The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis
Lynn White begins this article by saying that all forms of life modify their contexts, and mentioning several examples. Ever since man has become a numerous species he has affected his environment notably. The hypothesis that his fire-drive method of hunting created the world’s great grasslands and helped to exterminate the mammals of the Pleistocene, such as giant sloths and numerous species of mammoth, from much of the globe is plausible, if not proved. The history of ecologic change is still so rudimentary that we know little about what really happened, and it is also hard to find solid information and evidence. Lynn goes on to talk about the middle age scientists contributing to modern technology, and siding with the West. Our science is the heir to all the sciences of the past. However, in the Latin West by the early 13th century natural theology was following a very different bent. It was ceasing to be the decoding of the physical symbols of God’s communication with man and was becoming the effort to understand God’s mind by discovering how his creation operates.
Sources: L. White, The historical Roots of our Ecological crisis, Selections in Environmental Science P. 19-23.
What is the Purpose of nature?
By revelation, God had given man the Bible, the Book of Scripture. But since God had made nature, nature also must reveal the divine mentality. The religious study of nature for the better understanding of God was known as natural theology. In the early Church, and always in the Greek East, nature was conceived primarily as a symbolic system through which God speaks to men.
A Sand County Almanac
The following selection was taken, is a collection of Leopold’s lyrical, philosophical writings about nature. It begins with a short story of hunting a pack of wolves. "I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view." It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for land, and a high regard for its value, of course meaning something far broader than mere economic value; meaning value in the philosophical sense.
What is the basic lesson of Aldo Leopold’s “Thinking Like a Mountain”?
I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view. Wolves are like a keystone species, without them every aspect of the environment, quite literally, will become more pronounced and eventually the environment will deteriorate, starting with the deer population overpopulating, and the plant life beginning to drop.
A. Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Selections in Environmental Science, P. 11-13.
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
The Arrhenius prediction that the average temperature on Earth will rise four to six degrees Celsius is likely to come true before the end of the twenty-first century if present fossil fuel use and forest destruction trends continue. Most atmospheric scientists agree that such a warming will be accompanied by changes in the world’s weather patterns and a significant increase in sea levels. The data on which these conclusions are based, as well as the conclusions themselves, have been vigorously debated for years. In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C) was established to assess the available scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information regarding greenhouse gas-induced climate change. Thousands of meteorologists and other atmospheric and climate scientists have participated in periodic reviews of the data.
What consequences can we expect from global warming?
The primary source of the increased atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial period results from fossil fuel use.Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.
The average atmospheric water vapour content has increased since at least the 1980s over land and ocean as well as in the upper troposphere.
Observations since 1961 show that the average temperature of the global ocean has increased to depths of at least 3000 m and that the ocean has been absorbing more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system
A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030
Our plan calls for millions of wind turbines, water machines and solar installations. The numbers are large, but the scale is not an insurmountable hurdle; society has achieved massive transformations before. Renewable energy comes from enticing sources: wind, which also produces waves; water, which includes hydroelectric, tidal and geothermal energy (water heated by hot underground rock); and sun, which includes photovoltaics and solar power plants that focus sunlight to heat a fluid that drives a turbine to generate electricity. Our plan includes only technologies that work or are close to working today on a large scale, rather than those that may exist 20 or 30 years from now.
Three components could pose challenges for building millions of electric vehicles: rare-earth metals for electric motors, lithium for lithium-ion batteries and platinum for fuel cells. Although electric vehicles is a very good start, German engineer's are some of the first to produce such (all electric) vehicles from Volkswagon to BMW. The main challenge with wind and solar energy is that the wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine in a given location.
What is the most effective way to cut back on Greenhouse Gas emissions?
Nuclear power results in up to 25 times more carbon emissions than wind energy, when reactor construction and uranium refining and transport are considered. Carbon capture and sequestration technology can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal- fired power plants but will increase air pollutants and will extend all the other deleterious effects of coal mining, transport and processing, because more coal must be burned to power the capture and storage steps. Similarly, we consider only technologies that do not present significant waste disposal or terrorism risks. To ensure that our system remains clean, we consider only technologies that have near-zero emissions of green- house gases and air pollutants over their entire life cycle.
Sources: Mark Z. Jacobson & Mark A. Delucchi, A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030, P. 58-61
Can parks meet its dual Mandate of access and protection?
I think is depends on people and certain restrictions and laws to prevent any unwanted activity that leads to the degradation of the forest. There is an old-growth Forest located in Europe that I read about in "The World Without us" called the Bialowieza Forest, the entire area of northeastern Europe was originally covered by ancient woodland until about the 14th century. Travel through the woodland was limited to river routes, roads, and bridges appeared much later. Limited hunting rights were granted throughout the forest in the 14th century, and it remains one of the largest remaining old-growth forests left in the world.
How can this be achieved in Wapusk?
Wapusk National Park is subjected to a lot of tourism, and because of that, the parks native inhabitants like polar bears have started to decline in numbers, and the environment that they live in is also degrading. Conservation can attempt to preserve the existing park, but laws and regulations need to happen before the park begins to grow again.
Lisa Margonelli: The Political Chemistry of oil
We are 4% of the worlds population (US) and we use 25% of the worlds oil production. Oil is a stew of hydrocarbon molecules, and sometimes other metallic elements that are very toxic to water and marine life. Oil floats and it spreads out when it hits the water and becomes very thin to its hard to coral it, and when the waves hit the asphaltenes (molecular substances that are found in crude oil) it whips them oil into a very viscous compound almost like mayonnaise. When the chemistry of the oil and water hits our politics its very explosive, and for the first time Americans and consumers will finally see the oil and supply chain in front of themselves and suddenly understand oil in a different context. Americans also assume that the oil prices are a result of a conspiracy rather than the vicissitudes of the worlds oil market. When an oil spill occurs, people start the realize not just the environmental consequences but the economic consequences, but still feel helpless about the amount we consume and don't bother to make a change.
Student #7777649
