Description
3: Short research paper: Turn in a three-page research paper on your findings – by email and through
Canvas/Assignments. It should be double-spaced, 12pt font, Times New Roman with one-inch margins
and page numbers. In your paper:
o Offer a title – specific to your paper [The title is not ‘interview assignment.’]
o Offer a mini-abstract (what was your case, research question, method of data collection, and
findings) [which does not go toward page length]
o Present your research question(s) (RQs) [Revise according to my feedback.]
o Explain how your RQ is connected to at least two of the assigned readings [Reference the
reading(s).] This short section is a mini-literature review. Explain or summarize keys points in
some of the readings that are most relevant to your study and explain the connection between the
assigned readings and your study.
o Explain in detail how you collected your data (what was your method)
Make sure to reference the style of data collection from the readings.
See the weekly outline for the readings that used the same data collection style.
o Present your findings. What were their answers to your questions? *And how were their answers
similar or dissimilar to the readings or what you would have expected from the sociological
literature? Eventually, we will try to identify patterns together as a class and link those findings
to the concepts presented in the assigned readings.
*This paper is considered a step toward and a working draft of your final paper. Use my feedback to improve
your final paper.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
7/12/23, 7:06 AM
Florida Ocean Temperatures Are in the 90s Fahrenheit, Posing Risk to Coral – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/climate/florida-ocean-temperaturesreefs.html
How Hot Is the Sea Off Florida Right Now? Think 90s
Fahrenheit.
Researchers are recording ocean temperatures that pose severe risks to coral reefs and other
marine life.
Sea Surface Temperature on July 10, 2023
82°F
84°
86°
88°
90°
92°
UNITED STATES
Atlantic Ocean
Gulf of Mexico
Florida
Waters near the Florida Keys
reached above 90°F,
significantly higher than usual.
THE BAHAMAS
Coral bleaching
alert areas
CUBA
Caribbean Sea
1/5
7/12/23, 7:06 AM
Florida Ocean Temperatures Are in the 90s Fahrenheit, Posing Risk to Coral – The New York Times
Source: NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; NOAA Coral Reef
Watch • By The New York Times
By Catrin Einhorn and Elena Shao
July 12, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET
Florida’s coral reefs are facing what could be an unprecedented threat from a marine heat
wave that is warming the Gulf of Mexico, pushing water temperatures into the 90s
Fahrenheit.
The biggest concern for coral isn’t just the current sea surface temperatures in the Florida
Keys, even though they are the hottest on record. The daily average surface temperature off
the Keys on Monday was just over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or 32.4 Celsius, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The real worry, scientists say, is that it’s only July. Corals typically experience the most heat
stress in August and September.
“We’re entering uncharted territories,” Derek Manzello, an ecologist and the coordinator of
NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program, said.
Coral reefs are natural wonders that support myriad species and blunt damage from storms.
In the United States, reefs generate economic benefits to the tune of $3.4 billion annually for
fisheries, tourism and coastal protection, according to NOAA.
But oceans have absorbed some 90 percent of the additional heat caused by humans as we
burn fossil fuels and destroy forests. When sea temperatures rise too high, corals bleach,
expelling the algae they need for sustenance. If waters don’t cool quickly enough, or if
bleaching events happen in close succession, the corals die. For decades, scientists have
been warning that climate change is an existential threat to coral reefs. Already, the world
has lost a huge proportion of its coral reefs, perhaps half since 1950.
“To be blunt, it can be very depressing,” Dr. Manzello said. “Unfortunately, I’m a scientist
watching it happen.”
Sea Surface Temperature on July 10, 2023
82°F
84°
86°
88°
90°
2/5
7/12/23, 7:06 AM
Florida Ocean Temperatures Are in the 90s Fahrenheit, Posing Risk to Coral – The New York Times
Gulf of Mexico
MEXICO
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS
Coral bleaching
alert areas
NICARAGUA
Pacific Ocean
Source: NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; NOAA Coral Reef
Watch • By The New York Times
Marine heat isn’t just affecting the Gulf of Mexico. Globally, about 40 percent of the planet is
experiencing a marine heat wave, according to Dillon Amaya, a physical scientist at NOAA
who studies them.
“Florida is one patch in a terrible quilt right now,” Dr. Amaya said.
In part, that’s because the planet is entering a natural climate phenomenon known as El
Niño, which typically brings warmer oceans. But now, El Niño is coming on top of long-term
warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
While coral is especially vulnerable, heat waves harm untold species, and the effects are
different around the world, as species are adapted to different temperature ranges.
