Ted Talks Assignment Unit 1

TED Talks Assignment Unit 1

Watch the following TED talks.  If you have any problems understanding the speaker, please note that there is an option to turn on captions (highly suggested!!!).  You will likely need to pause the video to answer questions, and even back it up to replay important parts.  

For all assignments, make sure you include the question and your answer written below it in a different font color.   Also make sure that all answers are summarized and not copied and pasted directly from the video's transcript (doing so on even 1 question will result in a 0 on the assignment).  

When you finished this assignment, save your answers and upload the saved document to the appropriate dropbox in D2L. Consult the course schedule for the appropriate due date.   

30 points

Talk 1:  Johan Rockstrom:  Let the environment guide our development

Link:  http://www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_let_the_environment_guide_our_development?language=en

1.  The speaker shows a graph of varying temperature throughout time.  He then points out a stage of stable temperatures?  What is the name of that phase?  What can this phase support that others could not? 

• Remarkably Stable Holocene
• the phase can support humanity

2.  The speaker says we are putting a “quadruple squeeze on the planet?  What are these 4 squeezes?  Briefly describe the significance of each of these “squeezes). 

1. population growth – the majority of the impacts on the planet have been caused by the rich minority

1. climate agenda -

1. ecosystems

1. surprise

3. The speaker suggests that we may have entered a new geological era.  What is that era?  What is its basic characteristic?  

The Anthropocence – where humans are the predominant driver of change at a planetary level