Blog 6- Interesting Links

Save Ink by Changing Font:
An interesting link to a news story about how changing fonts can save you ink, (and money)!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20001913-93.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Some links to water numbers, relating to our discussions in class about how humans waste alot of things, including water. These numbers are shocking, it is unecessary to use 20 liters of water per toilet flush.
http://home..cc.umanitoba.ca/~ggoldsb/toxicology/auditdata.pdf

Blog 6- Activity- Paddle to the Sea

Link to the film Paddle to the Sea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQuTBmW4RU

This film is about a young boy who resided on the northern shore of Lake Superior, above sea level. The young boy, Kyle Appletaggen, learned that where he lived was at the height of land, where water flowed downward towards the sea. One winter he carved a little man out of a cedar tree and named him "Paddle to the Sea". He melted lead to keep Paddle upright and carved at the bottom "please put me back into the water". He then put him a hill with snow and left him there for when the snow melted he reached the river.
Paddle was at the mercy of wind and waves, and danger that lied ahead. He could have been something to eat, or he could have ended his journey as a drift wood. One day he disappeared completely under the ice and snow. Then one day he was free again to travel to the land of people, past great waterfalls, he then reached Detroit on the 4th of July which was only 1500miles from the sea.
The world of man was dangerous and dirty, all sorts of filth and grime was dumped into the river. Downstream was Niagara Falls, which he survived.
He reached an animal sanctuary where all creatures were protected, and where a beaver could have used him as driftwood for his dam. He was caught by a young boy who played with him and accidentally released him back into the river. His next big bang was the great locks that the great ships had to also make it through.
One day, fishermen who went out to fish cod which is only found in the sea, accidentally caught him. Paddle had been in the water so long the paint was all worn off but the fisherman was still able to read "put me back into the water". Then the lighthouse keeper caught Paddle and was going to add him to his model boat collection, he then thought about the currents in the great sea. He though they might lead him to a warm shore in Africa or on the cold banks of Norway. Who knows how far he may go? or how far he came from?


This story is very old but very cute as well. It makes me think how no matter how long it takes for Paddle, or whatever it may be, the rivers and lakes are all connected together. The filth such as toxic wastes or plastics, that was dumped into the lakes by humans with Paddle, also traveled with him to the great sea, and might also follow him to the warm shores of Africa or Norway.
We are all connected, what one country does with their waste affects the entire world as one. We have to stop thinking in the sense of "out of sight, out of mind" because with this theory we are harming ourselves, eventually to the point of no return, the point where the holistic world's water is polluted.

Blog 6- Blog Reflection- Sewer/ Sludge/ Waste

I live outside of a rural town 40 minutes outside of Winnipeg. I live 5 minutes from either small community. My household has its own waterwell and septic system that is not connected to anyone else. Where does your sludge ("biosolids") go?
What happens in my situation is that the septic tank collects all "biosolids", the liquids are released in our backyard into the ground. The biosolids are collected every 2 years or when the tank is full, it is then brought to a lagoon nearby where it then sits until that also gets full and needs to be emptied. The question I had when doing this blog reflection was: "Where does the lagoon get emptied and when?" Well, the answer is where else can it go? When the lagoon is emptied the laws state that they are required to inform all residents and farmers of that area before doing so. The sewage is then dumped, without filtration or treatment, directly into the Rat River. The lagoon does not have enough time to filter all the nutrients from the septic pool, therefore it is certain that it is solid human feces sent into our river. As for the liquids from my household they are released in the backyard out towards the wetland that we have in our backyard, which is very close to the rat river. I am sure most of this is filtered naturally and very well from this natural ecosytem, our wetland, that we have available. Our water comes from a personal water well that we have dug into the ground. We have never had problems with our water therefore the wetland we have in our backyard must be doing very good work in cleansing our water.

Does this surprise you?
This does not really surprise me. After learning about sewage and waste in class, I have come to realize that there is no modern, environmentally friendly way of dumping our sewage. Unless treating it, which has a high cost. But for rural areas there is no treatment area available. We use the natural environment as our waste dump, we only hope the land will continue to do its job. Where else would our waste go? As for the liquids being realeased into our backyard soil, there is no better way. We are using the natural ecosystem provided to us, which does not require any energy to keep running.
I am sure this is leading to eutrophication in Lake Winnipeg but there is nothing me or you can do as individuals to stop this, we could only make awareness of this problem.

Blog 6- At the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Why Political Questions Are Not All Economic

It is impossible to place economic values on physical well-being. In this selection, Mark Sagoff challenges that the true values of all things can be judged by what people are willing to pay for them in the marketplace. The concept is the limitations of economics in making environmental policies.

In Lake Ontario, the government disposed of the residues of the Manhattan Project. The New York State and local corporations replied "People who smoke, take greater risks than the people who live close to waste disposal sites.

If you take the Military Highway, from Buffalo to Lewiston, you will pass through wasteland. In all directions enormous trucks deposit sludge then bury in into the ground, there are no birds, no scavengers. It is where factories have fled, leaving their remains to decay.

This selection is concerned with the economic decisions we make about the environment, it also concerns political decisions about the environment. According to this there is only an environmental problem when some resource is not allocated in equitable and efficient ways at the level of the consumer. According to this view, the only values we have, are those that a market can price. "In principle, the utimate measure of environmental quality is the value people place on these services or their willingness to pay." We act as consumers to get what we want for ourselves, we act as citizens to achieve what we think is right or best for the community.

Mark Sagoff says he speeds on the highway, yet he wants police to enfore laws against speeding. He loves his car, and hates the bus. Yet he encourages the taxation of gasoline for public transportation. He encourages Endangered Species Act yet has no use for the Squawfish or the Indiana bat.

The cost-benefit analysis establishing that the benefits of the regulation to society outweigh its costs. These standards may conflict witht he goal of efficiency and still express and still express our political will as a nation. The policies may reflect ot on the personal choices of self-interested individuals, but the collective judgments we make on historical, cultural, aestethic, moral, and ideological grounds.
The Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. Exposure level for benzene was then reduced in 1977. The American Petroleum Institute argued, with much evidence, that the benefits to workers standard did not equal the costs to the industry.
The analyst ask workers, environmentalits, and others how much they are willing to pay for what they believe is right.
The cost-benefit approach treats people as of equal worth because it treats them as of no worth, but only as places or channels at which willingness to pay is found.
In the modern world, opposed to the ancient, emphasizes on political liberties, rights of privacy and property over those of community and participation. Here the values we wish to protect are- cultural, historical, aesthetic, and moral- and public ones which is right for the community. Hazards are regulated as a matter of right, not a commodity.
Oppositions and arguments against the cost-benefit analyst are value judgments that are nothing but espressions of personal preference, or personal gain.
The analyst is able then to base policy on preferences that exist in society and are not necessarily his own.
The corporations are "just people serving people," is consistent with particular view of power. The is the view that identifies power with the ability to get one what one wants as an individual, that is, to satisfy one's personal preferences. When government officials put aside their personal interests, they then put aside their power as well. The cost-benefit analyst is not enough to make positive changes in environmental laws.

