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My name is Zedric, or Zedd. I was born and raised in Miami, FL, and my parents are hispanic (Cuban & Venezuelan). I attend MDC- Padron Campus, and I'm currently majoring in Social Work, and wish to persue Art therapy as a focus later in my education. I really love art and creating/seeing the creativity in everything. I think there's always some creativity in everyone, and if you express it without worry of criticism, you can feel impacted by the fact you created something. I like to paint, play the piano, write and anything else that feels fun to try. I enjoy music, listening aswell as playing, and I'll listen to a vast selection of genres, whether they clash or mix. I love to travel as well, and I hope to move out of Florida sometime in my future. For now, I'm striving to atleast move out of Miami, maybe higher up north to Orlando, but that'll be once I graduate with a bachelor's since housing is way too expensive to not house with my parents right now.

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I hadn’t heard of climate gentrification before but I had heard of gentrification. It’s affecting so many neighborhoods around me and it’s really saddening to see, but I understand now how it’s also affecting in regards to climate. This peninsula is already becoming so overcrowded and we are already under sea water levels, climate gentrification just further perpetuates this problem. People are moving because their neighborhoods are being gentrified and the cost of living is skyrocketing but they’re moving to areas that are susceptible to sea level rises, they’re affected by the climate change crisis directly. Not to mention how so much of the population is so close to the coast, if there's flooding or the oceans keep rising (which is happening due to climate change) then all the cities and all the structures that we've built near the coast will be underwater. Moving towards the west and populating more of center florida is also counterproductive as we get closer to the swamps of the Everglades, and there has to be cons to living so close to a swampy area.

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I chose a video called "Where does junk mail come from?" and it explained the origins of junk mail and how to stop it from arriving at your mailbox everyday. Junk mail dates back to the 1800s and even before telephones were even a thing, and its a big business where our names and addresses are sold. Our information is worth lots to those wanting to sell to us. With our information, they target ads and catalogues at us, and hope that it'll be enough for people to partake in consumerism. It's a business around selling and buying where the only real priority is to make profit. But there's a way to end junk mail, and it's a non profit website called cataloguechoice.org, where you can delete your information from over 8,000 junk mail catalogues all on the one website. This drew my attention as I always see so much junk mail in our mailbox and it'd be great to stop receiving so much, as it all goes straight to the trash anyway. It's creating more waste, and it's not environmentally friendly either.

Link: https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/the-good-stuff/where-does-junk-mail-come-from/

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Sustainable cities and human settlements

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Sustainable cities and human settlements

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I chose "Sustainable cities and human settlements" which describes urbanization and how cities develop and accomodate for the people living in it. This topic's goal is to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" I want to learn more about how cities can be more sustainable, and in particular I read they're promoting sustainable land-use and managmenet and adequete shelter for all.

https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-cities-and-human-settlements

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Which sunscreen should you choose? - Mary Poffenroth

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A guide to the energy of the Earth - Joshua M. Sneideman

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I selected the video on how green solar energy really is, and I found out about how creating the solar panels themselves causes so many negative consequences. There's toxic chemicals being used to make the solar cells in the panels, there's hazardous chemicals such as lead, cadnium and arsenic. The scientists in the field are researching using Ai and other computer based research to find alternatives for the production of solar panels so it can be overall more sustainable rather than harmful.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWV4e453y8Y

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https://youtu.be/RnvCbquYeIM

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Can 100% renewable energy power the world? - Federico Rosei and Renzo Rosei

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Electromagnetic spectrum refers to the collection of electromagnetic waves that exist in the universe. It ranges from gamma rays to radio waves,and all the waves carry a transfer of energy & information.

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How do we make cities and human settlements more sustainable?

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How do we make cities and human settlements more sustainable?

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Human settlements has evolved from rural to more urban settlements, the global urban population has outnumbered the population living in rural areas. With this knowledge, recently there's been a push to address a sustainable development in the cities that are booming. The focus of UN is to provide safe & adequate shelter for all, promote sustainable land-use, and promote sustainable energy and transport system, along with many other goals. Since cities are hubs for human development and economic development, it is important to start minimizing the risks and understand that we're all stakeholders while living in a city. The urban population is only growing per year which makes this a concern.

