Blog 2 By Leanett Gonzalez

As the theme project presentations come to an end. We should reflect on the important topics that were introduced and discussed. Group 3 began and opened the discussions. Group 3 discussed and delved into climate change. As with all important topics a certain level of discomfort and unknown creeps in. However, change is necessary, and change is uncomfortable. Climate change feels like a fight past generation gave up on. They figured we have enough time, let the future generations figure it out. However, with the plaguing state of our planet and time not being on our side, something must be done. What is climate change? Climate change refers to the long-term temperature and weather changes. Group three discussed how climate change has many contributing factors. Factors such as agricultural practices, burning fossil fuels, pollution, greenhouse gases emission, deforestation, and many more. Group 3 then broke down how those factors affect the Earth and its climate. A quarter of the U.S. methane emissions came from livestock. (insideclimatenews) Group 3 included many forms of medias such as graphs and charts like the one below.

 

The burning of fossil fuels climate change causes the global warming which causes natural disasters. Fossil fuels are nonreusable resources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. 

The mining and extraction of these recourses is invasive and causes a lot of damage as is. Then the further step of burning these resources contribute to smog and acid rain. If climate change doesn’t get better, we run the risks of displacement, mass extinction, poverty, global food and water shortages, and many more devastating events. Lastly, group 3 was informed on the steps to reduce climate change. Even though time is not on our side there are steps we can take to better this situation. Big change comes from big places, like the government enforces more standards, law, and ethical codes to stop big corporations abuse of the planet. Even then, every single person needs to start caring and advocating for a cleaner planet. As well as the difference a single person can make by saving energy, opt for sustainable transportation, RRR (reduce, reuse, recycle), and eating more vegetables.

  The second group to present was my group, group 2. The topic was gender inequality, because of personal experience I was very invested in this topic and presentation. Gender inequality is again another important topic that seems to sit uncomfortably. Gender inequality is the discrimination based on sex or gender, leading to a privileged and a disadvantaged group. However, because the gender spectrum is so vast group 2 decided to focus solely on the discrimination of women. The topics discussed were feminism, women’s suffrage movement, the wage gap, and violence against women. Feminism is a socio-political movement that aims for the equality of all sexes. The presentation time lined the history of feminism with all the major movements. As well as the achievements of feminism and the women’s suffrage movement such as giving women the right to vote and a place (a small place) in the work force. The presentation broke down the different types of feminisms and explained the wage gap. The wage gap is the disparities found between men and women’s wages for equal work. The wage gap grows more when other factors are taken into consideration. Such as age, race, appearance, occupation, state, sexual orientation, and motherhood. Certain careers and job titles have larger wage gaps. The worst being pilots, chefs, and executives. The presentation featured many different media forms like videos and graphs shown below. 

Next was violence against women which also broke down the factors that can make certain women more susceptible than others. Black and queer women experience more violence than white cis women. One of the smallest groups yet the most targeted is black trans women. Rape is another heinous attack against women. As well as rape culture being still prevalent today. Finally, the presentation concluded with two interviews of knowledgeable professors in this topic. Gender inequality is an ever-constant battle of unlearning. 

The last group theme project and presentation was group 1 discussing infrastructure. Infrastructure refers to the basic physically and structural such as buildings, roads, and power supplies needed for the development of a society. Society and the world rely on infrastructure for the function and livelihood it provides. Infrastructure is everything seen around us from the houses, roads, sewers, light posts, phone lines and more. This runs the society we know today. The communication networks, plumbing and sewer systems, electricity, and water. Infrastructure is funded by the government and public sectors. With the increasing population infrastructure is important now more than ever. A countries economics are directly affected by the infrastructure as this is the productivity dependent. As the population grows, houses need to home them, roads need to transport them, water needs to be sanitary for them, and jobs need to fulfil them. However, like with everything in this world there is issues with infrastructure. Issues like, poor infrastructure, harmful infrastructure, as well the effect of climate change on infrastructure. Harmful infrastructure refers to mining, oil, and gas facilities. Poor infrastructure refers to the cutting of corners in the process leading to collapsed buildings, poorly built streets, posts failing over, and more. Any issue in water and sewers may lead to contaminated water, flooded streets, clogged drains, and more. These issues lead to a decline in value of life, productivity, damage to the environment, and loss of life. As all other presentations, group 1 added forms of medias like informational graph and charts and examples of poor infrastructure. The chart below shows the cycle of poor infrastructure effects.  

Issues with infrastructure aren’t some far away problem only affecting second and third world countries. Right here in the state of Florida, in our own county we have had two major examples of poor infrastructure. Such being the collapsed FIU bridge and the collapsed beach building. These issues effect our community, society, and overall life. 

These issues are important to acknowledge and highlight to better our life here on Earth.