As we watched the Leonardo Dicaprio documentary this past week, it made me realize that climate change is a bigger issue than what I initially realized. I did not realize that so many cities were being submerged because of global warming. Climate change not only affects the weather and sea level, but is also melting glaciers and sea ice. This is killing off polar animals such as seals and polar bears, and dumping harmful toxics into the sea from the glaciers. Leonardo traveled to different countries to try to figure out the current status was on global warming in other countries. One of the countries he went to was India, and he spoke to another activist there who is trying to change global warming, as well. This lady said that America is the number one distributor to global warming. She informed Leo that things can be done to change global warming, but that not enough effort is being put forth from Americans in order to do so.
I did not realize that America was the number one distributor to global warming. I thought that, possibly, China may be a greater distributor considering the pollution rate is higher there. My question is, is the Indian woman that Leo was talking to correct? Are we not putting forth enough effort in order to make these changes? In my opinion I would answer this question by saying, possibly. We cannot put forth the effort if we do not have a sufficient amount of resources in order to do so. If we cannot replace these nonrenewable resources with solar or wind energy then there is little or no way global warming will become absent. Plus, with America’s population being that of a large amount, it will take years upon years, if ever, to get people to change their ways. This message about global warming/climate change needs to get out there and the facts need to be displayed. If people do not see the facts that global warming exists because of all of these factors through how we live our every day lives, then people will just continue to disbelieve that global warming exists. This is a huge issue in America, and if there is some way for us to make a difference by using different energy, then why not try it? Again, my question is, are we putting forth enough effort to change this issue or are we slacking?
Communicating Health, Science and the Environment 
I think the issue is that we are not putting all our money and effort to thinking of cost-efficient, practical ways of making renewables viable. Yes, there are clearly some efforts out there. But if we are to make it so that people in developing countries can do it too, and other people in developed countries with limited budgets, much more work needs to be done. The reason is because people still think that there is an abundance of oil, coal, natural gas out there for the taking. This is simply not true. We are running out of resources, especially locally, and not many people will stand for what we are doing with the Dakota Access Pipeline if it is done to themselves (like in the case of fracking). We are not looking toward the future because we don’t want to believe that it is true or that it will happen that one day we won’t be able to use fossil fuels anymore. It is important to accurately inform the public constantly of the issue of climate change, but we also have to do it in a way that continues to pose a problem and people won’t become desensitized to it. Maybe there could be a class or a field out there that deals with scientific communication specifically, or even a job of environmental social work.
Annelise Wilimitis
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Your comment saying that you thought China may have been the number one contributor towards climate change made me question whether or not the Indian speaker in the movie was correct. I feel as though there is a lot more visual damage being done to China than America, especially since their population is much larger. American’s don’t have to walk around in public with masks to protect them from the air, unlike China. But I digress, American’s still contribute a massive amount towards climate change. Will we be able to change? Can everyone make a difference? Maybe. But, we still have to do our job and live a good environmental lifestyle at the individual level first.
Andrew Ebding
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It’s funny how seeing something from a different perspective can completely revolutionize our thinking isn’t it? I think this is something we should all remember going forward, not just in relation to communication, or school, but something we should apply to every day life. It sounds like some generic thing every Hallmark mom says to their kids, but really do put on someone else’s shoes and see what it’s like. They may not all fit, but they might leave some life lasting scars, along with some much needed life lessons.
Halle Van De Hey
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I couldn’t believe how recklessly people deny the science involved in climate change. It truly is remarkable
Dylan Nourse
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