Blog #4

caption reads: Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there.

Reading summaries: 

Ecosystems and Human well-being

Every human being on the planet depends on the ecosystem for the basic essentials to survive(food, water, shelter, and clothing). However to meet our needs, we have drastically depleted the planet’s diversity of life in such a way that it is threatening our very existence. The article goes onto discuss 4 major findings on the planet’s biodiversity problems, the first being: Humans are irreversibly depleting the earth’s biodiversity with our current patterns of meeting our needs.  For example, we have converted 30% of the earth’s land into crop land, where only a single species of plant grows, 20% of the earth’s coral reefs were lost and a additional 20% were degraded within the 20^th century. Second, the changes made have benefited human-well being, but come at a growing cost in the form of environment degradation. The third finding is the degradation of the ecosystem services could grow significantly worse in the first half of the century. Finally the challenge of reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services can be partially met under some scenarios, but these involve significant changes in human policies and practices. An example of a change would include: investment in agricultural science and technology that can sustain the necessary increase in food supply without harmful trade offs to the environment. However changes have been implemented in the current day, but they are not keeping up with the demand for natural resources.

Living downstream: An ecologist looks at cancer and the environment

The article takes a first person, narrative form discussing the authors experience with cancer. The author goes onto say that he is diagnosed with cancer at an early age, although his biological family does not have a history of cancer, his adopted family does. Many of his household family members are diagnosed with a variety of cancers, or have already perished due to cancer. Also many members of his community share the same fate. The article also discusses that the cause of cancer is caused by a change in a single amino acid in the DNA sequence which leads to a different protein being produced in the human body. Some causes of this mass array of cancers are located in the rivers, ground water, and even the air. Problems with addressing carcinogens in the environment are that cancer research is focus on heredity, when only a small fraction of cancer is hereditary. Heredity plays a main role in determining who will develop cancer (i.e. making one more susceptible to developing it) but ultimately the main cause of cancer is that humans are polluting the environment with carcinogens which gets into the food that we consume. For a safer future of public health, the principle of least toxic alternative should be implemented, stating “ toxic substances shall not be used as long as there is another way of accomplishing the task”.

Our stolen Future

The well being of the human race is directly connected to the well being of all other species on this planet. Research has shown that damage within animal species is slowly making its presence among the human species. All species within planet earth are interconnected, although humans live in our self constructed cities, we sometimes forget that we are not too different from our animal counter parts. The pollution we put into the environment affects all aspects of life, humans are also inhabitants of the planet, and by polluting the earth, we are killing ourselves. The article goes onto discuss different research that has been done on the topic of levels of endocrine disrupters with animal testing, and that higher levels of endocrine disrupters have been used in the experiment than a normal human diet. However lower levels of the same endocrine disruptor has shown equally alarming results. Ultimately, the effects of chemicals humans put into the environment are now coming back to haunt us.

Environmental Justice for all

The article begins with environmental justice is being deprived from developing countries, and that these developing countries are helplessly being exposed to the uncontrolled dumping of pollutants in their native ecosystem. Naturally people were against the pollution of their home and stood up for their rights to live in a clean and safe environment. Over time with continued protest and the public demand for government intervention, some progress was made. With advocates like Martin Luther King jr. Fighting for the rights of colored people, the voices of environmental dumping were heard. However despite the progress made, and the various cases discussed, the new President Bush administration actions are eroding the years of work that people have fought for. Currently they are being more lenient with companies expansion without restrictions on control of pollution created, which will eventually lead to pollution for all people.

Life and Death of the salt marsh

The article discusses the natural beauty of what is a salt marsh. The different experiences one can have when visiting one of these marshes, a mixture of sea and sat water, sounds of grass in the wind, and the movement of tides. Despite this natural beauty, some have been killed with the trash from industrialized cities. The smell of the salt water has been replaced with hydrogen sulphide, and the ground is oozing around ones shoes with the depletion of plant life. The dangers to the salt marshes are directly related to human activities, we destroy these marshes by dredging, building, filling and polluting. Even the marshes we wish to protect, we still end up destroying. Building access roads, boat launch ramps and other means of access still hurt the marsh. It comes down to the question, which marsh do we preserve, and which do we destroy?

Activity: How we wrecked the ocean

After watching the ted talk, I cannot help but feel disgusted to be a member of the human species. The relentless pursuit of profit fueling the creation of more goods leading to the creation of more wastes is astonishing. I find it shocking the idea that the earth's oceans can go from bountiful life to a toxic desert in a life time. I am not saying that I am better than any other human being, because I too am wasteful, however with this being said, I completely agree that the only way to save the ocean and its biodiversity is to change ourselves. Personally I love wildlife, fish especially because I am a fisherman, seeing the images of the coral reefs, and fish sizes change over a span of only a few decades really opened my eyes to the environmental crimes the human race is committing to feed our addiction to material wealth. I truly wish that everyone in the world could understand what is happening to our oceans, because the thought of a dead ocean is heart breaking.

