Friday, February 15, 2013
Earth From Space
The Nova program ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/earth-from-space.html) earth from space is a two hour video that explains many of the environmental connections. It is a bet too long and so this blog assignment will count double i.e. it is a two week assignment instead of only one.
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I do not consider myself to be a science lover and honestly and I would never watch any program like this in my free time. However, I am glad I watched this program because was truly amazing and I learned many things. It is amazing how interrelated and delicate the earth is and how each action has a reaction somewhere on the globe. It is extraordinary that we live in a time where man can learn and understand nature from satellites in space.
ReplyDeleteI think the most extraordinary thing in this video was the ocean. The oceans play such important roles to every other aspect of the world. From the formation of hurricanes and weather patterns, to it's disposal of brine in polar melting and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, to it's under water explosions and plankton, the ocean fuels life on earth. It was amazing to learn about the plankton's ability to be produced, some eaten, and some die nourishing life in the ocean and on land. This video allowed me to rethink just how important it is to ensure that we do not overfish or pollute our oceans.
Another part of the film that I found interesting and sparked my interest was the importance of fire to generate life. Wild fires are usually looked at as being purely destructive and a hazard to the environment, so seeing that nutrient rich ash in the air and soil lead to almost immediate life was very interesting. Though humans always see fire as a threat, it was eye opening to see it as a nourishment to the earth.
Lastly, I found the closing of the video interesting. I thought it was amazing to hear that with Aura we are able to recognize that we manufacture more than 2x the nitrate produced by lightening, our factories release more sulfur than all of the earth's volcanoes, transportation produces more carbon dioxide than the Amazon Rainforest captures, and our cities generate dust and effect rainfall. I liked how the interviewee put it, "We are on a path to somewhere and our ability to understand that path is crucial to success in the future..." 1:47:30. It is amazing that we have come this far and could analyze all of this data from the satellites and it is in our power to shape the future with the knowledge we are obtaining. It was disheartening to hear that most of the satellites had lifespan that were quickly approaching and there were no plans to replace them. Hopefully the value in this knowledge is realized and we can learn from this findings, while continuing to document the earth via satellite images. After all, these images speak louder than any words could and "they represent objective truth.. and its that that allows us to see change for what it is"- Piers Sellers of NASA 1:48:26.
There is so much we take for granted each day, we are ignorant to the forces that surround us and affect us. I usually don’t watch such programming on TV but this video truly opened my eyes to the Earth in a whole different way. We forget how limited our presence would be if we continue to take for advantage the world around us. In our daily lives, we don’t stop to think how damaging our actions might be to the world around us. The program truly opened my eyes to how connected nature is to every event in our lives. We only see our atmosphere in terms of weather, rain, sun, windy or snow. Every type of weather is necessary to keep the balance of nature on Earth, yet we find it inconvenient when it rains on a “good day”. But we never stop to think about why the weather is the way it is or how convenient it is for us to wake up every morning and take a breath without wondering about the path the oxygen we take in has taken. The world is completely in sync with nature and we are all connected through the energies that flow around us.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to see how natural elements like the earth, fire, water and wind create environmental diversity. The earth is truly ruled by the force of nature and yet we sit on our high thrones thinking we own and control everything. I always thought the sun only warmed the earth but it gives the earth energy through water and forms cloud formations which lead to storms. The sun is one of the elements driving the water around us. While the cold weather in Antarctica helps keeps the earth cooler even though the sun is shining on it and the core of the earth is bubbling with lava activity. Volcanoes as they erupt actually provide new minerals and recycle nonproductive ecosystems.
In the video posted by Professor Karam, he mentioned ecological footprint quizzes and I took one and the result I was not able to post but it said something along the lines that if everyone on Earth lived my kind of lifestyle we would need 2.5 earths. It was shocking to discover that we would need 2.5 earths to maintain my kind of lifestyle and speaks volumes about how damaging our lives are to the nature around us and to our home, Earth. So thank you to the Professor for truly opening my eyes to the reality of the toxic life I personally live and how much I contribute to the overall injury the Earth is experiencing today.
