Smart Cities, SDGs & Population Growth
Dr. Paul Sutton from the University of Denver gave an insightful presentation into smart cities that have reached their SDGs and how they are effected by population growth. Dr. Sutton described that yes, these cities are subjected to the effects of population growth in their sustainability, that we still have a finite amount of resources, and that how we measure these sustainability goal matter. The key take away for me that Dr. Sutton described was that there are two main ways that we can achieve SDGs and population growth, those being: An increase in technologic advancement we so that can continue our exponential growth and still mitigate the unsustainable practices we follow, or we have to have drastic behavioral changes as a society. When looking at the technological advancement, we are to slow as a society to be able to achieve these goals in such a short time to remain sustainable and counteract the events of climate change. On the other hand, changing societal behavior for everyone around the globe also seems like a monumental task with very low results. I appreciated attending this event and learning that we have options to change, but that to see a difference we would all have to be willing to change our habits, and although everyone may not want to change, me doing my small part to be more sustainable is better than none of us doing our parts.
Thermoregulation: Convergence between bats and nightjars?
Dr. Mark Brigham from the University of Regina gave us a thoughtful presentation on Thermoregulation: Convergence between bats and nightjars. He described how heterothermy (adjusting metabolism to save energy, which leads to changes in body temperature) is common in mammals, such as bats, and his study found that nightjars, a type of bird also shows a very similar thermoregulation that bats have. Both are found to go into Torpor, a type of hibernation that lasts less than 24hrs, previously unnoticed in most birds. A key point that Dr. Brigham mentioned was how different climate effects the regulation of metabolism in nightjars, especially when studied from their summer habitat in southern Canada, versus their winter habitat in California and Arizona. Previously I only thought of keystone species such as wolves and bees and how they are effected by climate change and human practices. This presentation gave me a new perspective on how different animals, especially something as small as bats and nightjars, are effected by climate change and how they adjust to these changes.
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