In general, fish need more oxygen when the water is warmer. That’s a problem, because
warmer water holds less oxygen.
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7/12/23, 7:06 AM
Florida Ocean Temperatures Are in the 90s Fahrenheit, Posing Risk to Coral – The New York Times
“Large-scale fish kills are becoming more frequent as our climate changes,” Martin Grosell,
a professor of ichthyology at the University of Miami, said.
Coral reefs are particularly important because so many species rely on them. About 25
percent of all marine life, including more than 4,000 kinds of fish, depend on reefs at some
point in their lives, according to NOAA.
While there aren’t yet reports of bleaching in Florida, it has already begun on reefs to the
south, Dr. Manzello said, off Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Colombia.
Florida’s coral reef system stretches about 350 miles, from the St. Lucie inlet on the
mainland south and west past the end of the Keys, and is frequented by sea turtles, manta
rays, flounder and lobster.
What happens in Florida will depend on conditions over the next few weeks. Storms, which
churn up deeper, cooler water and reduce sunshine, could provide relief, scientists say. El
Niño periods are typically associated with below-average Atlantic hurricane seasons, but
that might not hold true this year.
Researchers who care about coral are deeply troubled.
“I do lose sleep over it,” said Andrew Baker, a professor of marine biology at the University
of Miami, where he directs the Coral Reef Futures Lab. “But I don’t want to write the eulogy
just yet.”
Scientists like Dr. Baker are racing to come up with ways to help coral become more
resilient to higher temperatures, for example by crossing Florida’s corals with varieties that
seem to withstand more heat. But ultimately, the survival of corals and countless other
species relies on the ability of humans to rein in climate change.
“You have to go to the root causes,” Lizzie McLeod, the global oceans director at The Nature
Conservancy, said. “We have to be reducing emissions, we have to move to clean energy, we
have to reduce subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.”
In Key West, beachgoers expressed surprise at the warmth of the ocean, comparing it to
bath water. Lynsi Wavra, a captain and ecotour guide, said her mother had lived there for 20
years and had witnessed the coral declining.
“She’d come home crying,” Ms. Wavra said.
Frances Robles contributed reporting.
Catrin Einhorn reports on biodiversity for the Climate and Environment desk. She has also worked on the
Investigations desk, where she was part of the Times team that received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for
its reporting on sexual harassment. More about Catrin Einhorn
4/5
WHY IS SEA LEVEL RISE
IMPORTANT TO ME?
Sea level rise describes how the world’s oceans are becoming higher,
on average, relative to land.
The land in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties sits at some
of the lowest elevations in the country, placing our region at particular risk for
sea level rise.
Why are the seas rising?
Energy used to provide
electricity and for
transportation use fossil
fuels, which increases
emissions of greenhouse
gases
Greenhouse
gases trap
heat from
sun in
atmosphere
Average temperatures continues
to rise as greenhouse gases
accumulate in the atmosphere,
known as global warming
As temperatures
rise, ice sheets and
glaciers melt and
water expands,
causing sea level rise
90%
More than
of the warming that has happened over the
past 50 years has been transferred to the ocean
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA REGIONAL COMPACT CLIMATE CHANGE
Unified Sea Level Rise Projection
By
2040 sea levels will be
10-17 inches
above the sea level in 2000
How does sea level rise impact my community and my life?
Sea level rise means more flooding of our streets and homes. As sea level rises, nuisance flooding
associated with naturally occurring high tides is becoming more frequent and extending further
inland. These “sunny day” flood events—floods that occur when we have no rain at all—have
increased in the past two decades1. Because the flood water is saltwater, these sunny day floods
can damage our cars and other property due to corrosion from the salt.
Sea level rise impacts inland neighborhoods. Because Southeast Florida sits on porous rock, sea
level rise is not just a problem for our coastal communities. As seas rise, the underground water
table also rises. When it rains, there is less space for the ground to absorb rainwater, which can
cause stormwater flooding. In fact, some inland communities are most at-risk for flooding.
Sea level rise can pose health risks. Flooding can reduce our ability to get around, requiring
people to move through water that may be mixing with pollutants on our roads, which is a health
risk. Flooding can also impact homes sitting at very low elevations, creating mold which is a health
hazard. Chronic flooding and sea level rise can erode critical infrastructure that we all rely on, like
underground sewage pipes and septic tanks, resulting in leaks that can make us sick. Upgrading
and fixing infrastructure is expensive and can tax city budgets—costs that are passed on to
residents.
Sea level rise threatens our drinking water. As saltwater from the ocean encroaches further
inland it can impact our water supply, which in South Florida, comes from underground aquifers
that store freshwater. Longer term, as freshwater becomes less available, the cost of water could
increase. Reduced freshwater supply also hurts agriculture, which is one of the largest economic
drivers in ourregion.
Sea level rise may increase our insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
produces flood maps by “flood zone” based on where flooding is most likely to occur. FEMA flood
zones determine a property owner’s flood insurance rate. As flood risk increases and maps are
updated, some properties may be required to pay more for flood insurance, increasing costs
for homeowners—costs that are frequently passed on to renters. Increasing flood hazards can
also make higher elevation neighborhoods more desirable. Without careful planning, affordable
neighborhoods on higher-ground could become more expensive, leading to displacement of longtime residents.
Sea level rise will make hurricanes more dangerous. Rising seas mean that when a hurricane hits,
storm surge will be higher and therefore more damaging and dangerous. If a wet storm—a storm
that brings lots of rain—hits while tides are high, the rainwater can’t quickly drain off the landscape
because it has nowhere to go.
Communities on the frontlines of climate change
Vulnerability to sea level rise and flooding are closely related to a
community’s socioeconomic position, including factors such as age, wealth,
income, race, and health. Communities with high numbers of elderly, very
young, low-income residents, or residents with ill health, may have fewer
resources to prepare for flooding or hurricanes, and may have limited ability
to relocate to areas of less risk.2
In particular, Black and Brown communities are impacted by now illegal
discriminatory housing policies, like mortgage “redlining” and segregated
public housing. In many large cities in the United States, neighborhoods
remain segregated. These neighborhoods too often have been denied
and currently lack access to the building blocks that underpin economic
prosperity and well-being that also allow communities to be more resilient
to increasing floods or more damaging hurricane events.
1 https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/nuisance-flooding.html
2 https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/surviving-and-thriving-full-report.pdf
How local government is working to lessen impacts
Assessing risk. Identifying which communities, critical infrastructure, and economic
sectors are most vulnerable and exposed to sea level rise.
Updating regulations to increase protection. Requiring that future development
is built higher standards to accommodate rising sea levels, and updating land use
plans and zoning codes to ensure that development keeps people out of harm’s way.
Engaging with those most impacted. Engaging with neighborhoods and
communities where flooding is occurring to co-create adaptation strategies and
investments.
Investing in green spaces. More parks and greenspaces can reduce flooding
impacts, while providing other community benefits.
Elevating and protecting critical community assets. Where chronic flooding
is already occurring, local governments are elevating roads and other critical
infrastructure that communities depend on, and investing in pumps and other
engineering solutions to remove water.
Buying properties that experience repeat flooding. In some cases, local
governments are buying flood-prone homes to allow homeowners to be fairly
compensated while reducing their exposure to flood hazards.
What can I do?
Learn the flood risk of your home. Enter your address to this tool to view the risk of sea level rise, high tide flooding,
and storm surge for your property.
Reduce your exposure to sea level rise risks. Don’t walk or drive your car through standing flood waters. Have a plan and
prepare early for hurricanes. In the event of a hurricane, follow local emergency management guidance to relocate to a
local shelter if you live in a storm surge evacuation zone that is at risk.
Photo credit: Miami Community Newspaper
Use your voice for climate action. Attend your city or county commission meetings, write to your elected officials about
your sea level rise concerns, and vote in every election.
For more information, visit: www.climatecompact.org
7/8/23, 7:39 PM
Opinion | The Texas Heat Dome Shows an Exhausting Glimpse of the Future – The New York Times
GUEST ESSAY
In Texas, Dead Fish and Red-Faced Desperation Are Signs of Things to Come
July 8, 2023
By Jeff Goodell
Mr. Goodell is the author of the forthcoming book, “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.”
In 2019, I happened to be visiting Phoenix on a 115-degree day. I had a meeting one afternoon about 10 blocks from the hotel where I was
staying downtown. I gamely thought I’d brave the heat and walk to it. How bad could the heat really be? I grew up in California, not the
Arctic. I thought I knew heat. I was wrong. After walking three blocks, I felt dizzy. After seven blocks, my heart was pounding. After 10
blocks, I thought I was a goner.
That experience led me to spend the next three years researching and reporting a book about the dangers of extreme heat and how rising
temperatures are reshaping our world. I talked to doctors about how when the core temperature of our bodies rises too high, the proteins
in our cells begin to unravel. I sailed to Antarctica to see how changes in ocean temperature accelerate the melting of glaciers, causing
seas to rise and flooding coastal cities around the world. I talked to people in the slums of India and in oven-like apartments in Arizona and
in stifling hot garrets in Paris. I trapped mosquitoes in Houston and learned about how the spread of dengue fever and malaria is altered
by hotter temperatures. I talked to engineers about how heat bends railroad tracks and weakens bridges. In short, I thought I had a pretty
good idea about the impacts of extreme heat in our world.
City of Phoenix caseworker Mia Stanford putting a cooling towel on a man experiencing homelessness in the extreme heat last year. Caitlin O’Hara/Guardian — Eyevine, via
Redux
1/3
7/8/23, 7:39 PM
Opinion | The Texas Heat Dome Shows an Exhausting Glimpse of the Future – The New York Times
And then, in mid-June, a few weeks before publication of my book, a heat dome settled over the entire Southwest as well as Mexico,
breaking temperature records and turning asphalt to mush. I had recently moved to Austin, Texas. Yes, Texas is a hot place. But this was
different. We’re talking about a heat index — the combination of temperature and humidity — as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Events disturbingly similar to what I had reported on in other places several years earlier were playing out in real time around me, like
hikers dying of heatstroke and thousands of dead fish washing up on Gulf Coast beaches (hotter water contains less oxygen, making it
difficult for fish to breathe). The red-faced desperation on the faces of homeless people living beneath an overpass near me was spookily
evocative of the red-faced desperation I’d seen on the faces of people in India and Pakistan.
You can argue that Texas has done this to itself. The planet is getting hotter because of the burning of fossil fuels. This is a simple truth, as
clear as the moon in the night sky. No state has profited more from fossil fuels than Texas. Revenues from oil and gas production have long
been central to the Texas economy and are at least partly responsible for the more than $32 billion projected surplus in the state’s 2024-25
budget. And Texas is also responsible for emitting more than 600 million metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year,
more than twice as much as any other state.
The heat dome made visible the barbarity of the state’s political leadership. More workers die in Texas from high temperatures than
anywhere else in the country. Nevertheless, on the very day when it was so hot that I didn’t want to walk outside to check the mail until
after dark, Gov. Greg Abbott gave final approval to a law that will eliminate local ordinances requiring water breaks for construction
workers. Despite the state’s massive budget surplus, many Texas prisons remain without air-conditioning, turning cells into torture
chambers on hot days.
If you are lucky enough and well-off enough, perhaps there is no sense that a life-threatening force has invaded your world. This past
week, records were set or tied on four consecutive days as the hottest days ever recorded on Earth. On Monday, I happened to be sitting in
an air-conditioned cafe in Austin. Around me, people drank iced coffees and bottled water, seemingly unconcerned as the heat outside beat
down mercilessly. In my neighborhood, where a couple tore down a modest house, cut down big shady trees and erected a McMansion
with a black roof that sucks up heat, massive compressors for the air-conditioning hang off the side of the house like tactical weapons in
the climate war.
In some ways, Mr. Abbott’s callousness is not surprising. Many Texans see extreme heat as a feeble foe. At the height of the Texas heat
wave, the official Twitter account for a Texas university football team featured a video of a fully suited player running sprints while
dragging a heavy chain. “Working in that Texas heat,” the tweet boasted, followed by a fire emoji. Like risking your life in the heat makes
you a real cowboy.
Not far from my house is a gym called “HEAT Bootcamp” (the gym’s marketing pitch: “Join the heat wave”). Here, enduring heat is a sign
of inner strength (a throwback to medieval times, perhaps, when heat was linked to masculinity through what the philosopher Thomas
Aquinas called “the elemental heat of the semen”).
2/3
7/8/23, 7:39 PM
Opinion | The Texas Heat Dome Shows an Exhausting Glimpse of the Future – The New York Times
Emergency Medical Technicians assist a patient who after working outside in the Texas heat for hours, called in reporting chest pain. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Fortunately, despite high demand for electricity from everyone cranking their A.C., the Texas grid has held steady, largely because of the
enormous number of solar panels that have come online in Texas in recent years. People have flocked to Austin’s green spaces, especially
the spring-fed Barton Springs pool, proving the value of cool public spaces. At the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin (where my wife is the
director) a hot, lifeless courtyard has been transformed into a shady, welcoming patio by the installation of a dozen elegant 40-foot-high
structures in the shape of flower petals — proof, if such proof is needed, that a cool city can be a beautiful city.
