HOW TO BE GREEN April lOM
2
Star Tech
The Essentials of Global
Warming
Laura Hart
Contributing Writer
Global Climate change
had dominated the head
lines and, as students
and citizens, it is impor
tant to know the facts
about this term the media
keeps throwing around.
The Oregon Survey
Research Laboratory
took a survey and 75%
of those surveyed were
concerned about global
warming. We've all heard
about some of the det
rimental effect of global
warming, such as the
melting of the polar ice
caps. If the polar icecaps
melt and the sea level
rises, many cities will
be covered with water
and become uninhabit
able. Some of the cities
in the United States that
would be affected are
New York Qty, Miami,
Wilmington, NC, and
New Orleans. Another
problem that results from
global warming is that
many of the crops the
stabilize local economies
would fail-the agri
cultural makeup of the
planet would be altered.
Places that would have
a grain-growing climate
would not have the right
temperature and pre
cipitation levels to grow
grain, and there would
be famine of extreme
proportions. There sim
ply would not be enough
food to feed everyone,
especially at the rate of
population growth in the
planet.
A lesser-known aspect
of global warming is
its possible effects on
international relations. If
global warming altered
the planet, there would
be a perfect political cli
mate for war. Resources
would be so precious
that people might fight
and die to get food, and
it would become as con-
■ tentious and precious (if
not more) as oil is today.
This tension might be an
especially large problem
as the northern hemi
sphere will see much
more severe changes
than the southern hemi
sphere. There might even
be a world war between
the northern and south
ern hemispheres. The
effects of global warm
ing will be more pro
nounced in the northern
hemisphere because it is
home to the most land
and the most industri
alization. Therefore, the
southern hemisphere
would be changed very
little and be able to keep
producing at its current
ability, but the northern
hemisphere would be
drastically changed and
therefore unable to pro
duce at its current level.
As a result, the govern
ments of the northern
hemisphere might make
a desperate plea to the
southern leaders to feed
their starving citizens.
If refused, the northern
governments might very
well resort to force lead
ing to the strong prob
ability of global warfare.
The Bush
Administration recently
declared global warming
"imaginary," saying that
it was uneconomical for
America to participate
in climate change reduc
tion programs. On one
hand, scientists have
measured an overall
rise in the atmospheric
temperature of the Earth
of 4-6 degrees Celsius.
The average tempera
ture has been changing
naturally throughout
Earth's Wstory. There has
been an earlier warming
that created conditions
even warmer than today.
The most recent period
lasted from about 800-
1200 AD. That period
Essentials cont. on pg. 4
Chelsea
McGlaughlin
Staff Writer
It seems to me that
middle ground is virtu
ally nonexistent with
regards to technology.
People are either highly
tech-savvy (aka the
geeks/nerds) or are tech-
illiterate (aka the don't-
know-and-don't-care-to-
know).
Example: you know
the type ... tfiose who
live and breathe technol
ogy, who appear to be
talking to themselves but
actually have a Bluetooth
strapped to their head
at all times. They're the
ones who trade in their
cell phones every other
month to get the latest
and greatest, whose cars
have navigation systems
and iPod connectivity
and practically drive
themselves. They're the
ones who depend on
their Blackberries to keep
them on schedule and
who call their significant
others to ask what kind
of pickles to buy at the
grocery store.
On the other end of
the spectrum are those
who may not know how
to use computers at
all, who think technol
ogy is utterly confusing
and may possibly ruin
the world some day.
Example: on the April
10^^ episode of The Office,
when Jim asks Dwight's
babysitter-tumed-date
for her e-mail address
because he has "a lot of
questions," she replies,
"E-mail?"
If you're wondering
where you fall on this
technology spectrum,
take the following sur
vey to find out if you are
tech-savvy or tech-ilUt-
erate. Read each state
ment, and then make a
check next to each state
ment with which you
agree.
You can tell the differ
ence between a USB port
and a FireWire port
You idolize Bill Gates
and/or Steve Jobs
You can take digital
pictures, get them to
your hard drive, edit
them, and upload them
to a photo sharing site or
blog
You know what a blog
is—and even write your
own
You get excited when
you see a new tech gad
get on a magazine cover,
television show, newspa
per, or website
You know how to
use the basics: e-mail,
Internet, and Microsoft
Office suite
You own an iPod/mp3
player and know how to
add music, videos, etc. to
it from iTunes and your
hard drive
You'd rather spend
money on the newest
technology than on any
thing else
You're either pro-PC
or pro-Mac, but usually
not both
You know HTML,
Java, and/or another pro
gramming language
Add the number of
checks you made. If you
have...
0-3: Sorry, you're tech-
illiterate. You, my friend,
should keep reading Star
Tech and get with the
21®* century.
4-6: You're somewhat-
sawy. You fall into the
rarely found middle
ground of technology
world. You should check
out the latest "PC World"
issue to become geekier.
7-10: Congratulations!
You're a GEEK! (No,
really ... it's a good
thing!)
Where do you fall on the tech spectrum?
Photo courtesy http://www.newton.kl2.
ms.us/vocationaltech/html/program/busi-
nesstech/images/technology.jpg