"Sharing One Skin" By Jeanette Armstrong

In the article Sharing One Skin the author provides us with the important aspects of what makes up a community and our identity. The author shares that the four important capacities that make up our identity are the physical self, thinking-intellectual self, emotional self, and the spiritual self. These capacities that each of us carry are brought together which is how our communities are made up. She talks about how all the knowledge she carries was passed down from her grandparents as well as the importance of us gaining that knowledge from our elders. Armstrong provides her readers with an insight of how her tribe is made up to an extent that we are able to relate to it.

Armstrong, Jeanette. 1996 “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community.” Pp. 460-470 in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds.), The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books

Personal Photo 2, 2022

“How place names impact the way we see landscape” By B Toastie

In the article How place names impact the way we see landscape, the author shares with his readers how the names of places usually come from the features of the landscape. Toastie shares that not many people know there are stories behind these places that are sacred to us. Stories that tell us who we are, where we come from and a sense of what our ancestors did. The author mentions the effects of naming these places because if it is sacred to us we cannot just name the place based on its features or for colonizers. It would especially be disrespectful to the meaning the place holds. He gives us an insight of how the western world deals with naming places, statues, buildings, etc. compared to the indigenous world.

Toastie, B. “How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape - High Country News.” High Country News, 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape.

Personal Photo 3, 2022

“Climate Change History” By History.com Editors

In the article Climate Change History, it talks about how climate change was being studied back then and how it has changed over the years. Greenhouse gases have always been the problem and that was already the cause back then. In the 1820’s a man named Joseph Fourier was able to study how the atmosphere and Earth is impacted by carbon dioxide and other gases. With his research they were able to get a better understanding of why the Earth’s temperature was going up. In the 1850s a few other scientists continued his work years later to study how each gas affects the atmosphere and how they react to the absorption with the sunlight. By the 1900s the temperatures kept increasing and more greenhouse gases were active which didn't help. In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was signed which was meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

History.com Editors. “Climate Change History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Oct. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/history-of-climate-change.

Personal Photo 4, 2022

“A Brief History of Global Warming” By Bloomberg

In the video A Brief History of Global Warming, it went back to the 1800s when they started noticing that the Earth was getting warmer. This was due to the fact that people were emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It didn’t get bad until the 1900s when they started burning more fossil fuels and they started having more greenhouse gas emissions. The World Wars only made it worse because the Industrial Production increased for the U.S economy. The video also mentioned that at one point it got very cold for a few years due to all the gases that go into the atmosphere but then when it “cleared up” it got very hot and temperatures increased at a high rate.

Bloomberg, director. A Brief History of Global Warming. YouTube, YouTube, 1 Sept. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McRYTC56DC4. Accessed 14 Oct. 2022. 

Personal Photo 4, 2021

“The Discovery of Global Warming” By Spencer Weart

The Discovery of Global Warming discusses how people in the 1800’s started noticing that the Earth was warming. They began to make organizations to research more about this and what was going on and with a closer look to this issue they were finding out that it was due to the burning of coal, greenhouse gases and overall, human activity. Over the years they would collect data on the temperature of the Earth and it was only getting warmer. In the 1900’s they were getting a lot more in depth with the research. The organizations were also finding major changes in the environment such as natural disasters. They saw that hurricanes and volcanic eruptions were getting extreme but there was less rainfall. Another major change they noticed was the agriculture which was negatively affected. The article gives us a good understanding of how this issue was handled back then.

Weart, Spencer. “The Discovery of Global Warming [Excerpt].” Scientific American, Scientific American, 17 Aug. 2012, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/discovery-of-global-warming/. 

Personal Photo 5, 2022

“NASA Study: Rising Sea Level Could Exceed Estimate for U.S. Coasts” By Sally Younger

Rising Sea Levels are happening at a much faster rate today. People are looking at how high the sea levels will be,  80 years from now along the coasts but according to NASA we need to look at it 20 years from now due to the rate. The article shares how different coasts across the world are being impacted. Right now, the Gulf Coast and Southeast are moving at a faster rate so they will see a dramatic change around 2030-2050. As the Earth continues to warm this will cause natural disasters to get stronger and that includes hurricanes. The changes of the moon affects the ocean here on Earth and NASA found that it will be going through one of its lunar cycles which will cause hurricanes to get stronger in the next few years. So on top of that regions across the world will be dealing with massive floods. NASA is teaming up with other departments around the world to keep track of these patterns and changes.

Younger, Sally. “NASA Study: Rising Sea Level Could Exceed Estimates for U.S. Coasts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.” NASA, NASA, 15 Nov. 2022, https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3232/nasa-study-rising-sea-level-could-exceed-estimates-for-us-coasts/. 

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“Beyond Catastrophe A New Reality Is Coming Into View” By David Wallace-wells

This article shares the different views around the world of how climate change is being handled as well as the action each region is taking. Some regions are being impacted badly and some not as bad but the entire world is being impacted somehow. This article is like an eye opener, the purpose is to bring our attention to this issue through different perspectives in hopes that more people will contribute to solving the issue. Humans are pretty much the main cause of climate change, we are the big contributors just like Wells says, “humanity retains an enormous amount of control over just how hot it will get and how much we will do to protect one another through those assaults and disruptions.” At the rate the Earth's temperature is moving we may lose out some parts of the Earth but it is crucial that we take action now.

