Category Archives: Posts

Post 3.5:

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The process of creation of the draft was well spent in delving deeper into my selected sources
and gathering more information on air pollution mitigation

 How has your research question/topic shifted over the past few weeks? What made it
shift?

Initially, my research question was in two parts, looking at the initiatives that can be taken to deal with the issue of air pollution in Queens and also the challenges that may be faced. However, it shifted to focusing on the initiatives and leaving out the part about potential challenges to be faced while implementing these initiatives. Whereas I could easily find sources addressing initiatives that could be taken to deal with air pollution, I was unable to find any useful sources addressing potential challenges to be faced while implementing these initiatives.

 What’s the most useful source you’ve found? Why is it so useful?

The most useful source I found was “Costs of Selected Policies to Address Air Pollution in
China” by Crane, Keith, and Zhimin Mao. This is because it has various solutions that could help
mitigate the problem of air pollution. The solutions are: using natural gas instead of coal, using
cleaner, renewable energy sources instead of coal, and ending the use of old cars or adding new equipment to limit their pollution. These initiatives can as well be implemented in Queens to deal with the problem of air pollution.

 What work do you have left? What more research do you want to engage in? What do
you need to tackle in your research process in order to address your question?

I still have to get more sources for my final draft. I need to do more research on other
solutions that have worked in other areas of the world and see if the same could be applied in
Queens to deal with air pollution. Moreover, the feedback from the instructor will be very
useful in completing the final draft.

3.4: Reforming the Education System

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Research Question: How can our education system be reformed in order to lessen the effects of the rising sea level in Long Island?

Annotation of New Source:

Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L., et al. “Observations and a Linear Model of Water Level in an Interconnected Inlet‐Bay System.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 122, no. 4, 2017, pp. 2760–2780.

 

Aretxabaleta analyzed the water  levels from October 2007 to November 2015 and created models to help comprehend bay water level along southern Long Island. The greatest change observed in amplitude was observed in mid-2014 which was related to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Using Aretxabaleta’s model they were able to predict the changes in bay water level in nearby areas in which long term observations were not obtainable. They found that fluctuations in tidal frequencies were less in bays with large areas and small connections between them, as opposed to small area bays with larger connections. Overall drastic changes in amplitude were almost always caused by the aftermath of hurricanes and other natural disasters.

This peer reviewed journal is meant for those who are trying to understand the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes on the bay water levels. Since hurricanes are becoming more and more frequent due to climate change, this information is becoming more and more relevant. There are many homes and businesses in the  bay area along southern Long Island, who could stand to learn a few things from this article, which in turn could help them save their businesses and homes. 

This article reinforces the idea that things will only get worse, a theme I have noticed throughout my research so far. All of the articles researched thus far are preparing for the worse or doing some sort of damage control. This just adds to the fact that if people were more educated on the topic beforehand then the aftermath of climate change could have been reduced greatly, but now that it’s too late we have to hope that the aftermath does not affect us as much as it affects others.

Working Thesis: The key to Long Island surviving rising sea levels is within reforming the way we educate our youth.

3.4 Drafting Continues

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RESEARCH QUESTION: “What are different approaches to New York City’s resiliency regarding rising sea levels in the era of Anthropocene with consideration of Donald Trump’s tweet about  “sea wall” from January 18th, 2020?”

ANNOTATION OF NEW SOURCE:  I just found this source and didn’t have a chance to really dig inside. Hopefully it has some useful information. This would raise a bunch of perspectives. Hopefully. Raise the focus from New York city to global resiliency. I’m not sure if I should stay solely focused on NYC. Not in MLA format:

“Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for United States”.  NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January, 2017.

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/techrpt83_Global_and_Regional_SLR_Scenarios_for_the_US_final.pdf

WORKING THESIS: Trumps tweet leave us all but wonder: on what level this influences us in real way? How is it possible that  the study of many years with $19 million dollars involved gets “indifinitely suspended”? Is there any connection? What plan do we have now? The different approaches to NYC resiliency are my lenses applied to the tweet. There are some points when they back him up and some others when his words seem questionable.

ANYTHING ELSE: In the end of an essay I’d shift a question from my focus being on New York City to the whole country perspective. The aforementioned source would help me with this. The problem is not only with NYC, the same problem applies to all of the coastal cities in America. In the light of this report how the words of President of our country sound? He is just talking about rare storms but what about inevitable problems coming in the future which apply to the whole country? It’s not only about “rare storms”, it’s about getting ready for long term changes. Is he going to act? How is he going to act? Do we need to wait for the tweet?

