# data[].attributes.body
Initially, when I took this course, I was expecting a traditional science course that would try to fulfill Gordon Rule requirements as most science courses normally do. Most of the science courses I have engaged with prior to this course were all typically standarized and did not go outside of standarized material, unlike this course. I expected this course to be standardized like every typical science class I have taken up to this point. This was not my experience, however.

This course was the most engaging MDC Live course I have ever taken. I have had my entire MDC education online due to health issues, however this is the class that most closely simulated what it was like to actually be in a classroom. Different methods were taken to educate the student on a variety of subjects relevant to ongoing issues in our environment and in our personal lives. It was even done in a local level, explaining the issues Florida had with climate gentrification. Often, the most typical complaint a student will have to general courses is "why is it necessary for me to take this", however this course deals with not only standarized sciences but also the science which is most important in impacting our daily lives. I feel that the purpose of college and university is to make the individual a more educated individual that can think critically about society and the effects they have on it, and it is something that I feel this course has done better than any other course by far in comparison to the courses I have taken. The only course that has come close to the effectiveness of this course in my opinion has been the sociology course. I strongly believe this course is a cornerstone for college education that exemplifies everything that a college education stands for, and I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is trying to learn more about the world, especially the environment.

The activity that held the most weight in my mind, as I already read the news every day and have been aware of our climate crisis from a young age, was the matter of climate gentrification. Though it is easy to think about and make the connection, I simply never did. I never bothered to think that far about the impact climate would have in real estate, as it is something wholely disconnected from my life and not something I think about, which is something I really appreciate about this course. It gives you a perspective on things you normally do not think about, which I believe is the most important thing an education can provide. I can say with absolute certainty that I did learn in this classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why the dream of a single family home is a nightmare?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why the dream of a single family home is a nightmare?

# data[].attributes.body
I learned that the opportunity to buy a family home, even with median family share income, is practically a impossibility. Globally, the situation is getting worse, and the market keeps being driven up. The video also talks about how our climate is causing gentrification, something we learned earlier this chapter, and how it is severely affecting the housing market and creating less opportunities for lower and middle classes to achieve their dreams of buying a house. If the house market conditions are already bad enough, the gentrification leaves areas like Florida a nightmare to actually go through the process of buying a house, especially if you plan to do so with your own money. The houses are devalued, not in a good area, and often are privy to suffering the effects of climate gentrification and climate change itself. This is slowly developing into a massive problem for intergenerational wealth, as the wealth that is able to be passed down is massively reduced. It is more likely that you will be unable to pass down a family home, and the second generation is the one that might achieve it if they are lucky.

https://youtu.be/ZXmEdUykdUM

# data[].attributes.body
The desalination of ocean water is a plausible solution to providing fresh water to dry areas of the world for many reasons. Desalination of ocean water is a valid alternative because we are overpumping too much groundwater, and globally, we have built more dams than we can afford economically and environmentally; we have also tapped into nearly every river. Eventually we are going to have to move towards global desalination of water, as we are fine given the amount of drinkable water, but the situation will only get worse as time goes on, especially given the current growth rates. Desalination, however, comes with certain difficulties. The desalination of water, according to Scientific American, a scientific journal, requires a lot of energy. Energy and the technology to desalinate water are extremely expensive, and that is money that most allied companies are not willing to take.

Bibliography:

23, J. (2008, July 23). Why don't we get our drinking water from the ocean by taking the salt out of seawater? Scientific American. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-dont-we-get-our-drinking-water-from-the-ocean/#:~:text=The%20problem%20is%20that%20the,water%20can%20be%20pretty%20costly.

# data[].attributes.body
Link to Padlet: Estephany Olivia (https://padlet.com/estephanyoliva001/my-portfolio-qk04ijvbwnopykvt)

The reason I selected Olivia's padlet was because the image for "Humanity risks" really stood out to me, as well as her Goal, Goal 14. The image Olivia has under "Humanity risks" is a bunch of blood hands all together, signifiying that even though they are making a sacrifice, they are doing it together for the greater good and for their own future. I think it is a very powerful image. What spoke to me the most in Padlet was Olivia talking about sea pollution, as in Florida people throw garbage onto the ocean all the time and it ends up drifting to coral reefs and just polluting our oceans. We live in Florida which is surrounded by Florida so I felt this goal was one of the most "relevant" goals to me. The content is very through, well organized, and understandable. The layout is also understandable, visually pleasing, and well-done.

