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What Can We Do?

Note: Image found on halafocus. https://halalfocus.net/uk-will-people-pay-more-to-ensure-their-meat-is-not-halal/question-mark-nothing/

Throughout this entire blog series we have discussed a diverse range of topics; and the more we have analyzed the more it appears that they become connected at a certain point. We have not, however, come up with a particular solution to what the common man can do. So let us go into what we have discussed and some of the solutions proposed.

For air pollution, we concluded that a global effort is needed greater than before. It would not be easy but is our greatest hope in solving the issue. Yet burning minimal fires and creating minimal smoke is the best way the common man can help the issue.

When it comes to animal conservation, not all of us can go trophy hunting but we can do what we can by donating to conservation groups near us and, if we come across an endangered animal, find a way to protect it from poachers.

In regards to city structures, while we can’t just redesign the entire cities of the world, we can redesign our lifestyles around smart growth principles. Live closer to areas of commerce and instead of driving short distances, walk or take a bike or a bus if you have to. It may just be you but a journey with a thousand miles begins with a simple step.

To conclude this series, like I said at the beginning, we have come a long way in comparison to where we once were. This is not only as a species but even when it comes to the improvements we have made in our environmental awareness. If you were to compare our environment at the beginning of the industrial revolution to today, you would be amazed. We have the problems we still need to fix but with the solutions available, I have faith we will reach a green world.

References

Question-mark-nothing. (2014, May 19). Retrieved from https://halalfocus.net/uk-will-people-pay-more-to-ensure-their-meat-is-not-halal/question-mark-nothing/

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City Structure

Overpopulation has become the center of all of our problems. With a population the size of seven billion people on a small land mass and sharing it with many many ecosystems, we can not use every inch of landmass on the face of the Earth. Logically then, we need to find a way to work with the space we have. Throughout human history, people have been moving to cities for some level of economic opportunity. Recently, however, we have seen cities that have been rising to millions and in some cases billions of people.

In 1900 only thirteen cities had more than one million people living in them. In 2007 on the other hand, we had at least 300 cities that meet this criterion; a third of them in China alone. This has created a diverse range of problems.

The biggest of these and root of the rest is living space has become minimal. This can be traced due to the fact that not only do many people live there, in many of these cities a third of the land area are used as roads for the cars they drive. These amount of cars lead to air pollution. To top it off this many people leads to many of them living in poverty. The poverty is often also traced to poor city design. Many times slums are made to meet up with the demands and the housing in these areas are of poor standard. With the car taking center stage in the cities, it is impossible to have everyone spaced comfortably which could lead to anarchy during blackouts.

The most logical solution is ultimate what Vauban has been doing; that being the use of smart growth principles of keeping important places of commerce within walking distance and have minimal use of cars strictly for long distance travels.

Note: Image found on Freiburg website

These would be difficult to get every town in America, let alone the world, to do it.  If we can get even as much as Europe too, however, we could see a better world because of it.

References

Cunningham, William P., and Mary Ann Cunningham. Environmental Science: A Global Concern. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012.

Modern local planning and district development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.freiburg.de/pb/,Len/618445.html

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Endangered Species

In spite of the dangers many of the world’s animals placed on us at our beginning, the world’s ecosystems have kept a level of order in the environment with different organisms preying on each other to maintain a balance to the world around them. Humans have exploited this since the dawn of our existence. Today, however, many species are dwindling. Species come and go on this planet yet they historically went slowly and other would come to take the place yet they are leaving too fast for that.  The rapid extinction leads to an imbalance in ecosystems which makes everything fall like a house of cards.

They are two primary causes of this much species endangerment:

Loss of habitat

      2. Poaching

With an ever-growing population, more land is needed to plant the crops that feed them, more land is needed simply to house them, more land to build jobs are needed. With more land needed for humans, less land for animals to live on. This can also be attributed to pollution destroying ecosystems entirely as the result of water pollution or air poisoning.  

Poaching is the other primary cause of endangerment. Poaching is the illegal act of hunting of animals for personal gain. Poachers are a cutthroat criminal cartel and will do anything to make money. Adam Conover actually discussed this matter on his TruTv show Adam Ruins Everything to which he described poachers as “A criminal cartel that systematically kills thousands of animals a year….Poachers are organized, ruthless, and they’re decimating animal populations. In some countries, Rhino horns are believed to cure cancer and even hangovers and sells over 28,000 dollars a pound. That’s more than gold or cocaine(Conover)!” Poachers receive minimal resistance from locals as they are busy living out their own lives. Adam Conover actually proposes a rather unusual idea to combat the loss of animals. A concept is known as trophy hunting.

