Lim, Jarrett Ian G. Dec.

14, 2019
40 STS 10 RR LT 3 & 4

Module 3: Environment & Sustainable Development The

state of the environment, biodiversity, solid waste management,
climate change, sustainable development
13. In Fr. Jett’s talk, he discussed the Greenhouse effect and
global warming, how Oceans are rising due to temperature
increases but not equally everywhere and he pointed out the
actual projected rise for Roxas Boulevard and the rest of the
Philippines. Relate all this to his point on the inequality of
risk in “The climate ethical problem: differentiation” where
industrial growth produces more carbon which raises global
temperatures which raises risk for all especially 3rd world
countries and especially the RP. (15 Points)

In his talk, Fr. Jett explains the inequality of risk in the problem of climate
change throughout the world1. Most of the carbon emitters around the world are mostly
in North America and Europe. However, a climate risk report on 2014 shows that these
two largest contributors of carbon surprisingly have low risks on climate change. It is
the other parts of the world, although they do not contribute to the carbon emissions,
that have high climate risk, with Philippines ranking at 2 nd place, having a risk of
28.25%. It seems that there is this strange phenomenon wherein countries with low
carbon emissions tend to have a higher climate risk and a slower economic growth
while the countries with high carbon emissions end up having a lower climate risk and
a faster economic growth. Fr. Jett calls it “the ethical problem: differentiation.”
Relating this to the recent UN meeting called COP25 in Madrid regarding climate
change, we see how these large emitters, such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India and China,
try to limit the scale of what can be achieved in this agenda. "They are part of the
problem; they are looking too much backward…We are all on this one planet together.
We need to recognize the mistakes of the past and not replicate them," said Carlos
Fuller, the chief negotiator for the small island developing states group of countries.
This shows how unjust the system is for developing countries, who really need the
climate agreement among countries around the world. Thus, this causes suffering to
developing countries such as the Philippines.

On the bright side, there is still hope for us. Fr. Jett provides what our responses
should be towards the pathway of hope. First, we should have an integral way of
looking at the world, wherein we look at creation together as a whole. Second, leading
of the commons is very important as it creates new opportunities for action especially
in rural areas. Third, educating persons and cultures regarding the importance of
climate change would create an impact on the awareness of the people about this issue.
Lastly, we should have an ecological spirituality and love our environment. Therefore,
1
Villarin, Jose Ramon. “The pope, the poor, and the planet: Overcoming insularity via an integral
ecology.” PDF.
we must be mindful of our actions as we might be causing another person to suffer due
to our recklessness and selfishness.

14. Livestock Create a Major Methane Problem | Racing Extinction (15

pts) Climate Desk
● What is so bad about raising so many cows for meat?
● Why is methane so much more dangerous than carbon dioxide?
● Based on the volume of gas per cow per day,
▪ use the estimated number of cows being raised to estimate
the total daily production of methane in liters worldwide
● Are cows the largest source of methane production?

While raising cows produce different kinds of food such as hamburgers, milk, cheese,
and other beef and dairy products, a massive amount of methane, which is a greenhouse gas
that contributes to global warming, is being produced every year around the world. Since
there are about 1.5 billion of cows worldwide and each cow produces 55 gallons of methane
daily2, it implies that about 82.5 billion gallons of methane is being produced everyday just
by cows, which means there are about 30 trillion gallons of methane emitted every year.
According to IEA, the largest source of the methane come from wetlands, which takes up
30% of the methane emissions worldwide3. This implies that cows are not the largest source
of methane production. Despite that, livestock causes more greenhouse gases than all the
direct emissions from the entire transportation sector, which still makes cows one of the large
contributors of global warming.

Methane is 22 times more potent as a climate changing gas than is CO2. This is
because it traps up to 100 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide within a 5-
year period, and 72 times more within a 20-year period. The good news is that methane also
leaves the atmosphere within a decade. This makes for a short-lived, but intense climate
changer4. However, overall, raising too much cows would result to making climate change
and global warming even worse.

Therefore, we must now avoid eating too much meat especially beef as it contributes
to global warming. Implementing a non-meat day at least once a week would really decrease
the number of methane emissions if done by a lot of people.