Among climate activists and others concerned about the future of the planet, there is a lot of talk now about the need for inspiring stories
and hopeful solutions. I agree. We are not doomed. In fact, I think the climate crisis is, above all else, an opportunity to change how we
think about our relationship with nature and build a happier, healthier, more just world.
But living under the Texas heat dome has reinforced my view that we have to be cleareyed about the scope and scale of what we are
facing. The extreme heat that is cooking many parts of the world this summer is not a freakish event — it is another step into our burning
future. The wildfires in Canada, the orange Blade Runner skies on the East Coast, the hot ocean, the rapidly melting glaciers in Greenland
and Antarctica and the Himalayas, the high price of food, the spread of vector-borne diseases in unexpected places — it is all connected,
and it is all driven by rising heat.
We need to start seeing hot days as more than an invitation to go to the beach or hang out at the lake. Extreme heat is the engine of
planetary chaos. We ignore it at our peril. Because if there is one thing we should understand about the risks of extreme heat, it is this: All
living things, from humans to hummingbirds, share one simple fate. If the temperature they’re used to — what scientists sometimes call
their Goldilocks Zone — rises too far, too fast, they die.
Jeff Goodell is the author of the forthcoming book, “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.”
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our
email: [email protected].
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section SR, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: A Glimpse of Our Very Hot Future
3/3
TOPIC/ Research question
In regards to the general populations belief in the validity of climate change, how
does ones economic, political and own health come into play when believing or not
in climate change?
Do you drive an electric vehicle or gas powered vehicleIf you do not use
electric what are some of the factors that have kept you using gas?
“ Im not on a electic vehicle but I have a hybrid vehicle. My brother does have an
electric vehicle but I think eventually I will have one. There is some pros and cons
with electric vehicles and in what do with the batteries with after they are done”.
“I would hope in the future were mostly electric. My uncle did tell me one time that
electric cars are worse for the environment because of the batteries but im not sure
if I totally trust him. I hope in the future im financially capable of having electic cars
but we somehow need to make it cheaper for people to go electric”.
What news sources do you use that notifies you on climate change? Do you
think that your news adequately presents right information?
“ I have the news app on the phone, during summer months I get more warnings
about hurricanes and wheather. I think it is accurate but other than that I do not
use as much. I also use my radar which gives me information on heat advisories. I
do not watch tv news really”
“I do believe the sources I get my information from usually from .gov or .edu. I don’t
really watch tv news because I feel like its not as truthful in that they are mostly
pusing their political agendas”.
In regards to rising sea levels do you feel your community is at risk? How does
the news you take in affect your belief in rising sea levels?
“Im from vero beach and I live on the water there I first started getting attention
to it when I was in highs school. Im definelty worried about the future of rising
sea levels. On the news front it definitely matters what your watching like fox
versus CNN. I still feel like no one really goes into depth about the sea levels but
it doesn’t really affect my opinions on sea levels rising”
“ I believe where Im at im definelty at risk I live in the keys. Hearing the news that
its supposed to rise couple feet in the next 20 or so year. It Worries me when we
get rain because we hold water for a long time. The news definelty does scare me
a little more because it brings it to me a little more. It makes me worried about if
we can stay here long term and if were going to need to move in the future.
Do you believe the rise of temperatures has affected your health or do worry
about it in the future? Examples may be increase in allergies, cardiovascular
issues or heat related illnesses.
‘I am a runner and this summer I had to run in doors to do the heat. This summer was so hard
to do my normal running practices. There was even a time where I had to have a friend pick me
up from a run due to me over heating. The people I nanny for get overheated as well and ended
up leaving for 2 months to move to aspen because it was to hot for the kids”
“ I woiuld say if anything heat related illnesses although it didn’t affect me but it did impact
some of my customers and fellow workers. Some of my workers have had heat rashes and
passed out from heat exhaustion. I would say im more concerned about the sea lifes health
more than the people because the water down here got to 100 degrees and the coral started
dying. Fish had to go to deeper water due to this. It also impacts the fisheries with all the fish
moving to deeper water how will we be able to make that income like were supposed to”.
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