# data[].attributes.headline
UN 17 Sustainable Goal: Goal 4 Quality Education

# data[].attributes.subject
UN 17 Sustainable Goal: Goal 4 Quality Education

# data[].attributes.body
I chose the topic Goal 4: Quality Education because it is something that affects me directly as someone studying to be a teacher, and is it is something I am directly responsible in regards to making a change, both for the quality of my students education, as well as the impact they will have on our climate. By giving students a quality education, we can teach them about climate change and ways to fix the problems we are facing, little by little.

# data[].attributes.body
A hot spot is an area on Earth over a mantle plume or an area under the rocky outer layer of Earth, called the crust, where magma is hotter than surrounding magma. The magma plume causes melting and thinning of the rocky crust and widespread volcanic activity.

# data[].attributes.body
In fluid dynamics, turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity.

Laminar flow occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between those layers.

TL;DR: turbulent = chaotic; laminar = smooth, no interruptions

# data[].attributes.body
The law of reflection states that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface of the mirror all lie in the same plane.

# data[].attributes.body
Electromagnetic waves are invisible forms of energy that travel though the universe.

# data[].attributes.body
The mini-lecture caught my attention, particularly the mention of AI. I do believe AI can be a threat to humanity, but I believe it will be a much bigger boon than potential threat. AI's threat is reliant on how the coding and programming is done, so if AI is to cause human destruction, it will be because of the actions humans have programmed into it.

I agree with the video on the threats of terrorism and serious crime posing a threat to human life, but I do not believe those to be existencial threats. The biggest existencial threats are issues such as global warming, the extinction of vital species and ecosystems such as coral systems, and famine on a large scale mass.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 4 greatest threats to the survival of humanity

# data[].attributes.body
What primarily caught my attention in the mini lecture was that plastic never degrades, I wasn't aware this was the case. I was under the impression that it was just hard to dispose of rather than just impossible (aside from the microbe). I also didn't know there were microbes that could eat plastic; this seems like a plausible solution to plastic waste but I still believe the best way to remove plastic pollution is to reduce the use of plastic itself.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The smallest solution to one of our biggest problems - Tierney Thys & Christian Sardet

# data[].attributes.body
The status of wind energy in Florida is present. Florida houses over 35 companies and 50 facilities in the wind energy industry, but they possess no wind farms. General Electric is the biggest company, with 2.5-megawatt turbines in their Pensacola facility. It is important to note that most of the wind energy generation is privatized and not socialized. I believe our government should place more of an importance on wind energy, as Florida has not reached full capacity for creating wind energy.

Blog, G. (2018, November 17). Wind power in the Sunshine State - SACE: Southern alliance for clean energy. SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://cleanenergy.org/blog/wind-power-in-the-sunshine-state/#:~:text=With%20these%20new%20wind%20turbines,than%20255%2C500%20homes%20a%20year!

Southeast Wind Energy Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://www.sewind.org/images/fact_sheets/SEWC%20SE%20Regional%20Wind%20Energy%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Dec%202014.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
How much land does it take to power the world?

# data[].attributes.subject
How much land does it take to power the world?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How much land does it take to power the world?

# data[].attributes.body
The reason fossil fuels are primarily used throughout the world is because not only are they highly efficient, especially when compared to other energy sources, but they are also more impactful per unit. They are also cheap in comparison and do not take as much investment such as wind energy requiring space for turbines, which many countries that lack land such as the UK can not implement in an orderly fashion, or nuclear, which is unpopular due to the precedence of oil having established itself and being cheap. The major downsides of fossil fuels that are disregarded are that fossil fuels are limited and have harmful effects on our ecosystem, unlike nuclear energy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How much land does it take to power the world?

# data[].attributes.headline
Why is Goal 4: Quality Education important to ensuring an inclusive education for all?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why is Goal 4: Quality Education important to ensuring an inclusive education for all?

# data[].attributes.body
Goal 4: Quality Education is important for ensuring an inclusive education all young boys and girls worldwide for numerous reasons. The primary goal of Quality Education is to ensure that by 2030, all children have the opportunity to complete primary and secondary schooling. Primary and secondary schooling grants several opportunities to the countries that employ it: the ability for the parent to go to the workforce without needing to tend to their children, creating not only more economic opportunities for the family, but also increasing the economic opportunities of the country and creating a productive industry; creating economic opportunities in future generations that elevate the overall productivity of the country and society through education and critical thinking, and finally, allowing for countries to solve problems internally through self sufficency gained by educating the masses.