2
YouTube, 15 Dec. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFwx7W-lx5w.
3
IEA. “Methane Tracker – Analysis.” Jul. 2019, https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-tracker.
4
Nyman, Patti. “Methane vs. Carbon Dioxide: A Greenhouse Gas Showdown.” One Green Planet, 18
May 2015, https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/methane-vs-carbon-dioxide-a-
greenhouse-gas-showdown/.

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 15. Why renewables can’t save the planet - Michael Shellenberger -
TEDxDanubia
● What is his premise? Please cite facts you got from the video.
● Do you agree, disagree, etc. with his premise and why?
● How did this change your thinking about renewable and nuclear
power and why?
● What should we do as a result?

Environmentalists have long promoted renewable energy sources like solar panels and
wind farms to save the climate. In his TED talk, Michael Shellenberger points out that these
do not really save the planet, more importantly the environment, due to several reasons5.
First, renewable energy such as sunlight and wind are dilute fuels, and in order to produce
significant amounts of electricity, they require large masses of land. Building these
infrastructures destroys wildlife habitats and endangered species are being killed. For
instance, hundreds of thousands of birds are killed every year by wind turbines. Second,
devices or infrastructures used to produce renewable energy such as solar panels often expose
people to high level of toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, and chromium. Third, going
towards solar, wind and other renewables would actually increase carbon emissions. Hence,
using renewable energy ends up destroying our planet in the long run.

That said, Shellenberger suggests the use of nuclear energy instead of renewable
energy as a source of electricity that is clean, safe and not expensive. First, a study shows that
nuclear energy is the safest way to make reliable energy as it causes 0 deaths from accidents
and air pollution6. Also, the climate scientist James Hansen calculated that nuclear power has
saved 1.8 million people to date by preventing the burning of fossil fuels. It turns out that
wind energy is even deadlier than nuclear energy. Second, nuclear power is not expensive
because it only uses about 920 tonnes of materials per TWh of energy, as compared against
about 16,000 tonnes/TWh for solar panels. Lastly, nuclear waste is actually the only waste
from electricity production that is safely contained and internalized, as compared to any other
sources of energy that emits waste directly to the natural environment. Thus, nuclear energy
is a better alternative solution than renewable energy when it comes to solving environmental
issues such as global warming and climate change.

For me, I never thought that nuclear energy would be a better source of energy than
solar or wind energy. We always have this perspective of renewable energy as the green
energy, and disregard nuclear power since it is dangerous and radioactive. However, in
reality, data shows that nuclear energy would indeed prevent carbon emissions. It was only
after watching this video that I realized the positive effects of nuclear energy. As a result, I
5
YouTube, 4 Jan. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-yALPEpV4w
6
Markandya, Anil, and Paul Wilkinson. “Electricity Generation and Health.” The Lancet, vol. 370, no.
9591, 13 Sept. 2007, pp. 979–990., doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61253-7.

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strongly agree with Shellenberger regarding nuclear energy.
Therefore, this tells us that we should now shift our focus on nuclear energy rather
than promote renewable energy that in fact destroys the environment. We should convince
government officials to also promote this idea since it would create a massive impact in
solving global warming. As Ateneo students, it is important to share this awareness to others
through social media and come up with ways to promote a reconstruction of a nuclear power
plant in the Philippines.

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 Module 4: Beginning and Becoming (25%)
Life and its origins, cosmology and the origins of the universe
1. The history of our world in 18 minutes | David Christian TED (15
pts)
● Briefly discuss why we can’t see further back than 13.7 MY.
● Briefly describe how gravity waves are detected and where?
● What is significant about being able to detect and utilize gravity
waves (besides the verification of Einstein’s theory)? Can it help us
see further?
● Why is the Earth in the Goldilocks zone (I call it the Sweet Spot)?
● How common is it?

In his TED talk, David Christian recounts the complete history of the universe from
the Big Bang to the Internet today. He then explains how the universe creates complexity
stage by stage. “Each stage is magical because it creates the impression of something utterly
new appearing almost out of nowhere in the universe. We refer in big history to these
moments as threshold moments,” he stated7. There were six threshold moments that made the
universe and even life on earth possible. First, the Big Bang 13.7 million years ago marked
the birth of the universe, wherein the universe was still smaller than an atom and started to
expand at incredible speed, forming energy that “congeals to form matter.” Hydrogen and
helium atoms also appear 380,000 years after. Second, 200 million years after the Big Bang,
billions of stars began to appear in the universe due to gravity and the increasing temperature
between these clouds of hydrogen and helium atoms. Third, about 13.5 billion ago, new
chemical elements were formed as big stars died, which made the universe more chemically
complex. Fourth, about 4.5 billion years ago, rocky planets created more diverse environment
such as the Earth and the Solar System, which were significantly more complex than stars.
Fifth, about 3.7 billion years ago, molecules combined to form living organisms, from single-
celled organisms to multicellular organisms such as dinosaurs. Lastly, humans appeared
about 200,00 years ago, who introduced collective learning and caused more complexity in
the universe.

