"You and the Atom Bomb"
Aldo Leopold
Werner von Braun
Bikini Atoll
David Bradley
"Duck and Cover"
Silent Spring
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons
October, 1962
Partial Test Ban Treaty
Operation "Ranch Hand"
"Earthrise"
April 22, 1970
Paul Ehrlich
Carl Sagan
Nuclear Winter
The Ninth Ward
"The Bridge to Gretna"
Joseph Fourier
Svante Arrhenius
G.S. Callendar
Charles David Keeling
Fukushima Daiichi
BP Oil Spill
The Goldilocks Effect
Gray Infrastructure
Green Infrastructure
Naomi Klein
Public Trust Doctrine
Joseph Sax
Environmental Justice
Externalities
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Big History: the 'goldilocks effect' and avoiding catastrophe
In this talk, historian David Christian talks about the 'goldilocks effect' that has provided the foundation for life on earth and the emergence of the human race. At the end of his lecture, he also discusses the possible catastrophes that threaten our biosphere and our global civilization.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei?
Here's a link to the Frontline profile of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei.
& here's a recent CNN interview with the artist:
& here's a recent CNN interview with the artist:
Friday, April 1, 2011
two essays comparing the Japan quake of 2011 to the Lisbon quake of 1755
Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post compares our response to the disaster in Japan to the European reaction to the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. Patrick J. Deneen responds to this essay in the blog Front Porch Republic.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
short NASA clip on climate trends in past 10 years
This short clip explains climate trend over the past decade and possible outcomes in the decade to come.
from the NASA website:
Piecing together the temperature puzzle
Each year, scientists at NASA'S Goddard Institute for Space Studies analyze global temperature data. The past year, 2009, tied as the second warmest year since global instrumental temperature records began 130 years ago. Worldwide, the mean temperature was 0.57°C (1.03°F) warmer than the 1951-1980 base period. And January 2000 to December 2009 came out as the warmest decade on record.
Take a look below at NASA's collection of videos, articles and imagery designed to help tell the story of our warming world.
from the NASA website:
Piecing together the temperature puzzle
Each year, scientists at NASA'S Goddard Institute for Space Studies analyze global temperature data. The past year, 2009, tied as the second warmest year since global instrumental temperature records began 130 years ago. Worldwide, the mean temperature was 0.57°C (1.03°F) warmer than the 1951-1980 base period. And January 2000 to December 2009 came out as the warmest decade on record.
Take a look below at NASA's collection of videos, articles and imagery designed to help tell the story of our warming world.
Monday, March 28, 2011
blog post for Chase Bentley
The disaster I chose was the Zaca Fire in
2007 in California. Here is a link to a local news source.
http://www.keyt.com/news/local/8362337.html
2007 in California. Here is a link to a local news source.
http://www.keyt.com/news/local/8362337.html
blog post for Matt Borrello
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/08/09/china-zhouqu-landslide-a-man-made-disaster/
I want to post this article on how logging and hydroelectric
development has caused erosion and landslides in China and Tibet. I
still can't post on the blog tho.
I want to post this article on how logging and hydroelectric
development has caused erosion and landslides in China and Tibet. I
still can't post on the blog tho.
blog post for Christal Desmarais
This is a video about the continuing effects on the people of Romania and a small village weighing their positions about the possibility of reopening an industrial plant that caused a cyanide spill so devastating that it is often related to Chernobyl. While I only vaguely remember any mention of this disaster it rocked Europe for a long time leaving many without potable water. The news report in the video shows the lingering fears of citizens for future contamination and contrasts these fears with the opinions of those that would rather risk disaster for employment.
blog post for Justin Kammer
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/july-14-1977-nyc-blackout-10252811
This video is an original ABC news segment clip from January 14, 1977, the day of the 1977 Blackout in New York City. The summer of 77 (The Summer of Sam), during the Carter administration, was reeling from a steep economic and financial downturn, and high crime and poverty in its lower-income neighborhoods. The blackout, unlike the relatively peaceful NYC Blackout of 1965, was characterized by extensive looting and arson even into the daylight hours. The Blackout had lasting political and cultural effects, embedded into the memory of New Yorkers during one of the hottest summers the city had experienced. Had the blackout lasted more than 24 hours, one can only imagine the adverse effects it would've had on the Big Apple.
This video is an original ABC news segment clip from January 14, 1977, the day of the 1977 Blackout in New York City. The summer of 77 (The Summer of Sam), during the Carter administration, was reeling from a steep economic and financial downturn, and high crime and poverty in its lower-income neighborhoods. The blackout, unlike the relatively peaceful NYC Blackout of 1965, was characterized by extensive looting and arson even into the daylight hours. The Blackout had lasting political and cultural effects, embedded into the memory of New Yorkers during one of the hottest summers the city had experienced. Had the blackout lasted more than 24 hours, one can only imagine the adverse effects it would've had on the Big Apple.
blog post for Matthew Holt
Here is my article and post for the blog. I feel that this article shows not only the man-made disaster of the oil spill, but it also shows the compounding of this mistakes by multiple parties. It is a very interesting article that I believe everyone will like.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/01gulf.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/01gulf.html
Monday, March 21, 2011
Climate Change
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-overview.html
Collapse 2210: Jared Diamond
This is a video clip containing the movie adapted from Jared Diamond's famous novel. It details various collapses throughout history comparing them to a theoretical collapse of our current civilization. If anyone would like an HD copy of this clip just ask me I have a 1080p copy.