2.5 earths it would take to maintain a life style, but don't you think once we populated areas we would be back in the situation we are in now. I know it is near impossible to obtain another 2 earths but I would see the human population continuing to outgrow and ruin what is in front of us.
DeleteIt’s incredible how numerous satellites are able to show the truth about how wonderful the earth is when it comes to its eco-system. The earth eco-system is amazing for being able to be so global and unique. There are many factors that make our eco-system stay in balance. However people are able to throw it off so easily.
ReplyDeleteThis video informs us that fire, lighting, water, and many more factors make our eco-system balance. The Sahara desert can affect the Amazon forest to grow. Wild fire helps grow the next generation of forest. Amazon forest helps create more plankton, which creates tons of oxygen. There is many complex ways the earth balances its eco-system however humans are able to unbalance the eco-system so easily.
The video didn’t go in to a lot of details about how humans affect the eco-system. Satellites show how human effects the eco-system by pollution. The satellite Aura shows that humans produce more then twice the amount of nitrate that lighting produces. Humans make more sulfur then volcanoes. Humans also make more carbon dioxide then the Amazon forest can absorb. I wish the video had gone in to more details about how we could try to balance back the eco-system.
Since our earth’s eco-system is global our efforts to protract the world should be too. Hopeful Rio+20 is able to comfort and fix a lot of problems human create for the earth’s eco-system. As for the satellites repairs should be done. The information we get from these satellites is so important to help us keep the eco-system in balances.
I found the first part of your post very interesting, "[we] are able to throw it off so easily".
DeleteIt's pretty amazing when you think about how massive the Earth that we are able to have such profound affects on it. We as a species have become so productive that we can cause shifts in climates and vaporize millions of organisms with nuclear energy. Yet with all this power, technology, and knowledge we are unable to reverse it. That seems pretty ironic and at the same time very sad. Looking at this broadly, it would appear that have superb capabilities to destroy life, but lack the resolve to sustain it.
I think videos like these can help people to understand the power that we as a species wield and how to use it to benefit all.
It’s been a while since I watched a good environmental documentary and I must say this was probably one of the best I’ve seen. What I found most amazing was the amount of satellites that orbit the earth and the magnitude of their capabilities. As an IT major I have a good sense of what these machines can do on paper, but seeing it in action puts things in perspective. Another thing that stuck out to me was how interconnected we are with ocean currents, the Sun, etc. I at first did not believe that the climate in Antarctica could have such an impact on the overall climates in different regions.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topics, I was reading an article in the NYT about how herbivores are helping humans adapt to climate changes by eating the excess vegetation that grows in different regions. Looking forward, I wonder if other species, mainly marine ones, will prove to be as useful.
I never thought i would ever watch a video like this, better yet for 2 hours! but i must say that the TV special had me hooked from the begginning to end. Its crazy to think how interconnected everything is on earth. First, it explained how the distinct cold climate in Antartica is crucial for the well being of the earth, and how the movement of water all stems from Antartica. At this point of the video i thought about how global warming is developing and the climate in these distinct contintents like Antartica are getting warmer, even though we need them to be cold. In conclusion, we need to take the necessary actions to make sure we do not disrupt the climate.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the video i found most interesting was about storms, and how they can supply energy around the globe. Instead of burning fossil fuels and relying on gas to run daily life, we should harness the energy found inside storms. Not only would it be a more methodical and practical, but it wouldn't leave a blueprint on earth.
What we do without oxygen?? Trees release oxygen that all humans and animals use to breathe. So why are we cutting them down at such an excessive rate? eventually, there will not be enough trees to support the population on earth. In the video, they talked about the importance of preserving the Amazon Rainforest.
