Today we are going to start with some contextual information about the environment. Please read through this page paying particular attention to the way data is represented in the images\/diagrams – media includes data visualization. Click on links, watch the short videos you find. At the end there is a short introduction to issues and topics on media and the environment, and some environmental media projects for you to browse, including two ~20 minute podcasts. Enjoy!<\/p>\n
Environmental Context: Deep History of the Earth<\/p>\n
![\"earth](\"http:\/\/cdn.static-economist.com\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/articles\/migrated\/20110528_bbc974_0.gif\")
from “A man made world,” The Economist, \u00a028 May 2011<\/p><\/div>\n
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- Age of Earth 4.5 billion years, (Age of Universe 13.8 billion)\n
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- geological periods are convenient and conventional, note how time-spans are put into a hierarchy<\/li>\n
- note media representation above, especially difficulty of representing vast time scales AND much smaller time scales<\/li>\n
- why\/is the diagram above a good representation? look carefully and critically at all diagrams\/images, think about how the data is visualized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- How do they\/we know the age of the earth?\n
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- stratigraphy<\/a>\u00a0(study of rock layers) and fossil<\/a> record (evidence gathered from late 1600s to now) – early estimate of earth’s age about 8,000 years, relative age arrived at first, absolute dates much later.<\/li>\n
- radiometric dating<\/a> (based on decay of radioactive isotopes), Marie \u00a0and Pierre Curie discover radium 1898. technique starts in 1905 and improves.<\/li>\n
- plus other methods, annual layers of sediments (varves), ice-cores (count like tree rings))<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Laurasia](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/8\/82\/Laurasia-Gondwana.svg\")
<\/a>By User:LennyWikidata [CC BY 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n
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- Early Supercontinents<\/a>\u00a0– Gondwana etc.\n
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- fossil evidence found tropical plants in northern latitudes, geologists begin to suspect land masses moved<\/li>\n
- 1960s: after much controversy the theory of Plate Tectonic<\/a>s became widely accepted – continents have moved, land masses split and reformed. (Wegener etc.)<\/li>\n
- animation of plate movement<\/a> 200 million years ago -> now<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"atmospheric](\"http:\/\/www.scientificpsychic.com\/etc\/timeline\/atmosphere-composition.gif\")
atmospheric composition, from scientific psychic<\/p><\/div>\n
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- Earth’s Atmosphere: has it\u00a0always been the same? No\n
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- Early atmosphere – no oxygen<\/li>\n
- Description\/Analysis of Diagram – pros and cons?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/7\/77\/Geologic_Clock_with_events_and_periods.svg\/500px-Geologic_Clock_with_events_and_periods.svg.png\")
timeline of life, wikimedia commons<\/p><\/div>\n
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- Life on Earth\n
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- First life at 3.8 billion years = prokaryote one cell creatures in atmosphere without oxygen.<\/li>\n
- note Prokaryote\/Eukarote <\/a>\u00a0difference – cells with no nucleus (bacteria) versus cells with nucleus + organelles<\/li>\n
- note when Photosynthesis \u00a0starts (c. 3200 MA)<\/li>\n
- Look carefully to understand what the different rings represent.<\/li>\n
- Description\/Analysis of Diagram – is the first image or this one better at visualizing this time scale?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- How do we know about Life on Earth?\n
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- Fossil Record ->\u00a0Theory of Evolution,\u00a0 1859 Darwin’s Origin of Species<\/li>\n
- Microscopic examination of fossil record from the late 1800s<\/li>\n
- DNA \u00a0(genetics, molecular biology etc) 1953 Crick and Watson based on work of Rosalind Franklin<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Note : Historical versus causal understanding.\n
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- we can be fairly certain about reconstruction of events<\/em> – fossil record etc.<\/li>\n
- but theories<\/em> about causation may change and evolve.\n
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- Theory of Evolution, 1800s,<\/li>\n
- Theory of Plate Tectonics 1950-70<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- First Mass Extinction? 2.4 billion years ago =\u00a0Great Oxygenation Event\u00a0<\/a>\n
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- amount of O2 in atmosphere grows<\/li>\n
- why? growth of\u00a0cyanobacteria<\/a>\u00a0-> waste product oxyygen<\/li>\n
- an<\/strong>aerobic<\/b>\u00a0become extinct ->\u00a0aerobic organism\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Mass Extinction Event<\/a>s, caused by volcanic activity, changes in climate\/atmosphere, meteors\n
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- 439 million years ago, 86% of life made extinct<\/li>\n
- 364 million years ago 75%<\/li>\n
- 251 million years ago, 96%<\/li>\n
- between 199 million and 214 million years ago, 50% animals extinct, plants less affected<\/li>\n
