More About the Shows and How to Use Them

In a previous post I talked about a few series including Life, Planet Earth and Aftermath. As a follow up I wanted to include some links that tell you more about the show.
Information about Life can be found here. There are many videos from the show and behind the scenes.
Information about Planet Earth can be found here. This is another Discovery Channel show, just like Life, and there is a lot of good videos from the show and about the show.
Information about Aftermath can be found here. This show is by National Geographic and on this site there is a lot of information about the show like an overview, photos and lots of videos.

Ithaca College has a website that includes some really good lesson plans about looking at Climate Change in the media. I think that this would be really interesting to include in a college course since society today has become so focused on the media. The media influences our thoughts about news stories, celebrities, scientific evidence and almost everything else. A good activity may be to find an article that is told in multiple lights depending on the source that is talking about it. Working with the media and looking how climate change and global warming is being portrayed in the media would be a good thing to work on with students. Global Warming tends to have more of a negative connotation in society, a good activity for students would be figure out why. What is being said about global warming that is turning it into something evil and not climate change? (Other than the scary facts about how it is actually occurring)

Looking for Climate Change Shows

There are many shows and movies now a days about climate change and the impacts that are being seen worldwide. There have been movies in the past like Day After Tomorrow and An Inconvenient Truth that are all about what could happen to our planet if things get out of our control. And although that may seem far fetched and not possible, recently it has become clear that it is a very strong possibility. There has also been multiple shows on TV that are giving the public a chance to learn more about the history of our planet and the changes that it is currently going through. Some of these series include: Life (fantastic series), Planet Earth, Aftermath, Cosmos (which is so much more than just about space) and lots of specials on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Cosmos really interested me because they have a special episode completely based on climate change, the others touch on it but this is completely focused on it.  

The show Life is a really cool show that gives an in depth look into certain aspects of life on this planet. It does it in a very interesting manner and really gives you a lot of good information. I recorded this show when it first came out, and it was definitely worth it. Each episode is about an hour long, and each episode has a specific theme to it.  Another Series I really looked into was Cosmos, which is definitely more than just about space. It is all about the planet and why it is the way it is. You can see the trailer and other information here as well as the trailer for the climate change episode here. Climate change is a motif in all the episodes but there is a specific episode completely dedicated to the topic.

A show called Years of Living Dangerously on Showtime is another good show that really goes into climate change and show the effects that society is currently facing. The show is "hosted" by well known celebrities, and in one of the future episodes it includes Micheal C. Hall. Anyone who has Netflix and common sense will recognize him from the show Dexter so I was really excited to see the episode he was included in. The first episode goes into Texas and shows the drought that they are currently facing that is causing almost the whole town to uproot and find work elsewhere. A good activity to include with this could either be finding out other places that are facing similar effects of climate change or just other places in society that have to deal with the changing climate. This could include places receiving less precipitation or more frequent weather events. I think it would be good to explore more into the everyday effects people are having to adapt with. 

Global Warming Quiz

Here is another quiz from National Geographic about global warming this time. It has the same sort of layout, where you get information about each question's answer. This time the quiz is more focused on energy and the future possibilities. I did the quiz and I had gotten the same as the previous... 50 percent. There are some interesting questions on there that definitely inform you of some things you probably would not have known otherwise. Here is the link to take the quiz yourself!

Source: "Global Warming Facts, Global Warming Information, Global Warming Questions, Quiz - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.

Geothermal Energy?

What is geothermal energy? It is a source of energy using the heat that is already in the earth. It uses steam and hot water that is trapped in layers underneath the surface and converts it into electricity or energy. Many countries rely on this method already as a heating source. There are over 20 countries that use this for heating and/or cooling or electricity. The huge benefit for geothermal energy is that it can be extracted without the use of a fossil fuel such as coal or oil. The only problem is that it releases hydrogen sulfide, which at low concentrations smells like rotten eggs. There is also the fluids that are left over that have a slight toxin level to them. To read more about geothermal energy, click here.

Source: "Geothermal Energy Information, Geothermal Power Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.

The Big Energy Question

Also on the National Geographic website I found a page full of discussion on important energy issues. This gives people a chance to express their opinions. I truly believe it is places like this where people can get some extremely innovated ideas. People can just think of thinks that may actually spark an idea that could lead to a solution. The topics on this page includes innovation in transportation, clean energy, biofuels and much more. To read what some of the people are saying click here.

Source: "The Big Energy Question." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.

Climate Quiz

What do you know about climate? There is a quiz on the national geographic to test how much you know about climate change on our planet. You can take the quiz here. After you answer each question it tells you whether you are correct or not, and gives a brief explanation of the answer. I took the quiz and got 50 percent. The questions on the quiz are more about what is being effected by climate change past, present and future. It teaches you some cool facts that you probably didn't know, and some are actually kind of scary!

Source: "Freshwater Quiz: Climate Change -- National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.

WHAT CAN I SAY?!

So what's the difference... global warming....climate change.... it's all the same thing right? WRONG! Global warming refers to the global temperature increasing. While climate change refers to a much broader area. Climate change refers to how climates are taking the increase in global temperatures. This means like weather patterns, sea level rise and ocean acidification. NASA prefers the term climate change over global warming because it is a better representation of what the planet is going through since it does not only cover the increase of global temperature. To read more about where the phrases originated from, and the debate click here.

Source: Wall, Tim. "War of the Words: Climate Change or Global Warming? : DNews."DNews. N.p., 6 May 2014. Web. 28 May 2014.