The Black Death is one on the most deadly pandemics in the history of humanity. The sickness ravaged Eurasia from the late 14^th century to the early 15^th century killing between 75-200 million people. The reason for these deaths was the bacterial infection caused by Yersinia pestis also known as the bubonic plague. A person is infected with the bubonic plague when they are bitten by a flea infected with the disease. The most common symptom of the bubonic plague are painful lymph nodes, known as buboes. They are commonly found on the armpits, groin area, and neck region of the body.

            The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia. There are many ways that the plague could have traveled from Asia to Europe. The most common way was along the Silk Road. The plague would travel with Mongol armies, Eastern traders, or merchant ships on their way to Constantinople. It is estimated that 25 million people died before the plague reached Europe. The plague was introduced to Europe via Genoese traders. Under siege by the Mongol army, the Mongols catapulted their diseased dead over the walls of the Genoese city of Kaffa. The Genoese fled on their ships taking the plague with them. When they arrived in Sicily most of the Genoese were dead or dying from the plague. The Sicilians immediately ordered the ships out of the harbor, but it was too late. The plague had reached Europe.

          

  The plague began to spread from city to city. It spread from Italy into France, Germany, England, and the rest of Europe. It was a time of panic and death. The disease was deadly and terrifying. It was said that a person could be perfectly healthy when they went to bed at night and be dead by morning. The Europeans were not prepared for this kind of disease, they had no idea what this disease was, how it was transmitted, or where it came from. People would do whatever they could to escape the disease. Doctors would stop tending the sick, priests would not give last rights, shops would close, and people would try to run away to the countryside, but the plague would always catch up to them. Livestock was also susceptible to the plague and began to die off as well. In the end more than 20 million people died in Europe which was about a third of Europe’s population at the time.

            Many people at the time believed that the plague was a punishment from God, a divine verdict to make the people pay for their sins against God. During the time period this idea was not that far-fetched. Death was everywhere at the time, and people had no idea what this disease was or where it came from. Where else could a disaster like come from except for God himself. Now we know that this was not divine power but a disease that was easily spread and extremely dangerous at the time. If you were to contract the Bubonic Plague today it could be easily treated with an antibiotic. This only shows how far we’ve come as a species and it makes us wonder what is the next disease that is going to destroy us all.

For more information check out this video - http://www.history.com/topics/black-death/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-the-plague?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

Resources - 

http://www.history.com/topics/black-death

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague

           

            

Global warming has always been a major issue that has been ignored. The world is changing for the worse, and we are choosing to ignore it. We produce 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide a second, and don’t give it a second thought. However due to innovations in science there are alternative sources of energy to carbon. There are solar, wind, wave, kinetic, non-traditional nuclear, and many more. I want to focus on solar power because I believe it has the greatest potential. When people think of alternative forms of energy they think of solar power, but they might not understand how the process of collecting solar energy works.

Solar energy is the process of generating power from the sun’s solar rays. About 70% of the sun’s rays that come to earth bounce right back into space. That leaves 30% for us to harvest into solar energy. There are two ways to harvest solar energy and they are the solar thermal method and the use of photoelectric cells. The solar thermal method uses the sun’s rays to heat water to create energy. Solar panels are used to trap heat to heat up the water inside the panels. The panels are painted black so that the maximum amount of sunlight is absorbed. Photoelectric cells are used to convert sunlight into electricity. The cells are silicon pieces of material designed to absorb sunlight. As sunlight enters the cells electrons begin to move in a current. The electricity is in the form of a direct current. Since little electricity is created from one cell they are grouped together to form an array. The power is then used to charge cells or inverters.

Solar energy has its advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that producing energy is free and there is no waste or pollution. Solar energy is very handy in sunny areas where it is difficult to get electricity which helps third world countries produce energy. Solar energy is also very useful for many household objects. Most small electric products and battery chargers can be powered by solar energy cutting down on your home energy bills. However there are disadvantages to solar power. For one they cannot produce energy at night because of the lack of light. To go along with that, solar power is not that reliable in areas that receive less sunlight. For example you would need a lot more solar panels in Finland to produce the same amount as a few solar panels in Spain. Solar power stations are also very expensive to build. Although as technology advances the price goes down, solar power costs a lot more money than other energy sources.

