New York Times Front Page

Mason Hall at Baruch College’s 23rd street building. Photo from: http://nycpaspaces.org/spaces/7945

On Tuesday, August 27th, 2013, the Fall 2013 incoming first-year students of Baruch College were invited to the Freshman Convocation Ceremony. Hundreds of students filed into the auditorium at Mason Hall in Baruch’s 23rd Street Building at 11:30 AM. The day began with a video presentation on sustainability at Baruch, demonstrating the school’s “Take It With You” campaign, which implemented designated receptacles for landfill, paper, and bottles and cans throughout the campuses. Also, posters encouraging students to not leave their trash behind and instead take it with them were placed in the classrooms. Following that, the students were greeted by several speakers, including Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Christy, Baruch President Mitchel Wallerstein, President of Undergraduate Student Government Farhana Hassan, and the author of this year’s freshman reading, The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker. Finally, the students were inducted and taught the Baruch alma mater before being separated for their Freshman Seminar Session.

A research biologist and veterinarian participate in a Minnesota study on why moose die. Photo from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?src=recg

In the article “Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists,” Jim Robbins informs us about the puzzling decrease in moose population. The reason for this drop may relate back to climate change. Winters have become shorter for a species that thrives in cold weather. Parasites called winter ticks enjoy less snowfall and therefore are able to prey on moose. The heat stress can also cause exhaustion and ultimately, death. Another reason for the drop could be the unregulated hunting, but the fact that most of the moose are dying in the fall are telling to scientists and officials. Moose are important to the environment because they create habitats for nesting birds and they are also important to the economy because of moose-watching tourism.

Can the world support a growing population? Photo from: http://www.iskconinc.com/2012/07/15/extreme-sports-event-tickets-sold-out/

In “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem,” Erle C. Ellis talks about the popular misconception that the Earth’s environment creates a limit on population. He refers to our ancestors about how they made advancements in technology and adapted to their ecosystem in order to sustain themselves. For example, they would create tools out of stone and learn to make fire. Later, they would find depend deeply on agriculture. There is an estimated 7.2 billion in the world right now, and it is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. Ellis expects that future advancements in technology will allow us to sustain that amount of people, just like it has with population growth in the past. As a biologist himself, he has always learned that there is a mathematical limit, but Ellis ultimately believes human sustenance is a social science, and the real limit is on what we know technologically.

President Barack Obama unveils his climate change plan on June 25, 2013. Photo from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-25/-we-need-to-act-transcript-of-obama-s-climate-change-speech.html

In “Obama Outlines Ambitious Plan to Cut Greenhouse Gases,” Mark Landler and John M. Broder touch on the key points of President Barack Obama’s speech about his climate change plan. He called for Americans to take action in order to prepare for the future increases in temperatures. His plan is to reduce greenhouse gases by implementing carbon cuts at power plants, use federal funds to advance renewable energy technology, and properly equip cities and states that are most affected by climate change. His ultimate goal is to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from its 2005 level by 2020. Mr. Obama also mentions that he is still contemplating whether or not the building of the Keystone XL pipeline would be beneficial for the nation environmentally. Overall, President Obama is met with both positive and negative reactions. Some disagree with the plan to reduce carbon emissions, saying that natural gas, which has become cheaper and more popular, has already helped with this reduction. Others are satisfied just to see the president taking initiative.

The coral reefs, one of the most important ecosystem in the world, houses over millions of fish. It is also one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world that will most likely be extinct if there is even a slight change in the environment.
Photo taken from : http://mudfooted.com/coral_reefs_most_endangered_ecosystem/

In the article, “By 2047, Coldest Years May Be Warmer Than Hottest in Past, Scientists Say“, Justin Gillis talks about how the temperature of Earth is going to be in the future based on statistics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Through these statistics taken from the university, the temperature by the year 2047 will be way hotter than it will be today. The lead scientist, Camilo Mora, said, “the coldest year in the future will be warmer than the hottest year in the past.” The change in temperature will also lead to many devastating effects on the earth’s ecosystems. For example, one of the most important ecosystem right now is the coral reefs. The coral reefs supply fish with food and shelter and the fish living in the reefs supply fisherman with food to survive. If the temperature does increase like how the article predict it would, then the coral reef’s ecosystem will be disturbed and many of the fishes that relies on the reefs will die out. Overall, if the people continues the current trend of carbon dioxide emission, then the climate will change drastically for the worst. Ecosystems will fall out of order along with animals and people trying to survive in the new temperature. Winter in the future will be like a hot summer day now.

A student’s typical plastic-foam lunch tray. Photo from: http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/11/kids-change-their-cafeteria/

In “To Go: Plastic-Foam Containers, if the Mayor Gets His Way,” Michael M. Grynbaum informs us about Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to ban plastic-foam containers. This would include take-out boxes, cups, and trays. The plastic-foam is not biodegradable, which can cause it to cost up to $20 per ton when recycling for a city that deals with about 20,000 tons of plastic foam per year. This proposal has gained support from city officials such as City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and senior Eric A. Goldstein, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York, but opposition from the restaurant industry, who say that paper containers would be much more expensive than the plastic-foam containers. This is one of the many changes Mayor Bloomberg intends to implement to continue his environmental protection effort, which also includes doubling the amount of recycling bins on the streets of New York City.