This world is just too cool. Whether or not we are aware of it, everything in this Earth is connected: the earth, air, fire and water. I've watched a few documentaries like this film so I did have a general idea of how the world works. Regardless of my knowledge on the water cycle, I wasn't aware of how hurricanes form. Despite knowing that a region on Earth is affected by other regions, I wasn't aware that it begins with Antarctica. I knew fire results in the rebirth of forests and the environment but not that it could release the
ReplyDeleteNutrients and spread them around.
Aside from personal knowledge, I did see some economic applications in the film. The burst of plankton, for example, fuels the fishing industry. If we knew when and where the plankton will bloom, we can maximize in fishing while being CAREFUL for overfishing. Rainwater after thunderstorms contain valuable nitrate, a free fertilizer we can gather if we catch the greywater. Most of our ecosystem is dependent on sunlight and the sun so a good application harnessing the sun's energy in a practical way would be a good sustainability practice. Yes, we have solar panels but that could only benefit us and the Earth if we replace all our energy systems with the solar panels.
Nature is amazing and some of these things...we take it for granted. We take the fish, the air, the water for granted. It sometimes goes over our heads just HOW they come to be and how they work. Understanding the earth is the first step to help the earth and the second step to working with it without harming it.
I had some of the same thoughts you did, especially about the formation of hurricanes. I don't even think I really wondered what caused them to form and why they formed where they did. You also said in your last paragraph "Understanding the earth is the first step to help the earth and the second step to working with it without harming it." That is well said.
DeleteI actually watched this video twice. There was a lot of information in this video that I always wondered. There was a tremendous amount of information in this video that I just never knew. The video opened my eyes to things I did not pay attention to in the past. The importance of Antarctica to our ocean and all the living organisms in it. How the Amazon works was also another Amazing part of this video. These things provide so much to surrounding areas along with the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed about how much goes on in the Antarctic. From things such as the ocean circulation pattern it makes along with the submarine waterfall that is 500 times the size of Niagara falls. All of these things have a huge impact on life accursed the world. It also plays a part in the reason South Carolina and North Carolina are Warm due to the gulf stream that is initially cause by the Antarctic.
The amazon has always caught my attention and is a thing of absolute beauty. It is crazy how much rain the amazon takes on. One thing about the amazon that is impressive is the amount of oxygen it produces. 1/5ths of the World Oxygen even though we may not breathe it. We do see some of the oxygen from though amazon through plankton that runs thought the rain and rivers.
My favorite part had to be the information given on the thunderstorms. Due to the thousands of lighting strikes a day we get nitrate and this helps the earth by dissolving into droplets in the clouds and fall to the ground in rain which then is a fertilizer. There was also a good point given about forest fires, and how it speeds up the process of decomposing dead trees that takes decades into just hours. This provides sulfurs and phosphorus that helps rapid regrowth of the forest and this is essential to our ecosystem.
Lastly i have to talk about how high tech and amazing the satellites we have are. Some can measure the surface of the earth within fraction of inches, or measure the depth of the ocean. Satellites are even keeping track of the sun and its cycles that it is going through, it's just simply amazing and this video was great.
This video is just absolutely amazing. I have learned so much in the past two hours when sitting down and watching this, as if i may have in a full semester earth course class. It also stimulated my level of thinking and helped me understand the cause and effect of many occurrences.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly amazing how people evolved from such a primitive society when everyone used to think that if you swim towards the horizon you will fall off the planet earth, to such a well technologically advanced society where we can examine every little corner of planet earth. It is as if nothing can hide from the human eye anymore, and if it can it will most certainly not hide from the 120 satellites that orbit our planet. Not only can we determine how hurricanes are formed, how the the Arctic maintains its cool climate and affects the WHOLE entire planet earth, but we also come to understand how everything is intertwined together the air, the earth, the water and the fire. It is amazing how this huge planet earth is literally our home. It gives us everything we need to sustain life. It gives us food, water & provides the right conditions for life. It even provides us with the right nutrients ( iron & sulphate & plankton) necessary for our survival.
