Today is our Terry Fox Celebration Day, so our Morning Schedule is adjusted:
B Block: 9:05-9:55am
A Block: 10am-11am
Terry Fox Assembly: 11-11:20am
Terry Fox Run: 11:20-11:50am
Lunch: 11:50am-12:35pm
B Block Human Geography - Today we'll consider the concept of Carrying Capacity and Overpopulation. You'll also need to look at the ideas of Thomas Malthus (Malthusian theory)
I'll have you fill in a chart on the various theories of population growth (Malthusian, Neo-Malthusian, and Anti-Malthusian) and we end with this question:
Paul and Anne Ehrlich argue in The Population Explosion (1990) that a baby born in a developed country poses a greater threat to sustainability than a baby born in a developing country because people in developed countries place much higher demands on the world’s supply of energy, food, and other limited resources. Do you agree with this view? Why or Why not?
Paul and Anne Ehrlich argue in The Population Explosion (1990) that a baby born in a developed country poses a greater threat to sustainability than a baby born in a developing country because people in developed countries place much higher demands on the world’s supply of energy, food, and other limited resources. Do you agree with this view? Why or Why not?
A Block Legal Studies - This morning, we'll watch the CBC documentary "The Fire Within" to see just one example of workplace harassment that women must face.
From the Canadian Human Rights Reporter:
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the Government of British Columbia's aerobic standard used to test the fitness of forest firefighters discriminated on the basis of sex, and further that the Government failed to show that the discriminatory standard is justified as a bona fide occupational requirement ("BFOR").
I'll have you work on the following questions:
1. What are some of the current barriers to equality facing women?2. What is pay equity?
3. How are different jobs compared under pay equity?
4. What is employment equity?
5. What groups are protected under employment equity laws?
D/C Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - With Benton you'll look at the source of the Colorado River, the snowpack of the Rockies. Nearly all the water flowing in the Colorado River originates in the headwater states, most of all Colorado, and mostly as snow. Snow that accumulates on the western slope of the Rockies eventually becomes water in the Colorado River. Some of it will flow as far south as Mexico, running through kitchen faucets in cities and suburbs along the way, or watering crops that keep America fed.
In mid April 2023, the snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming was 170% above average (levels in the lower basin states were at 250% of average). Snowpack data, however, tells a slightly deceptive story. It’s most frequently shared as a percent of average when it appears in newspapers and reports for skiers and river users. Every 10 years, NOAA moves the three-decade window that it uses for averages. But the rapidly accelerating effects of climate change mean the current window sticks out from previous 30-year periods. The current window runs from 1991 to 2020, which includes the hottest-ever period in America’s recorded weather history. If you actually compare the current number to longer historical trends (more than 30 years) you get a more accurate picture.
So, this year's snowpack is a temporary relief to the system. In the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and Colorado River Basin, the cool, wet, and snowy year brought major drought relief. As of mid-June, observed water year runoff was above normal. Persistent and widespread anomalously cold winter temperatures, which have not occurred in recent years, aided snowpack development, Impacts of the cold temperatures included an unusual proportion of precipitation falling as snow compared to rain, snow persisting at lower elevations for longer than usual, and little mid-winter snow melt at higher elevations.
Together, Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs hold about 83% of the total storage capacity for the Colorado Basin and in mid April 2023, Lake Powell was at about 23% capacity, while Lake Mead was at about 28%; it will take much more than one wet year to refill them after over 20 years of decreasing water levels
Benton will have a graph for you to work on and take a look at the following:
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| 2023 SWE for the state of Colorado |
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| 30 years of SWE for the state of Colorado |
Websites to help with Snowpack and the Colorado River Water crisis
Colorado Sun: Colorado River Basin reservoirs still face grim outlook despite healthy snowpackThe Eddy: What This Year’s Snowpack Means for the Colorado River
With Young in 115, we are going to take a look at the population changes that have occurred in the US Southwest over the last 80 years (since the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936). We'll try to discuss the role of water in America's expansion during the 18th and 19th centuries by looking particularly at the geography of major cities, specifically we are going to look at Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada (just the cities and not the metropolitan areas). Phoenix (city) has a 2018 population of 1,660,272 people but the metropolitan Phoenix population is 4,857,962 people. Las Vegas (city) has a 2018 population of 644,644 people but the metropolitan Las Vegas population is 2,227,053 people. I'll have you graph the populations of these two cities for ten year intervals starting in 1930 up to last year (2018).
Check out this super sweet interactive map of Las Vegas' population growth and water use. Also
this awesome interactive How much longer can the Colorado River sustain us? or this one that asks how long Las Vegas can keep growing with the water it gets from the Colorado River Also, check out this great article, In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water
You'll have some questions to answer for me:
Check out this super sweet interactive map of Las Vegas' population growth and water use. Also
this awesome interactive How much longer can the Colorado River sustain us? or this one that asks how long Las Vegas can keep growing with the water it gets from the Colorado River Also, check out this great article, In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water
You'll have some questions to answer for me:
- What do these two cities have in common?
- Why do you think these cities were so populated and were able to grow so quickly?
- Why is access to water important economically?
- What role do you think access to waterways and fresh water plays in the expansion of the population in the Colorado Basin throughout 1900s?
- How are these cities surviving where water is not easily accessible? From where does their water come?
- What are some of the new technologies that allow for water to be transported long distances? Are these really "new" or are they carried over from the ancient cultures?
- Is a high quality of life sustainable in harsh climates?
- What is the cost of this life population shift on both the environment and on the demand for fresh water?
Today's Fit...
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