Blog 6- Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment

In this selection Sandra Steingraber analyses what is known and unknown about the relationship between environmental factors and cancer. She argues that we can do little to change our genetic inheritance, but much can be done to reduce human exposure to environmental carcinogens.
Sandra had bladder cancer as a young adult. She explains to people the study of cancer among correlations within adoptive families but not within biological ones. Families share environments as well as chromosomes, our genes work with substances from the ecological world. What runs in families does not necessarily run in blood.
Sandra's Aunt Jean died of bladder cancer. Her father's relatives, Raymond and Violet both died of colon cancer, and LeRoy is currently under treatment. Her Uncle Ed is now being treated for prostate cancer, her borther-in-law, Jeff who cleans chemical drums for a living, had intestinal cancer. Her mother survived metastatic cancer, although her mom's two doctors died of cancer. In 1974 women were propelled to doctors' offices in the result that a lot of women were diagnosed with breast cancer in a short period of time.
Sandra began collecting articles when an article caught her eye, an article called: Scientists Identify Gene Resposible For Human Bladder Cancer. Researchers who found how to transform normal mouse cells into cancerous ones, they then located the segment of DNA resposible for the transformation. The message sent out by this changed gene was utterly changed; guanine instead of thymine; valine instead of glycine. Also associated with transitional cell carcinomas are surplus numbers of growth factor receptors. Their overexpression has been linked to the kinds of gross genetic injuries that appear near the end of the malignant process. For example bladder carcinogens called aromatic amines- are present in contaminants in cigarette smoke, added to rubber, formulated in dyes for cloth, leather and paper; used in printing and color photography, and featured in the manufacture of certain pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Aromatic amines are detoxifyed by the body through a process called acetylation: which more than half of Americans and Europens are estimated to be slow acetylators. Bladder carcinogens were among the earliest carcinogens ever identified.
Somewhat less than half of all bladder cancers among men and one-third of all cases among women are related to cigarette smoking. The rest comes from rivers, ground-water, dump sites, and indoor air. Little to nothing is known about how these substances behave in combination.

An obsession with genes and hereditary ones prevent us from adressing cancer's environmental roots. At 10% hereditary cancers are the rare exception. Therefore finding "cancer genes" is not going to prevent the vast majority of cancers that develop.
Genetic risks and consequences of these inheritances are that people become even more sensitive to environmental carcinogens.
Cancer incidence rates are not rising because new cancer genes are sprouting.
In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's knowledge leads us to reject those who claim there is simply no choice but to continue filling the world with poisons.
Exposures during young adulthood, adolescence, childhood, and prior to birth are relevent to our present cancer risks. Afterall, except for the original blueprint of our chromosomes, all the material that is us has come to us from the environment.
Even with the lowest value, 2% in the US die from environmentally caused cancers, this is more than the number of teenagers and children who die from firearms- which is a nationally considered issue.
The alternative presumes that toxic substances will not be used as long as there is the availability of a safer choices. Laws need to set legal maximum limits on toxics present in air, food, water, workplace, and consumer goods.

Blog 6- Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services

In this selection it is said that the loss of biodiversity is a problem because it theatens the stability of ecosystems and its ability to adapt to changes in climate and other conditions. Farmers are worried since there is a lowered number of wild bees and other pollinators, and fisheries are concluded this can be the ned of commercial fishing.
Marine ecosystems have an accelarating loss of populations and species across temporal and spatial scales. Marine biodiversity loss is imparing the ocean's ability to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbation, yet it is still reversible. Species richness may enhance ecosystem productivity and stability. Marine ecosystems provide a wide variety of goods and services, including food resources for millions of people, as well as for the population living close to the coast, the services lost would flood control and waste detoxification. These changes are caused by exploitation, pollution, and habitat destruction. Ecosystems such as estruaries, coral reefs, coastal and oceanic fish communities are rapidly lossing populations, species, and entire functional groups.
Experiments were done to examine the effects of variation in genetic or species richness on productivity, resource use, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem stability. These effects have been continuously debated. All experiments showed increased diversity enhanced all ecosystem processes, diversity enhanced ecosystem stability which is the ability to withstand recurrent perturbations. Experiments demonstrated the importance of diverse food srouces, and on the life processes such as growth, survival, and fecundity. All results indicated positve lankages between biodiversity, productivity, and stability across marine ecosystems.
Experiments done on coastal ecosystems revealed a rapid decline of native species diversity since industrialization, and systems with higher regional species richness appeared more stable. There were also a loss of filtering services because of the decline in water quality and the increasing occurence of harmful algal blooms, fish kills, and beach closures, and oxygen depletion.

The experiments on large marine ecosystems revealed that globally, the rate of fisheries collapses below 10% of the recorded maximum has accelerated over time.
The experiments on marine reserves and fishery closures acknowledged the pressing question on whether management on loss of services can reverse effects, once it has occured already. It was found that reserves and fisheries closures increased species diversity, averaging a 23% increase in species richness associated with large increases in fisheries productivity. Community variability was reduced by 21% on average, and the tourism revenue increased after they were established which translates into extractive and nonextractive revenue.

It can be concluded that there are positive relationships between diversity and ecosystem functions and services that were found using experimental and correlative approaches. Studies suggested that elimination of populations and species impairs the ecosystem. Theories, experiments, and observations across widely different scales and ecosystems. High-diversity protection has economic and policy implications that must be viewed as interdependent societal goals.
By restoring marine biodiversity we can invest in the productivity and reliability of the goods and services that the ocean provides to humanity.

Blog 6- Life and Death of the Salt Marsh

I found a link related to this selection about salt marshes. I found it interesting because, for one it was a canadian issue and secondly its about the protected land in New Brunswick where I will be moving in August. This link explains how the area 20 kilometers west of Saint-John is being protected by WWF-Canada, Conservation Planning and Atlantic Region. The Musquash Estruary is the last largest intact and pristine salt marsh in the Bay of Fundy. I am excited to travel the east coast in August, I will definitely be heading out to see this area to see for myself why this area is protected. The link is: http://thegreenpages.ca/portal/nb/2007/03/dfo_praised_for_nb_salt_marsh.html.

In this selection, there are discussions of wetland ecosystems and the urgent need for wetland protection as an ecological significance.
Along the eastern coast of North America lies a green ribbon of soft, salty, wet, low-lying land, called the salt marshes. The ribbon of green marshes has a definate but elusive border as the tides of the Atlantic fluctuate. There the grass sounds like wind on the prairie, there is music of moving water, and sounds of birds, or marsh hen, and clapper rail. There is a thunder of herds of crabs moving as they flee feet or migrate in search of food. If you listen you can hear the bubbling of air from the sandy soil below. These wetlands are also filled with smells of sea and salt water, a little iodine, dead life, and smells of grass. These are clean, fresh smells, that are pleasing to one.
In marshes that have been disturbed, dug up, suffocated with trash, poisoned and eroded with wastes from large cities, the smell is different. These marshes smell of hydrogen sulfide, like the smell of rotten eggs.
Some marshes can be walked on, although the footing is spongy. In the southern marshes only one grass covers the entire parts of the marsh area, and provides firm footing. In the northern marshes there is mud rather than grass, it feels like walking on a huge trampoline.
As you walk seaward, the mud has less root material and is less firm. On the edges of the creek, where the rising tide reaches resistance, it is slowed and drops the mud it has been carrying, the ground here is firm and even dry and hard.
Down toward the creek, there are no roots to make solid, nothing but mud and water fighting to hold the area.