I think that this video should be made mandatory to be watched by many other people, especially people that are entering the business environment. It is important for people to understand how this planet works, and what are the MAJOR consequences we could face if we keep on living the way we live. ( putting pollution into the atmosphere, overfishing, etc..) I believe that because many people are so profit max driven, they tend to forget that they are destroying their own habitat.
Something to think about. Lets put it this way. Would you want to destroy the house or apartment you live in at this given moment?
Magdalena Strama
Of course this video also provides some economic aspects. By knowing so much about our own planet and the location of everything, we can avoid the destruction of certain habitats and come up in an efficient way to capture what we need from this planet ( fertilizers, food (fish), & nutrients) This will not only save our planet but maybe even save tons of money for people.
ReplyDeleteI really really find the section about the storms/hurricanes very important as we can see the strengths of the storms, earthquakes and amount of rain that is expected to fall. Although we cannot prevent natural disasters, we can ultimately save peoples lives.
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This film only reinforced the idea of how connected we are as a global village and how connect to nature we are as humans. It seems that we only pay attention to the weather or what is going on with the climate when it starts to affect us. Whether it is because we can’t do something due to rain or that the weather is posing a real threat to us. Before watching this film, that’s mostly what I did. It seems obvious that I should have considered this before watching this, but there is just so much that I and I believe the rest of the general public is not aware of when it comes to understanding weather patterns and climate change. It surprised me that we have such advanced technology and so much knowledge about this topic yet it is not widely known.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Magdalena mentioned about people understanding that their actions have consequences…I have stated before that I believe that many have an individualistic view of the world and don’t care if it’s “not affecting them.” But this film shows that what goes around comes around. If my country does something that disrupts weather systems across the world, that disruption can potentially cause a natural disaster in my neck of the woods.
I also thought the segment on Antarctica was extremely interesting. We pay so little to what seems to be such a barren place and yet it is the driving force for life all over the world. Unfortunately for us, Antarctica is shrinking every year. It is these types of changes in our natural environment that can have major economic impacts in the future. I believe we have already seen the beginnings of this with Hurricane Katrina and just recently, Hurricane Sandy. These were major economic hits to the areas that they devastated.
Without a doubt, it’s an amazing video. I have never imagined how interrelated all the elements of the earth and the energy of the sun were till I saw this video. We don’t see it clearly; however, all these natural forces are connected one way or another. With the help of our space eyes, we can see these relationships that seem invisible to our eyes.
ReplyDeleteWatching this video, I learn how our planet works, and how all the natural phenomenon occurs. One would never imagine how the events that happen in one side of the planet will affect us sooner or later. It was amazing to see the importance of Antarctica as a weather regulator. It’s a shame that nobody seems to care much about that cold continent, but its existence is essential for the life in the planet.
Another interesting fact I saw in the video is how the earth recycles the nutrients essential for life; for example, the minerals from the Sahara desert, the minerals from the bottom of the sea, and the nitrates resulting from the lighting and air colliding. Important mention to the plankton, those microscopic living creatures that do so much for us and the aquatic life. I didn’t know that much of the air we breathe were produce from them, it was really an eye-opener.
It was amazing to see how the earth mechanism of defense protects us from the radiation of the sun. All the elements of the earth and the energy of the sun play an important role in maintaining life as we know it; however, we are altering earth natural cycles and destroying the delicate balance of the earth. Satellites are providing important information about the impact of human activity in the planet and we have to use that information to save our home planet.
Our planet truly is "Spaceship Earth." This documentary shows that we live in a closed system that has countless functions within itself. All functions are influenced by the other.
ReplyDeleteIn my ENV Web of Life class, we were talking about the heating of the planet, and how temperatures geographically are based on the angle of the sun, and not the distance from the sun. I loved the shot in the documentary that showed the Earth's temperatures in infrared patterns. Not only did it show the Earth's temperatures based on geographic region, but it visualizes this concept that I learned for Web of Life.
