Sunday, March 11, 2012

Group research

Here is a link to Group 6's research blog

http://groupsix-starfish.blogspot.com.au/

My contribution:
interview (David) and research

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth


An inconvenient truth is an inspirational documentary about the reality of human society’s impact on global warming. The doco is Presented by former vice president Al Gore, who has been leading the global crusade to raise awareness and stop global warming becoming inevitably a deadly process.


Inspired by this theory of global warming at a young age, Al Gore tried taking giving his view about the subject in politics. Being knocked back in the presidential election gave Gore a new thought that ultimately global warming is not a political issue but rather the biggest moral issues facing human kind.

In short Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans, which started to increase in the late 19th century and is projected to keep going up. Global warming is effecting every part of the earth including its living habitat. Numbers are showing that the earth is heating up at a very fast rate resulting in larger amounts of precipitation from the sea but also form the soil. This is resulting in large amounts of rain fall at one time resulting in flooding and on the opposite end of the spectrum resulting in larger areas effected by draught. Over thousands of speices are on the verge of becoming extinct and because of the rise in heat insects and animals such as mosquitos are entering new found areas and spreading diseases that we have not seen in years.


So what is causing all of this?

Well ultimately it is us. One major factor is our population. Al Gore describes in his life that at the period of the baby boomers the human population was around 2 billion, and now it is just over 6.5 billion people. With the increase of population there had been a higher demand and pressure on food, water and natural resources.

Even long before Al Gores awareness raising Sir Winston Churchill knew that the relationship between human kind and the earth was breaking. He said ““The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”


These consequences have already started hitting with a rise in natural disasters killing thousands every year. Not only are they more frequent but due to the increase in temperature they are more powerful and bigger.

So how can we reduce these consequences? In the table below Al Gore explained how we can do this and by doing so we can reduce our impact of that of the 1970’s which compared to today is a significantly large amount.

How can I play my role?

As a designer I can create products that are more efficient not only to use but also to manufacture. Use recyclable materials. Create new systems and products engaging and raising awareness to its uses especially generations to come.