Environmental science - Essay Example

Video Ways to Save the Planet: Space Sunshield (2009)” Source: www.yourdiscovery.com/web/ways-to-save-the-planet/   Created by Discovery Channel, this video shows the project of Professor Roger Angel in which he attempts to deflect the sun's rays by blanketing the earth's atmosphere with ultra-light and ultra-thin lenses. These lenses are designed to deflect 2% of the sun's energy away from the earth, thereby reducing the earth's temperature to levels similar in the pre-industrial period. Dr. Angel is joined by physicist Basil Singer, eco-engineer Jennifer Languell, and global business empire owner Kevin O' Leary in conducting experiments that will test the project's viability.

     The project faces two challenges: creating the thinnest and lightest lenses, and finding the best way to launch those lenses into outer space. The goal is to create 16 trillion pieces of lenses that are 1 micron thick and 60 cm in diameter. These lenses are expected to cover 100,000 square miles of the earth's atmosphere. So far, Dr. Angels has created a 5-cm thick glass refractor which is tested by etching a diffraction pattern in it and subjecting it to a laser beam. To test if the lenses can withstand the pressure of a rocket launch, a test launch powered by electromagnetic propulsion was conducted.

On-board cameras were installed to capture images of the lenses as they launch into space. Unfortunately, at 900 meters into the air, the craft carrying the lenses failed and crashed.   This video shows how the interaction of physical sciences like physics and engineering works to mitigate the effects of global warming. Through physics, a refracting lense etched with a diffraction pattern is created. Through engineering efforts, meanwhile, the task of getting these refracting lenses into space can be accomplished.

If successful, these technological efforts can yield ways and means of saving our planet.   Video 2: “Our World: The Rise of the Skeptics (2010)” Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fbXR4UJ3o   A documentary from BBC World News, this video deals with the rise of climate change skeptics in Australia and its effect in the political and social landscape of the country. The failure to enact the emission trading scheme (ETS), the lack of consensus in the Copenhagen conference in 2009, and data manipulation (referred to as "climate-gate" scandal) gave rise to skeptics who doubt the agenda of climate change initiatives.

These differences in political perspectives are said to influence the passing/rejection of the bill proposing ETS.   The 'green movement' which refers to initiatives combating climate change has been facing opposition in Australia. Lord Christopher Monckton is shown giving a lecture to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about the inconsistencies of the green movement. Farmers at Campdraft in Queensland, whose lands were gravely affected by the dry season, agree that these events are cyclical rather than part of a global climate change.

 Professor and author of "Heaven and Earth" Ian Plimer, Senator Barnaby Joyce, and Tony Abbott also present their skeptical ideas. John Connor of the Climate Institute, on the other hand, points to Asian countries that are beginning to adopt earth-friendly activities - a sign that the green movement yields benefits.   While everyone seems to take part in the fight against global warming, these skeptics suggest that there might not be any problem at all. They point to the manipulated data that was presented a few years ago.

This makes Australian people doubt every scientific study about the harmful effects of global warming. Believing in these skeptics is a matter of personal choice, but it can't be denied that they opened a new way of looking at the problem of climate change.