The dangers to salt marshes stem from human activities, not natual processes. We destroy wetlands and shallow water bottoms directly by dredgin, filling, and building, and by pollution. The increase in human population along the coast has brought a pressure to destroy more and more marsh estruarine systems. Preserving these areas brings many benefits to everyone, it is not simply for the preservation.
Some destruction of preserved wildlife areas is inevitable. Roads must be built to the marshes, along the edges of marshes for easy access.
The planning of wetland preservation could be approached at a state level, but better would it be if it were approached as a national level, since it isnt independant marshes but the whole marsh system that needs to be analyzed. Planning demands need to start by classifying the value and importance of every marsh. Safeguards against development and the last of land being diverted to industrial use must be set in place. Corporate blackmails is hard to withstand and brings high pressure on organizations controlling the marshes.
Pressure also comes from state officials. The battle is between the forces of development and conservation.
In many of our National Parks this conservation is in place, now we need to preserve different sorts of natural resouces- as the ribbin of green marshes alond the eastern coast of North America.

Blog 5- Voluntary Simplicity

Voluntary Simplicity is a way of life that will fight affluenza. Our American culture has seismicaly shifted to a consumer culture that has impoverished the meaning of wealth. The word wealth now means materials, aesthetics and intelligence but what it represents trully is what we make of it. Wealth means health, social acceptance, healthy ecology, spiritually connected and intellectual. We must learn to live a simpler, more sustainable life.
In a way wealth is what is left when material is taken away. The raw picture of your life is not represented by money or cars.
We must live a self-sufficient self and learn how to live life to its fullest. The following link describes voluntary simplicity and encourages you, ironically, to buy magazines that can help you determine what is it that makes you happy. http://www.simpleliving.net/
My values are headed in the right direction, I have a man who discourages me from purchasing things I do not need and I love him for that. We enjoy going out and spending money on nice dinners but we enjoy so much just staying home and interacting with each other. I live in the country so I do not have the oportunity to buy many clothes other than when I go to the city for school. I do admit that when I am in the city I get that urge to go buy myself something regardless of what it is I always need something. I usually stop myself, I try to sleep on the idea of if I really need that thing, whether it be shoes or a new jacket. I do know that being surrounded by consumers all the time does give me the urge to want those things too but I know better.

Blog 5- Afflenza

Affluenza is a socially contagious condition of the desire to want more things. There is huge evidence around me that this condition is valid and that it is only becoming worst. When I reflect on the people around (my family) I do not see a lack of time, but I do see connections to things that are irrelevant but are a huge part of their lives. For example, my sister has been working for the last 7 years at the same place, which is dont get me wrong a very good thing, but she has not been able to take a vacation in 5 years. She has worked monday to friday every week for the past 5 years. This is shocking to me because her employment could do without her for a bit but they discourage her to take time off. Work is a very important part of all of our lives but everyone needs to get away and meditate, enjoy themselves, relax, and rejuvenate.
Why do we work so much and why is it never enough?
We all work because life in North America requires many things; we need warm clothes, a home, a car, food, and entertainment. These are basic needs which some we could do without but most of us do have them. In North America there is an image put out that values individualism not relationships, family or communities. This image makes us believe we need to look a certain way, or have certain things, but that feeling of fulfillment only last a certain time, then we need to work, rush and do more and more overtime to feel that fulfillment again. The truth is that feeling cna be filled with family and a sense of belonging to something. In my household we value family greatly, I have two older sisters, whom are both on vacation right now and I miss them dearly. My brother-in-laws are gone and so is my one month niece. When they are around I enjoy spending time with them. I always have questions for my older sisters and they are always there to answer them. I am not a materialistic women, I have a car that gets me from point A to point B, and a job that pays the bills while I'm in school. A very good example to prove that I do not suffer from affluenza is that me and my boyfriend plan on getting married this summer and I told him to not get me a ring, well I did say get me a ring made of bamboo for the significance. The point here is he makes me happy, and a legal document proving we are bonded together would make our lives so much easier.
Affluenza can easily be fought, simply by spending more time well not spending money for one, and being outdoors connecting with life whether it be a person, an animal or the supernatural world you feel when entering a forest. Spending time outdoors reduces stress levels significantly, does not cost any money, and is good for your health since your body is exercising itself.

Blog 5- Restoring Rivers

Life on Earth is dependent on water. Life on land requires clean, fresh water.

Nowadays controversial fights over water rights are happening in courtrooms and on battlefields.

In this selection, Margaret A. Palmer, and J. David Allen argue that rivers must be restored because they perform essential ecological and social functions such as mitigating floods, providing clean drinking water, removing excess nutrients, and supports fisheries and oceans. The present efforts are not sufficient or equal to the human dependence on these natural systems.

Restoration of waterways is not a luxury it is a national plea. A time where water shortages are becoming more common even in eastern states, when there used to be an abundance of this resource. Aquatic wildlife is going extinct at a much higher rate than terrestrial organisms.

The National River Restoration Science Synthesis does not include evaluation or assessment of actions being taken.

Since people have always chosen to live and work near water, dilution used to be the solution to pollution.

Damming, cutting down riparian forests and filling in wetlands have all been done to ease transportation on water.

The primary reason why rivers and streams are still being degraded today are poor stewardship, human activities and alterations of the landscapes. When land is cleard and replaced with pavement the water now is moved primarily by runoff and taking longer to soak into the soil. This causes many flash floods.

Urbanization and agriculture, two primary issues with runoff contaminents, are tougher to enforce and fix since they are not point source discharges.

The problem is that there are no policies to support restoration standards, to promote the use of proven methods, or to provide basic data for planning restoration.

The solution to pollution is to reform federal, state, and local policies.

There needs to be a method of tracking restoration projects to learn from past mistakes.

There needs to be a national study to evaluate which restoration projects are effective. This is important to make sure projects are doing what they are set to do and that money is well spent.

Existing funding needs to be more effective, replacing and supplementing current funds. There is a large restoration project that is effective, but since the cumulative cost of smaller projects is higher, better coordination needs to happen.

Along with better funding planning and effectiveness, current funding is not enough compared to the benefits that clean, fresh water provides for the ecosystems.

With this said, rivers and streams can once again flow clear and clean.