Source: https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-cities-and-human-settlements

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Fig. 1 - Les composantes de la Smart City

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A phenomenon that occurs with light, radio waves and a multitude of different types of waves in which there's a change in direction and deflection occurs when passing through an oblique surface.

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This video made me reflect upon anthropogenic disasters and how they're affecting this Earth. There's so many ways that humanity can fall short and not survive if we aren't careful. We need to treat this planet better because this is our only home.

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Paleogeography is a subsection of geosciences that studies the past geographies in a physical and biological way. It's the study of historic maps of continents, rivers, mountain ranges, etc. and how it compares to newer maps.

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I chose UN Goal #11 which is about sustainable cities and human settlements. This goal relates quite closely to the environmental changes that climate change is creating. The goal focuses on making cities more resilient and eco friendly as well as providing housing and wellness to the people living in the cities. They’re also trying to educate people on how to live healthier lives despite the growing populations in cities and the limitations in resources because of it. Things like proper waste management, and even managing pollution in the cities are all connected to the climate change crisis and promoting sustainability is for the betterment.

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Desalination is the process of taking saltwater and making it into freshwater that can be used by humans. There's two processes used right now, one is thermal desalination and the other is reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is a more effective way of generating freshwater but it also leaves alot of hyper saline brine. There's a struggle with the process of desalination as it can be way more harmful to the oceans than beneficial to us. Desalination cannot be the solution to water shortage around the world because there is no way to sustain this process. It takes alot of energy to create even just gallons of freshwater through the process used now and we're in a crisis trying to switch to alternative sources of energy as is to maintain this planet. Climate change is affecting more aspects of our lives daily, and it's not smart to rely on a process that will harm us and this planet more as time passes even if it does help as a last resort at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfr82RB72U8

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Can Sea Water Desalination Save The World?

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Initially when I began this course I was expecting it to be an overview of what other sciences delve into. I assumed it'd be an easy review of natural sciences. I've always enjoyed science, with chemistry being my favorite, and physics being my worst subject. I was expecting this class to focus on environmental science and biology the most, and I assumed it'd be reviewing biology terms and discussing renewable energies and the impacts fossil fuels are leaving on nature.

This course has dived into many different subjects and there has been alot of ongoing themes among them all, the biggest being human impact on nature and how we can all make a change. I've learned about multiple energy sources and this course has encompassed a lot more than just biology and nature. The activities we completed engaged us with many subjects and had us learning how to research and comprehend new concepts that I had never seen before. Completing the portfolio has also helped keep all the information together and point to the themes and patterns throughout the course.

I've learned about many energy sources in this course, I've also became more aware with the UN goals and how they're trying to support and help the planet remain alive and well. These topics are crucial for us to understand as we're the future of this world, and if we're well informed on how to take care of this planet then there's better hopes that climate change and the use of fossil fuels can be stopped. I feel that I've learned good researching skills in this class, and interacting with my peers about these important subjects has also helped with communicating and listening. This course has been helpful for multiple skills and it's also valuable information about the environment we live in.

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Why outlawing cannabis was a HUGE mistake

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Why outlawing cannabis was a HUGE mistake

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I chose the last video about why outlawing cannabis was a mistake. It was really informational and I was honestly shocked about the many uses hemp has that have never been talked about. The video focuses on how hemp production could help combat climate change since it's a natural resource that can be used for so many things. Construction industry can use hemp to make concrete, called hempcrete, which is more beneficial to the environment than the concrete we use now. The textile industry can also benefit since an alternative to cotton farming would grealty help the environment. Even the paper production industry, hemp can be used instead of trees to create paper. In older times, all paper was made with hemp, bibles were written on hemp paper and so was the Declaration of Independence. It fell out of popularity in the late 19th century and what really made it a forgotten plant was the fixation on banning the use of recreational drugs. The hemp industry is slowly trying to bring awareness to the many uses for cannabis, but there's a struggle because of the stigma around the recreational use and levels of THC.

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Why outlawing cannabis was a HUGE mistake