Note: This was found on the timeline of Charles Abeyta on Facebook

While trophy hunting does have a connotation as something rich people do to make themselves feel superior, many countries have taken advantage of the demand for trophy hunting and use the funds to invest in animal conservation. In some countries, this is how they fund animal conservation. Often times they give money to the locals to protect animals in their area; ultimately giving them the incentive to protect them as the animals become worth more dead than alive to the locals. Adam Conover has also pointed out that “One third of all white Rhinos in South Africa,  live on private land; and their population has increased from a hundred to more than eighteen thousand (Conover).”

The idea seems inhumane and it does have it problems in areas where governments are either corrupt or barely managed but it does work in other areas.

References

Charles Abeyta. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/ItsMeCharlieD/posts/2073959155982625

CollegeHumor. (2016, September 21). Why Trophy Hunting Can Be Good for Animals. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUA8i5S0YMU

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Overpopulation

Note: this image was found on Our World in Data.

Like all species on Earth, we repopulate to survive and prevent extinction. It is in the nature of every animal that has moved on the face of the earth to continue the species by reproducing more of itself. As humans have evolved, however, our population has grown. Today it stands at roughly seven billion people and in counting as of 2011. This is becoming a problem. A growing population is nothing new for the human race but now we a growing at a rapid pace never seen before. To put it in perspective, we first hit one billion people back in 1804 and we first hit seven billion in 2011. That means in the span of two hundred and seven years, we have increased our population by six billion people or roughly twenty-eight million, nine hundred and eighty-five thousand, five hundred and seven people per year.

This comes with a whole slew of problems. First, where do we fit all of these people? We do not limitless resources of land and much is already being used for farming and other necessities for human civilization. In fact, resources, in general, are in limitation for such a huge population. More people mean more people to feed, cloth, pay and supply. We do not have the resources needed to maintain a seven billion people population. Not only that in the next fifty years our population is expected to grow upwards of twelve billion people. Essentially, we are reaching our carrying capacity.

The solution is a complex one. Many people have argued we need to regulate the number of children a couple is allowed to have. China at one point had a birth limit in place but they have recently revoked it. This would work in theory but there could be too much resistance to ever make it work. Logically if our carrying capacity is based on the population and the number of resources we have, then we need to either lower our population or increase our resources. If there too much resistance against childbirth restrictions then we must find a way to increase our resources. How we do that? The answer lies in either need to decrease our need for multiple resources or we need to find or create new technology to produce more or even better resources for an ever-growing population.

References

N.(2015) World Population Growth, 1750-2100 [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth#data-quality-of-recent-world-population-estimates

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The ground

The land is both the literal and figurative ground of our existence. Not only are we land animals that would not survive in the sea but we till the land to produce food for our survival. Since we have tilled the land society has become oriented around agriculture. Even in the US, today agriculture is one of the biggest industries as most farms have yet to be outsourced. However, many of their practices in how they till the land is damaging and could have long-term problems.

Many agricultural practices often times damage the soil in the following ways:

sheet erosion(a thin layer taken off of the land surface)

Note: This image was found on https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

rill erosion (where running water cuts into the soil)

Note: This image was found on https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

gully erosion (when rills enlarge to form bigger channels)

Note: This image was found on https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

desertification (where the soil is blown away in extreme conditions)

Note: This image was found on an Al Jazeera article on China’s efforts to fight off desertification written by Rita Alvarez Tudela.https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012126123056457256.html.

Yet this begs the questions what practices lead to this? Well, the following a list of such:

Over Fertilization

Reliance on fossil fuels which make farming in developed countries energy intensive.

Use of dangerous pesticide such as

1. Herbicides-kills plants

2. Insecticides-kills insects

3. Fungicides-kills fungi

These pesticides can lead to a variety of health problems when coming into contact with humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), roughly 25 millions people suffer from pesticide poisoning, 20,000 of them die annually.

Therefore, farmers must use more sustainable practices. These include:

1. Strategic management to reduce pests (such as crop rotation, flooding before planting, mechanical cultivation, and habitat diversification)

2. Pest control with useful organisms like ducks, chickens, geese, and herbivorous insects.

3. Integrated pest management

4. Planting natural repellents

5. Genetics in bioengineering

6. Contour plowing

7. Strip farming

8. Terracing

9. Reduced tillage systems

10. Community-supported agriculture (CSA).

Farmers hold the future of our environment as tillers of the land; such power comes with responsibility. They must be held accountable and their practices be checked for the benefit of all.

References

Cunningham, William P., and Mary Ann Cunningham. Environmental Science: A Global Concern. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012. 

NCRS (NY). Gully erosion in a pasture. [Photograph] retrieved from https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

Mamo, M (NY).  Rill erosion at a construction site [Photograph] retrieved from https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

Mamo, M (NY).  In sheet erosion a thin layer of soil is removed from a large area [Photograph] retrieved from https://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=18&maxto=7

Tudela, R (2012). No title [Photograh] retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012126123056457256.html

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Resources: Renewable and Nonrenewable

As humans, we have always taken advantage of our resources. We are smart animals but on our own, we would not be able to stand our ground against most wild animals. We are weak, fleshy, and exposed to the environment on our own. Moral of the story, if you put a monkey and a naked man in a cage match, the monkey is going to win. Therefore, in order to compensate for our shortcomings as a species and for our own survival, we have searched for resources far and wide and have used them to our advantage in about everything. Yet ironically, today our resources are starting to be our enemy.

What I, of course, mean by this is simply the fact that most of our resources are nonrenewable or they are resources that we cannot regenerate in a reasonable amount of time. Such resources are primarily fossil fuels which damage the environment as is, they are also responsible for the rapid climate change that has recently become a major issue taking the political stage. Therefore, it becomes logical to find more renewable and environmentally safe. Luckily, there have developed a variety of options.

Note: This image is from GRATA INTERNATIONAL.

First, there is the iconic solar energy.  This is perhaps the most prolific of all them as it is the most marketed and developed of the options. Oh, and it was used by the white house under both the Carter and Obama administration. The energy source has its pros as it uses the sun to create electricity yet that is also it’s a con as solar energy doesn’t work well in areas like northern Europe that doesn’t get too much sunlight. Granted there have been efforts transport solar energy but that could be difficult to manage. Then we have wind energy which powers electricity with wind. While wind power is not new, once again it doesn’t work in areas that aren’t so windy. Water energy has a series of similar pros and cons. Biomass is an interesting subject in regards to renewable energy as it in many respects the most universal renewable source we have but harvesting storing and transporting biomass can be a problem. So what is the best option?

Well, it depends on your area in the world. Areas like the Arabian Peninsula would probably be better off using solar energy while Northern Europe is best fit for Wind energy. None of these are perfect they are to be our future if we wish to survive.

References

Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Support for Use of Renewable Energy Sources. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gratanet.com/en/publications/details/Renewable_Energy_Sources_2017

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Solid Wastes

The production of waste, alongside death and taxes,  are one of the few things every one of us has in common with everyone in the world. Half of the waste in the world consists of agricultural such as sewage and crop residue, the rest, however, is produced from the trash we consume every single day as humans.  Disposal in a landfill, however, is a common method in developed countries like the US and accounts for most likely ninety percent of the US municipal refuse(Encyclopedia). This can be derived from the fact that sanitary landfills are the cheapest of disposal methods. This, however, comes with the downside that landfills often use incineration as it ultimately causes air pollution in spite of the energy it often times creates.

This ultimately begs the question of what is there to do? Well interestingly, as time has gone by, we seem to be producing less and less trash.

Note:  This image is from Film Theory: Wall-E’s Secret Villain by youtube Matthew Patrick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlOM32b0FP8&t=528s

As companies are finding it more and more efficient to use less waste in their company and even using the waste they have to produce more goods. This has led to a dramatic decrease to the amount of trash we use. However what about the trash we do have? The answer is quite simple, reduce, reuse and recycle. There are many places and instances where one can use their own trash in a way that can benefit them. So ultimately we need to consciously think about what we can do to better use our own waste to our advantage.

References

Patrick, M. (2018, August). Film Theory-Wall-E’s Secret Villain[Youtube]. Retrieved from YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlOM32b0FP8&t=528s

Solid Waste Disposal. (NY) In Facts on File Infobaselearning.com. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from http://icof.infobaselearning.com/icofencyarticle.aspx?ID=20308&sr=1&tab=1

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Water pollution

Source: Google Images

Similar to air pollution, water pollution has been a major issue since the industrial revolution as industries found it easier and more convenient to dump their residues such as oil, chemicals, and trash into the ocean. This ultimately has had consequences on underwater life as many fish were poisoned or incredibly sick. This eventually led to protesters spreading like wildfire and laws were eventually put in place to stop this. However, water pollution remains an issue to a different extent as oil spills often happen by accident.

Today according to Encyclopedia, “The major pollutants of water are the following:

Sewage and other oxygen-demanding wastes (largely organic material, the decomposition of which leads to oxygen depletion)

Infectious or toxin-releasing agents, such as the parasites Giardia lamblia (which lodges in the intestine causing a diarrheal illness called giardiasis) and Cryptosporidium parvum (which causes cryptosporidiosis, also commonly characterized by diarrhea), as well as the dinoflagellate Pfiesteria and the bacterium Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Plant nutrients, including chemical fertilizers, that can stimulate the growth of aquatic plants, which then interfere with water uses and, when decaying, deplete the dissolved oxygen and produce disagreeable odors

Exotic organic chemicals, including pesticides, various industrial products, surface-active substances ("surfactants") in detergents, and the decomposition products of other organic compounds

Petroleum, especially from oil spills

Inorganic minerals and chemical compounds

Sediments consisting of soil and mineral particles washed by storms and floodwater from croplands, unprotected soils, strip mines, roads, and bulldozed urban areas

Radioactive substances from the wastes of uranium and thorium mining and refining, from nuclear power plants, and from the industrial, medical, and scientific use of radioactive materials

Heat can also be a habitat-disturbing pollutant. Such so-called thermal pollution can occur when increased temperatures in bodies of water result from the discharge of coolant water by factories and power plants. Other possible causes include soil erosion, loss of forest cover along shorelines, and runoff from hot paved surfaces(Encyclopedia).”

With all of this in mind, what can we do? The US government has passed many laws over the years and while they have done their job, accidents do happen. So logically we need to find a way to make it so the accidents don’t happen or rarely happen.

References

Images courtesy of google images

Water Pollution (ND), Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://icof.infobaselearning.com/icofencyarticle.aspx?ID=22866&sr=1&tab=1

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Air Pollution

Source: National Geographic

Air pollution is probably the most prolific of all forms of pollution. This first became a major problem back in the 1800s during the Industrial Revolution where factories were becoming powered by coal and oil which lead to black skies in many major cities like London where it got so bad that it killed people regularly. This eventually (and especially after the infamous killer smog of December 1952), lead to protests of the masses demanding something be done of the issue. This lead to the UK clean air act which has prevented these sort of things from happening ever since.

According to the Encyclopedia. Issues & Controversies, “Some air pollution is caused by natural sources, such as wildfires, volcanic eruptions, or radon gas emitted from the earth. Radon is a prominent cause of pollution of indoor air; other significant sources of indoor pollution include tobacco smoke (see Smoking) and fumes from the combustion of various fuels, as well as asbestos fibers from old insulation and chemicals from furnishings, rugs, and cleaning materials. (Encyclopedia).” More often than not, as the case with most situations in regards to pollution, it is the later. This is an issue that can often kill people as the case with the killer smog of 1952 yet also more recently in developing countries and even world superpowers like China.

This all begs the question, what can be done? This has been an issue that has been addressed by the government all around the world. After the UK passed their clean air act, the US followed suit. Today, pollution has gone down yet still standing, to eliminate it, a global effort is needed greater than before. It would not be easy but is our greatest hope in solving the issue.

References

Air Pollution ND. Encyclopedia Retrieved from http://icof.infobaselearning.com/icofencyarticle.aspx?ID=398&sr=1&tab=1

Frayer K (NY), No Title [Photograph] retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/09/news-air-quality-brain-cognitive-function/#/air-pollution-gettyimages-625667928.jpg

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Introduction

We have come a long way as a species in a variety of ways. A primary example of this is our technology. Millions of years ago we were merely playing with rocks and just learning how to make fires and spears for hunting. Today we have ovens to cook food, heather to keep us warm in the winter and food is grown, processed and shipped to our grocery stores.

These advancements have created a society that has made our lives a paradise and even getting us as a species away from the food chain. All of these acts and achievements are worthy of pats on the back.

However, the path we are currently on is unsustainable. Our creation of plastic has polluted our air and killed many. Our trash dumps have polluted our water supply and killing ecosystems which are finally starting to affect us. Our trash is piling up and taking important land masses. Our ground has been tilled and damaged by poor agricultural practices, our resources are dwindling and newer and more sustainable resources are needed. Our prosperity has led to a greater reproduction rate than ever before; leaving us overpopulated as a species. The species that are pivotal to our ecosystems are dying out before our eyes. To top it all off, our city structure is beginning to work against us.

These are all issues that can lead to our downfall should they escalate into matters far beyond our control. These challenges, however, are nothing we can not overcome nor uncontrollable.  We as humans have endured much in our history and we, like the Phoenix, have risen from the ashes time and time again; now is no exception. As such we must use our chances to research our issues, choose and act upon viable long-term solutions to them. That is the purpose of this blog series.