Bibliography:

United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4

Quality education. The Global Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/4-quality-education/

Patrick.gindler. (n.d.). United NationsOffice for Outer Space Affairs. Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/space4sdgs/sdg4.html

# data[].attributes.headline
Can 100% renewable energy power the world?

# data[].attributes.subject
Can 100% renewable energy power the world?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can 100% renewable energy power the world? - Federico Rosei and Renzo Rosei

# data[].attributes.body
I chose "Why the US isn't ready for clean energy" (the first video). The video says that in order to build cleaner energy, we need more renewable energy plants, but to use the electricity, we also need to build transmission lines. This is troublesome for several reasons: for one, it's expensive and requires a gradual transition due to existing funds and money invested in the US. The second is the amount of space it needs and how much needs to be planned/moved. We can't just plant wind turbines anywhere either, they need to be placed in windy areas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A guide to the energy of the Earth - Joshua M. Sneideman

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Which sunscreen should you choose? - Mary Poffenroth

# data[].attributes.body
The topic I have chosen is Quality Education. The goal of a quality education is to "ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". I chose this topic because I am studying to be a teacher and I believe that having a proper education will

United Nations. (n.d.). Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4

# data[].attributes.body
I chose "What if a solution to the plastic crisis is closer than we think". I've always believed that the issue of plastic pollution had to deal with the lack of cleanup behind plastic usage, since the use of recycling plastics and cleaning up plastics is always promoted, but I never thought about the increase in plastic production. If the production of plastic has tripled, imagine what it will be like in ten, twenty, or even fifty years into the future. Several countries have started banning plastic goods, such as the UK banning plastic straws to help combat plastic pollution. I think that more countries should promote the elimination of plastic and reduction of plastic production in order to lessen the polution and effect it has on our environment. Since there are many industries and corporations that use plastic, the governments have chose the option of co-existing with mass waste, instead of making laws to reduce plastic usage. I think we should minimize plastic usage gradually and promote the clean up as well in order to combat polution.

Link: https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/movies-sp-series-intro/

# data[].attributes.body
The video deals with climate gentrification, specifically in Little Haiti and Miami. The relative distance a place has with the sea level (they talked about Haiti and Homestead, Homestead specifically being 2-3 feet above sea level), how close the proximity is to the beach, and how much potential danger there is in an area all affects climate gentrification. Wealthier civilians will move deeper into the less dangerous areas in Florida with safer sea levels (northwest), driving the price up and making it impossible for poorer people to live there. As a result, poorer people often move into areas with dangerous sea levels, especially unknowningly, such as Liberty City. Coastal cities are also slowly devaluing. Lower income communities will have less investment put into fighting climate change, especially given some cities still do not listen to climatologists, putting them at even further risk. In Miami, the biggest overall threat to the people is actually climate change because Florida is below sea level. Climate gentrification is a result of global warming affect the make-up of cities.

# data[].attributes.body
My name is Christopher Martin and this is my personal biography. I am 20 years old, almost 21, and I was born during March 7th. I was born in America, but my family is primarily from Peru and Italy. Since my family is mainly Peruvian, we often eat out at Peruvian restaurants (there are many of them in Florida), and because of that my favorite food is a Peruvian dish called "Lomo Saltado" (stir-fried beef in English). My uncle is a chef so my first time working was in his restaurant, Healthy Gourmet Miami. I like eating food but being earnest, I don't enjoy working in restaurants as the envrionment can be tense. My neighbhorhood is Sweetwater (where FIU is) and I've lived in Florida my entire life. The high school I went to was Braddock Sr. High. My MDC campus is West Campus, but I attend school online because of some current health issues. The reason I am going to MDC is because my dream ever since I was young is to teach. I am going for a PhD in history and a Masters in teaching. This is what is most important to me, and also my biggest passion. I'm not sure where I would like to live, but I think I would like to travel to Europe sometime later as I am a history major and I am extremely interested in European history and literature. In the future, I think I will remain the same person but I will have more experience which might make the way I interact with things different; I tend to be a generally consistent person in the way I do things. The thing I am most proud of about myself is that I am making progress towards my goal of becoming a teacher. My biggest hobby is playing video games, but recently with college I don't have as much time on my hands to play. I also love reading, but generally older works or classics rather than current literary works.