Class Reflection

It seems that every one of my classes has some connections with the environmental fundamentals and issues that have be discussed in this class. physical geography has material on the natural cycles. But it doesn't talk about how people have been adding new pathways. Such as when we mine of phosphorous and extract of fossil fuels. This class discusses the real world issues that surround the material in my other classes. Biology helps me respect the amount of biodiversity that why it must be preserved. So this class supplements and gets supplemented by other my other classes. I also like how i have more insight on all the current environmental issues on the news. Before i didn't know why lake Manitoba was having algal blooms. I certainly didn't know anything about eutrophication (an excess of nutrients, which can lead to algal blooms) and how are actions were connected to it. I now know that actions i have such can have a large effect on the environment. Now that i know i can change my behaviour and actions and decrease the amount of damage i have on the environment.

The Precautionary Principle

The Precautionary principle is even if a potential danger to the environment isn't 100% scientifically proven it will not stop cost effective actions to combat it. On one hand it would stop the indecisiveness that's common when dealing with environmental issues. On the other its the economic considerations that are the cause of the delayed actions. Governments don't want to spend a large amount of money and find out the threat was a dud. I believe it should be implemented but the threat has to have a certain level of scientific verification to be acted upon. It doesn't have to be confirmed just have some research to support it.

How well does the media do at the 7 areas of solid reasoning.

Overall its hard to say if the media is good in certain areas of reasoning because the media is not made of up of one person. Its made up many people with different strengths,weaknesses and if people like it or not sometimes biases. The areas that media does do a good job in is clarity and logic. Articles typically need a clear statement and to be logical or they wouldn't be published or broadcast. but the accuracy is sometimes sacrificed to make "good news". The breadth is usually compromised from bias towards one side because some media establishments tend to be either liberal or conservative and they take one point of view. So it all depends on the journalist's and their editor's understanding of solid reasoning. One article isnt a indicator of media as a whole.

John Francis Walks the Earth: Reflection

John Francis talks about his travels that were done completely on foot and without a word said. After seeing the environmental damage two collided oil tankers caused John to make a commitment he would stop using motorized vehicles. This caused him to get into arguments with people thinking he was trying to make the look bad. He decided he would stop speaking for a day. He found that his silence allowed him to learn a great deal and he kept silent for the next seventeen years. During this time he studied environment at multiple universities (He walked across the States to do so). He has since started to talk and use motorized vehicles again because now being a U.N. ambassador he has responsibilities beyond just his own.
I found it amazing how much he accomplished with the "handicaps" he made for himself. He must have a lot of will power and sense of purpose not to start using vehicles. But i believe he should have started using vehicles again earlier it would have allowed him to accomplish much more in a shorter time. I understand that it sent a good environmental message but after his environmental studies i think he could put his knowlege to greater use with some mobility. His talk also showed me how much you can learn from others by just listening and observing. I may have to try to go a day without talking and see what i learn.

Francis J.John Francis walks the Earth. Avail. from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/john_francis_walks_the_earth.html(Nov.2008)

Selection 36 Summary

The article The Population Explosion Why we Should Care and What We Should Do About It by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Erlich explains that our future is in jeopardy if our population grows at its current rate. It explains further that the rising population isn't the only problem. It's also the increasing strain on the environment to fuel our resource intensive lives. The I=PAT equation has been created to try to quantify Environmental degradation. It takes account of the population, technologies and Affluence per capita. It then questions what would be the best human population size and what steps should be taken to reach it. All the components of the I=PAT must be reduced or we will face a future of lower quality of living.

Paul Ehrlich, Anne Ehrlich. The Population Explosion Why we Should Care And What We Should Do About It. Environmental Law,1997

Selection 32 Summary

The article The Economy of the Earth: Philosophy, Law and the Environment by Dr.Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Myers talks about how close our biochemical systems are to other organisms and how we are all interconnected in "life's web". This connection with the environment means that are use of chemicals is finding its way back to humans, which are causing health problems. In particular its causing Disruption of hormones in both animals and people. We cannot damage the environment and believe there wont be repercussions for our actions.

Dr. Theo colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, John Myers. Our Stolen Future. Dutton, 1996

Selection 42 Summary

The article from Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond discusses the processes and factors that contribute to the survival or death of civilizations. Past civilizations have collapsed from the misuse and destruction of their environment and resources. These collapses usually follow the same pattern of events. An increase in population creates demand for more food and resources. This leads to adoption of environmentally damaging, "unsustainable" agricultural methods which in turn leads to dramatic decrease in population. He then explains how modern societies have attributes that in someways lower the chance of a collapse and in other ways raise the chance of a collapse. He also states that environmental damage is never the sole reason for a collapse. If we do not learn from the mistakes of past civilizations Diamond thinks we may face the same fate. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."(George Santayna)

Jared Diamond. Collapse: How Societies Choose to fail or Succeed. Viking Penguin, 2005