Cool Rap About Energy and Black Holes

My friend Stefan told me to check this video out. Pretty cool science, but the music is somewhat odd.

Happy Holidays!

Canada a Leader in GHG Emissions

The following article on the CBC website states that Canada emits 2.6% of the world' s CO2 into the atmosphere each year. Read the article and look at the chart. Estimate how many metric tons of CO2 China and the U.S.A emit. Estimate the sum that Canada, Italy and Australia emit.
CBC Article on CO2 Emissions

Based on the fact that Canada has 0.5% of the world's population, how can we as a country reduce our impact. How can we as a class reduce our impact?

COP15

The "COP15" conference, or the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, starts today and goes until December 18. This is an historic meeting of nations, as the fate of the world will be negotiated.

Head to the COP15 website and have a look around at the "news" and the "facts" pages.

1) Where is Copenhagen?
2) What will be discussed?
3) What is Canada's position on signing an agreement with other countries to reduce carbon emissions (You may have to ask your parents about this at dinner)?
4) If you were a politician, what would your opinion be on whether or not Canada should reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses?
5) If we don't agree with Stephen Harper's opinion, what can we do? Go to David Suzuki's website for a clue!

More Troops in Afghanistan

Yesterday, President Obama announced that he will be sending in more troops to battle the Taliban in Afghanistan. He wants to send in 30 000 more. There are already 34 800 American troops in Afghanistan.

Other countries, including Canada, are lending support too (although Canada is pulling out by 2011). Interestingly, Canada has suffered the most fatalities per ca pita (what does this mean?). Here are some of the countries participating:

Total Number of Troops as of today: 71 030
U.S.A. - 34 800
Canada - 2 830
Spain - 1 000
Australia - 1 350
France - 3 095
Germany - 4 365
Great Britain - 9 000
Netherlands - 2 160
Italy - 2 795
Poland - 1 910

Given these numbers (total number of troops subtract countries listed above), how many troops are coming from countries not listed? Use Front-end rounding to find out.

If President Obama sends 30 000 more troops and Great Britain sends 500 more, how many total troops will there be? Use compatible (friendly) numbers to get an accurate estimate.