Katrina levee failure
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,187760,00.html
I generally take anything Fox News has to say with a grain of salt but I'd heard about this before so thought I'd look into it for this assignment.
A strong hurricane, true, but complete disaster could have easily been averted had the levees been upgraded to withstand stronger hurricanes...based on information we had a good 20 years before Katrina struck.
Guess we dropped the ball on that one, huh?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Map and Timeline of the Johnstown Flood
This link is to an interesting website that uses both maps and timelines to detail how the Johnstown Dam burst in May 1889. It highlights both where the reservoir used to be, as well as the path that the flood waters took. The timeline has a lot of interesting sources if you wish to learn more about the history of the flood, which was caused by faulty dam construction.
Missile Launch Disaster
In 1996 the Chinese attempted to fire a Long March missile into space, carrying with it a satellite. Several seconds after lift off, the tracking system malfunctioned sending it off course. The rocket exploded in a nearby village killing only 6 and injuring 57, by "official" government statement. However it is believed the death toll could have been more than 100.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
religious responses to the catastrophe in Japan
Disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan prompt questions of faith
Views on the human suffering caused by such events differ from faith to faith and person to person.
By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times [link]
March 19, 2011
What hath God wrought?
In the Bible, that's an exclamation, not a question (Numbers 23:23). Still, it's a common response to any natural disaster, especially one on the scale of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, now compounded by the unnatural disaster of a nuclear crisis.
If there is a God, and if He (for the sake of convention) is all-powerful, what in God's name was He thinking?
This is perhaps the oldest of theological questions — the one that may, in fact, explain the nearly universal human yearning for faith, what evolutionary psychologist Jesse Bering calls "the belief instinct." How can we explain the inexplicable? How can we make sense of suffering?
Atheists say we can explain life's complexities through science, and that there is no meaning in suffering. It just is, and we should do our best to alleviate it.
Monotheists see it somewhat differently. Faith offers answers, if only the unsatisfying: "It's a mystery." But there is little consensus among the faithful.
In the days following the 9.0 earthquake in Japan, some saw the punishing hand of God. Others saw a sign of the end of times, the coming of the apocalypse. Still others saw, well, an earthquake.
On Fox News, host Glenn Beck said he was "not saying that God is, you know, causing earthquakes," but that he was "not not" saying that.
"Whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus, there's a message being sent," said Beck, who is Mormon. "And that is, 'Hey, you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well.'"
The governor of Tokyo prefecture, Shintaro Ishihara, was compelled to apologize when he was quoted after the quake as saying that Japanese politics was "tainted with egoism and populism," causing "tembatsu," or divine punishment.
Those remarks, theologians say, reflect a natural human desire to make sense of a disaster whose force and scale are difficult to comprehend. But many Christians, Jews and others profoundly disagree with the idea that the quake can be explained by the "doctrine of retribution," the idea that God punishes evil in the world.
"I think that's a common, almost instinctive, knee-jerk reaction," said Warren McWilliams, an ordained Baptist minister who is a professor of Bible studies at Oklahoma Baptist University. "The danger, I think, is in moving backwards — moving from effect to cause. It's what I call the thinking process of Job's friends." The reference was to the biblical figure whose trials helped create the archetype of a good person forced to endure inexplicable suffering.
"So long as he prospered, they thought he was good," McWilliams said of Job. "The moment he suffered, they thought there must be some sin." When Hurricane Katrina struck, he added, "a lot of conservative Christians said, you know, New Orleans is a sin city, and so God judged them. I don't think it's my place to make that judgment. I think it's a dangerously simple way to think of a complex situation."
Certainly, the Bible is full of examples of divine retribution: Noah's flood or the plagues that afflicted the Egyptians. And Jesus warned of earthquakes (Matthew 24:7-8) as "birth pains" before the end of the world.
Erik Thoennes, a professor of theology at Biola University and a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, said he believes that human iniquity does, in fact, play a role in natural disasters. But he does not want to cast blame on the Japanese.
"Is God judging Japan?" he asked. "Well, no more than He's judging me."
Thoennes added that events like the Japanese earthquake can bring people closer to God. It "calls us back to rethink the biggest questions of life," he said.
Siroj Sorajjakool, a professor of religious psychology and counseling at Loma Linda University, has written about the religious response to the 2004 tsunami that struck his native Thailand and other parts of south and southeast Asia, and said different faiths have divergent ways of dealing with disaster.
The Buddhist explanation, he said, boils down to: "People die; life is impermanent. You can't control it so you have to let go." Christianity, he said, "has greater challenges dealing with this kind of question." As a Seventh-day Adventist, he prefers not to dwell on that which is unanswerable.
"The challenge," he said, "is not how does God make all these things happen. The challenge is, in a world where bad things happen, can Christians hold onto hope and continue to practice compassion?"
That isn't far from the theology expressed by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, an organization of Conservative Jewish rabbis.
God created the world but isn't micromanaging it, Schonfeld believes. "I live in a real world of science and technology," she said. "We know that these things happen, and we are humbled by them."
"As Jewish theology has evolved, it has focused more on what people can do to help each other," she added. And with that in mind, she said the earthquake image that made the deepest impression on her is not one of endless devastation.
Instead, Schonfeld keeps thinking of "these workers who have stayed with the reactor. What heroes! That's the immense, for me, faith-provoking image." What that tells us, she said, is "that people have a concept that there's something greater than their own life that they're willing to work for and sacrifice for."
mitchell.landsberg@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
Views on the human suffering caused by such events differ from faith to faith and person to person.
By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times [link]
March 19, 2011
What hath God wrought?
In the Bible, that's an exclamation, not a question (Numbers 23:23). Still, it's a common response to any natural disaster, especially one on the scale of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, now compounded by the unnatural disaster of a nuclear crisis.
If there is a God, and if He (for the sake of convention) is all-powerful, what in God's name was He thinking?
This is perhaps the oldest of theological questions — the one that may, in fact, explain the nearly universal human yearning for faith, what evolutionary psychologist Jesse Bering calls "the belief instinct." How can we explain the inexplicable? How can we make sense of suffering?
Atheists say we can explain life's complexities through science, and that there is no meaning in suffering. It just is, and we should do our best to alleviate it.
Monotheists see it somewhat differently. Faith offers answers, if only the unsatisfying: "It's a mystery." But there is little consensus among the faithful.
In the days following the 9.0 earthquake in Japan, some saw the punishing hand of God. Others saw a sign of the end of times, the coming of the apocalypse. Still others saw, well, an earthquake.
On Fox News, host Glenn Beck said he was "not saying that God is, you know, causing earthquakes," but that he was "not not" saying that.
"Whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus, there's a message being sent," said Beck, who is Mormon. "And that is, 'Hey, you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well.'"
The governor of Tokyo prefecture, Shintaro Ishihara, was compelled to apologize when he was quoted after the quake as saying that Japanese politics was "tainted with egoism and populism," causing "tembatsu," or divine punishment.
Those remarks, theologians say, reflect a natural human desire to make sense of a disaster whose force and scale are difficult to comprehend. But many Christians, Jews and others profoundly disagree with the idea that the quake can be explained by the "doctrine of retribution," the idea that God punishes evil in the world.
"I think that's a common, almost instinctive, knee-jerk reaction," said Warren McWilliams, an ordained Baptist minister who is a professor of Bible studies at Oklahoma Baptist University. "The danger, I think, is in moving backwards — moving from effect to cause. It's what I call the thinking process of Job's friends." The reference was to the biblical figure whose trials helped create the archetype of a good person forced to endure inexplicable suffering.
"So long as he prospered, they thought he was good," McWilliams said of Job. "The moment he suffered, they thought there must be some sin." When Hurricane Katrina struck, he added, "a lot of conservative Christians said, you know, New Orleans is a sin city, and so God judged them. I don't think it's my place to make that judgment. I think it's a dangerously simple way to think of a complex situation."
Certainly, the Bible is full of examples of divine retribution: Noah's flood or the plagues that afflicted the Egyptians. And Jesus warned of earthquakes (Matthew 24:7-8) as "birth pains" before the end of the world.
Erik Thoennes, a professor of theology at Biola University and a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, said he believes that human iniquity does, in fact, play a role in natural disasters. But he does not want to cast blame on the Japanese.
"Is God judging Japan?" he asked. "Well, no more than He's judging me."
Thoennes added that events like the Japanese earthquake can bring people closer to God. It "calls us back to rethink the biggest questions of life," he said.
Siroj Sorajjakool, a professor of religious psychology and counseling at Loma Linda University, has written about the religious response to the 2004 tsunami that struck his native Thailand and other parts of south and southeast Asia, and said different faiths have divergent ways of dealing with disaster.
The Buddhist explanation, he said, boils down to: "People die; life is impermanent. You can't control it so you have to let go." Christianity, he said, "has greater challenges dealing with this kind of question." As a Seventh-day Adventist, he prefers not to dwell on that which is unanswerable.
"The challenge," he said, "is not how does God make all these things happen. The challenge is, in a world where bad things happen, can Christians hold onto hope and continue to practice compassion?"
That isn't far from the theology expressed by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, an organization of Conservative Jewish rabbis.
God created the world but isn't micromanaging it, Schonfeld believes. "I live in a real world of science and technology," she said. "We know that these things happen, and we are humbled by them."
"As Jewish theology has evolved, it has focused more on what people can do to help each other," she added. And with that in mind, she said the earthquake image that made the deepest impression on her is not one of endless devastation.
Instead, Schonfeld keeps thinking of "these workers who have stayed with the reactor. What heroes! That's the immense, for me, faith-provoking image." What that tells us, she said, is "that people have a concept that there's something greater than their own life that they're willing to work for and sacrifice for."
mitchell.landsberg@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
post for Arianna Guiseppone
Pictures from Chernobyl
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2006/09/13/lost-city-of-chernobyl/
&
I have found an article on Cholera in Haiti that I thought was really interesting considering we already covered this in class.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12744929
http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2006/09/13/lost-city-of-chernobyl/
&
I have found an article on Cholera in Haiti that I thought was really interesting considering we already covered this in class.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12744929
post for Brianna Burrows
I was in Milwaukee at the time when this occurred and found out that my friend's brother was on I-35 right before it collapsed. There were 13 people killed and 145 injured. The bridge has since been rebuilt, which cost $250 million to replace it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osocGiofdvc
This is footage from a security camera that actually caught the bridge as it was collapsing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osocGiofdvc
This is footage from a security camera that actually caught the bridge as it was collapsing.
Japan Quake Map
This might be of interest to some of the class. It maps out all the quakes that have happened over the days previous to the major quake and up until today.
1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Click here for the BBC News article
This is an article from BBC News in June 2010 looking back on the tragic oil spill that occurred in Alaska in 1989. The reporter interviewed two people who experienced the spill firsthand and they explain their personal accounts and reactions. The article also discusses other social, political, and economic effects of the spill.
Bhopal Disaster
1984: Hundreds die in Bhopal chemical accident
Hundreds of people have died from the effects of toxic gases which leaked from a chemical factory near the central Indian city of Bhopal.
The accident happened in the early hours of this morning at the American-owned Union Carbide Pesticide Plant three miles (4.8 km) from Bhopal.
Mr Y P Gokhale, managing director of Union Carbide in India, said that methyl isocyanate gas (MIC) had escaped when a valve in the plant's underground storage tank broke under pressure.
Ahmed Khan, Bhopal resident | ||||||
 |
This caused a deadly cloud of lethal gas to float from the factory over Bhopal, which is home to more than 900,000 people - many of whom live in slums.
Chaos and panic broke out in the city and surrounding areas as tens of thousands of people attempted to escape.
More than 20,000 people have required hospital treatment for symptoms including swollen eyes, frothing at the mouth and breathing difficulties.
Thousands of dead cats, dogs, cows and birds litter the streets and the city's mortuaries are filling up fast.
Bhopal resident, Ahmed Khan, said: "We were choking and our eyes were burning. We could barely see the road through the fog, and sirens were blaring.
"We didn't know which way to run. Everybody was very confused.
"Mothers didn't know their children had died, children didn't know their mothers had died and men didn't know their whole families had died."
The Union Carbide factory was closed immediately after the accident and three senior members of staff arrested.
Medical and scientific experts have been dispatched to the scene and the Indian government has ordered a judicial inquiry.
It is understood the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, will be flying to the area within the next few days.
In Context |
This was one of the world's worst industrial accidents. Nearly 3,000 people died from the effects of the poisonous gas in the days following the disaster. Estimates say that some 50,000 people were treated in the first few days suffering terrible side-effects, including blindness, kidney and liver failure. Campaigners say nearly 20,000 others have since died from the effects of the leak. Investigations into the disaster revealed that something had gone fundamentally wrong with a tank storing lethal methyl isocyanate (MIC). In 1989 Union Carbide, which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, paid the Indian Government £470m in a settlement which many described as woefully inadequate. But in 1999 a voluntary group in Bhopal which believed not enough had been done to help victims, filed a lawsuit in the United States claiming Union Carbide violated international law and human rights. In November 2002 India said it was seeking the extradition of former Union Carbide boss Warren Anderson from the US. Mr Anderson faces charges of "culpable homicide" for cost-cutting at the plant which is alleged to have compromised safety standards. In October 2004, the Indian Supreme Court approved a compensation plan drawn up by the state welfare commission to pay nearly $350m to more than 570,000 victims of the disaster. (www.news.bbc.co.uk) |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Nuclear Issues in Japan Explained
I know it's just a post on a forum, but this has great detailed information on everything happening with the nuclear reactors in Japan. It's very detailed and chock full of specific information. The media seems to have, as usual, blown this all out of proportion because it deals with Nuclear energy.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3396817
John Donne Meditation XVII
Meditation XVII
from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions
Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, morieris.
PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness. There was a contention as far as a suit (in which both piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled), which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined, that they should ring first that rose earliest. If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his, whose indeed it is. The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God. Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world?
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another's danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Haiti Earthquake
Early News Reports on Earthquake in Haiti:
Pat Robertson's comments:
(NOTE: Contrary to Rev. Robertson's statement here, the Haitian Revolution against France occurred about five decades before the reign of Napoleon III)
Pat Robertson's comments:
(NOTE: Contrary to Rev. Robertson's statement here, the Haitian Revolution against France occurred about five decades before the reign of Napoleon III)
midterm review
ID Section (75%)
You will be required to identify at least 25 of the following names & terms in the multiple choice ID section of the midterm:
Plate Tectonics
Cretaceous Tertiary Mass Extinction
Milankovitch Cycles
Late Pleistocene Extinctions
Stephen Jay Gould
nonoverlapping magisteria (NOMA)
"Hydraulic Civilization"
Ma'at
Yahweh
Karma
The Mandate of Heaven
The Flood
The Tower of Babel
Sodom and Gommorah
Santorini (a.k.a. Thera) Eruption
Vesuvius
“The Last Day of Pompeii”
Mt. Etna
Great Fire of London
Laki, Iceland
Mt. Tambora
Mt. Krakatau
Shaanxi Earthquake
Great Lisbon Earthquake
Voltaire
Gottfried Leibniz
New Madrid Earthquakes
Great Chicago Fire
Great Fire of Hong Kong
Galveston Hurricane
San Francisco Earthquake
Great Mississippi Flood
Yellow River Flood
Ashgabat Earthquake
Bihar Earthquake
Mahatma Gandhi
Rabindranath Tagore
Valdivia Earthquake
1970 Bhola Cyclone
Tangshan Earthquake
Loma Prieta Earthquake
Indian Ocean Tsunami
Hurricane Katrina
Haiti Earthquake
Pat Robertson
The Anthropocene
ESSAY (25%)
You will be required to write an essay on ONE of the following topics:
X. Discuss Stephen Jay Gould's concept of "nonoverlapping magisteria" or NOMA in relation to the problem of natural disasters. Citing specific examples, discuss how scientific and religious explanations for natural disasters competed in the past, and how they still sometimes compete in the present. What are the main reasons, in your view, that people are inclined to seek religious explanations for such catastrophes?
Y. Consider the evolution of human innovations such as agriculture, urbanization (from the very earliest cities to the present), science, and industrialization in relation to natural disasters and other large scale catastrophes. Citing specific examples, consider those cases in which our innovations have made us less vulnerable to large scale catastrophes, and consider those cases in which these innovations have made us more vulnerable to large scale catastrophes.
You will be required to identify at least 25 of the following names & terms in the multiple choice ID section of the midterm:
Plate Tectonics
Cretaceous Tertiary Mass Extinction
Milankovitch Cycles
Late Pleistocene Extinctions
Stephen Jay Gould
nonoverlapping magisteria (NOMA)
"Hydraulic Civilization"
Ma'at
Yahweh
Karma
The Mandate of Heaven
The Flood
The Tower of Babel
Sodom and Gommorah
Santorini (a.k.a. Thera) Eruption
Vesuvius
“The Last Day of Pompeii”
Mt. Etna
Great Fire of London
Laki, Iceland
Mt. Tambora
Mt. Krakatau
Shaanxi Earthquake
Great Lisbon Earthquake
Voltaire
Gottfried Leibniz
New Madrid Earthquakes
Great Chicago Fire
Great Fire of Hong Kong
Galveston Hurricane
San Francisco Earthquake
Great Mississippi Flood
Yellow River Flood
Ashgabat Earthquake
Bihar Earthquake
Mahatma Gandhi
Rabindranath Tagore
Valdivia Earthquake
1970 Bhola Cyclone
Tangshan Earthquake
Loma Prieta Earthquake
Indian Ocean Tsunami
Hurricane Katrina
Haiti Earthquake
Pat Robertson
The Anthropocene
ESSAY (25%)
You will be required to write an essay on ONE of the following topics:
X. Discuss Stephen Jay Gould's concept of "nonoverlapping magisteria" or NOMA in relation to the problem of natural disasters. Citing specific examples, discuss how scientific and religious explanations for natural disasters competed in the past, and how they still sometimes compete in the present. What are the main reasons, in your view, that people are inclined to seek religious explanations for such catastrophes?
