ENVR 2000- Blog 3
Human
Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems (S 9)
Human domination has taken over the planet we have maxed out our
resources, poisoned our land and seas, changed our climate and destroyed
countless species that will never recover. With our land and sea we have
introduced chemicals and pollutants that cause mutations and extinction, GMOs have
wiped out complex plants and weeds and deforestation and the loss of wetlands
has destroyed ecosystems and forced populations of animals to migrate into less
adaptable environments. With all the changes we are forcing on our planet, we
have caused the earth to begin to heat up. Global warming is increasing the
temperature of the oceans, melting polar ice caps and degrading our ozone. This
is further putting immense stress on every living organism on the planet. Loss of
diversity within our ecosystems is caused by extinction due to human activity and
pollution. Human activity is causing an unsustainable environment.
Critical
thinking question
Would it help
to reduce the human impact on the Earth if we could reduce the human
population?
Less humans
equals less pollution. And pollution is the biggest contributing factor to the
stress on the environment. It would create less of a burden to tap out of
resources and result in the environment gaining back some of its ability to
regenerate. Less humans mean less fossil fuels being emitted into the
atmosphere since less people mean less cars. If there were less humans, maybe
our planet would have a fighting chance.
Ecosystems
and Human Well-being (S 10)
Over half of the world resources are being degraded. Human activity may
be causing irreversible damage. The poor is bearing the burden of environmental
degradation more than the rich, this inequality causes tension within society.
Environmental justice is not enough when it’s the big, rich corporation causing
all the havoc and reaping all the benefits.
Though government policies are trying to help reduce the effects with
subsidies, fines and laws are trying to combat the issue and to an extent it is
helping. By creating law that stop big corporations from destroying habitats in
hopes of finding oil, to safety regulations that ensure the safety of workers
and the environment. All these policies are trying to combat the pollution that
humans are creating every day.
Critical
thinking question
In what
ways does damage to ecosystems affect human well-being?
If we destroy all the ecosystems and kill of all the animals in hopes of
furthering industrialization, we will have a dead planet unfit to sustain us as
a species. We can’t keep taking and taking without helping the planet to
regenerate and recoup from our abuse. I don’t understand how some people do not
see a problem with how we as a species are operating and how sustainability isn’t
in everyone’s best interest. An elder from community in the territories said in
the documentary “humans will continue to pollute our lakes until the day they
realize they can’t drink oil” I think this is a very powerful and true message.
Living
Downstream (S28)
So many people are being to notice a correlation between cancer and
pollution. The pollution we create in our industrial economy leaves carcinogens
and other pollutants in our air, soil and food web. It seems that as time
progresses, more and more people are doomed to a life with cancer. Just 50
years ago almost no one had cancer, and if they did, it took them years and
years to die from it. Now we have 5 years old with melanoma and wives and
daughters being diagnosed with breast cancer and dying within the year. And what
is the biggest thing that’s changed in the last 50 years? Industrialization. The
world as we know it no longer values quality and effort but fast easy and quick
products that end up in landfills. As our consumption as a society rises so
does our waste, which end up in landfills, poisoning our soils. Companies burn
off excess waste to make room for more, emitting pollutants into the air, and
all of these chemicals end up on the environment that our livestock eats, and
eventually ends up in us.
Critical
thinking question
Should there be more effort to study the links between cancer and
environmental factors?
Absolutely, since humans are doing all the damage and getting sick from
it, why aren’t we funding research into why and how this is happening?
Impacts
of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services (S17)
Loss of biodiversity due to over fishing and pollution is changing the
oceans as we know it. As species being to become endangered and even disappear completely
not only are the ecosystems changing but fisheries around the globe are
collapsing, less fish means less fisherman are needed. Our human practices are
collapsing fish populations, and our activities are coming full circle and
affecting our economy and our earth.
Critical thinking
question
Why are commercial fisheries in decline?
Commercial fisheries are in decline due to over
fishing practises, pollution and degradation of habitats. We over fish to the extent
that the population will never recover, we dump garbage into our oceans that
leak chemicals and kill of animals. We destroy the homes of countless species
and think that we have caused no harm. All of these contribute to the decline and
probably the disappearance of fisheries as a whole.
Reflections
What I am doing to promote sustainability and
happiness in my life: I am my mother’s daughter, and as such I’m really big for
lecturing anyone who will listen. One of my favorite things to lecture about
are when people leave all the lights on around the house and not recycling.
Recycling on campus has become so convenient that it drives me nuts when people
don’t recycle their plastic bottles especially when the bin is literally right
beside the trash can. I have successfully “trained” my closest friends and
family to turn off the lights after leaving a room and to recycle everything
that is applicable, promoting sustainability really makes me happy
•What I would like to do: I would like to see less
litter around campus and my home town and that makes it really important that I
pick up litter whenever I see it. I’d like to organize a program around campus similar
to the one we have in my home town, Thompson. Where for every bag of trash
collected the city will pay 5$ for it. This incentivises students to keep our
campus beautiful. A clean environment has many positive benefits on one’s
mental health.
•I pledge to: pick up any litter I see (I have started
to carry around plastic bags and gloves wherever I go) I also pledge to enlighten
fellow students on positive impacts a clean campus can have as well as how
littering is just a callus neglect for the world around you.
What are your primary concerns about the oceans?
I have many concerns about the oceans, not only is
global warming heating up the oceans but pollution and controversial fishing practises
are constantly contributing to degradation and destruction of the world’s
largest resource. The warming of the oceans is killing off species that can
adapt quickly enough, this affects the food web as predators are running low on
food supply. Pollution is killing countless species of birds, fish and other
aquatic life as they accidentally ingest plastic, mistaking it for food, or get
stuck in stray netting, plastic bags etc... Over fishing practises like
trawling where giant nets are dragged across the ocean floor destroying
habitats, and catching everything rather than just a target species it has
detrimental effects on everything surrounding. Over fishing a population
without letting nature replenish its young is causing many species of fish like
cod to become endangered.
What if anything do you plan to do about it?
As one person, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do.
It would take every country on the planet to work together to help restore our
oceans. Since it’s a resource that the whole human population benefits from, it
would only make sense that the whole human race work together to try and
reverse the damage that we caused.
Action
Watched Mattieu Ricard on the habits of happiness
-happiness is a state of being rather than an emotion.
Emotions are fleeting and we can take joy out of many things, we can feel
pleasure yet be unhappy in our life. Ricard suggests that the key to happiness
is to better the conditions of the mind. I would imagine this includes being
healthy, an unhealthy body causes excess stress and energy expended to simple
function. Next would to spend time in nature, whether it’s going for a walk or
just sitting outside for 20 minutes, nature is very calming and it’s a simple
pleasure that we can have for free. And finally to eliminate stress, living
within our means would help with this, when trying to equate ourselves with
others may not be the best, instead of comparing ourselves to others, be
thankful for the things you do have. For me that would be a place to life,
nutritious food to eat, a network of family and friends that offer substantial
support and love. I live in a country free from war. I am guilty of taking
these things for granted from time to time, but whenever I get down on myself
for a crappy grade or cheating on my diet I remember that I am better off than
many other kids my age in other countries. Happiness is relative some people
find happiness in a tiny shack in the woods, others in a giant mansion filled
with possessions. If happiness is relative I think it’s fair to say that
happiness is constantly changing. Every day I should find something to be happy
about. And I should find peace in the fact that even though I may not perfectly
happy now, at this point in my life, I will be in the future. I think if
everyone could try to have the same state of mind and Ricard and myself, that
people would place less desire on attaining material objects or societal status
but rather being one with ourselves and with nature. I think the world would be
a better place.
