Ecosystems & Habitat - Chapter 7

Ecosystems and Habitats around the globe are what sustains life on the planet, and thus are essential functions of the world for both human life and all other life to prosper. The very first paragraph of Chapter 7 in Robertsons' Sustainability Principles and Practice has an interesting quote to set off the tone of the rest of the chapter. The quote frames how bad our situation is and truly how dire the science says it is, and yet not nearly enough action is being taken to prevent or slow down the rising change in habitats and ecosystems around the globe. In the words of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005 which was quoted in Robertson's textbook:

"The state of the world’s ecosystems has changed more rapidly in the last 50 years than at any time in human history." 

 Robertson, M. (2017) p.110

 Unfortunately, this statement holds true and the fact of the matter is the situation will only deteriorate unless action is taken quickly. Currently, we are in the beginning stages of a mass extinction event. Some previous ones throughout history were caused by a variety of reasons ranging from volcanic activity to asteroid impacts. The current trend of extinction though is being perpetuated by industry and the releasing of greenhouse gasses that change the makeup of our atmosphere. Extinction rates are currently :

"Reaching 1000 times the background extinction rate, with species going extinct at a rate not seen in 65 million years" Robertson, M. (2017) p. 111.

This figure is truly a scary thing to witness happening and the general populace not taking it seriously is even more worrisome. Instead of perpetuating the mass extinction event underway, we should be promoting biodiversity in areas that have a vast amount of species in it. Areas such as the Amazon Rainforest which harbors thousands of species and is very reminiscent of the lungs of the Earth was recently caught on fire. The world watched it burn while the Brazilian administration did absolutely nothing to control it and some even say it was a direct result of the policies the Brazilian president wants to introduce. I believe that a bigger stance on the ecosystems around the world needs to be in place. A sole focus on humans has directly driven us towards the 6th mass extinction event in the history of the world, and that should begin changing sooner rather than later.

"Overexploitation is a sign that humans are spending Earth’s natural capital rather than living off its interest."

Robertson, M. (2017) p. 117 

This final quote was interesting to me because it tied in a concept that is heavily taught in my business courses while being used to describe overexploitation of our planet's resources. I really like how the author worded this quote, it was easier to understand what she was talking about while reading it and put into perspective how consumption of resources would ideally work in a sustainable culture. I understand though that throughout human history we've been taught to overexploit everything to either make a profit or survive, the nature of exploiting resources must change from now on so that it is prevented in the future and we can live sustainably.


Photo Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/09/21/mit-professor-predicts-earths-next-mass-extinction-to-begin-by-2100/#322b95456e57
http://landdegredationassignment.weebly.com/impact.html

Water

This week's blog post will be about Chapter 6 "Water" from Robertson's book Sustainability Principles and Practice. The chapter highlights the importance of Water as it works in our ecosystem and how it helps sustain us as a species, as well as being vital to the overall health of our planet. There was a fascinating quote that appeared in the first paragraph for me that I found quite interesting.

"About 97.5 percent of Earth’s water is salt water. The remaining 2.5 percent is freshwater, most of which is frozen in ice and snow." Robertson, M. (2017) p.90

This quote struck me because the sheer abundance of saltwater on our planet is shocking when compared to the amount that is actually useful to us humans. A mere 2.5% of freshwater is usable which in relation to the massive amounts of saltwater in the oceans is truly a scary number when we all think about how much we already consume. You see people every day buying 24 or 35 packs of bottled water while their tap water at home is largely the same, it's absurd the amount of extra water we end up consuming which doesn't flow back into the hydrologic cycle as quickly as we consume it. This delay in refilling the hydrologic cycle causes a shortage of water and eventually will cause us to not have the amount we need to sustain ourselves.

The following quote is one that highlights the culture we have in the U.S of completely uneven distribution and unsustainable practices.

"In the US, most of the fastest growing cities are in regions with the least water: Texas, Arizona, California, and Nevada, and a large percentage of the nation’s irrigated agriculture is concentrated in areas with limited water supplies, including the Great Plains and southern California." Robertson, M. (2017) p.91

Usage of water for agricultural purposes in areas where they have no natural water seems like quite the oversight in proper conservation practices. I know recently there have been droughts in areas like California that have lasted many months and caused nearly catastrophic damage to many of the areas, and this uneven usage of freshwater has likely worsened that situation. Proper management and rationing of water for non-critical purposes in areas that are deprived of it as a natural resource should be commonplace. Not only would that lessen the environmental impact on these areas when they overuse water, but also their local ecosystems and hydrospheres would be more easily able to collect and refill their own stocks.

