Commentary on “Mechanics of the Global Climate Change - Part 1”
The main purpose of the video is to explain how the global warming works and how it results on the global climate change. The narrator of the movie starts by explaining how the greenhouse effect works. The greenhouse effect is a natural process in which some of the radiation from the sun is trapped within the earth due to the presence of some gases in the atmosphere. This phenomenon has always happened and it is the responsible for the relatively mild temperatures that are necessary for life. The main gases that generate the greenhouse effect are CO2, H2O and C2H4. These gases are not bad for us, however, increases in their proportion in the atmosphere may generate more radiation to be trapped within the Earth. Consequently, as more greenhouse gases are released, the warmer the world gets. This raise in temperature is what is called Global Warming, and this is what is causing the Global Climate Destabilization.
As we could see, the greenhouse gases are pretty common substances that do not make any direct harm for us. All of them make up a tiny part of our atmosphere’s composition, which is 99,9% Nitrogen, Oxygen and Argon. The biggest problem involving the greenhouse gases is related to the fact that, over the last years, we have produced colossal amounts of carbon dioxide without thinking about the disequilibrium that it would cause. In the video, the teacher tells us the fact that 15 years ago, textbooks said that the atmosphere was made up of 0.03% of carbon dioxide, and nowadays, the same books affirm that such number has changed to 0.04%. After that, we see how the carbon cycle works in nature and how we are reversing this process in an incredibly fast rate. This explanation is just started in this part, and it continues in the next.
In the video, the narrator uses a series of rhetorical devices to pass his ideas. The most evident ‘strategy’ that appears throughout the entire video is related to the tentative of looking cool. The teacher uses specific diction and symbols to try to give a feeling of informality to his audience. Some examples of these may be the excessive use of words such as ‘cool’ or ‘trick’ when talking about serious scientific theories, or the hat that he was wearing. In all of those cases, the narrator is trying to impede the people from thinking that the video is the same as a science class. He tries to entertain the viewers and avoid that thought of boredom that would have happened if he only used technical language and was wearing a suit. Another relevant purpose for which rhetoric is used is associated to the persuasion of the audience. There is a constant employment of facts, personal stories, repetition and symbols as ways to emphasize or increase the importance of what is said in the video. The information related to the change in the carbon percentage in the atmosphere or the shirt with the phrase “Trust me…I am a Physics teacher” are all illustrations of such employment. They act as means to make the people believe more in what is said. After we see some background information, or simply the fact that he is a teacher, we start to pay much more attention to the information and ideas that are given by the teacher.
Commentary on “Mechanics of the Global Climate Change - Part 2”
In this section, the narrator talks about the cycle of carbon and how we have destroyed the equilibrium in regards to the production and extraction of carbon from the Earth. The teacher begins by explaining the cycle of carbon: in the process of photosynthesis, the plants and planktons absorb the carbon from the atmosphere and store it within their bodies. When these plants die, the carbon ends up going to the soil and becomes petroleum or coal. After all, we extract those and use them as fuel for our machines, which release the CO2 back to the atmosphere. This whole cycle may seem incredibly balanced, but the problem is that the rates at which every process happens are extremely different. It took 300000 years for the Carbon to be buried into the earth, and we have released almost all of it in 200 years. This is pretty much the same as saying that we have released the equivalent of 300000 years of carbon in only 200, which clearly exposes the disequilibrium that happens.
Another approach that is used by the presenter to demonstrate this problem is by showing the actual rates of absorption and emissions of carbon in a year. Every year, we produce 7 Giga-tons of Carbon that goes to the atmosphere. 3 Giga tons end up absorbed by the sea or by the plants and 2 go to an unknown ‘sink’. Consequently, every year we are releasing 3 extra Giga-tons of carbon to the atmosphere. Even though this value may sound relatively small to the size of our planet, we must remember that we have done it for two hundred years, and that this is actually getting worse as the time passes. In addition, we do not know when the sea and the ‘mysterious sink’ will stop working, which puts us in an even more tragic situation.