In class blog reflection:

Personally I do believe endangered and vulnerable species need to be protected, but keeping them in a zoo is not the way to do it. As a matter of fact, I believe the idea of a zoo is cruel to animals. Take for instance the polar bear. The polar bear's home range that was said in class is something like 35km, yet in a zoo, they are forced to live in a habitat not even a sliver of their natural home range. Within this cage, they fed and given an area to sleep but their freedom is taken away. Similar to a Human being in prison (human zoo), polar bears lack anything that can mentally stimulate them, they show signs of stress (pacing), and generally don't breed very well in comparison to the wild. The idea of saving a species by putting them into a cage for the rest of their lives as salvation I feel is ridiculous, we may as well grant mercy in a swift death. I have visited zoo's as a child and enjoyed the experience, however now that I am older, I will not support zoo's at all.

Blog post #2

Summaries

summary section 4: a sand county almanac

The section goes onto discuss how humans need to change their relationship to the land. Instead of using the land as a resource that we can harvest for our own personal gain and profit, humans should appreciate the land. Humans are not the only species that depend on the land, everything is interconnected and if one link is destroyed, it threatens the entire web.

summary section 6: the historical roots of our ecological crisis

The article discusses humans and our exploitation of ecology. As our technology and science develop, humans become more and more disconnected from nature. Humans see our selves above nature and exploit it to meet our needs despite the backlash of our actions. Eventually we will reach a point where our technology will cause backlashes that we cannot fix. To solve this problem, the human race must take a different perspective on our relationship to ecology, we must consider ourselves equal, and not above.

summary section 13: a path to sustainable energy by 2030

Today's sources of energy such as fossil fuels, coal, and nuclear generate too much pollution and the abundance of resource declines, the cost will rise. The future of energy lies with the greener energy resources known as WWS(wind, water, solar). Currently only windis close to any other energy resource in the market today, but it is predicted within the next twenty to thirty years, WWS will be the dominant source of energy while providing close to zero pollutants.

summary section 23: climate change 2007: the physical science basis

THe concentrations of green house gases since the mid 20th century has dramatically increased which is leading the dramatic global changes. The changes include: warmer temperatures, melting of the earths ice shelves, rise in sea levels, higher concentration carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane. Predictions for the future include: continued increase in temperature, loss of ice and rise in sea level if if current levels of green house gases is kept constant.

Activities

Activity: Consider your reliance on fossil fuels. Are you comfortable with your level of dependence? Do you feel that this is sustainable for the next 10 years? Are there steps you would like to take to reduce this reliance?

For the most part I am not that reliable on fossil fuels as I do not own a car and drive a motorcycle. I also take the transit system to and from the university. I am content with my fossil fuel consumption, but speaking for the rest of civilization, I do not believe this is a sustainable source of energy for the next 10 years. Throughout the class we discussed alternatives to fossil fuels, such as electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, wind and tidal energy generation, and one I specifically liked was solar panels replacing roof shingles. I believe this is the way of the future, all the people need is a gentle push to get rolling in the right direction. Currently the cost is the biggest issue with a switch is the cost to do so. One step I would take to move into a greener future is constructing all newly built houses with the solar panel roofing. During the show casing of the house, the solar panel roofing would be a key point in the home. The panels would be durable enough to with stand the elements, and the energy it generates would be enough to power the house cutting electricity bills or at least provide some sort of hybrid solar energy/hydro-electric energy. Once people catch onto the savings from the panels, surely the rest will follow.

Reflections

Blog reflection: What future would you like to see for the Alberta tar sands project?

I personally believe that the human population must transition out of the fossil fuels if we are to continue living on the planet Earth; however that change will not come overnight. I believe a gradual transition is more realistic. I think a modification to our current Alberta tar sands project is in order. A method that is less harmful to environment and produces less oil coinciding with the introduction of more renewable sources of energy would be a more beneficial route to the greener future planet Earth needs. Eventually phasing out of fossil fuels is the only chance that humans can remain living on the planet with our current standards of living.

Blog reflection: can parks meet its dual mandate of access and protection? How can this be achieved in Wapusk?

I think the best way to protect wildlife and they ecosystem is to limit human interaction as minimal as possible. Once humans and other species interact, there is usually conflict between species and for the most part humans come out on top. With that said I don’t think parks can meet its mandate of access and protection, the best way to protect a natural environment is to leave it alone. With Wapusk national park in mind, we must limit our interaction to a minimal, including minimizing resource harvesting, clear cutting, large amounts of human traffic. The area is a large polar bear breeding ground and as the human species expands its territories, wild life loses its homes.

I'd like to begin with an image I think represents what nature is to me. This is not my image, I found it on google, but it reflects an experience I've had within my life.

Assignment # 1

Reading Summaries

Summary: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Many societies have existed on earth; we know this because they left their monumental structures behind as they died out and eventually went extinct. The reason why many civilizations do not exist today because they have destroyed their ecosystem and exhausted their resources faster than it can be replenished, and we are doomed to repeat their fate if we do not learn from their mistakes. Signs of ecocide and natural resource exhaustion have already shown itself in third world countries, along with four new problems including: human-caused climate change, build up of toxic chemicals in the environment, energy shortages, and full human utilization of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity, and the problem is still growing. If we do not start to address these problems, not only will we see these problems in third world countries, we will also see them in first world countries. To address these problems we must first work together with the big corporations who specialize in resource consumption so that we can preserve our natural resources.