The final quote I will be highlighting in this post is about the desalination of saltwater, which in my opinion, if perfected, could be a solution to our freshwater needs.

"Drinking water produced through either reverse osmosis or distillation costs 3 to 5 times as much as water from conventional treatment methods, sometimes more."

Robertson, M p.100

With the sheer abundance of saltwater on our planet, 97% vs 2.5% freshwater, you would think that instead of trying to conserve the amount of freshwater we should just take the salt out of the saltwater and create more freshwater instead. Unfortunately, the reality of this isn't that simple. According to the book, it is 3-5 times more expensive to desalinate salt water instead of just drinking fresh water. If this process is refined or some breakthrough in desalination occurs in the near future, this could potentially solve the water issues our planet will face when climate change begins to set in. If refined it could possibly cheaper and more effective to have plans in local areas providing clean fresh water to the populations instead of having to rely on either groundwater and/or aquifers to provide those resources. This would help keep the hydrosphere of these local areas completely intact as well as still being able to provide all the water needs of the local area. If we've only been using 2.5% up to this point, once we have access to the rest of the water we would have more than we ever need.

Photo Sources: https://www.proptiger.com/guide/post/worldwaterday-10-ways-to-conserve-water-at-home
http://www.croplifeasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CLI_FF_2012_A4_FNts_Pg4_Conserving.jpg

 

A Land Ethic

This week during our work we were assigned to read Chapter 16 of Robertson's book Sustainability Principles and Practice. The concepts in this chapter focused on the need to revitalize and revamp the current system of education in our society. Shifting that focus from one that worked for an industrial society, to one that is now in the transition period to a sustainable one. A quote from the first section that speaks of how our current climate is destabilizing and we need to change our education to stress this came up during my reading. 

"As climate destabilization, fossil-fuel constraints, resource depletion, mass extinction, collapsing ecosystems, economic contraction, and social instability continue to rise in spite of the efforts of highly trained specialists, it seems clear that continuing with the same educational approaches can only lead to more of the same results." 

Robertson, M. (2017) p.317

There are so many multi-faceted important issues facing us as a result of not already having a sustainable world. Just the seven listed by Robertson are already quite scary all on their own, but once they all start happening at the same time should we realize we are too far behind already? Changes must be made in the educational system to engrain students with sustainability in mind. FGCU making Colloquium a mandatory class for graduation is a great start. I personally feel as though conservation and sustainability need to be taught at a much earlier age so that students can grow up with these ideas in mind. Once the seeds of sustainability are planted in a learners mind, per se, then once that person finishes school they are more likely to have a greater understanding of properly sustainable practices and is more likely to spread those on later in life, which will be great for conservation purposes.

The following quote I will be highlighting is from page 320 in the section Learning by Doing: Experiential Learning. 

"If students collect trash from a local stream, they are performing community volunteer work; if they collect trash from the stream, analyze water quality, determine the sources of pollution, examine the role of public policy, and share their find-ings with local residents, they are engaged in service learning."

Robertson, M. (2017) p.320

This quote bothered me a little bit when I reflected on my own service-learning experiences and the others of students here on campus. Many of the service-learning opportunities offered on campus seemingly don't align with what the book says the definition of service-learning opportunities really is. In my past, I have volunteered at the Naples Cat Alliance many times and had others with me as well, but we did not really get any of the other deeper-level examinations as to why we were doing it. I believe that for many more students to take away from their service-learning experiences, their community partners need to internalize how what they're making the students do is a real service-learning opportunity. Instead of just treating it as free labor for the community partner - which is how I think it is currently being used by many partners, make students feel like what they're doing is actually helpful for our local area and ask them to participate more in the service opportunity, even after the volunteer work is done.

My final quote is from the conclusion of the reading, in which Robertson quoted a Chinese collector Kuan-Tzu on one of their philosophies.

Kuan-Tzu, a collection of Chinese philosophical writings from the third century BCE, said: “If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking a hundred years ahead, educate the people.”

Robertson, M. (2017) p.327 

This type of self-awareness is something many people nowadays need to internalize. Far too often now are people so quick to get immersed in their own struggles before realizing that our planet is dying and we need to step up sooner rather than later to take action. Kuan-Tzu says it best that to think about ourselves in one hundred years, we must educate the people so that they can take it into their hands and save the world from us.

Photo Credits: https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2012/08/conservation-education
https://www.symbols.gov/index.html