feelings of combating an impossibly large problem.

=**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Personal reflection **= <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The topic of global warming is unfathomably large. The implications of global warming are immeasurable as they are unprecedented and as such should be feared. Even after a semester of research on the topic I am yet to subscribe to any of the innumerable plans of action to fight climate change. Are greenhouse gases contributing enough to global warming to warrant slowing the global economy drastically so we can change our countries’ dependency on greenhouse gas emitting industry and transport? Another issue that I had whilst piecing together this wiki was due to the issue being so large and numerous I could do little more than pick the one issue I found to be most resinating and focus on it. Even the issue of raised sea levels (being the health issue I focused on) was only briefly explained in comparison to the articles I have extracted the core information from. In summary, personally, I have gathered a plethora of information on global warming and the reactions of humanity to health issues that do not appear relevant enough for action. As such, my opinion of extremist ideals, such as the one that al Gore presents in the cultural artefact, has change as I now believe the wider populace needs fear/passion to invoke action. At the onset of this subject I was reasonably opinionated as to the course of action required to fight global warming. However, after doing the research I now have a less biased yet more informed opinion. In future I will be less rash in my judgements on a topic based on what is portrayed in the popular media. The best opinion I can have is one I have formulated myself.

=WIKI Discussions= []

[] **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">References ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Allen, M., Gillett, N., Kettleborough, J., Hegerl, G., Schnur, R., Stott, P., Boer, G., Covey, C., Delworth, T., Jones, G., Mitchell, J., & Barnett, T. (2006). Quantifying anthropogenic influence on recent near-surface temperature change. //Surv Geophys, 27//, 491–544. doi: 10.1007/s10712-006-9011-6. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">FitzGerald, B., Fenster, M., Argow, B., & Buynevich, I. (2008) Coastal Impacts Due to Sea-Level Rise. // Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 36 // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">601–647. doi: 10.1146/annurev.earth.35.031306.140139

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fraser, A. (2011). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Counting the cost of floods: revenue write downs //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Queensland Government. Retrieved from http://statements.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=73438

Hastings, G., Stead, M., & Webb, J. (2004). Fear appeals in social marketing: Strategic and ethical reasons for concern. //Psychological Marketing, 21//(11), 961-986. doi: 10.1002/mar.20043

International Energy Agency. (2005). //Coal Information.// IEA Statistics published <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">doi: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10.1787/coal-2005-en

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990). //Climate Change: The IPCC Ccientific Assessment.// Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_first_assessment_1990_wg1.shtml

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007a). //Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report// //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007b). //Climate Change 2007:// //The Physical Science Basis.// Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_wg1_report_the_physical_science_basis.htm

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Karoly, D., Risbey, J., Reynolds, A., & Braganza, K. (2003). Global warming contributes to Australia's worst drought. //Australasian Science, 24//(3), 14-17. Retrieved from http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/fullText;dn=200304374;res=

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lee, S., & Poulsen, C. (2009). Obliquity and precessional forcing of continental snow fall and melt: implications for orbital forcing of Pleistocene ice ages. //Quaternary Science Reviews, 28//(25-26), 2663-2674. doi: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.002

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">McGranahan, D., Balk, D., & Anderson, B. (2007). The rising tide: assessing the risks of climate change and human settlements in low elevation coastal zones. //Environment// //Urbanization, 19//(1), 17–37. doi: 10.1177/0956247807076960

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Meehl, G., Washington, W., Collins, W., Arblaster, J., Hu, A., Buja, L., Strand, W., & Teng, H. (2005). How much more global warming and sea level rise? //Science,// //307//, 1769-1772. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=HRCA&docId=A131128546&source=gale&srcprod=HRCA&userGroupName=qut&version=1.0

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">O’Neill, S., & Nicholson-Cole, S. (2009). “Fear Won’t Do It”: Promoting Positive Engagement With Climate Change Through Visual and Iconic Representations. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Science Communication, 30 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">(3), 355-379. doi: 10.1177/1075547008329201

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Schiermeier, Q. (2011). Increased flood risk linked to global warming. //Nature, 470//, 316-323. doi:10.1038/470316a <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Schild, D. (2011). //Climate Change and Energy//. The Greens. Retrieved from http://greens.org.au/policies/climate-change-and-energy/climate-change-and-energy

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Film //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (2011). //TakePart//. Retrieved from http://www.climatecrisis.net/an_inconvenient_truth/about_the_film.php