 

 

3.3 K If this was 3.4 or the draft?

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My non-scholarly source seemed a little easier at first.
In realty, I have viewed articles dating back all the way to 2010, which makes me consider that my question, is a date old question, on building green.
I was wondering if a source on a blog site maybe considered even a popular source, since it was a source and may not be as authoritative, however it was researched, the blog is not a scholarly source.
Non-scholarly source:
The sources question is “Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?” this is applicable to the green real estate be less costly to the city, in a strangely worded way/question I asked. This question responded to the question of building new home in Brazil, and other parts of the world shown here. The suggestion of this article suggests that, remote areas could benefit more from the inclusion of solar panels and better water management green technology. This website may be considered a popular source. It does however seem to support the question I asked earlier about the work done to ease future climate pollution, via greener infrastructure, when I think of pollution I think of health services, the rising insurance costs paid by patients, who are residents of the city, a fellow colleague did write about “asthma” and pollution, green infrastructure should not be limited to only real estate, it should be expanded to the urban buildings.

The source is authoritative because it has three persons that did research and it is republished in a more popular source from another website, so this may have been peer reviewed
It states:
This article was originally published on WRI’s Insights.
Catalina Demidchuk is a Building Efficiency Intern at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
Eric Mackres is a Building Efficiency Manager at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
Henrique Evers is Urban Development Manager at WRI Brasil Sustainable Cities.
Source
https://thecityfix.com/
Dated: Blog Post September 6, 2018 Catalina Demidchuk, Eric Mackres Henrique Evers
Popular source: https://buildingefficiencyinitiative.org/blog/can-housing-be-affordable-without-being-efficient-0

3.2 K Research Paper So Far

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Scholarly Source:
Not MLA:
The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth
Rifkin, Jeremy The Green New Deal. St. Martin’s Publishing Group. © 2019
pp n/a

Topics and ideas are very broad, may be I should have picked another question, on a topic being explored,
however I will try to submit a draft on this question, seems to be a matter of curiosity,
I would like to do a little research into, as moving to other topics seems tedious.
I had a difficult time identifying a scholarly source as, most of the internet showed publications, websites and news.
So far “My scholarly source is “The Green New Deal: Why the Fossil Fuel Civilization Will Collapse by 2028, and the Bold Economic Plan to Save Life on Earth”
This was an NY, best seller, how authoritative is a best seller, or is it still just a popular best seller, that is the question.

“The Federal Housing Administration (FHA)—created in 1934—helped millions of Americans afford home ownership after the war in the burgeoning suburbs just off the interstate highway exits (although it should be noted that minorities were often discriminated against by the FHA in securing mortgages). The Green New Deal, in turn, will require a similar effort if it is to succeed.” (Rifkin)

The sources research question probably stemmed from the difficulty of implementing green initiatives into the currently accepted real estate or housing situation. The author is suggesting that we implement the new green initiatives in an adapted successful way, like the emergence of the FHA program in 1934. Inclusive may be with the help of the FHA. By exemplifying “Burgeoning suburbs off the interstate highway exit” he was referring to rapid settlement in specific locations, he stated the disenfranchisement of minorities to secure mortgages. Which proposes the idea, in my research paper if, “Green homes may only be affordable to a select section of the population and that its still a matter of newly constructed infrastructure”. or Does the Housing Authority has a more realistic involvement.
My topic was a quest into the reality of answering why New York, has not made a profound attempt on the promotion of green infrastructure, however I still have various sources to check on, the search for the research, should probably be done on more NY, topics, since this book although mentioning the FHA, involvement in real estate in 1934, may ask another question, Will the FHA, the loan division, need to include green technologies before they sell newly built or constructed houses, or does this seems a question for the Dep of Environmental Protection or Buildings. I should check to see if FHA, has green infrastructure regulations. Maybe they may be more authoritative than the best seller.

3.4 Blog Post; Research Paper

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Working Research Question:

Is New York water really considered to be the “champagne of tap water” or does evidence prove the opposite?

Annotation of New Source:

Dovey, Rachel. “Cleanup Begins in NYC’s most Polluted Waterway.” Next City.org. Oct 18 2017 ProQuest. 6 May 2020 .

