Extra Credit

On March 9th I attended a lecture in Baker Ballroom given by Professor Lonnie Thompson from The Ohio State University. The lecture was entitled "The Human Footprint on Earth". Professor Thompson has a Ph D in Geological Sciences.

Dr. Thompson studies polar ice caps and has conducted research in multiple different places including Tibet, Antarctica, Alaska and the Himylayas. Dr. Thompson and his team do their research by drilling into the ice core at high altitudes.
Through his research he has encountered the signs of global warming such as polar ice caps melting more and more rapidly and the rise in sea level around the world. He stated that temperatures have risen to the highest ever recorded over the last 12 years and shockingly, the Earth's temperature has been increasing one degree Celsius every year. In addition, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to increase drastically.

Dr. Thompson gave us different options to work on the problem. The first was prevention, which means we MUST decrease carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Secondly was adaptation. Adaptation means changing the way we already interact with Earth, such as agriculture. He said if we do not act to alleviate these problems we will suffer and continue to suffer.

Overall I thought the presentation was very informative. I am not usually one to be very concerned with global warming but the facts that were presented really caught my attention and I felt that Dr. Thompson was very credible so I trusted the information he presented. I also thought his pictures and diagrams were very critical to the presentation because not only did they add emphasis to his message but I felt that it helped to persuade me. It was a very good presentation and I think it was beneficial to people like me who don't often realize the massive affect that global warming is having and how, even though it may not seem like it, the situation may affect us in our lifetime.