In this part of the video, the narrator continues to use the same rhetoric devices as in the first part. There still is the use of facts and personal stories, and we can unmistakably notice the tentative to look cool. The only apparent difference that comes about in this video is related to the use of NASA’s image. The author uses the name of NASA many times and makes sure that the audience understands that the information he is showing came from this organization. The point of such action is to try to create an allusion to the importance and credibility of NASA. With that, the presenter hopes to make the audience associate the image of organization to the video, which results in much more trustfulness and attention to what is being said.
Commentary on “Mechanics of the Global Climate Change - Part 3”
In the last part of the series, the teacher demonstrates our influence over the climate destabilization and finishes by reviewing his points and answering some questions that are usually made by the skeptics. The presenter starts by showing two graphs of the parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. The first graph shows the last 160000 years, the second shows the last 50 years. By observing the graphs, it becomes very clear how influential the humans have been to the environment. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the levels of carbon have been as they never were before, and as the time passes, this gets worse and worse. After that, there is a review about everything that was said in the previous parts, and the narrator talks about some of the reactions that the skeptics might have. At the end, we see that there is concrete evidence that the Global Climate Destabilization is not something natural, and that we really need some solutions to this problem before it is too late.
Once more, the rhetorical devices that are used are pretty similar to the ones that appear in the other videos. This time, there is the appeal to the audience’s emotions and the teacher tries to create some fear and apprehension amongst the viewers. He says that our situation is worsening and that huge problems may take place in the future, which makes everyone a bit nervous. In addition, similarly to what is done with NASA, there are many comparisons and allusions to AlGore and to the ignorance and simplicity of the skeptics’ ideas. Another form of rhetoric that appears in all of the parts and that was not mentioned yet is related to the use of repetition. In all of the videos, it is possible to perceive that the presenter mentions the points that he is trying to prove even when he is talking about the other sides of the arguments. The presenter is always coming back to his point and he keeps repeating them until the topics are over. This technique is extremely effective for persuasion and it work pretty well as a way to influence the viewers to follow the narrator’s ideas.
The major problem that I had when I was writing the commentary was related to my time management. I am pretty satisfied with my analysis and I think that I could get a lot out of the passage. I understood everything and could apply my knowledge of the themes, motifs and literary devices effectively. However, without the time it did not work very well and I was not able to show even half of what thought. I spent too much time in the first paragraph (context) and I think I explained the first theme in too much detail, which did not allow me to go to the other themes.
I also perceived that it helps a lot if we think in the structure for the essay beforehand. By knowing what should go into each paragraph and how to organize them we can save a lot of our precious time.
-Arthur has just met Slatibartfast in the planet of Magrathea. All of Arthur’s friends are lost and he is about to discover a huge secret that has always been part of his life. The earth was a super computer, which was controlled by mice to find the question to the ultimate answer of the universe, life and everything.
- In the plot structure, we have just passed the introduction and now we are heading to the main part of the episode.
-In the section, there is use of irony, diminishment, allusions and absurdist humor to represent a series of themes and motifs from the story
Body paragraph 1 – The ‘ importance’ of humanity
-Is shown by the comparison between humans and dolphins and then, with mice. Everything appears with irony, diminishment and contrast.
-The motifs that are related to the theme are “Ape man”, “Mice”, “Earth”
Body paragraph 2 – The power of a cup of tea
-‘things are not always what they seem’
-All the irony and surprise as a response to what is said in the passage. Emphasized with the use of parallel structure in relation to how the dolphins behaved
Body paragraph 3 – Probability of improbable
-Pretty much the entire passage represents this theme.
-Some examples would be the fact that mice dominated everything and that the acrobatics that the dolphins made were actually ways that they found to try to communicate with us
-Absurd and allusion to our society
Conclusion
-In the passage, there is use of plenty of literary devices to express some of the themes from the hitch-hiker’s guide to the galaxy.
-In most cases, the rhetorical devices that are used, affect mainly our emotions andthere is a certain shock that is created amongst the readers
-Summary of body paragraphs with focus on the purposes of the author and on the ideas that are expressed by each theme