Rachel Dovey wrote an article named “Cleanup Begins in NYC’s most Polluted Waterway”. In this article, she describes how Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal was finally receiving a large clean-up as the site has been a significant hazard to people, animals, and plant life alike. She states that the canal was “…a(n) environmental and public health disaster just a rainy day away from cross-contamination”. Dovey explains that that canal could cause serious contamination to NYC’s drinking water and could have dire consequences to wildlife. In the article, she also explains that the canal hadn’t been cleaned since the construction in the mid-1800’s.

Working Thesis:

New York tap water has a history of being one of the best drinkable water sources, but studies show that in different areas of New York there is severe contamination of its water.

Anything Else:

I’ve been thinking about moving my focus to just Long Island in my search of the contaminated water. I’m still not entirely sure though, maybe just a slight tweak because my research really consists of Long Island and New York State as a whole, rather than just the city. But I’ll definitely see what else I can find and add.

NYC AirPollution

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What much damage is the pollution in NYC causing? That is my research question because there are far too many sources of air pollution and the city seems to be funding that more than funding against. There are multiple sources that make mention of how there are hundreds of thousands of pounds of air pollution in NYC. One of the main sources are from plants in Astoria, Queens. According to a post in qns.com, the Charles Poletti Power Project located in Astoria alone caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of air pollution. Although these pollutions originate from particular locations, it does not remain there. The pollution spreads and hundreds of thousands of people are affected by its harms. This source includes information from influential people in the community and it can help strengthen the claims made. I can use this to provide reference to these people.

Trump’s Pollution

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President Trump cuts down the Environmental Protective Agency budget and the pollution of NYC is increasing. A source I found was on nytimes.com where an article about the dirtiness of the City is presented. It speaks of how the air is so dirty that you could have felt it at a point. Now there’s fear of that time of NYC to come back with all the budget constraints. This article is a non scholarly source as it was written in a news article. So far, the research for my essay is going well, as there are multiple sources and perspectives to the problem of air pollution in NYC.

Causes of Asthma

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I came across an article on nature.com that explains the causes of asthma from pollution in our air. The article provides the specific molecules and elements that are found in the polluted air that is bad for our lungs and body in general. Before this article I just thought pollution=bad for lungs. After reading the article, I saw how there are so many factors that can cause problems for us. I learned how it’s safer to stay home in NYC for our lungs but that just makes things worse for us in terms of being physically active. The article can be found in this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/jes201374 . It is cited from the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. This would be a primary source because it is written in scientific terms of what and how the air around us in NYC is harmful for our body.

Free Write for Research Idea

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Our environment is a very crucial factor to our wellbeing and productivity. As mentioned by Majora Carter, there are people that are out there living in a very polluted neighborhood where staying at home is safer than going outside for a healthy, fresh walk. This in turn increases obesity and that itself can be another health issue. I want to write about the issues we face with dirty and polluted air. There is so many factories and plants near us. In a busy city like New York, especially, the overcrowding of people and buildings and factories make it hard to find a place with clean air. the EPA rating of NYC is bad as there are factories visible from bridges and highways producing countless amounts of pollution both affecting humans and animals around us. Personally speaking, being a resident of Queens, I see plants around Astoria where day and night there is pollution. Going outside for clean air is possible, but mainly for a less crowded area. And we all know that finding a uncrowded area in NYC is not very common.

When I was younger, I had asthma. Neither was it serious, nor was it long-lasting, but it was present. I had to be on my pump for some time and I wasn’t the only one that had this problem. Now, asthma isn’t just from polluted air, but pollution is a major factor in one having asthma. We often see people stay at home during the winter and outside at the park and open fields during the summer time, but the numbers are decreasing in outdoor activities over the years. There are people that are afraid of the polluted air, and especially a place like Flushing has a lot of people wearing masks to stay safe from the pollution and unclean air. if the pollution problem isn’t dealt with, then the health and safety of the future generations do not look too good. There are people from all over the city that are unaware and take less precautions for their safety, but it shouldn’t be the job of ordinary citizens to have to wear a mask to go outside and enjoy a nice breeze. The environmental protection agencies and our lawmakers should do their best to lower the amount of pollution in our air or at least work towards lessening the numbers of factories and plants that are exposed to our local air.

All in all, the issue of polluted air is one of the top issues that are affecting our society and members within. This issue should be dealt with in order to create a safe environment for our people. Individual effort is definitely required as in lowering the number of public smoking areas. The other other pollution that I am seeing is to perhaps come up with a less polluting technology for our plants and factories so that we can still continue to harvest energy as well as keep the safety of our people as our first priority.