As the polar ice caps melt, they provide fresh water in streams and rivers providing for people, animals, and crops. Looking into the near future as these glaciers continue to recede to the point of no return our world will change forever. The lack of this important resource continues to create problems in areas of the world already under great pressure for survival. India where the work is hard and producing enough crops to sale is essential for many to survive is one such area hit hard. Once the Ganges River dries up causing more drought and famine in this already improvised country, the world market will be more inclusively affected by food prices driven upward.
This environmental issue crosses curriculum in seventh grade in Science and Social Studies. I am a Science teacher teaching about global warming, and how it affects the coral reef and other animals in the ocean. I am also a Social Studies teacher teaching about the Ganges River, and the people who depend on it for survival. Another area I will be able to incorporate is the fact that China and India are both producing coal power plants to modernize their countries and keep up with their growing population, yet the use of these carbons are exactly part of the problem placing more fossil fuels in the air (PBS, 2009).

I learned a great deal from this lesson as I encountered many people who think this is not an important or relevant issue. These people include the multitude of American people as it came in last on the concerns list posted by the government, (PBS, 2009). At the current time I compost, recycle, and reuse. I teach my students the same context in my classroom. Another area I learned about is the Tundra ice contains enormous amounts of organic matter and as it thaws the decaying organic matter will accelerate, releasing stored carbon and methane (Pearce, Fred, 2007). This action will create acceleration in the global warming as I found that these carbons and methane’s release more warming power than CO2 by thousands. It is disconcerting the problems we create for ourselves. Can we really stop it, or is it too late?

Resources

PBS (2009). On thin ice. Retrieved October 16, 2009, from
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/516/index.html

Pearce, Fred, With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change, Beacon Press, Boston, 2007, p.87