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Hello, my name is Alejandro Rodriguez. I am 19 years old. I was born in Havana, Cuba but my family and I came to Hialeah when I was a year old. This is my last semester at MDC. My home campus is the Hialeah campus. My major is communications /journalism. I plan to transfer to FIU and get my bachelors. My favorite food is any type of pasta. My hobbies are playing sports and watching anime. I have always loved sports since I was a kid. My dad was always a big sports fan not just due to his job of being a sports journalist but he was the one that got me interested in sports. Anime was recommended to me by a friend and have been obsessed ever since. My goal is to one day become a sports journalist like my dad and be able to talk or write about one of my hobbies for a living. I believe one of my biggest strengths is listening. Hearing and paying attention others while they are speaking is a major skill to have. I would define success as being happy. No matter how much we work in life or the amount of money we have our mental health is the most important part of success. Even if your job or life is not as ambitious as you wanted it to be as long as your happy, to me you are successful.

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After attending the library session with with Ms. Duque, she reminded how to use the libraries resources for my research. She went over many of them that I was familiar with. The one that stuck out to me was the gale database. I had used it before by she showed me new ways to find articles and how to cite them in MLA format. She also demonstrated methods that i had never used before. Google scholar and advanced google search were two that I had never seen before. Google scholar provides scholarly articles and journals tht serve as more reliable sources. Advanced google search lets use more filters on google to really narrow down the links on your research and gives you more specific articles to use. Both of these will be very benefitial later on.

The topic I chose to do research on is real estate in Miami. Specifically affordable housing and why is it so hard to buy a house in miami. I remember when my grandma moved out we struggled for months to find a suitable place. It was always a problem whether it be from it being too expenisve to no units available. I want to find out why it is such a a problem for most people.

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The Next Miami. “Miami Is Now the Second Most Expensive Housing Market in America, & Prices Are Still Rising.” The Next Miami, 6 Oct. 2021, https://www.thenextmiami.com/miami-is-now-the-second-most-expensive-housing-market-in-america-prices-are-still-rising/.

This article talks about Miami is very expensive place to live and continues to grow worse and worse. It is quickly rising to the level of New York and has already passed Los Angeles. I will use this article to show how much more difficult it is to live in Miami than expected.

Cardona, Alexi C. “Here Are Five Examples of Miami's Affordability Crisis.” Miami New Times, Miami New Times, 7 Sept. 2021, https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/five-examples-of-miamis-housing-and-affordability-crisis-11871734.

The first article talks about different reasons of Miami’s crisis when it comes to affordable housing. How difficult it is for residents of Miami to buy a house and even afford rent on an apartment. I will use this article to portray various examples of how difficult it is to live in Miami.

Horn-Muller, Ayurella, and Jenny Staletovich . “Racing the Sea: Miami Beach's Housing Crisis Worsened by Climate Change.” WLRN, 15 Dec. 2020, https://www.wlrn.org/news/2020-12-14/racing-the-sea-miami-beachs-housing-crisis-worsened-by-climate-change.

The article talks about factors contributing to the housing problem in Miami. How floods and hurricanes are making it even harder for Miamians to find a home. For those lucky enough have a house, how expensive it is to pay off. Also how the pandemic has played a part as well.

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SP2

For my SP2 I expected to meet with the librarian, and she would show me different topics to research and where I can find the best information. I didn’t feel it was necessary since I already knew how to use the libraries resources provided by the campus. However as I kept paying attention in the session, I found some other research methods that were useful. She really helped understand my topic about real estate in Miami even further. I learned even more about the difficult housing situation down here in Miami and that it has been like this for quite a while. I knew that the housing market in south Florida was very expensive and one of the worst in the country. I didn’t expect it to be this bad where not only is it every expensive but there just isn’t any homes available. It was really eye opening to see just how bad it was, and the research has helped me be more informed not just to be aware of the issue but also what to expect when trying to find my own place to live. Learning about my topic along with different ways of researching it was really beneficial to me.

CAS3 and CAS2

For CAS3 I watched two ted talks about the environment. It was really insightful to learn more about climate change especially how an underwater can fight climate change. I am always interested in learning new things. This one really fascinated me knowing that anywhere in the world something amazing can happen. I also learned about how air conditioners are actually very harmful. While they do provide cooling for us but worsen the effect on climate change. It was very shocking to hear that, and it opened my mind to other things that we think are good but actually are harmful to us in some way. CAS2 was about finding 2 articles related to solutions journalism and my thoughts on it. I really enjoyed my experience with solutions journalism. It is a different way of gathering information and sharing it with others. This method made focus and enjoy the articles more than traditional journalism. The variety of topics and formats of learning really make it enjoyable. I read about a method to keep track of air pollution in cities by using moss to absorb the gases in the atmosphere. The other article was about how much methane is in the Artic and ways to potentially use that methane to help fight global warming instead of waiting for pollute even more.

CAS1

CAS1 was learning about the story of stuff. How stuff impacts us and the effects it could have that we don’t see. I learned about how bottled water companies are just lying to people about the effects of tap water for their monetary benefits. I used to use bottled water since it was more convenient but now, I try to use it as little as possible. I am trying to convince my parents to stop buying it and just use the tap. I also learned bout how old electronics sitting around the house are made with toxins and can eve cause different types of cancers. I have since gotten rid of any old or broken electronic that I don’t use anymore but that can also be a problem since they just go to a waste. What would really cause change is if companies had to take care of the disposal of their electronics instead of the general public. After seeing these two videos I know pay more attention to the things around me that can look good but be harmful.

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The story of bottled water explains how companies and manufacturers have lied to the people for years to keep making money. Companies scare us by saying tap water is dirtier and bottled water is better when that is not always the case. Some bottled water actually comes from tap water that is filtered. Then there is the issue of the plastic. Most if not, all end up burned and release harmful toxins into the atmosphere. The rest are sent to places like India where the plastic bottles are into a lower quality bottle and turn into giant landfills around these countries.  The pollution that is in some tap water comes from plastic bottle manufactures dumping into public water leaving the American people fooled and wasting their money.

The story of electronics shows how harmful electronics can be even if they are seen as a necessity in today’s world. They are made with toxins like mercury, solvents, and flame retardants. The manufacturing affects the workers and are more likely to die from different types of cancers. After we are done with them, they become part of e-waste. Companies make them in a way that they can break easily so after some time the consumers need to go buy a new one. Take back laws force companies to handle the disposal of their products and deal the consequences. Now they change the way they build their models to last longer instead of a few months.

I believe consumption plays a big part of my role as a global citizen. We all consume many products from our necessities like food, water and personal hygiene products and our luxurious products like phones, computers, and cars. In this consumption we actually harm the earth.  Almost all manufactures in some way produce waste whether that be in the product itself or dumping it somewhere across the world and they will not stop producing until we make them change their ways. Consumption is essential to the economy but we must be careful of the products we consume and what methods the manufactures use to provide their product. If we are not careful the earth will deteriorate into an uninhabitable planet soon.

After seeing the two videos on plastic bottle and electronics it really made me think of how they are a part of my daily life. The water bottle especially since my life usually buys two cases of plastic water bottles every other week. Sometimes its actually easier to go get a water bottle than tap. It is a bad habit of ours and we need to change it. The electronics one is very relatable to me. I get a new phone every year or two years. Not always cause I want to but the point is that I still have my old phones somewhere in the house releasing constantly. I want to make these changes to preserve the planet.

Works Cited

Leonard, Annie. “The Story of Bottled Water.” Story of Stuff, 22 Mar. 2010, https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-bottled-water/.

Leonard, Annie. “The Story of Electronics.” Story of Stuff, Nov. 2011, https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics/.

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Article 1

Nature’s Air Sensors Are Growing on Your Street

Nature’s air sensors are growing on your street refers to how moss can absorb everything from the air. By testing the moss, it is possible to keep a record of the pollution in the air. Sarah Jovan, an ecologist came up with the idea to use this method on cities. Portland only had one device to measure air pollution and it was very expensive. It cannot be used on a neighborhood level. Sarah and her team collected samples and found a neighborhood that had more air pollution than the rest of the city. Her findings led to new environmental laws and more air monitors. She has taught other young scientists her methods and the results they found were the evidence to change pollution restrictions in the city.

Works Cited

Nichols, Jesse. “Nature's Air Sensors Are Growing on Your Street.” Grist, 21 Dec. 2021, https://grist.org/science/natures-air-sensors-are-growing-on-your-street-moss/?utm_source=Solutions%2BStory%2BTracker

Article 2

Can we harness the Arctic’s methane for energy?

Methane can be more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Methane can also be used to generate electricity or fuel. Icebergs in the Artic leak tons of methane each year. A power plant in Rwanda is converting that methane and gives the area power without relying on fossil fuels. There are landfills all over the United States that methane just letting harm the environment. Research has shown that there is an untapped energy source larger than all the world’s known coal, oil and gas reserves combined. However due Canada cutting funds the research trying to find a way to harness that energy was unable to continue their research. Countries are still researching it today but it would take lots of money to harness methane’s potential energy.