The reason why we cannot see further back than 13.7 million years is the fact that
there was nothing before the birth of the universe. There was no time and space during that
time. The universe only appeared suddenly due to the Big Bang, which marked the beginning
of time and space.

Gravitational waves are distortions in space-time, the combination of space and time
that makes up the universe8. In other words, these are “ripples in the fabric of space-
time...caused by some highly energetic astrophysical like rapidly orbiting neutron stars or
black holes”9. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) team is able
7
YouTube, 11 Apr. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqc9zX04DXs
8
YouTube, 18 Feb. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vv1h5sKqPs
9
YouTube, 11 Feb. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s06_jRK939I

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to detect these waves through detectors in Louisiana and Washington by firing laser beams
along two 4-km long evacuated tunnels and calculating the shifts in the interference pattern
caused by gravitational waves. These observations would determine and calculate the squeeze
and stretch of the Earth by a mere fraction of an atomic diameter. For several centuries, we
tried to observe the universe using electromagnetic spectrum or light waves. The discovery of
gravitational waves marks the opening of a new era wherein we explore the universe through
waves of gravity. Eventually, we might be able to observe numerous things, such as black
holes merging, or neutron stars crashing to each other, and other things we couldn’t otherwise
detect.

The “Goldilocks Zone” refers to the habitable zone around a star where the
temperature is just right—not too hot and not too cold—for liquid water to exist on a planet 10.
David Christian gives three conditions for life in order to be in the “Goldilocks Zone.” First,
there must be a right amount of energy—not too much, not too little. Second, there should be
a great diversity of chemical elements. Lastly, there must be liquids, such as water, which
makes it possible for atoms to “cruise and cuddle and link up to form molecules.” That said,
the Earth can be considered in the “Goldilocks Zone” since: (1) it has the right amount of
energy because it is close to stars but not too close; (2) it has a great diversity of chemical
elements due to the seeping up if heat from the Earth’s crust to deep oceanic vents, causing
atoms to combine in all sorts of exotic combinations and; (3) it has huge oceans of liquid
water. However, achieving these conditions is very difficult and rare, causing the universe to
create complexity with great difficulty.

10
Gary, Stuart. “What Is the Goldilocks Zone and Why Does It Matter in the Search for ET?” ABC News,
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 21 Feb. 2016, https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-02-22/goldilocks-
zones-habitable-zone-astrobiology-exoplanets/6907836.

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 2. Why people believe weird things | Michael Shermer TED (5 pts)
● How does Shermer use the scientific method to examine weird things?
● What do you think of his viewpoint?
● What change happened to the song at the end?

In his TED talk, Michael Shermer interestingly discusses a new perspective when it
comes to the scientific method, especially when investigating any claims involving anything
such as paranormal activities, pseudoscience, cults, science, nonscience, or even nonsense.
He states that in order to change bad science into good science, “we have to keep track of the
misses, not just the hits”11. To explain this, he uses the idea of verifying these claims by
conducting experiments whether these are really true or not. For instance, he showed a device
with a rod that was supposed to detect marijuana in the student lockers. However, it was
found out that it was only an ordinary rod and was useless. This was done by testing the
device with multiple trials using 2 boxes, one with marijuana and the other without, and there
was a 50% chance that the rod points into the correct box, which shows that it was just an
ordinary rod. In our case, as human beings, we tend to remember the hits and forget the
misses. Shermer mentions that in the absence of sound science, incomplete information can
combine with the power of suggestion. This causes us to convince ourselves to believe that
we are supposed to believe, which might not be true. Therefore, we need to keep the whole
database, both right and wrong, and look to see if the number of correct data stand out from
the total number one could expect by chance.

I agree with his viewpoint since errors are really important in determining which parts
you need to improve on. Only focusing on the successful parts would often lead towards the
ignorance of the truth. I also agree with his point of social and cultural factors being able to
influence our cognitive activities. One example is the “The Face on Mars,” wherein it looks
like a face from afar but when you examine it closely, it is not. All of Shermer’s points were
eye-opening and interesting.

As an application of turning bad science into good science, Katie Melua’s song “Nine
Million Bicycles” mentioned that the world is 12 billion years old, which the song states that
it is only a guess. However, a scientist corrected her, which made her re-cut the song and
corrected it to 13.7 million years old.

3. Generations X, Y, and Z: Which One Are You?

11
YouTube, 15 Apr. 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_jwq9ph8k

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 Which are you and why?
(This is preparation for the next 2 videos)

Based on the video 12, I consider myself as part of Generation Z or Centennials due to
different reasons. First, in terms of the time period, I was born in 2001 and I am a son of Gen
X parents. Second, in terms of my collective experience, technology became a big part of my
life as I was born in the Digital Age where technology such as computers and smartphones
are abundant in society. Addiction to gadgets is also another experience that I have in
common with other centennials. Lastly, in terms of my behavior, I tend to communicate and
interact with other people such as classmates and friends through social media and online
games. Thus, I am definitely not a millennial and most likely share a similar collective
experience with other Gen Z. However, there can be an overlapping of characteristics
between generations.

4. Simon Sinek - The Millennial Question - Millennials in the workplace

Do you agree with Simon Sinek about Millennials?
12
YouTube, 30 Jul. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIojDWOsgg

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 Are you a Millennial? Gen Z or Y?
Do you agree with his 4points? Are there other factors? Do they apply to
you? Discuss each of the points and react to them.
1. Parenting
2. Technology
3. Patience
4. Environment
Do you think you would take his advice regarding cell phone at home,
meals, meetings, class?
What is so special about the book he discusses at the end? Does it appeal to
you and why?

Simon Sinek mentions that There are often complains against millennials being
selfish, entitled, narcissistic, addicted to their phones, lazy, impatient, impulsive, overly
sensitive, weak-willed, and other negative characteristics. To explain this, Simon Sinek
provides four different factors that contribute to the negative characteristics of millennials13.

First, he states that many of the millennials grew up subject to failed parenting
strategies. As a result, it caused a shock to them as they go out in the real world. For instance,
millennials who were spoiled by their parents would experience problems adjusting to
workplace environments. Since I was raised by authoritative parents, I did not experience this
problem, which caused me positive effects such as having less stress and enjoying social
interactions. I agree with Sinek that a failed parenting strategy could cause the problem of
millennials. More importantly, it also depends on the child’s attitude towards the parenting
strategy. If he or she has a positive attitude towards it, there could be a possibility that it
would yield to positive effects. However, a negative parenting strategy usually causes the
child to have a negative attitude to that strategy. Hence, parenting plays a major role in
building up the character of a child especially in his or her interaction with the real world.

Second, he also mentions that addiction to technology negatively affects the behavior
of the millennials. Instead of healthy personal relationships such as friendship, social media
and other online platforms are now being used for coping up with stress. This causes them
not to have deep personal relationships to other people, which is a problem since people
become more disconnected. In my case, I could say that I am somehow addicted to online
games. However, I still value personal relationships and sharing stories with my friends over
playing a gadget alone. I also agree to Sinek in terms of technology causing addiction to
people, not only millennials. Therefore, forming healthy relationships with other people could
help us become better employees in the future.

Third, instant gratification causes millennials to have low job satisfaction, weak
relationships, and lack of joy in life. I also agree to this since impatience really causes
problems when it comes to having a sense of fulfillment and joy. In my case, I had
experiences of impatience such as wanting to have a high grade without any effort. However,
13
YouTube, 27 Dec. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEsUudZvntE

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I realized that it was not the case. Achieving goals, forming strong relationships, and gaining
joy in life requires patience and long-term efforts. Thus, there is no shortcut to a happy and
successful life.

Lastly, a negative environment for the millennials makes the problem even worse.
One example is a business who exploit the passion and intelligence of millennials in order to
maximize profit. This causes them to have lack of self-confidence due to the unreasonably
high goals set during their work. I also agree to this since environment really plays an
important role in one’s interaction to the world. Hence, it is important to have a positive
environment in order to promote a healthy and comfortable workplace for the people.

