Overview
Part One
Current event: Please research and share a geography-related current event which you've found in the popular media (print newspapers like the Washington Post, magazines, and/or online websites such as National Geographic or Science Daily). News stories with geography-related content can include anything related to weather (hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, record snowfalls or temperature, etc), natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, etc), climate-change/global warming, pollution, demographics, border & boundary changes/disputes, mapping, species habitat, water, etc. Must NOT be less than 300 words. It must have been published within the past two weeks of it being used for submission.
Part Two
Discussion Board Post: Climate is the theme of this week. Of all the different climate types you've studied as part of the handout, in which one would you prefer to live the most, and why? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Please be specific about the climate type and its characteristics. Do you think climate change will have an impact on your choice of climate?
Part Three
CAN YOU RESPOND TO THIS WITH A SHORT PARAGHRAPH
In an article by Science Daily (2026, July 16) , scientist have figured out how the Earth’s natural thermostat works. According to the article, climate is regulated via a feedback loop, tied to the sea level. The sea level is tied to phosphate in the ocean. When global temperature affected the polar ice sheets, the sea levels shifted. This caused a shift in the amount of phosphate that reached the ocean, and the carbon that created sediment. This sediment remained in the atmosphere. Scientists believe that phosphate was the hidden puzzle piece. To help this make more sense, we have to look at the cycle.
High sea levels, created shallow shelves over a large area. The shelves trapped the phosphate and created coastal sediments, decreasing the amount available in the ocean. As phosphate produced slower, fewer organisms were able to grow. This created less organic carbon and more sediment. This created an environment that carried more oxygen in water. In turned leaving more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This then caused the planet to become warmer.
In reverse, as the shelves shrank, more phosphate entered the ocean. As organisms grew and died, more oxygen was consumed. When the oxygen rich areas merged with the phosphate, more marine life grew. This was the foundation for the theory behind why the earth is heating up. Scientist now believe that phosphate is essential to regulating Earth’s temperature and that sea level needs to remain at 10 to 40 meters above today’s levels to produce enough carbon to keep the climate cooler.
I decided to write on this article because we have been experiencing a heat wave like no other. This information might be what we need to reverse the global warming that we have been experiencing the last few years. I truly believe that we need to pay more attention to our natural resources and preserve them for future generations