Summary:  Human Carrying Capacity

The earth is similar to an island, and much like the species that inhabit the island, we humans are bound to the earth’s limits and the resources it provides us. When we use up the resources on our “island” many problems will follow, with resources being scarce people will wage wars, starvation and disease will sweep the land. With the discovery of fire, humans have moved beyond the control of the earth for, we are no longer bound by environmental factors to keep our population at sustainable levels. In fact, there is no set number where the human population is sustainable. To determine this, we would have to look at many different factors besides “total number of humans”, Factors including: standard of living, morals, fashions and tastes, where as these factors vary from location to location upon the earth. We as a species are now are only bound by ourselves, and it is up to us to determine what our planet can sustain, and to control our population levels so that we remain within those levels.

Summary: Tragedy of the Commons

The problem with exhausting our natural resources lies with the over population of the human species and the high standard of living we have grown so accustomed to. There is no “technological” solution we can come up with to keep our standards of living and save the environment from the destruction we set upon it, the only solution is if we change our ways. Whether it is simple as control the number of offspring we reproduce, or use less and recycle, the fact of the matter is, we as a species must change our ways. As we progress through life, we are taught to strive for success, if there is a way to increase our self gain, do so. However through further education, we learn the negative feedback of the actions we take to achieve those profits and can determine if it is a good idea to proceed with these plans. To use a natural resource with the pursuit of profit with the mentality that they will supply us with an infinite amount of resource is incorrect and damaging, when in fact there is a finite number of resources the environment can provide. Instead of harvesting a resource to the extent of collapsing, we must restrict our use of it, and decrease our dependency on it so that it can be sustained.

Activity

Reflection on: Ted Talk Fragile earth

After watching the video, I must say I strongly agree with the video. Humans are the most intelligent species on the planet, yet despite our great knowledge, we decide to ignore it, “ignore what we know”. We know our current practices are damaging the earth, that we are exhausting our natural resources to the point that we threaten our very existence, yet we do nothing to change our practices. We are far too concerned with making our lives better with the accumulation of profits, and we are more concerned with the present than the not too distant future. We are animals, we just because of our larger brains does not make us superior to any other species, yet we consume natural resources like it is our right to because of our larger brains, and if we keep on this road, we only find our own destruction at the end of it. Reflecting on myself as a human being, I must admit that I am addicted to the life style I live, the luxuries of computers, motorized vehicles and electricity is something I don’t think I would be able to give up. Currently I do recycle, take the transit or walk whenever possible; however I still feel my contribution isn’t as much as I could give. The ted talk really makes me look at myself in a different perspective, makes me second guess is this way of living correct, if not, what can I do to change.

Reflection

Reflection: is there a danger in becoming too disconnected from nature?

I think there is an enormous danger to becoming too disconnected from nature. Without experiencing nature, one cannot realize just how fragile life is, how we take the resources that the earth provides us for granted. By living solely in the manufactured habitat we created, we lose the appreciation for nature that we once had, once that appreciation is gone, the influence of that appreciation on environmentally damaging decisions will also disappear with it. Once decisions are made without considering the effects on the environment, we no longer make decisions that will help sustain the human species in the long term. Burying our children in technology, or being too lazy to take them out in the wilderness has the same effect, disconnection from nature. Our children will one day lead our countries and make the decisions that may make or break human kind as we know it, and without an appreciation for nature, it is likely they may make the wrong decisions.

Reflection: where do your environmental ethics lie?

I would have to say that my environmental ethics lie with Biocentrism. I am a believer that all species are equal and deserve to live on this planet. I also believe the individual is more important than the system itself. I think that “just because the system still functions” doesn’t necessarily mean that the system is healthy. Regardless if the system still functions without a species, does not make a species inferior. Similar to the idea, even though we humans have larger brains than any other species on the planet, does not give us the title of “superior”. All species despite size, color, or cuteness deserve the right to live on the earth. 

Spend 1 hour in silence with Nature and reflect:

Over the weekend I went fishing with my dad as usual, but this time I kept in my mind to observe the natural world and the different experiences and feelings I have to gain. Immediately after arriving, I feel a soothing calmness sweep over my body, being free from the chattering of traffic, the buzzing of electronics and away from the illuminating street lights. I sat on a rock and observed the water as I slowly reeled in my lure, “so simple, this is nice” I thought to myself. Shortly after I caught my first fish, it was a bit too small to keep but I observed it swim away I felt a feeling of guilt, how accustomed I’ve become to the shelter of the city, the luxuries of technology and the disconnection from the natural world. It all felt so surreal to me, I wasn’t even aware how different the natural world was from the synthetic “cocoon” we humans have woven for ourselves despite only being an hour away from the city. After coming home, I realized how important it is for one to remember how much we as an animal species depend on the natural world and the resources it provides, and if we don’t change, future generations may not get to experience catching a fish, or letting the little guy go.