I liked the video “Strange Days on Planet Earth: Episode 2 – The One Degree Factor” since it showed the impact that small changes can have on the Earth’s environment. The primary lesson that I got from this video was that we should all be careful regarding what we contribute to the environment. The defining factors of a successful society in the modern-day era has been the level of industrial and technological achievement from which that society derives a certain degree of economic success and creates the trappings of what is known as the “modern-day lifestyle”. Societies all over the world continue to strive to reach this supposed pinnacle of success; yet, the price for reaching such a goal often comes through significant environmental deterioration.
As countries continue to move towards industrialization to become more competitive in the global economy, this often adversely impacts local ecological systems. For me, this is the one-degree factor multiplied by several times since the price that was paid for such “progress” has been a significant degree of environmental pollution evidenced by the sheer amount of toxic smog within our industrial centers which has been blamed for the rising cases of lung cancer and other lung-related illnesses. As such, I would have to say that we need to cut back and stop adversely affecting our environment since it can also negatively affect us.