            

Solar energy is not the only alternative source of energy out there right. There are many other methods to produce clean energy. Although these methods are not that effective right now they will make a big difference in the future when the earth starts to really feel the effects of global warming. Solar energy may seem like it would be an expensive investment on a small amount of energy, but that small amount of energy would not only be helping you but everyone else on the planet.

For more information check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDZzAIcCQLQFor 

Resources 

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/solar.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/HowSolarEnergyWorks.php

Over the course of history the worst nuclear disaster ever to happen was at Chernobyl.  The event took place on April 26^th 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The main cause for the nuclear meltdown was that the reactor was being operated with many of the key safety systems turned off, most notably the Emergency Core Cooling System. The catastrophe was classified as a level 7 event which is the highest level there is. The only other disaster to reach this level was the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 20ll. The accident involved over 500,000 workers and costed an estimated 18 billion rubles. 41 people died due to the Chernobyl disaster and many more suffered from cancer due to exposure to radiation. The nuclear fallout spread throughout the surrounding countryside making it dangerous for humans. Scientists believed at the time that the Chernobyl exclusion zone had been subjugated to enough radioactive fallout to severely the ecological balance of the area for decades. However wildlife began to return no more than 20 years after the disaster. Now Chernobyl has become an experiment almost of what would happen if humans were to vanish and nature were to take over.

            A study of the now human free region led by Professor Jim Smith of Portsmouth examines how the wildlife has changed in the Chernobyl area in numbers that appear much higher than they were before the nuclear accident. Aided by some of his colleagues from the Polesky State Radioecological Reserve, they have examined the terrain through aerial surveys. They have spotted many larger mammals including deer, elk, wild boar, and wolves. Along with these aerial surveys, automatic cameras have been placed in 84 positions allowing teams of scientists to observe different types of animals in a 30km zone.

            Because of these surveys and cameras we can see the explosion of wildlife in the Chernobyl zone. Professor Smith emphasized that “This does not mean that radiation is good for wildlife. It’s just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, fishing, and forestry, are a lot worse.” For example the number of wolves was up to seven times higher than nearby nature reserves of comparable size. This is attributed to the lack of hunting in the Chernobyl zone. Some endangered species such as the Przeswalski’s horses were purposely released into the Chernobyl zone as part of a conservation program. From the images from the cameras the horses seem to have adapted well to life within the Chernobyl zone. They seem to be thriving and and moving in larger groups

            The Chernobyl incident and aftermath is a great example of how through the subtraction of human activity nature can make a comeback. Through observations on the outside we can see how because of our absence nature is recovering. From stabilizing populations of animals that were thought to be gone from the region to even saving some endangered species we can learn a lessons from the accidental experiment that was provided by Chernobyl. We have the results we just have to make it work.

For more information check out this video - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chernobyl-the-catastrophe-that-never-ended/

Resources - 

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34414914

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32452085

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Residual_radioactivity_in_the_environment

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/152617/

Although Alexander the Great lived a short life, he made a huge impact on the world and broke the barrier for globalization. His empire stretched from Greece to India, which at the time was much of the known world. During his conquests cities were named in his honor, Hellenistic culture spread throughout the land, trading expanded to across the continent, and times were relatively peaceful. Alexander the Great’s impact on the world may be taken for granted after all these years, but if you look closely it has had a big impact of history.

As Alexander conquered more and more other empires the Hellenistic culture of the Mediterranean spread across Asia. The Greek language quickly became the language of the trade and many people benefited from this. With a common language people became more connected and the Greek culture flourished. Greek art and drama became more popular. New schools of philosophical thought emerged. Because of this globalization of the Greek culture people across Eurasia and it became more connected. Not only was Greek culture spread across the empire, but in some places like Egypt, cultures combined together such as the god Seraphis which was the combination of the Egyptian god of the dead Osiris and the Apis Bull. Many other Greek-influenced cultural transformation happened throughout the Mediterranean area.

