• What is the name of the era we are heading into, according

Freedman?

Energy Climate Era

• How many people were alive in 1953? How many were on Earth
when you were born? (Type in your date of birth to Infoplease.com
and record your answer? How many people will be alive in 2053?
What is the growth rate and what does this tell us?

1953: 2.861 Billion

1993: 5.522 Billion

2053: over 9 Billion

This tells us that the growth rate of the world population is exponential and
climbing at a scary rate. If we don’t do things soon to solve the population
problem, we will all be in big trouble.

• What is a megacity? How many were there in 1997? How many

are expected in 2015?

A megacity is a city with 10 million or more inhabitants. There were 14

megacities in 1995. There are 26 megacities expected in 2015.

• What are some of the factors why smaller cities are not ready to
absorb the bulk of urban growth?

They often lack the water and energy resources and governing institutions to deal
with rising populations.

• What are some states that will not be able to handle large
population influxes?

Afghanistan, Liberia, and Niger because they are already too poor and weak to
handle such a population growth.

• If basic freedoms and needs are not met, what could be some
negative results, according to General Hayden?

Violence, civil unrest, and extremism could arise if the basic rights aren’t met.
 • What does Freedman mean by “the world is becoming flat”? Do
you think it is a good or a bad thing?

The global economic playing field has become so leveled that its enabling more
people than ever to enter the middle class. I believe this is a good thing, because
the majority of people in the world are in middle/loser class, so if more people are
middle class it is better for the economy.

• Describe the four flatteners and their effect.

The four flatteners are: the invention of the computer, the emergence of the
internet, revolution in software, and the collapse of communism and the
Berlin wall.

1. The invention of the computer enabled individuals to become authors of

their own content in digital form. They could create their own photos,
spreadsheets, and documents in the form of bits and bytes.

2. The Invention of the internet brought about a set of tools which allowed
people to send their digital content anywhere in the world virtually for free and
very easily.

3. The revolution in software allowed for everyone’s computer and software to

be able to exchange and use information more easily. This made work flow
farther and faster than ever before.

4. Lastly, the collapse of communism and the Berlin wall was the final
flattener. The demise of the Soviet Union and its iron curtain was like the
elimination of a huge physical and political roadblock. Market economics became
the norm in virtually every country.

• How many people moved higher up the economic ladder due to

the fall of Communism?

The end of Communism helped to life nearly 200 million people out of abject
poverty in the 1980s and 1990s in China and India alone. And also tens of
millions more were moved up into the middle class.

• Describe Freedman’s “American Dream”.

A car, a house, an air-conditioner, a cell phone, a microwave, a toaster, a

computer, and an iPod were all included in the American Dream.

• Give your own example of the “Law of Numbers” (not the

lightbulb one!).
Imagine the billion extra people that will be adding to the world population in the
future. If each of them ate at least one meal a day, that would mean hundreds of
thousands of plants would need to be grown, cows need to be slaughtered, and
thousands of farms need to be built. That’s a lot of food for an additional 1 billion
people to the world population.

• What were some reasons that accounted for the switch from
wood to coal for means of energy?

Coal contains twice as much energy as wood.

• What are the “fuels from hell”? Why are they called that? What
is their impact?

Fuels from hell are coal, oil, and gas. They are called this because of where they
are from---the ground, are exhaustable, and emit CO2. Their impact is more
global warming.

• What are the “fuels from heaven”? Why are they called that?
What is their impact?

Wind, hydroelectric, tidal, biomass, and solar are fuels from heaven because
they don't come from the ground. They have little to no impact on the planet.

• According to Freedmen, what were the results of Ford’s Model

T?

It was a success and was generally more efficient than the oldsmobile invented
prior to that.

• Industrialization_________________ _______________

...promoted urbanization

• Explain Andy Karsner’s quote? Do you agree?

I do not agree with the quote because there are many things we have created
that are efficent---such as solar panels.

• What were some of the effects of Rachel Carson’s novel,

Silent Spring? Short & Long term!

People became more aware of the effects of burning carbon fuels. This started
the longterm environmental movement.

• How does Freedman describe global warming?

He describes it as "burning garbage while driving"

• What is the percentage of CO2 emissions from cars, trucks,

planes, ships, and trains?

20%

• What is methane released from?

It is released from rice farming, petroluem drilling, coal mining, animal

defecation, solid waste landfill sites, and cattle belching.

• “Methane’s heat trapping ability is _____ times stronger than

Carbon Dioxide”

21 times times stronger than CO2.

• Describe the “enhanced greenhouse effect”.

Even more of the sun's heat is trapped, which causes the temperatures to rise
slowly.

• What would be the earth’s temperature without the greenhouse

effect? With?

Without the greenhouse affect, habitats of every living creature would not be
affected, as well as the overall average temperature of the ozone layer.

• What is the rate of growth for CO2 each year?

2 parts per million a year.

• What is the approx. temperature difference between Earth being

in an Ice Age, and how it is now

.8 degrees on average