Blog Assignment #2: Blog Reflection #2

Q:  Can parks meet it's dual mandate of access and protection?  How can this be achieved in Wapusk?

Image from: Trek Nature and Yahoo Image

 I do not believe that parks can meet the dual mandate of human access and protection.  Some possibilities that can happen with human access into parks would be littering and the possibility of introducing invasive species into the park area or taking native species from the park and unknowingly bringing it home as an invasive specie. 
As well as the fact that animals in the wild are not use to human interaction, so if humans suddenly comes in and disturbs their habitat it could be dangerous for both.  If parks manages to allow human access to their parks, animals will have to be kept behind cages high enough so they do not break out.  If that does happen than what would be the difference between going to a park and a zoo?  

Blog Assignment #2: Blog Reflection #1

Q:  Where do your environmental ethics lie?

Image from: SFAppeal

It is hard to say where my environmental ethics lie.  I feel torn between biocentric and anthropocentric.  I do believe that all life on earth is equal, and that humans are not the center of the world.  What makes me torn between the two is the way that I live. 

Living in Winnipeg, summers are the time when mosquitoes are most abundant.  I feel no remorse what so ever when I swat a mosquito that has been sucking blood from my arms or legs; nor do I feel any remorse when I kill any other insects.  Although I would never go hunting for insects just to kill them, but if they are in my personal space, I feel it is only natural to get rid of them because it's "cleaner" to do so.  Perhaps it was the way that I was brought up, or maybe it was my fears for insects that makes me act this way.  

Blog Assignment #2, Selection 7, summay

The Tragedy of the Commons

Garrett Hardin

 

Image from: All about India

In "The Tragedy of the Commons" Hardin talks about mankind's uncontrollable need to breed as it leads to the result of increasing population.  Which then interrupts the environmental health of our planet.  

Freedom of the commons means common things or action we share between just about anyone in the world, and the freedom to do these common actions without limits.  Hardin gives two examples of the tragedy of freedom in a commons.  He names pollution and the freedom to breed as a tragedy.  What makes them tragedies are the fact that these two aspects are controlled by the common people.  If the common people wants to increase their population, then they will  The two intertwines because if population increases then pollution will increase as well.(Not just pollution, but many other environmental problems will also increase.)  

Hardin believes that if we abandon the freedom to breed, it can put an end to the tragedy of the commons with the help of education through the common people. 

Blog Assignment #2: Selection 6, Summary

The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis

 Lynn White, Jr

Image from: Gonzaga University

In this essay, White talks about the historical roots in which our ecological crisis arose from.  According to White, Christianity which originally came from Judaism is part of our ecological crisis.  The story of how God created light and darkness, and how it centers around man(Adam) and his accomplishments.  White names Christianity as the "most anthropocentric religion the world has seen" and how modern western science is a derivative of Christianity. 

Blog Assignment #1: Blog Reflection 1

Question: How well does the media do in each of the following area:

Clarity, Accuracy, Precision, Relevance, Breadth, Depth and Logic. 


"Angry Passengers Smash Trains in Brazil"
Article: CNN

 
Image from: Expatify

1) Clarity 

The clarity in this article is clear.  The 5 W's(who, what, when, where, and why) were stated.

Who: Angry passengers

What: Damaged 17 train cars

When: Tuesday

Where: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Why: Frustration towards slow service

2) Accuracy

There are no pictures to prove that it actually happened, but because it is from a news network the report cannot be fake.  Perhaps the media might have exaggerated too much with the damages done, but because there are no pictures to prove; the accuracy in this article seems inaccurate.

3) Precision

There are not enough details in this article.  They did not state how badly the train cars were damaged.  It stated at the end of the sentence that the damaged trains were back on service later in the day so we could only assume that the damage was not extreme.  

4) Relevance

Everything mentioned in the article was relevant.  It was short and got straight to the point.  It tells us who are angry, the passengers.  Why they were angry, slow service; and also provided a reason why the service was slow.

5) Breadth

The article was narrow in terms of what happened.  It was straight to the point.  They did not go into the feelings of the other passengers who were also affected by this disturbance.

6) Depth

No solution was mentioned in the article.  All they said was that the trains were back in service later in the day.  The article did not state any punishment that the angry passengers would face.  So there was no depth in the article.

7) Logic

There were background information as to why the trains were slow, therefore this was based on known statements.  Statements also came from the operations director of the Sao Paulo metro which made it legitimate.

Blog Assignment #1: Blog Reflection 2

Question: Is there a danger to a growing disconnect from nature?

Image from: Google Image

Ever since the first flame was discovered, humans have become dependent on it for warmth, light and cooking purposes.  As technology advanced, we have advanced with it by our dependence.  Now that we are in the age of computers; I as a student often find myself sitting in front of a computer for numerous amount of hours, everyday.  I depend on it for entertainment ( watching movies or playing games), socializing, and pretty much just to kill time.  The computer is the first thing I go to when I need information on something fast.  

My family is heavily reliant on their cars.  They need it to go to work every morning.  Even on their days off the car is always out at least once, everyday.  If we continue to depend on these man made technology, then we will continue to deplete our energy resource.  I do believe that this will be a danger because I do not believe that we are the only family out of 5.6 billion people who are reliant on these resources.

If we continue to live the way we do, we would continue to add to the already current and growing over consumption problems.  

