How do you think the developments your peers chose influenced the world outside of the sciences? Why do these developments matter to us as individuals and a society?  

Peer one A major development in climate change in recent years is the rapid melting of both the Greenland Ice sheet and the Antarctic Ice sheets. Since 2004 Antarctica ice sheet has been losing on average 150 billion tons per year while Greenland ice sheet is losing 270 billion tons a year on average. (Nasa, 2023) Being able to use satellites to monitor the advancement or retreat of these ice sheets helps scientists understand patterns and trends in climate behavior. Antarctica was once thought to be untouchable and could never be affected by climate change but now we are seeing that is not the case. There are many scientists that work and observe many different variables and monitor this giant shift in our climate. Since the 1990's scientists have observed a 7.2 mm increase of our Sea Level. (Rannard et al. 2023) These numbers might seem minimal, but this has contributed to giant storm surges and frequent 100-year storms that affect the planet several times annually. This development has led to increased attention and monitoring of these two giant ice sheets. This development gives another layer to my chosen article about how our oceans are changing color. In and around warmer waters we see growth of organisms like phytoplankton that absorb CO2 due to ocean warming but when ice sheets melt, they expose the ocean which absorbs heat rather than reflecting it. Peer two The topic of my news story are the affects of climate change on the bee population and human life. The main idea of the story is that climate change is impacting the relationships between species such as bees, and this could lead to huge implications for human health and the planet. The news story was researched and tested by scientific researcher Mitzy Porras at Penn State College. She conducted this research to see how the heat waves are impacting the bees, to later cause a effect on human health. Porras conducted research called "Thermal boldness", in which the bees were placed in a tunnel. One side would have a chamber with temperatures akin to what would be experienced in summertime. On the other side was a hot chamber with a meal of sugar water and pollen. The hotter side had a larger chance to affect their fitness for mating, pollinating, and producing offspring. This would later affect the planet. I am connecting Porras research to Richard Gills research about how we can tell if bees are affected by climate change. In his article "Want to see how climate change is stressing bees, look at their wings", He explained the importance of bumblebee's wings and how they change their shape and measure them based on the climate effect. Conducting these research methods helps us understand what we can do to increase the bee population and save more bees, to then save our community, resources, and lives. Connecting Porras and Gills discovery, I believe the best way to study the effects are to study the wings and to focus on the resources that are not being Pollinated. These bees play a key role in pollinating wildflowers and crops to provide humans resources. Without them we would have the best medication, food, or resources necessary to survive.