Wallace-wells, David. “Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming into View.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/26/magazine/climate-change-warming-world.html. 

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“Climate Change: The Place on Earth heating fastest” BBC News

The short video shares how the Arctic is being impacted by climate change. The ice is melting six times faster than average and it is not going well for the environment. The animals such as the polar bears and seals are struggling to adapt to the melting and warming environment. As the Arctic warms there are some animals that are diminishing which breaks off the food chain. Seals are diminishing which are causing the polar bears to starve as well. Scientists are afraid that the government will not agree to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases for the sake of this region and the species living there. As the ice keeps melting the sea levels will rise which will cause a bigger issue on coasts so it is up to humans to take action.

bbcnews. “Climate Change: The Place on Earth Heating Fastest - BBC News.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zSNSxjCwZ0. 

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“How the Climate Crisis Impacts Japan” By The Climate Reality Project

Through the article How the Climate Crisis Impacts Japan it shares with us the major factors that are being impacted within their country. Climate Change is impacting Japan in many ways but one of their main impacts are coastal threats and flooding. Cities in the country are having flood threats, sometimes typhoons will come which destroys the cities. With the increase of temperatures this causes more evaporation and when it rains, it rains a lot. They are also looking at how the rise of temperatures triggers mosquitoes. More of them are coming around and they are already seeing an increase of illness among the people. As far as food, many people know that rice is very important in Japan. Well, climate change is affecting production of rice all throughout Japan and with the hotter temperatures this can cause them to not grow properly and they will be less nutritious. The impacts of climate change is making it harder for them but they are trying to find solutions.

The Climate Reality Project. “How the Climate Crisis Impacts Japan.” Climate Reality Project, 25 Jan. 2021, https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/how-climate-crisis-impacts-japan. 

Typhoon, 2022

“Climate change is an Increasing Threat to Africa” By United Nations Climate Change

Climate Change is posing a threat to Africa. They are facing many challenges such as droughts, rising temperatures, extreme weather, rising sea levels, etc. These challenges are having effects on humans with food, water and health. With the rise of temperatures 2019 was the warmest they have ever recorded and it is expected that it is only going to keep rising. They are not getting as much rainfall as they used to so that has decreased around the northern and southern parts of Africa. Although the rise of sea levels is not much of a threat right now they are noticing that it has been increasing by around 3-5 mm the past few years and they also expect this to worsen in the future. The droughts that they are going through are their main threat. Most of the continent relies on agriculture, it's how they are able to get most of their nutrients. But with the warmer temperatures the crops are being impacted making it harder for them to thrive. The health concerns they have is that the insects seem to love the warm weather so lots of them are coming around. This is causing dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever. Although they are suffering they are trying to come up with solutions such as switching to green energy. 

United Nations Climate Change. “Climate Change Is an Increasing Threat to Africa.” Unfccc.int, 27 Oct. 2020, https://unfccc.int/news/climate-change-is-an-increasing-threat-to-africa. 

Drought, 2021

“The impact of Climate Change on Wildlife” 

Due to climate changing many wildlife animals around the world are having trouble adapting to the environment around them. Whether the temperatures are rising, too much co2 in the atmosphere, not enough nutrition, they are all being impacted somehow. In this video it is explained how the rise of temperatures can have a major impact even if it is a two and a half degree increase. With this increase there is a 25% loss of mammal species, 25% loss of bird species, and about 70% loss of reptile species. Severe drought and flooding can affect the mammal wildlife which can potentially lead to extinction. Also the droughts and flooding can affect the soil nutrients which will affect the plants that the wildlife need to eat. If animals continue to die out this will mess up the food chain and for humans this can lead to more diseases. Some solutions that are essential are protecting the natural areas where the wildlife roam. By doing this they are protecting the whole ecosystem for the animals and not just them but the soils, plants and everything that make up the environment.

Jason. “The Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife.” YouTube, 18 Mar. 2022, https://youtu.be/HFPvuUw2t8o.

Personal Photo 9, 2020

My Action plan took place on November 10, 2022 in the library. For my action plan I did a slideshow presentation that was open to everyone on solutions to tackle climate change. I feel that many of us are aware of this issue and the important part that most people don't know are the solutions to start taking action. I educated those who showed up on solutions because I feel that once they know what they can do they will contribute to tackling the issue.

“The presentation was very informative, I like how you gave the different ways we can help tackle climate change here at the school and in our own communities.” -Keiana Chavez

Personal Photo 10, 2022

Thursday March 2, 2023 I went to the State Capitol to support Senate Bill 77. This bill is about installing solar power to all new residential construction as well as electric charging stations. My action plan was to support this bill so I wrote letters to all ten representatives who are on the committee and I went to the legislative session. During the session the Chairman asked who was in support of the bill.  I stood up in front of all ten representatives and told them I support the vote because it would benefit the environment and residential communities. Many others supported the bill so it passed this session.

Personal Photo 11, 2023