Smithsonian Field Trip
10/20/24 10:30 am Washington D.C
The first exhibit I visited was Climate Change & Human Impact In The Sant Ocean Hall. One of the interactive videos “No sunlight? No problem!” discussed methane seeps. Some of the most diverse habitats are found deep underwater. This includes coral, sponges, and methane-eating microbes. Microbes build kingdoms underwater. Chemosynthetic microbes convert chemicals into energy to grow. Marine life dies, traps methane, and slowly releases methane over time to form methane seeps. In the dark ocean, these organisms provide shelter and food for other marine life. Methane seeps are essential for the ocean because they house an abundance of diverse fishes. The chemosynthetic microbes consume methane and help keep it out of the atmosphere. I consider the video to be understandable to general visitors. The other interactive video, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” discussed litter in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not a floating island or trash and it's also not the only patch. Garbage patches are like big whirlpools that contain garbage. They're made of primarily microplastics united by currents. You can sail through one and not suspect a thing since larger garbage is uncommon. You can't just scoop all the plastic out to solve the issue. Garbage patches are huge and constantly moving. There’s debris on the surface and on the sea floor. Scooping it up would disturb marine life. The best way to tackle the issue is via preventative measures. Reduce, reuse, and recycle! Additionally, it’s best to clean up garbage on the shoreline and beachfront before it gets deep into the ocean. This video was more engaging and easier to understand since it had a live human narrator.
The next part of this exhibit was the “Global Ocean Video” where carbon dioxide is the main subject discussed. Plants and phytoplankton take in CO2 and release oxygen during photosynthesis. When they die, they take the CO2 with them and the buried carbon can become fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels has transformed the world. We heavily rely on fossil fuels. We take carbon out of the ground and burn it into the atmosphere. In the 1950s, CO2 trends skyrocketed. It is dramatically changing the earth's climate. It changes the ocean's chemistry via ocean acidification which can dissolve the shells of marine life. This impacts seafood availability. More CO2 in the atmosphere also increases temperature by trapping heat. Coral bleaching is an effect. Diseases that flourish in warmer temperatures now have a higher chance of spreading. Tropical storms, typhoons, floods, and droughts are worsening because of climate change. Sea ice is melting causing sea levels to rise. Coastal erosion destroys villages. Ozone depletion has slowed since nations banned some of the use of chemicals that impact the ozone layer. We can commit to using less energy and using it more efficiently (solar energy). The choices we make right now determine the future. The big sphere (that the video was presented on) was fascinating to look at. It was also constantly rotating. The sound system also movie theater quality which made it more of a fun experience rather than a learning experience. I consider this format of presentation to be very useful because of this.
The second exhibit I explored was Climate Change in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time. This display included Paleoenvironmental Dioramas. The first one I examined was “A Time of Ice”. Location: Big Bone Lick, Kentucky 22,000-20,000 years ago. The climate was very cold with many conifer tree forests. Huge ice and ice sheets store water as ice which causes extremely low sea levels. This connected some large islands and continents because bridges were out of the ocean. This in turn connected the organisms that lived on those islands, including humans. CO2 levels in the atmosphere were about half of what it is today. The average global temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius lower. The global sea level was around 125 meters lower than today. The second diorama I examined was “Swamps Spread As Ice Sheets Increase”. Location: Carbondale Formation, Indiana and Illinois 307 million years ago. An increase in ice sheets on the South Pole led to year-round rain in swamps near the equator. CO2 levels were similar to what we have today, the average global temp was 3.6 lower to 2.4 degrees Celsius higher than today. The global sea level went up to 40 meters higher than today. I think these exhibits are effective because they have human-sized scales for the tiny model. They fit a lot of information but it's not too overwhelming. They’re almost like infographics because they don't heavily rely on jumbled words to convey everything.
The next portion of this exhibit is the climate change exhibits that compare the past and present. The past was a much warmer world. We haven't experienced a huge ice age anytime recently because Earth has been warm and ice-free for most of the last 509 million years. It used to be so warm that forests grew near the poles. Many places were too hot for human survival. Earth cooled as land plants spread and collectively reduced CO2 levels. Volcanic eruptions oppositely increased CO2 levels and also caused mass extinction. A time-scaled graph is used to convey this Information. The present contains rapid warming. Earth's climate is rapidly warming because of human activities/influence. We've added CO2 by burning fossil fuels. It's interesting that even a low CO2 future would produce a 15-meter increase in sea level. A high CO2 future would lead to a 46-meter increase. I think these exhibits accurately explain how fossils and other things can tell us about how life on Earth used to be. The fossils of dinosaurs and the fossils of Alder and Southern Beach tree leaves give physical evidence that there was life in areas that are now icy polar regions. How did they thrive in the winter without sunlight?