- 65 million years ago, End of Dinosaurs + 76% of life on earth .\u00a0volcanic activity, asteroid impact, and climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"GuardianGraphic-quaternary\"](\"https:\/\/josephineanstey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/GuardianGraphic-quaternary.png\")
Guardian Graphic<\/p><\/div>\n
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- Anthropocene<\/a>\u00a0– a new epoch (smallest time-span) after holocene?\n
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- Diagram from Guardian Article<\/a>, Aug 29, 2016<\/li>\n
- “Anthropocene” being considered \u00a0as a formally defined geological unit by by a Working Group for the International Commission on Stratigraphy.<\/li>\n
- Identifying measurable human impact on world systems e.g.\n
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- Climate Change<\/li>\n
- Atmospheric changes<\/li>\n
- Mass Extinction Number 6<\/a> – dead oceans, loss of habitats, overfishing etc etc.\n
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- 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century<\/li>\n
- who have I linked to, what are their credentials? where does number above come from?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Pollution – plastic layer in the world<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"measures](\"https:\/\/humanorigins.si.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/measures%20of%20the%20anthropocene.jpg?itok=hDdBPvOQ\")
<\/p>\nDiagram from the Smithsonian: The Age of Humans: Evolutionary Perspective on the Anthropocene<\/a><\/p>\n
**********<\/p>\n
Media and the Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- Representations of the environment in all kinds of media have changed drastically over the last few hundred years\n
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- nature as threat, 1700s<\/li>\n
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![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/toah\/images\/hb\/hb_56.7.jpg\")
A shipwreck in a Storm Jean Pillement<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
- nature as threatened, 2000s<\/li>\n
![\"Oiled](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/fc\/Oiled_Bird_-_Black_Sea_Oil_Spill_111207.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nBy Marine Photobank<\/a> – originally posted to Flickr<\/a> as Oiled Bird – Black Sea Oil Spill 11\/12\/07<\/a>, CC BY 2.0<\/a>, Link<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n- We will look at many kinds of media\/genres\n
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- film, games, data visualizations\/animations, social media, news\/docs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- We will consider how media works by evoking\n
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- referential systems: connotations, metaphors, associations, contradictions<\/li>\n
- cognitive systems: emotions, reason, affect (gut reactions)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- We will consider how environmental issues are framed\/controlled\/created in media\n
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- the relationship between form\/content<\/li>\n
- the persuasive and normalizing power of media<\/li>\n
- role of media as part of change\/activism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Finally – two examples of environmental media\n
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- The Hive\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0by Wolfgang Buttress, browse site and watch video<\/li>\n
- Midway, a Message from The Gyre<\/a> by Chris Jordan, context\u00a0Great Pacific Garbage Patch<\/a>, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- And two Podcasts (~20 mins each)\n
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- Are We Heading for Another Mass Extinction?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Can We Stop a Mass Extinction?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Martin Rudwick, Earth’s Deep History,University of Chicago Press,\u00a0 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this course we consider the intersection of: The Environment (earth surface, atmosphere, life (including human)) Media (representations of the environment, how media works: contains messages, assumptions, theories, persuasive power) Today we are going to start with some contextual information…<\/span><\/p>\n
- Can We Stop a Mass Extinction?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Midway, a Message from The Gyre<\/a> by Chris Jordan, context\u00a0Great Pacific Garbage Patch<\/a>, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- The Hive\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0by Wolfgang Buttress, browse site and watch video<\/li>\n
- Representations of the environment in all kinds of media have changed drastically over the last few hundred years\n
- Diagram from Guardian Article<\/a>, Aug 29, 2016<\/li>\n
- Anthropocene<\/a>\u00a0– a new epoch (smallest time-span) after holocene?\n
- an<\/strong>aerobic<\/b>\u00a0become extinct ->\u00a0aerobic organism\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- but theories<\/em> about causation may change and evolve.\n
- Note : Historical versus causal understanding.\n
- Life on Earth\n
- animation of plate movement<\/a> 200 million years ago -> now<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- radiometric dating<\/a> (based on decay of radioactive isotopes), Marie \u00a0and Pierre Curie discover radium 1898. technique starts in 1905 and improves.<\/li>\n
- stratigraphy<\/a>\u00a0(study of rock layers) and fossil<\/a> record (evidence gathered from late 1600s to now) – early estimate of earth’s age about 8,000 years, relative age arrived at first, absolute dates much later.<\/li>\n