For those of you who might still be wondering what it is I am looking for in your blog entries, this is for you!
There are almost endless themes in Environmental Science; only for the sake of narrowing this down, I named seven. I want you to choose one (or more) that seems the most important (or most interesting) to you and incorporate this/these themes into the research in my class that will inspire what you create in Margaret's class. For your blog entry I would like you to ponder some of what you have heard and throw some ideas out that you think might work for senior project...and then next week you will have the benefit of getting feed back from your peers and myself in the form of comments to these entries. Here are the seven themes and some ramblings about what you might want to focus on. Good luck!
1)Population: growing numbers seems to mean growing stress on the environment. There is of course room for argument, perhaps if we all lived a more sustainable lifestyle the earth could support these higher numbers
2) Energy: There is no argument over the fact that we will run out of fossil fuels, the questions that remain are, when? and is our fossil fuel addiction creating climate change on a global scale (3,000 of the worlds top scientists say that this is no longer a debate, but we will leave the argument open)? It goes far beyond this though...it seems everything we do, use, buy and throw away has energy inherent in it, how can we make our systems more efficient?
3) Water: Only 1% of the world's water is fresh and available to the land dwelling animals (us included). Are we squandering a limited resource? This is the water we use to drink, grow our crops, maintain our green yards and flush down the toilet etc...Are we mindful of the effects we have everyday on the quality of water?
4) Food: Something that unites us all. Our food systems are there to feed the world...Is industrial agriculture a necessary means to this end, or is there a way that is more balanced to help maintain the earth's natural systems? Is organic enough to be sustainable? What is necessary to ensure benefits to the environment, the world's economy and equity among our communities?
5) Waste: So many subtopics within this! We humans waste so many things...water, energy, food, materials. So much of our lives ends up in a landfill somewhere where it is no longer good for anything. How can we change our lifestyles to be more sustainable?
6) Land and Development: Again it comes back to our population and it's perceived needs. We need to feed ourselves, but does this need to be at the expense of the world's biodiversity? Many of our current agricultural practices poison living things, expose us to toxins, contaminate the water, and promote soil loss and erosion. We need resources to better society...does this mean we need to strip the world bare to do it?
7) Climate and Atmosphere: Literally the air we breath! And some members of our society may be more at risk to breathing polluted air than others. Asthma corridors seem to situated in poorer neighborhoods. How can we minimize our contributions to climate change? The hole in the ozone layer proved not only can the things we do affect the atmosphere as a whole, but that when we put our minds (and laws) to it, we CAN positively affect change. The Montreal Protocol has helped to reverse the ozone problem.
So there you have it...some food for thought! My hope is that through your research and through others' presentations you will find something that inspire you to delve deeper. Why do some of these things that appear to be problems continue to exist? More importantly, what can WE do to make the world a better place for all living things?
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Land and Development really peaks my interest. I like the idea that it incorporates population issues with the environment. I think it would be interesting to study and figure out how to use our resources most effectively for the world's population. I would like to focus on deforestation as well, and how it affects the species of animals that are removed from their natural habitats.
ReplyDeleteWater really interests me too. I find it fascinating that we only use 1% of the water available to us. I always hear about people trying to conserve water, and worrying about it running out. There has to be ways to better access the other 99% percent, and ways to make that 99% beneficial to us in other ways than just the obvious. I mean obviously water is used for cleaning, drinking ect. But what if water was used to power cars entirely? What if water became a source of energy? How quickly could the population burn through water?