Y. Consider the evolution of human innovations such as agriculture, urbanization (from the very earliest cities to the present), science, and industrialization in relation to natural disasters and other large scale catastrophes. Citing specific examples, consider those cases in which our innovations have made us less vulnerable to large scale catastrophes, and consider those cases in which these innovations have made us more vulnerable to large scale catastrophes.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Hurricanes & Cyclones explained
Arianna Guiseponne found this excellent article from The Guardian (UK) on Hurricanes and Cyclones.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
BBC documentary clip on the Great Fire of London, 1666
This clip is from the novelist and historian Peter Ackroyd's 2004 documentary on the history of London:
Mark Bittman essay on the FDA & GMO Foods
In light of our discussion on GMO crops earlier this week, this piece from today's NY Times is relevant. Very soon the question of GMO foods will include fish as well, as the FDA is expected to approve the marketing of a transgenic salmon patented by AquaBounty Technologies.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Anthropocene and Geoengineering
Iain Stewart on the Anthropocene:
Stewart Brand on his "Four Environmental Heresies" including Geoengineering:
Stewart Brand on his "Four Environmental Heresies" including Geoengineering:
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
volcano documentary clips
Ian Stewart's Earth Biography: Volcanoes (part 1 of 5)
David Attenborough on Icelandic volcanoes:
National Geographic film on early earth plate tectonics:
David Attenborough on Icelandic volcanoes:
National Geographic film on early earth plate tectonics:
Monday, January 10, 2011
HIST 2212: Syllabus
HIST 2212 CULTURAL RESPONSES TO CATASTROPHE
R. S. Deese
Northeastern University
Spring 2010
rsdeese@gmail.com
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10:30-11:35, 275 Richards Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday & Friday: 8-9:30, 213 Meserve
Course Description
This course will survey the broad history of natural disasters from ancient times to the present . Readings and discussions will explore the diverse array of cultural responses to natural disasters across civilizations and historical epochs, concluding with a focus on cultural, political, and economic responses to major catastrophes in the modern age. Topics to be explored: ancient accounts and interpretations of deluges, earthquakes, famines and volcanic eruptions; notorious disasters of modern history such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and Krakatau eruption of 1883; and, finally, the often disputed distinction between natural and man-made disasters in contemporary times.
Required Course Materials
Jan Kozak, The Illustrated History of Natural Disasters. ISBN-13: 978-9048133246
Cormac McCarthy, The Road ISBN-13: 978-0307476319
Robert Verchick, Facing Catastrophe ISBN-13: 978-0674047914
Basic Ground Rules
1. Turn off all cell phones, MP3 players, etc. before all class meetings begin.
2. Always come on time to all class meetings, and participate in all discussions. Please don’t be shy about speaking up in class discussions, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Virtually all original scholarship begins by posing questions that others have overlooked or dismissed as simply not worth asking; therefore, the very question you might be afraid to ask because it seems naïve or unorthodox could well be the most interesting and groundbreaking question that anyone could raise. Don’t hesitate to ask it. Also, please remember that I am more than happy to field your questions and address your concerns via email, telephone, and during my regular office hours.
3. Always come to class prepared to discuss all readings for that week. When you do the assigned reading each week, be sure to underline passages that you see as important, and write down questions that you would like to raise in our section meetings and in my office hours.
Grade Breakdown
Attendance at all lectures is mandatory. Unless you have a documented medical or family emergency, you need to come to every lecture.
Attendance & Participation 15%
Midterm 30%
Five Page paper and Presentation 25% PAPER DUE IN CLASS APRIL 20th
Final Exam 30%
Midterm and Final Examinations
To prepare for these exams, be sure to review the assigned readings and your notes from lectures and discussion sections. Feel free to contact me via email or during office hours concerning any questions you might have. A portion of the class prior to the midterm will be devoted to review, and I will also a hold review session prior to the final exam. Please bear in mind that these review sessions will be most profitable to those who have prepared for them by thoroughly studying the material at hand.
Paper
You are required to write a 5 page position paper and do an 10-15 minute presentation analyzing two primary sources related to a specific natural disaster or man-made ecological disaster. In this paper, you will be required to develop an original thesis that relates the three primary sources to each other and to their historical context. Late papers will be penalized 5% each day past the due date.
Regulations Against Plagiarism
Needless to say, the work you present must be entirely your own and all sources must be diligently credited in your footnotes and bibliography. Any attempt at plagiarism, representing the work of another person as your own, will be result in failure in this course and severe disciplinary action by Northeastern University.
IMPORTANT: Please read the Academic Conduct Code to understand policy of Northeastern University regarding plagiarism. The punishment for any form of plagiarism at this institution is, as it should be, very severe. As you are writing your term papers, please don’t hesitate to contact me beforehand if you have any questions concerning the proper citation of source materials.