The next exhibit I visited was Climate Change In The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins. Starting off, a video was constantly on a loop explaining how humans are shaping the future. We’re the only species that is having such a huge impact on the world. In less than 0.1 percent of the world's time of existence, the population has grown to 7 billion. We've made such an impact that this time period has its own name (the Anthropocene Event). Including urbanization and burning fossil fuels. We've impacted land climate and other species. In the past, the ocean has fluctuated, species died out, and new ones came in. What's different now is that only 1 species is driving this massive change over a short period. This is portrayed through a silent video with nice cartoon graphics and captions. Another part of this exhibit was the live population growth count. At the time of the excursion, it had surpassed 8.1 billion and was increasing. I thought this was cool because I saw the number changing quickly in real-time. There were also 3D models of some common pathogens (HIV, bubonic plague, smallpox, influenza, cholera). This helps illustrate the increase of the spread of disease as the population exponentially increases. Every year between 3 to 5 million people get a strain of influenza. One-third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis. By 2042 the population may reach 9 billion. The time scale on the wall shows the bubonic plague killing a third of Europe's population and the flu of 1918 killing 5 percent of the human population. I disagree with critics who state that this exhibit de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and climate. While this isn't the most doom-filled exhibit, it still recognizes the impacts of humans on the climate. It does this by specifically focusing on the noticeable effects of humans (disease, food wastage, population growth, etc).
The last exhibit I explored was Cellphones: Unseen Connections. This was my favorite exhibit because of how all the information was presented. There were interactive screens that surveyed users on how long they use their phones each day and what they use their devices for (cultural reasons, keeping in touch with family, etc). We've shifted from using them for calls to using them for social media and texting (as primary communication). What happens to our old phones? E-waste doesn't belong in landfills. Some people trade them in for a discount. But, it's better to recycle it so the parts can be reused. It's even best to donate it if it still works. If the screen is broken you should repair it instead of throwing it away. Overall, the main goal is to use it for as long as possible. I think this presentation technique is effective because it was an interactive dialogue that actively included visitors. Another part of this exhibit is a huge display that compares what we used before cell phones and what we created because of cell phones. Things we used previously include keys, wallets, newspapers, record players, digital cameras, phone books, and decks of cards. We have those features available on our phones now. Things we’ve created through technology include emojis, decorative phone cases, and clothing pockets for phones. I think this is effective because they use actual artifacts on the wall. It's also reminiscent to see things like CDs (VANESSA CARLTON A THOUSAND MILES). An additional part of the exhibit was a mineral display of the periodic table including some of the elements that are used to make cell phones. The displayed elements all light up to indicate which ones are used for the case body, battery, motherboard, camera, and touchscreen. This is cool because I've never really seen 3D elements even though I use the periodic table frequently for chemistry classes.
When discussing cell phones, we have to acknowledge the environmental impacts of technology. The exhibits of materials used to construct cell phones tell us that we're wasting Earth's natural resources by overconsumption. These materials are finite resources, and mining or collecting them can produce waste (mining copper). Some of them are extremely rare and hard to recover (neodymium is used for magnetic wireless charging and requires chemical solvents, lots of water, and produces radioactive waste when recovered. Another issue is the impact this has on miners in impoverished countries. They often work under cruel conditions just to provide for their families. This is told by hearing the stories of real people on a board (Leonard and Justine). I wrote a research paper on cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Countries like the DRC are supposed to be some of the richest countries in the world because of the value of their natural resources. However, exploitation by foreign countries and large tech companies make them some of the poorest countries in the world.
A technological impact of cell phones is the remarkable individuals who have influenced technological advances. There's a 2 side panel of change-makers throughout the world who have influenced technology. These include a diverse range of identities. Nuha developed a filter at age 16 that cleaned the water supply in her town. The water supply was polluted by tin mining for cell phones. A social impact of cell phones is the anxiety that new technologies can bring. Some humans are freaked out by new technology and how it works. Writing (particularly in the form of a comment section) can be destructive. Social skills develop very differently now since we don't have as many face-to-face interactions. The privacy and ease of phones could also encourage idle gossip. Upon the introduction of comics, people thought they would encourage juvenile delinquency and decrease reading rates. The invention of the TV made people think kids would become lazy and dumb by watching TV all day. Who needs to go to a movie theater when you can watch a movie in the comfort of your own home? This is conveyed through a comic graphic on a wall. Another social impact of cell phones is the new jobs created by the cell phone industry. In small communities, people gain livelihoods by fixing phones and recharging credit/data. Payment via mobile money is also common now. This is displayed by real pictures and artifacts (MPESA hat and t-shirt, paper pay-as-you-go cell phone cards, Airtel phone company).
