Theme 6

In theme 6 one of the key concepts is known as sustainable development, this is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This means that during our lifetime we use the things that we need, but also do not use too much or destroy too much of the environment so that the generations after us are unable to use the same things. However this is hard to do because the large population of the world means that we need more resources than are actually available for use to continue with the sustainable development in mind.

Because the world population is still growing, sustainable development is a hard concept to obtain because the large amount of resources that humans consume. However, with the introduction of technology we have become able to work towards sustainable development because of the advancements in agriculture and industrial aspects. In order for us to reach sustainable development we must make lifestyle changes, become involved in political aspect of the development of sustainability, involvement in nongovernmental and volunteer organizations. Many state legislatures created programs trying to bring industries back to areas called brownfields so that these organizations would not go to rural areas and instead would use abandoned lots in urban areas.

Another concept with sustainable development is that of pollution preventions. With the prevention of pollution sustainable development becomes more of a reality, because by preventing pollution we can get more out of the environment and do not destroy and degrade the environment as much as we do now, allowing the future generations to have an earth that is not completely destroyed because of things that we did now.

Theme 3

The Earth contains all sorts of resources that humans use, both renewable and non-renewable. We rely heavily on these resources, yet we do not always realize that some of the resources that we use cannot be replaced fast enough to meet the demands of the humans around the world. According to our textbook a renewable resource is something that is “virtually unlimited or rapidly replaced.” It also says that a non-renewable resource is something that is “limited and replaced only on very long timescales” (p. 103). Some renewable resources are things like sunlight, wind energy, and geothermal energy, while non-renewable resources are things like crude oil, natural gas, coal, copper aluminum, and other metals.

Theme 3 also talks about another key concept, which was biodiversity. This is the “variation in living things at all levels of organization” (p. 104). Within biodiversity there are different types of diversities such as species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity. This biodiversity allows things on earth to change and adapt to the new environment that we are creating through our pollution and consumption of resources on earth. Without biodiversity things on earth would start to become extinct because of a lack of diversity. This diversity is needed to help keep species and ecosystems healthy by getting rid of weak links in the genetics of a species, or the weak links in an ecosystem. Biodiversity provides humans with clean air, food, fuel, shelter, controls disease, and many other things.

Theme 2

The human population is basically killing the Earth. There is no doubt about the fact that we humans are continuously destroying the planet that we need more than anything in order to survive. As the human population grows it creates problems that we need to face in the near future, such as the consumption of non-renewable resources and even renewable resources that lead us into the discussion of “The Tragedy of the Commons.”

The “Tragedy of the Commons” is a concept created by Garrett Hardin which talks about how normally renewable resource is being consumed at such a fast rate that the resource cannot renew itself. For example, the fishing industry presents a perfect example of how it works, in the past there were little to no limits on who could fish and how many fish could be caught. Because the fisherman could fish without limits, they would catch as many fish as they possibly could; since all fishermen were doing the same thing, they began to destroy the fish population making it harder for the fish to reproduce fast enough to remain at a stable number.

Because of the “Tragedy of the Commons,” Hardin proposed solutions to the problems that were created. They consisted of (1) government laws, regulations, and incentives; (2) education; (3) small-group/community involvement; (4) and moral, religious, and ethical appeals. Hardin believed that these four different types of solutions are the key to stopping the problems that we face as the population increases each day around the world. Along with these four solutions, other solutions such as education of women in many countries will help decrease our impact on the environment.

Theme 1

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but the weather in the Tidewater area seems to be staying warmer a lot longer than in years past. In late November and even in early December, we have had days that were in the high 60s and low 70s, which is not something that usually happens in the Tidewater area during this time of the year. Perhaps this is all caused by the increase in the Carbon Dioxide levels that come from the number of cars or factories that are in the area and even around the world. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere correlates with the change in temperature that can be seen in the graph.

Other factors that can change the climate around the world include the thermohaline circulation, which is the ocean current that moves warm and cold water throughout the oceans affecting the climate in areas; another factor is known as El Nino which is a large storm the comes from a shift in the tradewinds that cause warmer water to begin to flow eastward creating a storm. This storm can cause droughts in some areas of the world while causing floods in other areas across the ocean.

Global climate change is a problem that needs attention, but it is unlikely that the climate will change enough in our lifetimes to cause problems for us or even our children. However, we do need to look at ways to reduce our impact on the world in order to stop or at least slow global climate change.