Edward Burtynsky on Manufactured Landscapes

I have watched Burtynsky's documentary and see many of his photographs that show the worlds "manufactured Landscapes. Most people do not witness how there way of life has changed landscapes across the world. Burtynsky's photographs such as the one above from his website (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/) allows you to see the startling reality. This picture shows how oil extraction can scar a landscape. In his photos he gives an excellent sense of the scale allowing you to take the in sprawling landscapes of environmental destruction and urban development. After learning about the oil industry in class, the tar sands in particular. I knew that it was affecting large areas of the environment. But it wasn't until i saw the photos of the Alberta oil sands taken by Burtynsky that i could truly get the true scope of the damage.

Parks Canada Reflection

The mandate of parks Canada founds on their website (http://www.pc.gc.ca/agen/chart/chartr_E.asp) is first to protect "the natural and cultural heritage of our special places and ensure that they remain healthy and whole." Second it is to give access to and "share the beauty and significance of our natural world and to chronicle the human determination and ingenuity which have shaped our nation. " But can Parks Canada meet this dual mandate? I see this mandate as a balancing act the more people you allow access to the parks the harder it is to protect, but if your to protective no one gets to enjoy the natural beauty these parks have to offer. I was at jasper national park a few years back and i observed that when you allow many people access there tends to be some that don't respect or follow proper park conduct. I saw people litter, walk on and degrade areas that were suppose to be off limits to public i even saw parents encourage there children to try to catch and kill the native fauna. i believe for park Canada to achieve there mandate by only allowing guided tours into the areas they are trying to protect. This way people can have access to the parks and the guides can make sure they do not destroy that which they are trying to protect. Wapusk national park because it is fairly isolated and hard to get to has problems with the amount of people it can give access to. Wapusk has a visitor limit and the only way to access it is through authorized commercial tour operators (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mb/wapusk/visit/visit1.aspx). If you ramped up these tour guide operations you could allow more people to experience Wapusk and because their on guided tours people will follow the rules of the parks to preserve the environment.

Selection 26 Summary

Selection 15 Summary

Amory B. Lovins in the article “More Profit with Less Carbon” discusses the economic advantages of becoming more energy efficient and using renewable resources. Amory states that experts on both sides of the climate debate believe that to make more environmentally friendly decisions you will take a hit economically. It then goes on to say that exactly the opposite is true, “it could actually reduce costs.” Many companies have saved money by increasing the efficiency of their energy usage. The U.S. spends less and less energy per dollar a year. This begs the question why more businesses use these energy efficient methods. She states it’s because companies do not see an instant payoff. Our switch to less carbon emitting fuels such as coal to natural gas and oil and renewable sources has also increased energy efficiency. She then goes on to explain how energy efficient technologies and design such as electronic speed controls and house insulation is further decreasing the amount of

Selection 4 Summary

In the article "A sand County Almanac" Aldo Leopold talks about the importance of an ethical relationship with the environment. Aldo starts by telling an anecdote about when he killed a wolf. Its this experience that opened his eyes to the lack of environmental ethics. Ethics are the actions that have replaced free for all competition in the human race. It is a type of "symbiosis" that allows us to cooperate. Ethics have been growing over the years to extend over many areas but still there are no ethics for humans relation with the land. He then states that ethics evolved from the premise that people are interdependent parts of a community. Ethics allow the community o survive and the parts to cooperate. A land ethic would expand the community to encompass soils, waters, plants and animals. He believes an ethical relation can't be formed until people develop respect, admiration and love for the environment. A big reason for this is that the educational and economic systems are pulling us in the opposite direction. The practice of conservation while meaning well does not understand the land or its uses.

Selection 3 summary

The article "Principles of Conservation" by Gifford Pinchot details, you guessed it the principles of conservation. the idea of conservation was formed in two meetings in 1908 the first was the convention of governors and the was the national conservation movement. Conservation was originally only for forestry but it soon spread to encompass all natural resources. Conservation is governed by three simple principles. the first principle is development. this is the use present natural resources to benefit the people of today. the second is prevention of waste. this is to let no natural resource go to waste or be destroyed by fires floods etc.The third principle is the the resources must be used for the needs of the many not the few. It is best summed up in the phrase " the greatest good to the greatest number for the longer time." These principles can also be applied in education, politics, roads, waterways etc. The principles of conservation will lead to the promotion of national efficiency.

