Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
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Institution
CHAPTER 3
In his book “Falter”, Bill McKibben who is an environmental advocate and climate activist tries to examine whether humanity may be leading to an end. There are four examples that he points out that could make climate get very part (McKibben, 2019). Firstly, the climate could get very bad by 2100 when the world’s oceans kept warming. Secondly, is the presence of Permafrost beneath the surface of a glacier that has been found capable of preserving microbes and viruses. Moreover, the melting of the ice sheets could also get climate to get very bad as it can trigger earthquakes. Finally, the climate could get very bad when individuals begin raising the level of carbon dioxide, thus could make people never think straight anymore.
Climate change has led to a decline in wheat supply. Following a study in Australia in 2017 which is regarded as the home to some of the global highest-tech farming, production of wheat declined due to climate change (McKibben, 2019). Moreover, after wheat yield tripled between 1900 and 1990, it has remained constant because of a drop in rainfall by about a third and an increase in temperature. Besides, corn has also experienced a drop in its yields due to climate change. In 2018 researchers agreed with the Paris accords that a two-degree Celsius increase in temperature might reduce America’s corn production by 18 percent. Additionally, a four-degree rise in temperature would reduce the corn yield by half.
Regarding food distribution, climate change has led to the distribution of food supply. For instance, America’s canals and rivers that do carry a third of global soy and corn have faced frequent shut down due to drought and floods in recent years (McKibben, 2019). Moreover, Brazil that accounts for 17 percent of the global grain exports has been dealt a blow by the heavy rains that have ended up stranding three thousand trucks. Nutrition of the foods has reduced due to climate change. According to the Environmental Research journal, an increase in carbon dioxide levels to speed the growth of plants has led to a reduction in protein, calcium, iron and zinc content that might endanger around 138 million lives worldwide. Additionally, rice researchers found in 2018 that when they planted eighteen types of rice in high-carbon dioxide test lands, there was significantly little protein. Most of the crops are being helped by the bees during pollination, but climate change has tampered with this because bees cannot tolerate high temperatures, thus displaced by crop pests. In August 2018, global warming led to an increase in crop pests as it created a better ecosystem for them. High temperatures facilitate the metabolism of insect pests like corn borers and aphids at an alarming rate.
The rise in sea levels would make the coastal cities to be ungovernable. According to Jeff Goodell (2017), a rise in sea level would lead to climate refugees’ generations which will make current Syria’s war refugee crisis resemble a high school drama production (McKibben, 2019). It can also lead to the loss of a huge amount of money in moving on coastal village having four hundred residents by the officials. A team of economists has predicted that global warming could reduce the global economy by 12 percent risk at the coastal cities. Finally, the rise in sea level can lead to winds like Sandy’s that have driven water into Manhattan. New York City is believed to have been erecting a “U- Barrier” to aid in protecting the lower Manhattan from inundation in a storm size of Hurricane Sandy.
The two ice scientists and poets are Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Aka Niviana. The poem was about a cry from angry and engaged hearts which was entirely about the overwhelming reality of their lives (McKibben, 2019). Pathos refers to an emotional impact, especially on the positive aspect. McKibben tries to use pathos where he denotes that’s the women’s poem shouted into the chill wind which suggests that the two poets used appealing and smooth voices in luring the residents that there is still hope even though the melt continues to kill all forms of lives. It leaves the readers with positive hope, especially those from Greenland and Marshall Islands to ask themselves how the rising will look like and end the deaths as a result of Ice.
CHAPTER 4
McKibben considers overfishing, deadzones and plastics as less threats to the ocean because they are invisible, thus he believes that there would be no real protest (McKibben, 2019). On the other hand, he treats fossil fuel carbon as the most dangerous threat to the ocean because of the effect of the carbon dioxide that it produces. McKibben Claims that fossil fuels that are being burnt have greater effects in the sea than on the land because it is the ocean where a lot of the extra heat accumulates. He asserts that approximately 93 percent of the extra heat accumulates in the ocean. Therefore, the deep sea now warms about nine times quicker than it was in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
The Great Barrier Reef is considered the largest living structure on Earth, but due to overheating it is roughly half as living. It is because overheating severely affects the garden of corals, thus they cannot release clouds of eggs and sperms effectively. It also has adverse effects on the display of fecundity. For instance, James Kerry believed that the overheating left a few corals that instead of having vivid neon colors, just possessed murk shades, making fish feed on the algae that covered the lifeless coral (McKibben, 2019). Besides, Dean Miller who has been filming across the Great Barrier Reef claimed that the reef looked like a bustling city like that in the Finding Nemo. However, due to massive bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, it now looks quiet as if the lights have been turned off with the existence of the dead corals. Finally, the head of the Queensland tourism industry contacted the chief coral scientists and demanded that there should be a cut off of the funding for future research by the government.
There has been an increase in ocean acidity by 30 percent. The acidification of water has severe effects on reproduction, health and mobility. For instance, the Human body has a pH of around 7.4, if that drops by 0.2 units due to acidity, it can lead to health issues like coma, seizures, and death (McKibben, 2019). Additionally, acidification will also affect the small phytoplankton which will now struggle to synthesize carbonate for their skeletal parts. Moreover, it will stifle the growth and slows the mobility of the fish as they will be using a lot of energy to restore balance in their cells. According to Rohling, heating and acidification as a result of carbon dioxide is a double whammy which will lead to a drastic decline in diversity and figures of main species in the entire marine ecosystem.
When McKibben stated that the asteroid “was the gun and the Deccan traps the bullet” he meant that it had the combined effect of global warming, carbon dioxide and ocean acidification. Its effects could cover the whole lower forty-eight American States in 600 feet of lava (McKibben, 2019). It was similar to what we are facing with fossil fuel-driven climate change because it has greater effects under the sea which are invisible than on the land. It is believed that the eruption of the volcanic was already occurring when the asteroid strike, but the study in 2018 showed that it had strong effects underwater by opening new fissures along the edges of the tectonic plates as compared to what was observed on the land.
Biological annihilation refers that a sixth mass extinction in the history of Earth is underway and is more adverse than the five great mass extinction which was previously feared. For instance, it has led to half the Earth’s animal losing their lives over the last ten years (McKibben, 2019). Moreover, billions of local animal populations already died. Finally, trees are also being lost due to multipronged assaults where individuals keep on clearing forests for farmland and timber. According to researchers in 2018, some local insects declined by 80 percent in population, though wiping out insects has been the hardest task.
References
McKibben, B. (2019). Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?. Black Inc..