Blog 5- Towards Sustainable Development

In 1983, the United Nations established a World's Commission on Environment and Development, which was awarded the responsibility of producing a "global agenda for change". The international effort of this agenda was to address global environmental issues while promoting equal economic development. The term "Sustainable Development" has become somewhat of a catchphrase that appears in most discussions regarding environmental issues.
Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The term contains two important key elements: the "needs" of the worlds poor overriding priority; the limitations of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs. Renewable resources need not be depleted provided the rate of use is within the limits of regeneration and natural growth. Non-renewable resources use reduces the stock for future generations.
Thus the goals of social and economic development must share certain features, and must flow from the basic concept of sustainability. Attention must be paid to changes in access to resources, distributions of costs and benefits equitable between generations. Our world where poverty and inequity is evident, we are prone to ecological crisis. Sustainable development requires meeting the basic needs to extend the opportunity for a better life, it requires economic growth where needs have not yet been met.
High levels of productive activity and poverty are related and both endanger the environment. Technological development may solve some immediate problems but lead to even greater ones.
Minimally, sustainable development must not endanger the natural systems that support life on Earth: the atmosphere, the waters, the soils, and the living beings.
One problem is that growth has no limits in terms of population or resource exploitation which is an ecological disaster.
Development tends to simplify ecosystems and reduce their diversity of species. Species, once extinct, are non-renewable.
Overall, sustainable development is a process change which exploitation of resources, action of investments, technological development, and institutional change are interlinked and include both current and future generations.
Sustainable development can be achieved with education, institutional development on strict liability, and law enforcement.
Everything would be better if everyone took into account the effect their own actions upon others. But each is unwilling to assume that others will behave in this socially advantageous way, therefore all continue in a narrow self-interest.
Since the issue of pollution is beyond borders, there needs to be an international cooperation.
Globally, wealthier nations are better placed with their finances and technologies to cope with possible climate change, hence our undesire to stop social injustice.
The role of public policy is to ensure, through incentives, that organizations find it worthwhile to take account for environmental factors in technologies they develop.
There is a need to integrate economic and ecological considerations in decision making, sustainability needs the environment and economics to merge.
Sustainability requires enforcement on responsibilities of people' s impacts of their decisions. This requires a stricter legal framework. But the law alone cannot enforce common interest. Communities' knowledge and support principles need greater public participation in the decisions that affect the environment.
What matters is that the goals take action on national and international development, and the sincerity and effectiveness of these actions.

Blog 5- Controversy at Love Canal

In this selection Beverly Paigen speaks about the toxic chemicals being disposed of in open lagoons in the Love Canal located in Niagara Falls, New York.

The controversy at Love Canal with its political and economic factors became serious obstacles and raised serious important ethical questions.
The controversy was predominantly political in nature and it raised a series of questions that had more to do with values than science.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 50,000 hazardous waste sites exist in the United States, and 90% of these are potential health threats. This shows that the hazardous waste problem is large, not only because of the number of sites, it is usually close to where people live and work.
In 1942 Hooker Chemical Corporations began filling a half-mile long canal with 21,000 tons of 200 or more chemicals. The Niagara Falls Board of Education approached Hooker Chemical about purchasing the site for a school. Hooker Chemicals claimed that it warned the Board of Education that the site was not appropriate. Later, an elementary school was built in the center of the site and on the north and south portions were sold to developers who built homes alond the banks of the former canal.
In 1978 primary actions were taken by the state in purchasing 239 homes near the canal due to health complications of the families. The houses ouside this barrier were said to be fine, but the community was not reassured since there was seepage through basement walls, chemical odors in homes, and odors at storm sewer openings. The residents also questioned why there seemed to be multiple miscarriages 3 to 4 blocks from the canal.
When Beverly Paigen plotted results on a map, she revealed a strong geographic clustering of disease that was related to stream beds and low marshy areas. In these areas she found an increase in miscarriages in pregnant women who lived in wet homes compared to those who lived in dry homes. Birth defects were also higher in wet homes, among these were minor and more serious birth defects such as heart defects, kidney problems, mental retardation and deafness. Asthma was also of concern along with various symptoms of central nervous system toxicity. Among the most severe nervous system problems only the most severe were chosen for Berverly's study, only the group who admissioned into a mental health hospital and suicide attempts were chosen.
Beverly suggested to the Health Department that the hypothesis that needed to be tested was adverse pregnancy outcomes were more frequent in wet homes than in dry homes.
Hooker Chemical company claimed they used state-of-the-art technology in burying the waste and that they warned the Board of Education not to build a school on the site. The goal of the Department of Health was to protect health, the salaries of the department's workers come from tax payer's, therefore when the health effects were ignored or minimized this was not acting in a manner with its goals and responsibilities for the community.
The failure to resolve any controversy may be advantageous to one side. In this case the state had much to gain from the delay of the warnings. This issue is ethical, it is not about preserving state resources.
Opponents may not agree on the question that needs to be answered. Reactions were angry when the commisioner announced that fetus were at higher risk and only pregnant women would be evacuated.
In any controversy, not one group should be in control of the information gathering process. There must a way developed in providing communities with access to resources and expertise.
At Love Canal, scientists working for the State who disagreed with the officials were demoted, transferred or harassed. Beverly was among those harassed, her ability to raise funds for her research was tampered. Her professional mail arrived already opened, and her office was entered outside of working hours.
Scientists need a code constructed for the openess of data, peer review and criticism, publication of data, and replication of experiments. Beverly requested for data under the Freedom of Information Act but her request was denied.
In an attempt to resolve a controversy, all parties should agree on what issues need to be resolved. Such a logical understanding rarely occurs. It would be wise to include representatives of the local community in these meetings along with policy makers, scientists, outside scientists.
In the controversy at Love Canal, there were several charges that happened. The manipulation of health data, to minimize risk. Unexplained delays before the State was willing to admit a health problem. Demotion, transfers, and harassment of state employees. An an effort from the State to discourage independent professional health studies.
Scientists should adhere to a code for openess of data. Secondly, community involvement should be looked for and funds should be provided for the community.
Many issues at Love Canal were scientific in nature, but they had ethical roots.

Blog 5- Living My Politics Weekly Spending

My Weekly Spending

Rank Item Place Price

Friday March 12
Good Groceries Food Market $21.71
Bad Beer Bar $20.50
Ugly Gas Shell $30.00
Bad Book Chapters $18.00
Ugly Drinks Boston Pizza $17.00

Saturday March 13
Bad Food Hotel $28.00

Sunday March 14
Ugly Coffee Second Cup $4.90

Monday March 15

Tuesday March 16
Good Bingo Manor $20.00

Wednesday March 17
Ugly Gas Shell $10.00
Bad Beer Bar $15.00
Ugly Coffee Robins $2.00

Thursday March 18
Ugly Gas Shell $45.00
Ugly Car Wash Wand Wash $7.00
Bad Groceries Superstore $14.00

The totals for good, bad, ugly is as follows:

Good= $69.71
Bad= $53.90
Ugly= $112.50
Total= $236.11

The ugly category is the biggest one, it accounts for half of my spending this week. One of the reasons this category is so big is because of gas. I drive to school three times a week by myself because I do not know anyone who goes to school at the same time. My gas for the week was $80.00 even though I drive a small efficient vehicle.
I also included in the ugly section any huge stores that I know is not doing any good environmentally. These are huge corporations that choose to ignore the fact that their products and choices are harming the environment. I went to Superstore this week for a few grocery items, even though I chose to not use plastic bags I know that this is not enough of an action to reduce waste. It is a start though and every small step counts towards a bigger one. The thing with eating organic and local is that it is expensive and inconvenient when it comes to time. I was in a hurry and I did not have enough money therefore I chose to go to the closes market around to where I was at the time. I encourage the pro-active approach that Superstore is taking when charging people $0.05 per plastic bag. It is a small fee and somewhat of a penalty for forgetting our reusable bags. Also it does encourge people to use less bags, encourages filling up bags and discourages people from double bagging everything. The issue I have with this is that currently Superstore is keeping the money to do who knows what with it. I would encourage Superstore to donate the money to local environmental causes, perhaps to better recycling facilities or decrease the price of reusable bags.
Another thing that struck my eye when reviewing my purchases was that I spent $52.50 on booze this week, I do not think this is alot but when you look at it as being 25% of my spending for the week it is quite a bit. I included booze in the bad categorie and not the ugly because I did try supporting my local hotel in my small bar. When coming from a small town, the bar is often the best place to socialize with members of your community.
Basically, what I learnt from this activity was that I have to watch where I spend my money more. Firstly as a student I do not have much and secondly I want to try to make more of an effort to support things I trully believe in. I am slowly making more conscientious decisions everyday.

Blog 4- Food Inc. Online Activity

I watched the film Food inc. this past weekend and I have alot to comment about it.
First, the picture of the farm that this movie gives is a pretty close to what I've seen on farms myself. Although this is in the United States mostly, Canada's farms are not too much better than they portray in the film. The industry doesn't want you to know the truth, this is one of the most powerful industry that is completely hidden from us. The family farm has become a factory, producing mass amounts of meat the fastest way possible. Not only do these farms harm the environment more than they should be, they are unethical when it comes to animal and workers health.
McDonald's is the single most largest corporations purchasing potatoes, apples, beef, pork, and chicken. They train their workers to do one thing all day, so they are easy to replace. The top 4 corporations when it comes to money control 84% of the food industry. Therefore McDonald'ds and the 3 others are encouraging alot of food, small amount of land, low cost. The problem with those are farmers feel controlled, animal rights, family farms are no diminishing, and the widespread use of antibiotics has lead to bacteria resistance. The antibiotics used on chickens to make them grow faster and fatter in the breasts, are linked to reproductive problems in humans, as seen also on Erin Brokovich, my favorite movie of all time.
The food that we feed are cattle has also changed alont with farming practices. Cows are evolved to eat grass nowadays they solely live on corn, genetically modified corn that is.
My friend's farm in Beausejour is alot different than what I've seen explain in this film. Ellen has 4 pastures that she alternates her cattle in. Her cattle gets to eat grass in summer in one pasture while the other 3 pastures regenerate. In this film, it said that feeding a cow grass for only 5 days will reduce E.coli in their bodies by 80%. Instead these farms named in this film use ammonia to cleanse the hamburger meat from E.coli.
The truth is the Government is kissing Corporations ass. Corporations making millions of dollars are more protected that humans.
This type of industry has caused obesity and health problems in many Americans. When a family only has 1$ to spent to feed 2 kids there's a problem with our system, and this is the case for many not only in North America but everywhere across the world. These poor diets slows metabolism, has caused diabetes now in children. This has led many to be disconnected and ignorant. How can so many not care or think about where their nutrients are coming from? Our bodies are sacred and we have to start taking care of them, it is only then that our healthcare costs will diminish.
Another truth is that it is not technology that is making good farms, technology is the one ruining it. Farming has been perfectioned from many generations of farm knowledge.
This industry has become so large and simplified that they now need to import illegal immigrants to work in meat packaging factories. Often these factories are built in remote locations therefore the locals have no other choice but to work there. When for example the Mexicans come in, to work for HUGE corporations and get caught it is them that get arrested and charged not the corporations. That is the justice system.
Second example in this film of a huge corporation would be Walmart. As soon as you graps for that rapid growth you view things differently.
We can make a difference by raising awareness to Corporations that we would like to see more organics in their stores.
Farmers life needs to go back to the way it were, their way of life has been revolutionized too much.
This film also talks about Monsanto- Monsanto is stopping farmers from keeping their own seeds, because they put a patent on the genes of these crops, the ones that were genetically modified to obtain the ideal genes. Monsanto hires private investigators to find local farmers who save seeds. When Monsanto contaminates farmers fields, the crop has to be distroyed. The farmers get caught and are held accountable- they have to prove they didnt violate any laws. Often this cost the farmers thousands of dollars when they already have million dollars debts because famring hasn't been as successful. It is easier to say that you're wrong than you're right. The way our justice system works is that the ones willing to pay more money wins.
When food is cloned for an ideal product- those DNA chromosomes are the age of that original cell. Example would be Doli the sheep clone.
Industries have more money than anyone, and money = Power.
There is a food crisis, not only contamination, but we are running out of food.
A perfect example that policies can be broken would be the tobacco industry. They had started labelling their products with warming, our food that we buy doesn't even have labels telling you where it came form or the harm it can be doing to your body. The slow harm just like cigarettes do.
This film explains that our food economy needs to think of these three things equally; workers, animals and the environment.

Blog 4- Women's Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation

In this selection, Vandana Shiva emphasises that women's traditional roles in society make them particularly resistant to economically driven policies that threaten to destroy biodiversity. Most ecofeminists believe that their experiences as women in male-dominated societies provides them with a different way of knowing and thinking about environmental issues.

Gender and diversity are linked in many ways. The marginalization of women and destruction of biodiversity go hand in hand. Loss of diversity is the price paid in the patriarchial model of progress which pushes towards monocultures, uniformity, and homegeneity.

Diversity is, in many ways, the basis of women's politics and the politics of ecology; gender politics is largely a politics of difference.

There is a general misconception that diversity-based production systems are low-productivity systems. This is not natural, scientific measure but biased towards commercial interests for whom maximizing the one-dimensional output is an economic imperative.
The annual labour requirement in a monoculture of coconut palm is 157 man days per ha, while in a mixed cropping system, it is 960 days per ha. When labour is scarce and costly, labour displacing technologies are productive and efficient, but when labour is abundant, labour displacement is unproductive because it leads to poverty and destruction of livelihoods.

The problems arise not because too few women work, but too many women do too much work of too many different kinds. Their work is also invisible because they are concentrated outside market-related work, and they are normally engaged in multi-tasks.

In forestry too, women's knowledge is crucial to the use of biomass for feed and fertilizer. Knowledge of the feed value of different fodder species, the fuel value of firewood types, and of food products and species is essential to agriculture-related forestry in which women are active.

Women: Custodians of Biodiversity

In common with all other aspects of women's work and knowledge, their role in the development and conservation of biodiversity has been rendered as non-work and non-knowledge.

Biodiversity is ecologically and culturally embedded. Diversity is reproduced and conserved through the reproduction and conservation of culture.

