My name is Julia Rosen, a freelance journalist covering science and the environment. I am a former science reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where I focused on climate change.
Many people may wonder “how do we know climate change is really happening?”.
Climate change is often cast as a prediction made by complicated computer models. During the Industrial Revolution, people started burning coal and other fossil fuels to power factories, smelters and steam engines, which added more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Ever since, human activities have been heating the planet.
We know this is true thanks to the evidence that begins with temperature measurements taken at weather stations and on ships starting in the mid-1800s. Later, scientists began tracking surface temperatures with satellites and looking for clues about climate change in geologic records. All these data tell the Earth is getting hotter.
I am Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the Global Leader of Climate & Energy at World Wildlife Fund (WWF). I have 35 years of experience in environmental law and policy and served as Minister of the Environment of Peru and President of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties- COP20 in 2014.
As we all know, climate change affects every corner of our planet from the poles to the tropics, and from the mountains to the oceans. People and nature worldwide are already feeling the effects.
Governments, companies, cities and communities are coming together to act. But we need to do more. Although governments have committed to take action in a series of agreements since 1992, the global temperature is still set to rise over the coming decades. And scientists agree that more than 1.5°C of warming will likely have catastrophic impacts.
I was interested in the people that were chosen when talking about the perspectives on global warming. I didn’t expect to see a journalist. When I think of this kind of think I automatically think of some sort of scientist or large business owner, however by choosing a journalist, I thought it was easy to imagine what kind of things are being said in the media, and the things that we hear in our daily lives. I also enjoyed the facts that were given during the entry. I feel like we learnt something rather than just seeing perspectives.
ReplyDeleteThe perspectives of a journalist and the Global Leader were very interesting. However, when I first hear the word “global warming,” I think of penguins or polar bears. So, seeing things from the animals’ perspective would grab a lot of attention from the viewers as well. I felt how strongly Manuel felt about global warming / environmental problem and wanting to stop climate change. I also liked that you inserted two images of the people. If they were an unprofessional guy instead of Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, I don’t think I will have the same images of the world as now to take action.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog entry to be pretty interesting. i liked how you brought two perspectives to see the differences in views on the subject. with global warming being such a huge problem this generation, reading about what these people think is happening, and what should happen was interesting to read. Also this entry was formatted pretty well in my opinion! Was easy to understand and read! I also found it interesting how the journalist had a more relatable stance on the matter. i liked her questioning attitude compared to Manuel's approach of just stating facts. I feel like I learnt a big about the subject!
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