Works Cited

Yee, Amy, et al. “Can We Harness the Arctic's Methane for Energy?” Arctic Today, 1 Sept. 2020, https://www.arctictoday.com/can-we-harness-the-arctics-methane-for-energy/

Reflection

After reading both Solutions Journalism articles I learned that we really need to pay more attention to climate change and the effects it can have on us. If we keep ignoring it then neighborhoods all over the country like the one in Portland where citizens live knowing they are slowly dying due to pollution. It led to creating a new law to restrict companies form polluting in the area. Events like this are needed across the globe to stop climate change from getting worse. This is a problem now and could an even bigger problem in the future if not taken care of. Methane sits in landfills just wasting away in landfills across the U.S and around the world harming the environment. Converting the methane under the artic would be a tremendous source of energy. The idea is still very new and billions are needed to make it work but it is something that should be explored as a priority and not put aside because of how difficult it may seem. Solutions Journalism has a unique format that I really enjoy. From the different filters for each story to the stories itself, it really makes it more enjoyable than mainstream media sites. My favorite part was the abundance of topics to pick from and how I can specify to whatever I am looking for.

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The unexpected, underwater plant fighting climate change.

Carlos Duarte talks about Mediterranean seagrass and its potential to remove carbon from the ocean. There is only 0.1 percent of them, but they still are responsible for removing 33 percent of the carbon in the seafloor. They grow by extending their stems along the sea floor to form giant clones. One was found over 15 kilometers long in the Mediterranean around the size of Manhattan. The seagrass pumps carbon dioxide into organic matter, accumulates and is preserved in the soil. It’s very effective because in forest the carbon goes back into the atmosphere through forest fires while in the ocean it accumulates for thousands of years. Removing carbon isn’t their only benefit, they also protect our shorelines and our infrastructure.

Duarte, Carlos M. “The Unexpected, Underwater Plant Fighting Climate Change.” TED Talk, July 2021, https://www.ted.com/talks/carlos_m_duarte_the_unexpected_underwater_plant_fighting_climate_change.

How to provide cooling for everyone -- without warming the planet

Rachel Kyte explains her new method to cool down the Earth. The planet gets hotter every year. In order to stay cool we use air conditioners, but air conditioners are inefficient and waste heat along with warm the Earth even more. There 4 different ways she believes we can change cooling. First, changing the way we build with solar control windows and paint that reflects 98 percent of sunlight. Making more efficient air conditioners. Air conditioning has to hydrofluorocarbon free. HFC can accelerate global warming. Lastly, mobile cold storage units that convert solar energy into ice. Many different ways we can change but we have to be open to it. She encourages the public to keep an open mind when it comes to these changes.

Kyte, Rachel. “How to Provide Cooling for Everyone -- without Warming the Planet.” TED Talk, Oct. 2021, https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_kyte_how_to_provide_cooling_for_everyone_without_warming_the_planet.

Reflection

In the two videos that I saw, I would say that I learned many new ways on how to help the environment and slow down climate change.  I learned about a type of seagrass that I had never heard before with an incredible ability to reduce carbon in the ocean. It is unfortunate that they occupy only 0.1 percent of the seafloor. They could really help against climate change with how much carbon emissions most countries produce. As a society we must ensure we take advantage of opportunities like this and ensure the seagrass doesn’t decrease or go extinct. Hearing about how our cooling is inefficient and actually harming us in the long term was eye opening. I did not know that air conditioners had HFC’s that could accelerate global warming. I thought her solutions were very innovative. I especially enjoyed her idea about the idea of using solar panels to control thermal insulation and low reflection. I also thought the idea cooling the roof was very creative by making the roof panels out of paper and waste wood, reducing the temperature by 10 degrees. I think both of these could really impact and change the way we reduce climate change. I’m not sure if there is a way for me to impact these situations immediately but ill support ideas like these.

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The Cost of Shipping

All products have a label that says where it was made. I thought it was all made in that country and then shipped to the United States. Turns out that is not the case. It can go around the whole world and back. However all this shipping causes a problem. Shipping through the ocean is better than through trucks or airplanes but is still hurtful to the environment. This industry emits more carbon emissions than any other and doesn’t pay any for its carbon pollution. Shipping is very convenient for all of us yet the harm it causes is not worth it. The video states that a reason they could get away with this is because ships aren’t as common anymore for us unless you live near the ocean or a place that is not landlocked. To travel people take cars, buses, or airplanes. This causes them to be out of sight, out of mind and none of the emissions they give off are seen to the general public. I never realized the impact that shipping had across the world. New fuels and batteries are in the process of being developed in order to get rid of the emissions that these cargo ships give off but there is still a long way to go to improve the cost of shipping.

Works Cited

Planet A "The true cost of shipping basically everything" Nov 12 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pyIdqfpuR0