Biotechnology and the Destruction of Biodivesity

Women produce through biodiversity, whereas corporate scientists produce through uniformity. Where hybrids do not force the farmers back to the market, legal patents and intellectual property rights' are used to prevent farmers from saving seed. Seed patents basically imply that corporations treat seed as their creation. Patents prevent others of "making" the patented product, hence patented seed cannot be used for making seed. Royalties have to be paid to the company that gets the patent. It is also unjustified because nature and farmers have made the seed that corporations are attempting to own as their innovation and thair private property. Patents and biotechnology contribute to a two wya theft.

Monsanto, which is now selling itself as Green was telling us that without chemicals, millions would go hungry.

Blog 4- Weblinks- Precautionary Principle...

I invite anyone who reads my blog page to review the following link: http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php
This website has alot of useful information regarding: laws, dairy, eat local, biodiversity,... and just about anything you need to know about the environment issues we are facing as a planet. I added a couple details to encourage you to read more on this website. Enjoy!

Precautionary Principle: “In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.” http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/precautionary/

Politicians and government officials are fond of saying the U.S. has the safest food supply in the world, thanks to the rules and regulations that govern the production, processing and distribution of food. But as the methods of raising animals for food have changed, our laws have not necessarily kept up. Industrial farms produce mountains of manure, creating a waste-management nightmare that often "leaks" into unsuspecting communities by way of water, air and soil pollution. In order to revive a sustainable food system, we must enact policy and legislation that will help keep small family farmers on the land, while curbing the economic and ecological damage these large farms create. http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/policy/

What You Can Do
Food and agriculture corporations are driven by financial profits, often at the cost of public health and environmental protection. But we, as voters and consumers, have the power to challenge them with their very own source of power: profits.
Vote with your food dollar! As consumers, we all have the power to break down agribusiness by buying our food from small farms. Use the Eat Well Guide to find small local farms with which to do business. If nobody buys food from agribusinesses and industrial farms, corporations will no longer have the financial power to sway policymakers and legislators.
Sign up for Food and Water Watch alerts to stay up-to-date on proposed farm legislation and to find out how you can help affect current policy.
Stay informed about campaign contributions. Every candidate is required by federal law to report how much campaign cash they’ve received and from whom. This information is readily available online at www.opensecrets.org, the website for the Center for Responsive Politics, where you can find out if your legislators are beholden to agribusiness interests. http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/policy/

Blog #4- The Agricultural Crisis as a Crisis of Culture

Wendell Berry philosophy is we should "act locally, think globally" rather than the reverse. This is a slogan supported by many environmental activists.
In this Selection, he argues for the cultural dimensions that leads to sustainable agriculture.
In the past a farmer could easily market its surplus cream, eggs, old hens, and chicken. These minor markets are now banned due to the name of sanitation. The germs that used to be in our food is now replaced by poisons. The field work power was also mainly horses and mules. Nowadays the farms have become increasingly mechanized and less diversified than they used to be. The land is falling more and more into the hands of speculators and professional people from cities- which still have more money than farmers.
The farm people live less and less from their own produce and more from what they buy. The ideas are goals of leisure, comfort, and entertainment.
Few farmers'children will be able to afford to stay on the farm- perhaps even fewer will wish to do so, it will cost too much, require too much work and worry, and it is hardly a fashionable ambition. Many famers who got big "get big or get out" are now replaced with those who got bigger.
Along with the rest of society, agriculture has shifter its emphasis from quality to quantity, even though the two ideas are inseparable.
Wendell Berry's point of this selecetion is that food is a cultural product; it cannot be produced by technology alone.
A healthy farm culture is based on familiarity with the people and their land, no amount of technology can replace this knowledge.
A competent farmer is his own boss, he has learned the disciplines necessary to go ahead on his own, as required by the economic obligation, loyalty, and pride in his work.
The best kind of farming is a task that calls for a sort of complexity both in the character of the farmer and in his culture. to simplify this is to destroy it. A good farmer is a cultural product, he is made in what his time imposes or demands, and he is also made by generations of experience.
The economy of money has shifted from economies of nature, energy, and the human spirit. Man has become a consumptive machine.
Everything in the Creation is related to everything else and dependant on everything else.
We can have agriculture only within nature, and culture only within agriculture. At certain critical points these systems have to conform with one another or destroy one another.

Blog #4 Reflection- Food Meat Production

I was asked as a blog requirement to write down my food intake over the last 48 hours. It goes as follows.

Day 1 Sunday

• 2 slices of fresh french bread (local bakery)
• 1 bowl of homemade vegetable soup (leftovers)
• lot's water from our own waterwell
• guacamole chips
• 2 kokanee beers (from Crescent, Britsh Columbia)
• baby carrots (from California I think)
• mashed potatoes (Im thinking from Mexico, or last summers growth in MB)
• a bit of beer can chicken (don't eat meat but this was grown on a Mennonite farm close by, and cooked on the barbecue)

Day 2 Monday

• 1 green apple (most likely from California)
• 1 grapefruit (most likely from Florida)
• 1 -12" vegetable sub from Subway
• 1 bowl of vegetable soup
• popcorn

I was asked what kind of foods do I eat regularly. It goes as follows:
Green Apples, Grapefruit, Potatoes, Lettuce, Celery, Onions, Carrots, Tomatoes, Bread, Moose Meat, Deer Meat, Rarely Beef from my sister's farm, Cucumbers, Bananas, Cheese, Homemade Pickles, Cereal, Milk milk milk, Water, Popcorn, Corn, Beer, Vodka, Coffee

My diet is based on vegetables, fruits, grains, and dairy products. When we spoke about Food miles in our February 24 class It really made me think about where my food comes from, I mean how many days in a truck did it spend before arriving to its location to go onto another truck to get distributed to stores in that region. Living in Manitoba we do not have much choice when it comes to eating healthy in the winter. Fruits and vegetables are almost all from accross the borders. Unless we grow gardens ourselves in summer and preserve vegetables over the winter, but this is highly unlikely because most people do not have time plant such a big garden. With our affluent lifestyles an average household needs to have 2 working adults to keep up with bills and other expenses. In cities people don't have any room to grow gardens, they have to rely on markets near by that usually don't sell local food. I have significantly reduced my consumption of meat but I do still need some in my diet. Meat has become the main dish in our meals and in my household as well. When people, including my household, prepare a meal we think about what to cook for meat and then what would go well with this type of meat.

My food contributes to Fossil Fuels energy, to pollution of our water, land and atmosphere. To harmful toxins being released into the air, and alot that is staying in our food. I try hard to be aware of what I consume and I try to bring awareness to the people around me, alot of my family and friends reactions are "oh you environmentalist you". Most of them do not understand why I eat or not eat certain things. My immediate family understands more because they hear me preach as much as they want to hear. My mom even incorporated a Meatless Monday to her meal ideas. One small step at a time, one person at a time, one small decision; we can make a difference.