From the footage of flooding in Dubai to the deserts in Chile, the documentary's footage is breath taking. Not only are they captivating aesthetically, but they are extremely informative.
I think my favorite part of the documentary is the section about satellites and the roles they play by analyzing the gases in our atmosphere. It is so interesting that nitrogen comprises most of the gas in the air, not carbon dioxide or oxygen like many believe.
I also enjoyed the footage of the Amazon forest. When I see interesting new species of mammals, it reminds me how inherently valuable biodiversity is. Every species has an inherent right to continue living, because our planet is better off with a diverse combination of life.
NOVA Earth From Space further validates my thoughts of Earth's functions being interconnected. The idea of Spaceship Earth especially applies because we're moving through space in a closed system. Humans need to value the diversity of our planet, its functions, and the beauty of its interconnectedness with the dirt, the water, outer space, and ourselves.
Posted By: Geordi Taylor
ReplyDeleteThis video only concerns a notion that was already coming to fruition over the past few years. We as humans have essentially altered the geographical chemistry of the earth over the last few centuries with our destructive behavior. By destructive behavior I mean: destroying entire Eco-systems, polluting land masses and oceans, over-fishing oceans, destroying forests for economic gain, and behaving in a manner that brought on global warming which at the moment is the greatest threat to the world's economy and the physical safety of some countries.
Scientists, such as those seen operating in the video, are not being taken seriously enough. Even with all of the evidence gathered by their advanced equipment and the models they have developed, many people do not seem to be concerned with the decline of the earth. Maybe this is a matter of locational perception though. For example, the citizens who live in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific ocean surely know what the effects of global warming are as they watch sea levels rise and threaten encroach and eventually swamp their home.The potential for more loss of life is also looming as more water is flowing into the ocean from melting shelves of ice. This excess water continues to put more pressure on the ocean's floor which then leads to more aggressive seismic activity, better know as earthquakes. This is just one example of the threat to the world's economy. What will happen to the price of food when flooding disrupts the supply chain for food such as those brought on by the heavy rains in India mentioned in the video. How will the economies of developing nations continue to develop when businesses are suffering losses from flooding, or worse, get completely destroyed by earthquakes. How will humans live when pollution destroys the few remaining freshwater supplies.
Indeed this was an excellent watch, very well put together and tons of great information. I have seen some of the concepts in other films (how wildfires actually help nature, over-fishing, etc) but this NOVA episode tied everything together in a way I did not necessarily visualize on my own. It's amazing what nature can do and the ways it will persevere.
ReplyDeleteAs humans we must never forget that we are living in the shadow of Mother Nature; we do not own the earth and as much as we like to believe we do not control it either. The earth's ecosystem is a delicate and fragile process that can be vastly affected by our modern human presence.
In contrast to some other classmates, what I took away from this film is the idea that although we still know so little about our planet, we are making great strides in the understanding of it's processes and our impact on them. I believe the environmental movement is now (more than ever) based on very legitimate and concrete data that was previously unavailable, the concept of environmentalism is no longer based on aesthetics and thus I feel it is more palatable to 'the masses'. We are now at the point that people in general are adopting some sort of 'green' activity. Recycling, reducing pollution, utilizing sustainable energy sources, even just choosing to drive a hybrid over a gas guzzler. Remember when the Prius first came out? You were considered some sort of tree-hugging hippie and that was that, however nowadays the Prius and other hybrid vehicles are incredibly popular and those who drive them encompass a very wide demographic. It will be awhile before much of the information in this film is 'common knowledge' for most, but compared to a few decades ago we have made plenty of progress in terms of understanding our impact on the earth. I believe our generation is a transitional period, those before us did not seem to mind massive unregulated industrialization, our current generation recognizes the impact humans have made (and is working to correct it), and perhaps the future generation will be able to co-exist with our planet in a sustainable manner.