He also mentioned an interesting point when it comes to the use of cell phones at
home, meetings, classes, etc. In my case, I usually place my phone in my bag but there are
times that I put my phone on the table face down, not because I want to check my social
media time to time (since I don’t have data) but because my phone is too large for my pocket.
I agree with his point that putting a cellphone on the table tells to other people that they are
not that important. As a result, Sinek discusses a book with a special scent of optimism
wherein it shows handwritten quotes to show the genuine emotions of the person giving the
gift, which cannot be copied by any digital machine. I like this idea since it really promotes
the spirit of giving and at least for a moment pulls you away from the mechanized world of
technology.

As part of Gen Z, I agree with him that most millennials are like that however not all
millennials have those negative attributes. Even though I also have similar characteristics
with millennials such as laziness and being addicted to phones, that does not mean that I am
already part of the millennial generation. There are other collective experiences that I have
that millennials don’t.

5. Want kids to learn well? Feed them well - TED Talk by Sam Kass
● Why is giving a good meal so powerful to poor kids? Cite data and

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 examples mentioned in the video. (5 points)
● Compare this with the current situation in the RP? How many kids in
Quezon City are under or malnourished? Research and document
sources. (10 points)

● For the next 7 days (Tuesday Dec 3 to Monday Dec 10),

record the estimated cost of every meal or beverage or snack or
candy you eat separately using Excel, and then copy to your word
document,
⮚ Using the Rappler article below is DepEd/DSWD doing enough?
⮚ Then compare that cost to this meal and the cost to feed you.
⮚ How do you feel about that

Giving a nutritious meal might not seem to be connected to academic performance,

but in reality, it is. According to Sam Kass, while improving the students’ minds with
knowledge is important, nourishing their bodies by giving them a good meal, especially to
poor kids who cannot afford a healthy meal, is as important. He mentions that the students
would be eager to go to school because there is a delicious and healthy meal waiting for
them. One of his programs when he was still in the White House is that for all schools that
had 40% more low-income kids, breakfast and lunch were being served to every kid in that
school. As a result, he mentions that “the schools that have implemented the program saw an
increase in math and reading scores by 17.5% and research shows that when kids have a
consistent, nutritious breakfast, their chances of graduating increase by 20%” 14. Therefore,
when we give these kids, especially the poor ones, the nourishment they need, we give them
the chance to thrive, both in school and beyond.

In the Philippines, according to the National Nutrition Council (NNC) in 2017, more
than 3.8 million (33.4%) children in the Philippines are stunted or short for their age, while
about 807,057 (7.1%) are wasted or underweight 15. Specifically, in Quezon city, the Health
Department said the prevalence of stunting among preschoolers increased to 3.4 percent in
2015 from 2.68 percent in 201416. In response, the Government has developed strategies and
targets through the Philippine Plan of Action on Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022. The country
also passed RA 11148 or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act, or the First 1,000
Days Law, which aims to end stunting and all forms of malnutrition through sound
investments and comprehensive strategies17. Also, DepEd has been conducting School-Based
Feeding Programs (SBFP) since 2010. For school year 2012-2013, the program covered
40,361 (or a mere 7.56%) of the 534,054 identified malnourished students from kindergarten
until Grade 618. This is not enough since there are still many Filipino kids who suffer from
14
YouTube, 30 Jan. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDkDzZ9GsU
15
https://news.abs-cbn.com/advertorial/life/12/20/17/malnutrition-still-a-problem-in-the-philippines-but-
hope-not-lost-health-worker
16
https://www.inquirer.net/pep-article/186623
17
https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/unicef-many-children-and-adolescents-
philippines-are-not-growing-healthily
18
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/hunger/49213-school-feeding-programs-filipino-kids

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malnourishment.

The table above shows my estimated cost for every meal from Dec. 3-9, 2019. My
average of about Php 276 per day is more than 18 times as much as the DepEd’s SBFP
budget for food is P15 per child per feeding day. With this, I realize that I am really lucky to
be able to eat 3 or even 4 times a day but at the same time I feel guilty and sad because I’m
eating expensive food while other kids are suffering from malnourishment. I hope someday I
can contribute in feeding programs for poor Filipino kids.

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