Blog 4- Meat Matrix- Meatless Monday

I was taking a look at the website:
themeatmatrix1.com

This website is a little far fetched, these issues of cows being treated so badly is not the case in most Canadian farms. American farms are larger in size therefore the cows are on average treated worst than Canadian beef.
Going through this website I found a link to site site called meatlessmonday.com
I had to add this on here because earlier in my blog I spoke of my mom incorporating meatlessmonday to her meal ideas. Its quite entertaining that I just happened to run across this site without thinking it would even exist. I sent the link to my mom as well as I added it here as following: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/
There are great meal ideas on this website, and alot of information and links to inform ourselves about what a healthy diet means. Over the last year I have become more aware of what I consume, food and products, I feel healthier and stronger, meantally and physically, than I've ever felt in my life. Due to my healthier diet I felt urged to quit smoking, I smoked for 2 years and Ive quit for 10 months now.
A healthy lifestyle brings balance to your life, changes can be made one step at a time.
A healthy environment brings life, our environment can not help itself, we have to make small changes for it's benefit.
We must bring balance to our lives, balance to our planet, and an overall balance of our health.

Blog #4- Canada's AvaTar Sands

On friday, instead of the usual notes, we had a great surprise. My teacher Kristina Hunter decided to invite her friend a CBC News reporter in the classroom. The reporter, Mychaylo Prystupa, was covering a story about the film Avatar which is being used by environmental activists to slam the oil industry. Questions that we asked to reflect on prior to the filming were as following: 1. Do you think that the film Avatar is meant to relate to the issues facing the world in Canada's Tar Sands? 2. Do you think using this film as a key to display environmental issues is viable? 3. How do you think the film Avatar relates to what is happening in Alberta's Tar Sands?
We were asked to form groups of three to discuss these questions. In my group there was one girl who hadn't seen it yet, and the other male who had. Their opinions were that using this film was a bit on the extreme side. They didnt think that James Cameron would like his film being publicized this way. My opinion was that in this world where everything is extreme and big, that is the only way to get the message through. This movie definately relates to what is happening in Alberta, because in Avatar the military is trying to mine the land for a mineral called "unobtainium". Avatar is fictional, it attracted alot of attention and sold $1.3 billion in theatres. This movie was a huge hit and I think it does make you think about the world digging for fossil fuels. Oil should be a product that is unobtainable but the fact is that with our technology we are extracting this fuel at a rapid rate to a point where we will be running out. As an activist myself for environmental awareness, I think that we should be using any method to bring the message out because that is the only way we will get people to think about these issues. It is important that people start to notice the message of the anthropogenic damage done to our planet. This message is starting to appear everywhere but cannot be told enough.
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Local_News/Manitoba/ID=1433027983

Blog 4- Environmental, Energetic, and Economic Comparisons of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems

There was a time when all farming was organic. Fertilizer was compost or manure, fields were left fallowed to recover soil, crops were rotated, and pesticides were nonexistant. The alternatives to these is usually called organic farming. Organic farming techniques is related to sustainable development.

Heavy reliance on synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides is having serious impacts on public health and the environment. Herbicides are used by 90% of US corn farmers. Nutrient loading is associated with deterioration of fisheries and the overall health of lakes and oceans. It is modern agricultural practices that contribute to erosion of soil, environmental and human health. We need to reduce our reliance on agro-chemical inputs; Canada and Sweden hace demonstrated that our use can be reduced by 50% to 65%.

The aim of organic agriculture is to augment ecological processes that foster plant nutrition yet conserve soil and water resources. Organic agriculture is a fast-growing agricultural section in the United States. Organic food sales total more than $7 billion per year, therefore the outlook for organic production is bright. The developing agricultural policies are more in tune with the environment while increasing energy efficiency and economic returns.

The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial in Pennsylvania, on 6.1 hector has three subplots that are large enough that farm-scale equipment could be used for operations and harvesting.

Conventional Cropping is based on synthetic fertilizer and herbicide use, represents a typical cash grain, row crop farming unit and used a simple 5-year crop rotation that reflects operations in the region.

Organic animal-based cropping grew grain crops that were grown for animal feed, not cash sale. Aged cattle manure was used as a nitrogen source every 2 years out of every 5. The system did not use herbicides for weed control; it relied instead on mechanical cultivation, weed suppressing crop rotations, and relay cropping.

Organic Legume-based cropping system represented a cash grain operation, without livestock. It used no synthetic fertilizers, relying instead on green manure. It also did not use herbicides for weed control.

Crop yields under normal rainfall were similar for all systems.

Crop yields under drought conditions average yields in 5 dry years were significantly higher in the two organic systems. During the extreme droughts organic animal system it had significantly higher corn yields. The measurements showed significantly more water in the soil farmed using the organic legume system than in the conventional system. This accounted for the higher soybean yields in the organic legume system in 1999.

Discussions came to a conclusion that crop yields and economics of organic farming appear to vary based on the crops, regions, and technologies studies. There wwere large amounts of soil organic matter in the organic systems that aided in the tolerance of droughts.

Oil and natural gas inputs In general, the use of less fossil energy by organic agricultural systems reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere, and therefore the problem of global climate change.

Crop yields Soybeans, and wheat yields were similar in all three systems. There is a higher gross income for conventional than the organic alternative system. The lower yields in organic farming is caused by lower nitrogen-nutrient inputs. In New Zealand, wheat yields are 38% lower than those in the conventional system, but these can be eliminated by raising soil nitrogen throught the use of animal manure or legume cropping systems.
There is a higher gross income for conventional than for the organic however market price for organic food such as corn and soybeans is higher.
Challenges for organic agriculture the two primary problems were nitrogen deficiency and weed competition. The Mechanical weed control is usually more effective than chemical weed control under dry conditions, while the reverse is true under the wet conditions.
Adoptions of organic technologies include 1) off season cover crops 2) extended crop rotation 3) increase level of soil organic matter 4) allow natural biodiversity.
Benefits of Organic Technologies

• soil organic matter were higher
• high levels of soil organic matter serve soil and water prove beneficial during droughts
• fossil energy inputs 30% lower
• labor inputs are evenly distributed over the year
• crop rotation and cover cropping reduce soil erosion, pest problems, and pesticides use
• recycling of livestock waste reduces pollution and benefits organic agriculture
• abundant biomass increases biodiversity

Blog 4- Food Scarcity: An Environmental Wakeup Call

The author of this article, Lester Brown a farmer from New Jersey, is known for being one of the world's most influencial thinkers of global environmental movement. In this selection Brown warns of economic and social disruptions due to food scarcity. He predicts environmental degradation, such as, deforestation, water population, greenhouse gas emissions, will lead to global decline of the food supply. Brown's opinion about obtaining a sustainable development is to stabilize population and climate.

The extensive extraction of resources has affected the world's food economy substantially. The consequences are clear with regards to deforestation leading to more rainfall runoff, and discharging excessive amounts of carbon will eventually lead to economical disruptive climate change. These consequences are also caused by overfishing, overgrazing, soil erosion, loss of plants and animals species, all will eventually lead to a ecosystem collapse.