Whether or not we can negate the damaged we have already caused to our environment is still a bit unclear to me, but just in my lifetime I feel we have made great strides in the understanding of nature's environmental processes. Unfortunately now it seems the argument is more aimed at "Look at what is happening" versus "look what is going to happen if we keep this up". We can see the effects of rising sea levels, we can see what over fishing does to our fish stocks (and the rest of the food chain), and we see the massive amounts of pollution that has been caused as a result of our 'modern' way of life. Time to wake up and smell the coffee...
I have watched in past different episodes of Nova before. I love the voice of this program - Morgan Freedman. Any way I am glad I had to see this one, and I did. The only thing we all share is our planet. In two hours, amazing pictures and snap shots from satellites that made possible for everyone to see such unbelievable combination of earth, wind, water and fire and how they form dynamic environments that shape life and its forms.” People run the surface but these natural forces run entire planet.” It is interesting how changes in one side of the planet affect other side and our lives. How less we care about place like Antarctica, cold and unwelcoming, and what a key factor this continent is for existence on the planet as a whole. I lived in Florida before and I was thrilled by natural phenomena such as lightening and thunderstorms. From this NOVA’s episode I learned that due to the thousands of lightning strikes a day we get nitrate and this helps the earth by dissolving into droplets in the clouds and fall to the ground in rain which then is a fertilizer. There are 120 satellite orbit the planet giving us important information about forming storms and upcoming hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteMother Nature is amazing. She gives us everything we need and expect back just as much. A lot of economic concepts are discussed in this episode as well. The burst of plankton, for example, fuels the fishing industry. Amount of pollution from our everyday life affects ecosystem. Spices disappearing from food chain and people think that will simply replace them as we can possibly replace the Sun energy with “solar panels”.
All facts that we can access now because of this amazing technology should be deeply reviewed and considered. The long we keep our planet alive and clean will have a safe place to share.
I really enjoyed watching this documentary. Generally, I really enjoy watching space documentaries. I work at a museum gift shop, so its what I do all day! I thought this one was very informative, because I was very surprised by some of the information that I learned. Something that surprised e how the world's climate is so interconnected. I knew that our environmental harm brings trouble to the entire planet, but I never realized how the earth has so many processes that keep equilibrium, and maintain our healthy and diversified world climates. I think that the documentary also successfully showed the complicated facts about satellite technology, and time and space relations through a very convenient way. I learned a fun fact about how our vision of light is the size of a dime in comparison to the distance between NY and Los Angeles. I think this video brought great information, very cinematically. It also brings this realization to fear that these are only machines, and are nearing the end of their lifetime, especially at a time when we need to maintain our watch on our earth. I think the film does a great job in making audiences realize how our actions, and climates are so interconnected, and we cannot survive of these processes are disrupted. We really need to start caring about the Earth as an important entity, and not just worry about our arbitrary nation states.
ReplyDeleteThe "Earth From Space" video was really interesting to watch. The topic is engaging and the visual sequences are really detailed and awesome to watch. We’ve all heard everyone talk about changing climate patterns and global warming, but to see it in action makes it real. It’s interesting to think that when we see natural disasters and phenomenons occurring, scientists are seeing the way that wind, fire, earth and water are reacting to each other to create these phenomenons. The video shows us how all parts of our planet are connected and have chain-like reactions to each other, similar to the way that people do. Without the technology to have satellites monitoring our planet, we might not know as much as we do about what really goes on in our atmosphere or underneath our oceans. Most of the news we hear about technology is related to the newest iPhone release, and before watching this video, I had no idea that satellites like the Aura that could breakdown the composition of our atmosphere even existed. One of my favorite parts was watching the colors of the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels change from the day to nighttime because of people’s sleeping patterns. Just by breathing, everyone in the world is impacting what the satellites see and what the atmosphere is made of everyday. The comparison of the Amazon rainforest being the “lungs” of the Earth was cool and made me think of Earth as less of a planet and more of a living, “breathing” body.
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