When Alexander would conquer an area he would not only spread Greek culture but he would bring unification. His conquests eliminated the idea of the Greek city-state and brought on the idea of unity. With a strong stable government trade flourished during Alexander’s reign. With a common language and relatively safe trading routes the Silk Road began to be forged. Caravan cities began to thrive all across the empire. Many of these cities were named after Alexander himself. The city Alexandria in Egypt became a cultural hub as well as an immense sea-trade city. Many different goods such as Chinese silk could now be found on the other side of the continent. Silk was not the only thing that traveled across Alexander’s new empire. Religions such as Buddhism and Zoroastrianism now spread from out of India and Persia. Buddhist monks would travel from the Mauryan Empire east into China and central Asia. However they had greater trouble making their way east because of Zoroastrian traders. However Roman art has shown depictions of Buddha showing that some did succeed.

When Alexander died his empire was broken into three smaller empires. The Seleucid Empire in Persia, Macedonia in the Mediterranean, and the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. These three empires all had aspects from the Hellenistic culture that Alexander brought with him as well as aspects from their own culture. Alexander the Great had a goal of bringing people together. His motto was "All mortals should live like one, united, and peacefully working towards the common good. You should regard the whole world as your country, a country where the best govern, with common laws, and no racial distinctions. I do not separate people, as many narrow-minded others do. I am not interested in the origin or race of citizens; I only distinguish them on the basis of their virtue. For my part I consider all. whether they be black or white, equal." From this idea of bringing people together and making the world a smaller place Alexander the Great was the first person to globalize the world.                                                                                                 

For More Information check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQfBinQwPGs

Sources: http://semiramis-speaks.com/the-impact-of-alexander-the-greats-conquests/

               http://www.thethinkclub.com/2010_Oct/perspective_alexander.pdf

               http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/alexander-the-great

The Palestine Israeli conflict dates back to around the end of the nineteenth century. The conflict is fought between the two groups which are the Palestinian Arabs and the Zionist (Israeli) Jews. One might think the conflict would be between the two group’s different religions, but the reason for the hatred between the two groups is the “Holy Land”. At the end of the First World War the land was still known as Palestine but slowly the land has been taken over by migrating Zionists. What once was a place of relative peace at the time had become at warzone of one of the greatest conflicts of the modern era.

                The conflict began around the end of World War 1 at the end of the nineteenth century. At the time there was a surge of nationalism, in which groups of people took great pride in where they were from. The Jews had been scattered from their homeland for many years, and so to fix this the Zionist movement began. Many Jews began to migrate back to their homeland of Israel or at the time Palestine. At that time Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire and wasn’t a state of its own, and the increasing population of Jews was insignificant to the number of Palestinian Arabs in the area. The real conflict did not begin until after the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

                When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War One the area of Palestine became a trouble spot of competing territorial claims. The British who had claim to the territory were torn as to who Palestine would go. During the war the British promised the Arabs that if they were to help the British then after the war they would set up an independent Arab state in Palestine. However in 1917 the British Foreign Minister, Lord Arthur Balfour, issued the “Balfour Declaration” announcing the governments support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. With these conflicting interests the British decided with the help of the League of Nations to divide the region into Israel and Palestine.

                The Arabs were of course angered at the fact that Britain had backed out of the deal with them and in 1920 and 1921 clashes broke out between the two groups. During and after World War Two many Jews migrated and purchased land in Palestine. This only increased hostilities between the two groups. Following World War Two Britain relinquished its mandate over Palestine and gave it to the newly formed United Nations. The UN surveyed the problem and found the best solution to be to partition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jewish leaders accepted the partition plan while the Arabs did not. The fighting began days after the adoption of the partition plan and it lasted until 1949, with the Zionists as the victor. After the signing of the armistice the Palestinians lost even more land. Thousands of Palestinian refugees left now Israeli territory with nowhere to go. Several other conflicts occurred such as the Six Day War in 1967, each ending the same way with the Israeli’s as the victors and the Palestinians losing more and more land.

                I believe that the Palestinian Israeli Conflict is a very important matter in this modern era. The amount of violence and hatred between these two groups is terrifying with the mistreatment of the Palestinians and the terror attacks the Palestinians do to the Israeli’s. If I had to choose a side however I would side with the Palestinians because they were kicked out of the place that had been their home for hundreds of years. It would be like if the Native Americans took over America and had all Americans placed on the east coast. While I accept that the Jews have some right to a homeland, the way this problem has been solved is not good for either side.

For more information check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngFYOLOkmaI

Sources: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/

http://www.merip.org/primer-palestine-israel-arab-israeli-conflict-new

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict