The article that I found that relates to the media itself, or at least a stage in which the media has been utilizing, and is directly correlated to media relations is an article on the protests currently happening in Baltimore, Maryland. The editorial I read was reported by Fox News and was titled Uneasy peace: Social media buzz points to more Baltimore violence as cops, troops keep the peace. This specific story has been remarkable not only because a recognized American city has been filled with protestors looting the streets and destroying property, but also because of the way major media outlets have been reporting the story. In short, the people of Baltimore have been rioting because a young man by the name of Freddie Grey was allegedly killed by the after effects of police brutality, shortly after an arrest. People have been rioting in the streets ever since, to raise awareness on several issues, the main one being the distrust between our police state and the community. This specific article released by Fox discusses how several social media platforms have been utilized as a tool for people to report events that are happening in real-time. However, many Americans have been sharing biased articles or tweets/posts without knowing the full story and because of this trends have been piling up on social media sites as well as major media news outlets and in return have been aimed toward a promotion of violence toward one-side or the other, or involving some sort of prejudiced theme. In other words there has been circulating sides to this major event that do not stick true to genuine journalism and a main reason is the complex relationship between social media and the more prominent forms of media, as well as ratings and other subjects. If one good thing is to come out of the situation in Baltimore Maryland, I hope it is a spotlight on the ever-growing distance between our citizens and our police. Optimistically, I encourage people reading this to listen to and contemplate various sides to this story, whether it be through social media, major media, or any other source.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

The Evidence is Compelling

The story of climate change is real. It is happening at an alarming rate and we need to do something about it. There are still nay-sayers out there, but everyday more and more people are seeing the evidence for themselves and are conforming to the idea that climate change is real and man made. Below is a list of evidence that all can be researched and proven true. The information below is according to NASA's own research. Scientific evidence for warming of the climate is undeniable and I hope this short list will inspire you to educate yourself more and act accordingly to fix some of the mistakes we have made in the past and continue to make today.

Evidence that climate change is happening:

Sea level rise
Sea level rose 6.7 inches in the last century, and the rate in the last decade is nearly 2X that.

Global temperature rise
The 20 warmest years having occurred since 1981, and all of the warmest years have occurred in the past 12 years.

Warming oceans
Since 1969, the top 700 meters of ocean has shown warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shrinking ice sheets
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are decreasing dramatically in mass everyday.

Declining arctic sea ice
Arctic sea has declined rapidly as well, both the extent and thickness.

Glacial retreat
Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world including the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.

Extreme events
Intense rainfalls have been noticeable, as well as record high temperature events increasing and record low temperature events decreasing.

Ocean acidification
The acidity of surface ocean waters have increased by around 30% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Decreased snow cover
Satellite observations have revealed that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades.