Jared Diamond - A Tale of Two Farms

"Will tourists someday stare mystified at the rusting hulks of New York's skyscrapers, much as we stare today at the jungle-overgrown ruins of Maya cities?" (Diamond 20)

What Diamond is saying is that it is possible that the big cities of today such as those in New York will one day be ancient sites that people visit for entertainment just as today people visit Mayan cities which once were the greatest cities of their time but are now ruins. Diamond suggests that the reason so many great civilizations have fallen is that its citizens depleted their land's resources. 

Photo by www.comicvine.com

"The fifth set of factors--the society's responses to its environmental problems--always proves significant." (Diamond 27) 

Here Diamond talks about how there can be many factors providing a society's collapse, but only one is meaningful every time: "the society's responses to its environmental problems". (Diamond 27) For example, Norwegians who moved to Iceland thought the land there, was the same as the land they owned in Norway. However, the land turned out to be very different and they ended up destroying much of its topsoil and forests. They later responded to the trouble they had created by taking on stronger ways of protecting the environment and are now among the highest on national average per-capita income in the world. How about that for responding to environmental problems! 

This is a picture of a place in Iceland! 

Photo by www.sceneriies.com 

"Hence the risk arises that, if your trade partner becomes weakened for any reason (including environmental damage) and can no longer supply the essential import or the cultural tie, your own society may become weakened as a result." (Diamond 31)

Often a society will have a neighboring or distant society that provides for it in such ways as selling products produced in that society. This can be of great help but also risky. The reason it can be risky is that if the helpful society is weakened, the same can happen to the society that receives from it.

Photo by crossed-flag-pins.com

"I'm more interested in environmental issues because of what I see as their consequences for people than because of their consequences for birds." (Diamond 33)

Diamond has been accused of valuing nature over people. However, even though he admits he is very involved with nature and does things such as bird watching, he values the results of what is done to the environment more because of what it does for people than for what it does for the animals that live in it such as birds. 

Plan B

What I've read so far from "Plan B 4.0" by Lester R. Brown, has helped me to think about the relationship between economics, production, and the environment. Brown highlights the main issues going on in the world among those three factors, and then introduces an alternative called "Plan B" to reverse the issues such as food shortages created by "soil erosion, falling water tables, and rising carbon emissions." (Brown 4)


"Whatever happens to the wheat and rice harvests in [China and India] will affect food prices everywhere." (Brown 6)


We need each other to have the food we need. China and India are the two leading wheat producers of the world, and because of the melting of mountain glaciers on which the two country's irrigation systems depend, the world will face a threat to food security that is bigger than it's ever faced. (Brown 6)

Photo by Sustainablog.org

"This massive acquisition of land to grow food in other countries is one of the largest geopolitical experiments ever conducted." (Brown 10)

Brown is referring to countries who have surpassed their own land and water resources, and buy land from other countries in order to produce for their own people. It's interesting because the countries that are selling their land are those that need that land the most. One such country is Ethiopia, in which the World Food Programme (WFP) works to feed 4.6 million people. (Brown 11)

"Our mismanaged world economy today has many of the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme." (Brown 14)

This means basically that we are using up the world's supplies in ways in which will eventually leave us without them, and cause a shortage. It looks good for now but soon it will go bad. For example, the world's major aquifers were being overpumped as of mid-2009, and we have more irrigation water than before that started, but once the aquifers are used up, the system will collapse by leaving us with a shortage of irrigation water. (Brown 14)

"our global Ponzi economy was not intended to collapse. It is on a collision path because of market forces, perverse incentives, and poorly chosen measures of progress." (Brown 15)

Unfortunately the way the global economy has worked in the recent past is thinking short-term. It does not regard the limited amount of resources of natural systems. It doesn't include the complete costs of production. Brown gives the example that when we use electricity from a coal-fired power plant we get billed monthly by the local utility. However, we don't get charged for the climate change caused by burning coal.  (Brown 16)

Photo by bwf-group.de

The Precious Everglades

Endgame by Michael Grunwald was a very informative excerpt from "The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise", that helped me see how the Everglades has been and still is a very important area that can't be ignored by those in power.

"The basic message was that it made no sense for the federal government to green-light a major airport at the edge of the Everglades at the same time it wanted taxpayers to spend $8 billion to restore the Everglades." (Grunwald 82)

                                               Photo by harvardpolitics.com

The above quote describes the conflict between building and restoring in the Everglades. The Everglades is an area that many people want protected but at the same time other people have interests such as building an airport there, and it creates a conflict between the two groups of people. I am leaning more towards the restoration of the Everglades since I'm learning how valuable it is to so many species living there.

"But at some level this must fail: just because the policymakers all agree that the sun rises in the west doesn't make it so." (Grunwald 91)

I agree with the above quote originally written by ecologist Stuart Pimm, because even if it's true that all these policymakers are excited and support the bill being discussed it doesn't mean that the bill is actually going to make a difference.

"'We are seeing a rare moment in the closing days of this Congress: both great political parties coming together and doing the right thing', Shaw crowed." (Grunwald 94)

                                                    Photo by nfb.org

I find the way Clay Shaw describes the moment to be exciting. It makes me realize that when it comes to something such as protecting the Everglades, normally opposing groups can come together for a good cause.

"...but Graham really wanted to restore the Everglades because it was singular, because it distinguished south Florida from other sprawling concatenations of tract homes, strip malls, CVS, and KFC." (Grunwald 99)

                                            Photo by bbc.com

This describes how precious the Everglades is. Even though preserving it can reap benefits such as providing aquifers and promoting ecotourism, the uniqueness of it calls for preservation. I've usually looked at the Everglades as a swamp down in the south of Florida. But this makes me reconsider that.  It makes me want to visit it in the future.



                                               

The Wondrous Everglades

The Nature of the Everglades by Marjory Stoneman Douglas is a very detailed excerpt about what makes up the everglades. 

"A few springs may feed them, but no melting snow water, no mountain freshets, no upgushing from caverns in ancient rock. Here the rain is everything." (Douglas 112)

I found it interesting the way Marjory describes how in the everglades, the rain is everything. It made me look at the area as a unique place since it is only the way it is because of rain. 

                                             photo by artifacting.com

"Sometimes far up, far away, between all that panoply, there will be a glimpse of outer space as green as ice." (Douglas 115)

I didn't understand the description here by Douglas. However, it made me feel a sense of wonder at nature, as if I was there looking at what Douglas was talking about. 

                               photo by hdwallpapersfactory.com

"It has that quality of dreaming still, neglected and changed as it is, to this very day." (Douglas 118) 

Here Douglas is describing the Caloosahatchee river. Talking about how it is like a dream wandering aimlessly. I like the description. It made me feel a sense of peace. I could hear the water silently and calmly flowing. 

                                                Photo by thegladesresort.com

"[Hurricanes] attack the Glades from [the Gulf of Mexico]. Later still, they become more freakish and unpredictable, like maelstroms of wind gone wild." (Douglas 119) 

Here Douglas talks about the devastating nature of hurricanes which from time to time invade the everglades. The description by Douglas gives me imagery of destruction. It also reminded me that as beautiful as the everglades can be, it is vulnerable to the wrath of nature itself. 

Photo by screensect.net

Blog A Land Remembered Solomon MacIvey

  Solomon MacIvey is an older man with “tired eyes”. (Smith 1) He closely identifies with his family name; he says that none of his ancestors died in a house such as the one he lives in and he won’t either. (Smith 2) He would rather remember things as they were originally than to see them the way they are now. (Smith 3)  

     Solomon misses the old and greener Florida he lived in. At this point in his life he observes keenly the changes that have come to pass since his childhood. He says he "...would rather see things as they once were." (Smith 6) That is the reason why he is going to Punta Rassa to live in the cabin that his dad built. In fact, he wants to invite his half brother Toby Cypress to go with him to hunt, fish, and plant a garden. Solomon is looking to connect with the nature he knew when he was young. 

     Solomon has a strong sense of place with Punta Rassa. It is where his father built a cabin and where he is headed to enjoy his last days. Toby tells Solomon a saying that describes how when an old man is about to die, he goes to the place where he was born and raised, sort of like a place he feels at home in. For Solomon, that's Punta Rassa. Even though he regrets having built as much as he did, Solomon will leave behind preserves for animals and money to go along with it to continue the production of reserves.   

     As Solomon wants to go to his childhood home, I also want to go to my childhood home and enjoy the places I remember. Solomon feels a sense of place with Punta Rassa. I feel a sense of place with the mountains and beaches of Ecuador. I also wish for it to be preserved the way I remember it. 

Photo by www.tripadvisor.com

What's in it for me?

The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold helped me look at nature from a moral perspective, seeing it as a living organism just like a human being.

Photo by lotr.wikia.com

"Is history taught in this spirit? It will be, once the concept of land as a community really penetrates our intellectual life." (Leopold 62)

Land is a part of our world. Our buildings and communities are built on it. But as far as it being a community, I've never thought of it that way. It probably should be treated as a community however, since it affects us in our every day life. I know that from the land we receive food, nutrients, resources, and life. I like the concept of land as a community.

photo by hilariousstatuses.thoughts.com

"We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in." (Leopold 68)

I think that Leopold is saying in the quote above that people can say right and wrong only to something that can be seen, felt, understood, loved, or otherwise trusted. I think this ties in with the idea of humanity being part of a greater community. If people would see themselves as part of the greater natural community then maybe they would care for it in a more ethical way, not just looking at what could be gained economically but how it will affect it and its health. 

"Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals." (Leopold 69)

This also ties in with humanity being part of a greater community of land. Why? because land is part of a connection of energy that flows through all kinds of organisms; even through us. 

                                               photo by myweb.rollins.edu

"The 'key-log' which must be moved to release the evolutionary process for an ethic is simply this: quit thinking about decent land-use as solely an economic problem." (Leopold 76)

Leopold seems to say that the main obstacle holding people back as a whole from treating land ethically is that it is looked at from a pure economic perspective without any thoughts on if it is right or wrong. Leopold continues by saying that it is right when the community's integrity, beauty, and stability is maintained; otherwise it is not right. (76) I think he is right.    

Natural Therapy

Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment by Richard Louv opened my desire to explore and enjoy the outdoors, especially nature.

  photo by outdoor-health.sportsxfitness.com

"Some states now allow students to earn P.E. credits online." (Louv 2)

I am very surprised that this is a possibility for students now. P.E. was a very fun and refreshing class for me at school. I would get to interact with other kids and enjoy the fresh outdoor air. I imagine that the online classes will still have an outdoor component, no doubt, but having it during school hours was a very fun part of my day and made me look forward to going to school. Also, after P.E. I felt more awake, so that helped me in my studies.

                                                       photo by www.ecomii.com

"But based on accumulating scientific evidence, I believe the concept--or hypothesis--of nature-deficit disorder is appropriate and useful as a layperson's description of one factor that may aggravate attentional difficulties for many children." (Louv 2)

I found it clever that Richard Louv comes up with the name "nature deficit disorder" as a way to describe ADHD. It emphasizes the powerful impact that spending time in the outdoors can have in helping a young kid with ADHD to feel better and perform better.

                                                 the-parenting-magazine.com


"Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle maintains that each hour of TV watched per day by preschoolers increases by 10 percent the likelihood that they will develop concentration problems and other symptoms of attention-deficit disorders by age seven." (Louv 4)

That's a pretty alarming statistic to read about. It just serves as good advice for raising young kids: don't let them sit in front of a TV longer than they are playing outside or even just engaging in an activity that isn't watching TV, such as dancing. The one thing I don't understand is why watching TV could have such an impact on preschoolers. Is it that it takes away from other activities which would help the preschooler do better at social situations as well as paying attention and sitting still in class?

                                                          www.shutterstock.com

"And, as Kuo points out, prescribing "green time" for the treatment of ADHD has other advantages: it's widely accessible, free of side effects, nonstigmatizing, and inexpensive." (Louv 11)

I think that if "green time" were added to the treatment of ADHD it would be a great tool. Just as Louv says, it would be very easy to do as it entails going outside into nature, which isn't hard to find too often. It is also "free of side effects", which is a huge benefit as many drugs used to treat mental illnesses have annoying or debilitating side effects. It also doesn't put any negative labels on the patient as he/she can look at the treatment as just having some fun outside and I imagine sometimes friends or family may be incorporated into the treatment. Finally, it would be inexpensive, as money is not much of a necessity to be able to go into nature and do things such as fish or run. If anything, comparably it would be less expensive than other types of treatments used for treating ADHD.