Class Reflection

Selection 12 Summary

The millennium Article Ecosystems and Human Well-being outlines the changes needed for a sustainable future. in the last half century Humans have drastically changed the worlds ecosystems. Our development has helped many people but it also has it drawbacks. Natural resources are being degraded and it is mostly the developing nations that are facing the consequences. The poor of developing nations are the most reliant on the ecosystem services. to have sustainable management changes will need to be made. ecosystem management goals must be set and the government made more accountable. The earth is losing its biodiversity because of agriculture and the introduction of invasive species. The largest cause of ecosystem change is caused by the exploding human populations need for more resources. The changes in ecosystems is hampering the ability to meet the millennium development goals to eliminate hunger reduce child mortality and to prevent disease. To ensure sustainable management certain"barriers" must be addressed. Corrupt governments, economic incentives, social factors, underinvestment and low eduction.

Selection 11 Summary

In the article article Will Hurricane Katrina Impact Shoreline Management? Orrin H. Pikey and Robert S. Young describes why trying to fight the water and protect the coast may do more harm then good. Protecting infrastructure on coasts is not economically or environmentally sound. Disasters such as the one in New Orleans caused by hurricane Katrina have happened before. hurricane Camille caused a similar destruction in 1969 ,so did hurricane Frederick, Danny, Georges and Ivan. This has not stopped more development to go up after recovery. After Hurricane Katrina people are calling for two actions. One is to retreat development from the coast. The other is to replenish the beaches. the replenishment option has many faults. It encourages more coastline development putting more people in danger. It doesn't protect from large storms such as Katrina. It has high environmental impact on coastal ecosystems and it usually payed for by taxpayers who wont benefit from it. Federal government should not be the one paying to keep rebuilding the coast. Those who chose to live in these vulnerable areas should face the consequences. But because of America strong ideals to stand in the face of danger and to help victims of disasters it will be hard to abandon these high risk areas. A policy must be created for coastal areas to dictate what communities should be abandoned when destroyed because its not worth rebuilding . Another plan was to restore the wetlands to protect the coast but again this would do little to protect from large storms. the U.S. Needs to completely re haul the national coastal policy.

Selection 7 Summary

Garret Hardin's Article The Tragedy of the Commons discusses ways of solving the problems associated with commonly owned resources and the problems surrounding them. Everyone wants technical solutions to problems with no downsides a but more often then not there will be a negative to the positive. People want to solve the overpopulation problem but do not want to change their way of life. A way to visualize the tragedy of the commons is to think of pasture land that bis open to all. Every herdsman would try to maximize his income which would lead to overgrazing. this eventually lead to the destruction of every thing. This practice is happening in activities such as fishing and the dumping of pollution. The freedom to breed has also lead to this tragedy. If families that had to many childeren were "penalized" overpopulation wouldnt be a problem. But these families are helped out in a welfare state. these large families then leave more childeren in the next generation then those that think and see we need smaller families. so through natural selection eventually that ay of thought will cease to exist. To solve this problem society must mutually agree to set limits and take away commons like we already have with food gathering, waste disposal and atomic energy installations. To solve the overpopulation problem breeding as a commons must be stopped.

Selection 6 summary

Lynn White Jr.'s article The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis provides connections between historical western ideals and our exploitation of the environment. human activities have always effected nature. Actions such as introduction of alien invasive species, new agricultural and hunting methods and construction of boats and dams have all had lead to ecological . Humans have always been a agent of change in nature but we do not to what extent. Starting in the 1850s the idea that science meant technological power spread, sent the human impact skyrocketing. Western technology was originally influenced by Chinese and Islamic science. But it is now western science and its ideals that is predominant throughout the world today. Western Science was born in the middle ages so this is where it gained its characteristics. Since middle age Europe was predominately christian, the religion had a great impact on the sciences. The christian way of thinking is that environment is there to supply the needs of people. This is the attitude that western science took. So unless we adopt a new way of thinking we will continue to exploit nature causing worsening ecological crisis's.

Andy Goldsworthy Review

Most artists use paint and a canvas to create works of art but Andy isn't like most artists. For him Nature is his canvas and his paint. In other words Andy creates his art entirely out of arranging materials found in nature using only his body. Andy says his "remit is to work with nature as a whole"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3663966/Hes-got-the-whole-world-in-his-hands.html)
A big aspect of his art is how it changes and degrades from influences in the environment until its inevitable disappearance. This really makes me think about life and what will i leave behind after I've been "degraded" by nature. The photo to the right really captures those thoughts, Andy layed down on some pebbles in the rain and when he got up he left behind an imprint but it only lasts until everything drys or it rains again. To capture all the "stages" of his work Andy relies heavily on photography.
You can appreciate the time and patience it takes to create his works of art in this clip from his documentary Rivers and Tides(http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TWBSMc47bw)

His art also sends the message that we should connect with nature. They show the beauty you can find in nature if you just take the time to do so. Beyond all the Environmental messages its pretty cool to look at.