Dickinson to Durban » Archive
Attacking Global Warming
What strategies have been used to promote doubt about climate change? Have they been effective? With what consequences? When ideas concerning global warming and climate change circulated during the mid 1900’s they were met with strong opposition from a handful of renowned physicists. These men tried several methods to merchandize doubt about the issue, all of which confused the public and the government and slowed the progress of policy making. In 1989 Bill Nierenberg, Robert Jastrow and Frederick Seitz (As part of the Marshall Institute) began to attack global warming. Their first strategy was to relocate the blame from fossil fuels to the sun. They wrote a small book called “Global Warming: What Does the Science Tell Us?,” in which they picked and organized data to their liking, and presented it to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Summer Reading Responses
The “humanness” of nearsightedness
How can we reconcile the variability of weather with that of climate? How does our humanness restrict our thinking? Climate change was observed by scientists as early as the 1930’s, it was not, however, accepted by the general public until as late as the 2000’s and much of the public still questions its validity. This lag between data collection and public education and understanding has harmed our chances of turning the problem around. Even when word spread we had a hard time believing in the severity of the problem, when “asked to name environmental problems facing the nation, most Americans would think of pollution of drinking water, local smog, or the destruction of tropical forests ahead of climate change” (185): all very visible threats. As humans we have a tendency to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses
Why Violence?
Explain the reasons behind the creation of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Do you think adopting violence as a method strengthened or weakened the anti-apartheid movement? When Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military branch of the ANC, was formed in the 1960’s the anti-apartheid movement was struggling. The organization had spent decades fighting for their rights through peaceful protests but the government only became more oppressive. Eventually, the ANC felt they had no choice but to resort to nonpeaceful demonstrations. In Nelson Mandela’s statement in the 1964 trial he claimed that “We were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the Government.” The ANC also felt that due to the severity of the oppression the people were going to turn … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses
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