Week One
January 10 Introduction
January 12 Kozak & Cermak: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis, pp. 13-44
January 13 Kozak & Cermak: Vesuvius; Etna: pp. 45-62
Week Two
January 17 No class, Holiday
January 19 Kozak & Cermak: Stromboli, Lipari, Tyrrhenian Sea; Phleghraean Fields, pp. 63-72
January 20 Kozak & Cermak: Fredinandea; Iceland; Pico de Teide, pp. 77-86
Week Three
January 24 Kozak & Cermak: Mount Pelée; Orizaba; Jorullo, pp.87-92
January 26 Kozak & Cermak: Pacaya; Cotopaxi; Chimborazo; Antuco, pp. 93-100
January 27 Kozak & Cermak: Japan; Indonesia; Moluccas; Russian Far East, pp. 101-112
Week Four
January 31 Kozak & Cermak: Kiyev Earthquake; Aix-en-Provence; Basel; Rhodes, pp. 113-120
February 2 Kozak & Cermak: Istanbul; Tokyo; Port Royal, 121-130
February 3 Kozak & Cermak: Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, pp. 131-141 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Chase Bentley)
Week Five
February 7 Kozak & Cermak: Calabrian Earthquakes; Valona; Zagreb, pp. 143-154
February 9 Kozak & Cermak: Earthquakes in Italy; Imperia; Azerbaijan; Chile, pp. 155-162
February 10 Kozak & Cermak: Antilles; Costa Rica; Argentina; Arequipa/Arica, pp. 163-170 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Chanda Ruff; Tigran Shougarian)
Week Six
February 14 Kozak & Cermak: Charleston; Hayward, pp. 173-178
February 16 Kozak & Cermak: The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, pp. 179-182
February 17 Kozak & Cermak: Calabrian Earthquakes; Milestones of Seismology, pp. 183-192 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Brianna Burrows; Corey Balint)
Week Seven
February 21 HOLIDAY
February 23 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS & Midterm Review ( Justin Kammer)
February24 Midterm Exam
Week Eight
SPRING RECESS
Week Nine
March 7 Film: Dr. Strangelove (1964)
March 9 McCarthy, pp. 3-98
March 10 McCarthy, pp. 99-146 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Stephanie Mernick; Kaitlin Nesbitt; Hannah Parks)
Week Ten
March 14 McCarthy, pp. 147-181
March 16 McCarthy, pp. 182-210
March 17 FINISH McCarthy STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Grace Gottwald; Jason Permenter; Bridgette Shallcross)
Week Eleven
March 21 FILM: When the Levees Broke (2006)
March 23 When the Levees Broke (cont.)
March 24 Verchick: Go Green, pp. 1-104 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Kaylyn Cunis; Katherine Lawler; Selena Obelinas)
Week Twelve
March 28 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Greg Rothman)
March 30 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Arianna Guiseppone; Matt Borrello)
March 31 Verchick: Be Fair, 105-194 (Justin Kammer; Joe Rodriguez)
Week Thirteen
April 4 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Christal Desmarais; Connor Echols-Jones)
April 6 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Kim Narby; Elliot Lowe)
April 7 Verchick: Keep Safe, pp. 195-235
Week Fourteen
April 11 FINISH Verchick STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Ian Burn; Selena Obelinas;Naimah Al Hazzah)
April 13 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (James Stoll; Chis Roy; Scott Turner)
April 14 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Zacharenia Varsamis; John Muus; Jason Permenter)
Week Fifteen
April 18 Holiday
April 20 FILM: The 11th Hour PAPER DUE IN CLASS
FINAL EXAM
R. S. Deese
Northeastern University
Spring 2010
rsdeese@gmail.com
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10:30-11:35, 275 Richards Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday & Friday: 8-9:30, 213 Meserve
Course Description
This course will survey the broad history of natural disasters from ancient times to the present . Readings and discussions will explore the diverse array of cultural responses to natural disasters across civilizations and historical epochs, concluding with a focus on cultural, political, and economic responses to major catastrophes in the modern age. Topics to be explored: ancient accounts and interpretations of deluges, earthquakes, famines and volcanic eruptions; notorious disasters of modern history such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and Krakatau eruption of 1883; and, finally, the often disputed distinction between natural and man-made disasters in contemporary times.
Required Course Materials
Jan Kozak, The Illustrated History of Natural Disasters. ISBN-13: 978-9048133246
Cormac McCarthy, The Road ISBN-13: 978-0307476319
Robert Verchick, Facing Catastrophe ISBN-13: 978-0674047914
Basic Ground Rules
1. Turn off all cell phones, MP3 players, etc. before all class meetings begin.
2. Always come on time to all class meetings, and participate in all discussions. Please don’t be shy about speaking up in class discussions, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Virtually all original scholarship begins by posing questions that others have overlooked or dismissed as simply not worth asking; therefore, the very question you might be afraid to ask because it seems naïve or unorthodox could well be the most interesting and groundbreaking question that anyone could raise. Don’t hesitate to ask it. Also, please remember that I am more than happy to field your questions and address your concerns via email, telephone, and during my regular office hours.
3. Always come to class prepared to discuss all readings for that week. When you do the assigned reading each week, be sure to underline passages that you see as important, and write down questions that you would like to raise in our section meetings and in my office hours.
Grade Breakdown
Attendance at all lectures is mandatory. Unless you have a documented medical or family emergency, you need to come to every lecture.