Blog Assignment #1: Activity Reflection

Discourage Urban Sprawl: Reflection

David Suzuki Foundation

Image from: Google Pictures

For 3 years I have lived in the growing neighborhood of Richmond West.  My family and I moved into the house when it was still in development.  My memories from living there were often frustration towards the transit system in the neighborhood.  There was and still are only one bus that would take you in and out of the neighborhood.  This one bus that would make it's round through the neighborhood only comes once every 30 minutes.  If I missed a bus or did not want to waste 30 minutes to wait for another one, I would need to walk approximately 15 minutes on the road (not sidewalks because there were none).  Everyone of the houses there had a drive way upfront so that meant every household owns at least one car.  Everyone in the neighborhood had to depend on their cars when they need to get to a grocery store, video store, etc.

Now, I live in a much more convenient location for school, grocery shopping, or other miscellaneous activities.  I am surrounded by buses that can take me downtown or to the university; most of which comes every 10-15 minutes.  During my high school years, I would be able to walk to school, rain or shine in 10 minutes.  Grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurant, and convenience stores were only minutes away by walking.  The bus stop to the university is near, so I do not need to depend on any vehicles other then the bus.  Comparing to life now and before, I enjoy living in this location much more because everything I need is just a walk away.

Blog Assignment #1: Selection 36, Summary

The Population Explosion: why should we care and what should we do about it.

Paul R. Ehrlich & Anne H. Ehrlich

 

Image from: India Mike

China, India and the United States are countries with the most population in the world.  Ehrlich talks about why we over population is a problem and it's affect on the environment.  

The misconception of over population in America is that people often think that there is no link between the size of human population and environmental problems.  But societies most damaging day to day activities are mobilizing and use of energy at high levels such as lighting and heating.

These changes are worldwide and are human caused.  Ehrlich lists a few human cause changes that are damaging to the environment; widespread habitat destruction, alteration of the composition and geochemical processes of the atmosphere, overdrafts of ground water, soil erosion, water pollution and the list goes on.  Although there are poorer nations that can rival with the population of the United States, their impact on the environment is not as problematic.

Ehrlich thinks that in order to solve the increasing population in third world countries family planning programs should be offered and safe abortion information should be given.  Ehrlich believes this can help because in most of the third world countries, male dominance and female dependence is common.  We can only try to stop over consumption, but it will difficult. 

Blog Assignment #1: Selection 32, Summary

Our Stolen Future

Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers

 

Image from: Urban Wildlife Ecology & Management and Cute Baby Pictures

"Our Stolen Future" talks about the exposes humans and animals to harmful man made chemicals.  We are mammals that share a common environment, evolutionary legacy and contamination of synthetic chemicals(environmental endocrine disruptor) and because of the commonalities, animals have become a test subject for a synthetic hormone drug called diethylstilbestrol (DES).  These synthetic chemicals that we breath and absorb in causes disturbance in our(and the animals) hormones.  

Endocrine disruption comes from farm fields and industrial pollution.  This problem that suddenly surface puts humans, and wildlife/laboratory animals are at risk.  It causes abnormalities of genital in children.  Therefore scientists have issued a "Wingspread Statement" which is an urgent warning to humans about the consequences of being exposed to these chemicals can disrupt the balance of embryonic development and the damage will last unless if chemicals are controlled.  

This began the experimentation of DES which will hopefully fix the disruption of hormones, but studies shows that DES is an unstable drug and it causes abnormalities in the children of the mothers that took the drug during pregnancy.  Animals are used in for this experiment because they are able to mature and reproduce faster than humans; and because our hormone development is similar we are more likely be able to tell early signs and warnings.

Blog Assignment #1: Selection 42, Summary

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Jared Diamond

 

 Mayan City (Tikal)

Image from: GM Mac Donald Views From the Edge of Time

"How we determine the future of tomorrow depends on the choices we make today." - Jared Diamond

In This essay Diamond mentioned some of the environmental problems we are facing today are: population explosions, climate change, and resource depletion on a global scale.  These problems are linked to the collapse of a society; how we choose to address these problems will determine rather we fail or succeed.  

A collapse city are cities that are facing dramatic change (decrease) in human population/political/economical/social complexity for an extended amount of time.  These problems are mostly caused by ecological problems, as Diamond stated: Ecocide.  According to Diamond there are eight categories to ecocide: deforestation, habitat destruction, soil problems, water management problems, over hunting, over fishing, invasive species, human population growth (increase), increase per capita impact of people.  Diamond also adds four more new categories that we are currently facing now: human caused climate change, build up of toxic chemicals, energy shortages, and full human utilization of Earth's photosynthetic capacity.  These four categories are globally critical for the next few decades. 

Some factors that Diamond has mention separates us from past societies.  These are: modern technology, globalization, modern medicine and greater knowledge of past societies.  These factors make us less susceptible to ecocide.  Modern technology enables us to use secondary resources such as wind and solar energy.  Globalization allows us to depend on other civilizations for resources that we lack of, modern medicine sustains our health to the spread of diseases and knowledge of the past helps us making the same mistakes twice.  Of course these factors have it's negative affect as well.  

Another difference that separates us from past societies is that our modern society today are economically centralized.  People today are hugely influenced by corporate companies.  Diamond couples the word business with environment because without the cooperation of big companies, we would not be able to solve some of the current environmental problems.