Attendance & Participation 15%
Midterm 30%
Five Page paper and Presentation 25% PAPER DUE IN CLASS APRIL 20th
Final Exam 30%
Midterm and Final Examinations
To prepare for these exams, be sure to review the assigned readings and your notes from lectures and discussion sections. Feel free to contact me via email or during office hours concerning any questions you might have. A portion of the class prior to the midterm will be devoted to review, and I will also a hold review session prior to the final exam. Please bear in mind that these review sessions will be most profitable to those who have prepared for them by thoroughly studying the material at hand.
Paper
You are required to write a 5 page position paper and do an 10-15 minute presentation analyzing two primary sources related to a specific natural disaster or man-made ecological disaster. In this paper, you will be required to develop an original thesis that relates the three primary sources to each other and to their historical context. Late papers will be penalized 5% each day past the due date.
Regulations Against Plagiarism
Needless to say, the work you present must be entirely your own and all sources must be diligently credited in your footnotes and bibliography. Any attempt at plagiarism, representing the work of another person as your own, will be result in failure in this course and severe disciplinary action by Northeastern University.
IMPORTANT: Please read the Academic Conduct Code to understand policy of Northeastern University regarding plagiarism. The punishment for any form of plagiarism at this institution is, as it should be, very severe. As you are writing your term papers, please don’t hesitate to contact me beforehand if you have any questions concerning the proper citation of source materials.
Week One
January 10 Introduction
January 12 Kozak & Cermak: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis, pp. 13-44
January 13 Kozak & Cermak: Vesuvius; Etna: pp. 45-62
Week Two
January 17 No class, Holiday
January 19 Kozak & Cermak: Stromboli, Lipari, Tyrrhenian Sea; Phleghraean Fields, pp. 63-72
January 20 Kozak & Cermak: Fredinandea; Iceland; Pico de Teide, pp. 77-86
Week Three
January 24 Kozak & Cermak: Mount Pelée; Orizaba; Jorullo, pp.87-92
January 26 Kozak & Cermak: Pacaya; Cotopaxi; Chimborazo; Antuco, pp. 93-100
January 27 Kozak & Cermak: Japan; Indonesia; Moluccas; Russian Far East, pp. 101-112
Week Four
January 31 Kozak & Cermak: Kiyev Earthquake; Aix-en-Provence; Basel; Rhodes, pp. 113-120
February 2 Kozak & Cermak: Istanbul; Tokyo; Port Royal, 121-130
February 3 Kozak & Cermak: Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, pp. 131-141 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Chase Bentley)
Week Five
February 7 Kozak & Cermak: Calabrian Earthquakes; Valona; Zagreb, pp. 143-154
February 9 Kozak & Cermak: Earthquakes in Italy; Imperia; Azerbaijan; Chile, pp. 155-162
February 10 Kozak & Cermak: Antilles; Costa Rica; Argentina; Arequipa/Arica, pp. 163-170 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Chanda Ruff; Tigran Shougarian)
Week Six
February 14 Kozak & Cermak: Charleston; Hayward, pp. 173-178
February 16 Kozak & Cermak: The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, pp. 179-182
February 17 Kozak & Cermak: Calabrian Earthquakes; Milestones of Seismology, pp. 183-192 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Brianna Burrows; Corey Balint)
Week Seven
February 21 HOLIDAY
February 23 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS & Midterm Review ( Justin Kammer)
February24 Midterm Exam
Week Eight
SPRING RECESS
Week Nine
March 7 Film: Dr. Strangelove (1964)
March 9 McCarthy, pp. 3-98
March 10 McCarthy, pp. 99-146 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Stephanie Mernick; Kaitlin Nesbitt; Hannah Parks)
Week Ten
March 14 McCarthy, pp. 147-181
March 16 McCarthy, pp. 182-210
March 17 FINISH McCarthy STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Grace Gottwald; Jason Permenter; Bridgette Shallcross)
Week Eleven
March 21 FILM: When the Levees Broke (2006)
March 23 When the Levees Broke (cont.)
March 24 Verchick: Go Green, pp. 1-104 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Kaylyn Cunis; Katherine Lawler; Selena Obelinas)
Week Twelve
March 28 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Greg Rothman)
March 30 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Arianna Guiseppone; Matt Borrello)
March 31 Verchick: Be Fair, 105-194 (Justin Kammer; Joe Rodriguez)
Week Thirteen
April 4 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Christal Desmarais; Connor Echols-Jones)
April 6 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Kim Narby; Elliot Lowe)
April 7 Verchick: Keep Safe, pp. 195-235
Week Fourteen
April 11 FINISH Verchick STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Ian Burn; Selena Obelinas;Naimah Al Hazzah)
April 13 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (James Stoll; Chis Roy; Scott Turner)
April 14 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (Zacharenia Varsamis; John Muus; Jason Permenter)
Week Fifteen
April 18 Holiday
April 20 FILM: The 11th Hour PAPER DUE IN CLASS
FINAL EXAM
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