Agriculture

The food system will be the sector where environmental degradation will lead to economy downfall. With rising grain prices due to commodity prices, this will affect 1.3 billion people to a point where it is life-threatening. Environmental damage will affect fishers and farmers in keeping up with growth and demand will will all lead to political instability.

Heads of household who are unable to feed their families will blame their governments resulting in riots. If food prices keep going up this will negatively affect multinational corporations, stock markets, and the international monetary system.

The consequences that scientists have warned about can be seen everywhere:

In Europe, allowable fish catch has reduced 20%. In Saudi Arabia, there's a 62% grain harvest drop. The burning of the Amazon rainforest has lead to soil degradation resulting in crop abandonment. These situations will multiply, making it more difficult to feed our world population resulting in 800 million people being too poor to buy enough food for hunger satisfaction.

In Search of Land

As the world's population expands, both the area of cropland and amount of irrigation water decline. Drainage of wetlands has opened fertile areas for cultivation. The growth area to plant grain has peaked in 1981 and is since quite slow compared to that of population. The population growth rate is at some 80 million per year, if this goes on the amount of cropland will continue to decline.

In Search of Water

The world's farmers are facing water scarcity. Among China, India, and United States; they are facing extensive aquifer depletion, they collectively account for half of the world's grain supply.

During 1950-1990 the grain harvest has tripled causing the expansion of irrigation methods which intensified production in low-rainfall areas. Most of the world's rice and wheat are produced on irrigated land. The countryside has no competition with the cities when it comes to water supply. Water scarcity is becoming a prevailing issue as was land scarcity.

The Onset of Food Scarcity

Evidence of earth's degradation has accumulated for many years. Our food security is moving from surplus to scarcity, our buffer zones are minimizing. Food scarcity will provide an environmental wake up call the world needs.

An Unprecedented Challenge

Achieving a sustainable future for future generations to have enough food is as much dependant on family planning as on farmers. The two most difficult components in achieving a sustainable economy are stabilizing population and climate. It may be time to reasess population policy restraining families to having 2 children simply to replace themselves. There are 32 countries, all in Europe, who have already taken a small step in the right direction.

Stabilizing our climate means reducing carbon emissions and supporting the efficient technologies emerging. Adoption of a carbon tax would be another step in the right direction.

In a world where food scarcity is the main issue, land scarcity emerges as a central issue. Like land, water is being diverted to nonfarm uses. Providing water free of charge leads to water waste.

Feeding the Future

Securing the food future will affect every part of human existance- from land use, to water use, to how we spend our leisure time. The grain prices growing will result in people eating less grain-intensive livestock products. The world's politicians need to take a current path away from environmental deterioration and economic disruption but toward an economic and demographic path that is environmentally sustainable.

Blog 3- Wapusk National Park

I think Parks could meet dual mandate of protecting it's species and allowing access to humans to enjoy their beauties. The Parks need to educate people more on how to leave less of a footprint when entering this realm. Education would give a great work opportunity for local Native Americans of the area because they are the ones that know the land and animals best. Education of wild animals is not done in zoos, it is best done where the animal is at ease, in a natural environment. We have seen the other day what an animal in capture can do, there was a killer whale who recently killed its trainer that had been working with the whale for years. The trainer was a 14 year experienced trainer who trusted the whale. Animals are always unpredictable. I learned this when I started horse-backriding as a child. Horses most definetly have a mind of their own and will listen when they want to. No matter how much time you spenc with them, they are meant to be wild. I've gotten bucked off by horses so many times, ran over, and I've to hold on for my dear life so many times. This explains that animals are wild and zoos should see attacks such as the killer whale as a reason to stop this animal cruelty. National Parks and protected aread around the world need to introduce an education program that allows visitors to enter these areas only with Natives of the area. There we can all learn to appreciate Natural life, land, plants, and the animals. This is important because we are losing our connection to land and animals.

Wapusk National Park is a very remote Northern park that is home for many polar bears. The park should most definetly limit access to visitors because it is a very fragile area. Polar Bears are facing huge dangers of extinction, and by humans going up there coming in contact with the bears puts humans at great risk of attacks. The bears that attack are immediately put down, either relocated or killed. Wapusk needs to minimize the human-bear contacts for the well-being of both parties.

Blog 3- Alberta Tar Sands Reflection

This would be the most controversial issues of today. It is even hard for me as an environmental student to say that I want the Alberta Tar Sands to be completely stoped. Of course I want them stoped but if done so bruptly there would an immediate world crisis.

I want to begin by explaining my only reason why I think Alberta's oil industry cannot be stoped. It is simply an economical reason, I have worked for a certain Alberta oil company therefore I have met many men and women who have made a living doing this. These people come from across the country and some from the Filipines because there are no work opportunities like this back home for them. Alberta offers well paying jobs for people to be able to support themselves and their families. This is the number one concern for them, they need this industry because it is the only way for them to make a living. Many of these people were unfortunate in their lives and could not afford to go to university, therefore they chose a path that would they could live a comfortable life. For example, many of these people come from the east coast. Their ancestors thrived from the fishing industry, but now that it is no longer booming, there is no work for them. They chose to move to Alberta, not so much they want to but because they have no other choice. Another example of a common person I have met in Alberta would be one of many Filipinos. These men came up here to Canada, putting themselves in debt and taking a risks by leaving there home land. The reason they have done so is so that they can send money back home to their families and community. In the Philippines they could barely feed themselves. A third example of person in Alberta would be the McMillan family that I have worked with. There were 3 out of 4 brothers that I worked with. They were all scaffolders, their uncle was my foreman, all their uncles, their dad and grandfather were also all scaffolders. Now these 4 brothers knew only this, it was a part of them, a part of their familie's past.

Taking the Alberta Tar Sands industry away we need to replace it with something as equal. We all know life is expensive, and we need to work to make a living. So far, Alberta has provided many opportunities for people who had none. We need to work with these companies and not against them in order to make changes. In order to have a strong economy and a healthy environment together is simply to give a man a job, give him something to be proud of.
We are making small changes to our fossil fuels intake. The newest one would be the fact that the Hummer SUV has been discontinued. The Hummer was the most inefficient SUV on the market, now we simply need to target the other inefficient vehicles.

Blog 3- Activity EXXON Mobil videos

EXXON Mobil are selfish, they support the scientists that mislead the public into believing lies and false theories about global warming.

We shouldn't lay laws on what people are able to say, this is the most obvious right; the freedom of speech. If people have proof to back up what they are saying then the government has no right to edit the work. EXXON Mobil is paying scientists to block the message that global warming is a severe crisis. Along with EXXON blocking this message there is the white house doing the same. The video I viewed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUyQMYiRCcw) on EXXON Mobil said that Philip Cooney, who is a lawyer working for the government as council of environmental quality, edited papers on global warming with a heavy hand. After Cooney resigned from the White House, he then went on to work for Exxon Mobil. In this video it spoke about a paper called "Our Changing Planet" that was passed through a political screen. Cooney was the one editing this paper, he made changes such as: "the world is undergoing change" to "the world may be undergoing change". The phrase "we are heading to a point of no return" was completely vanished and the word danger could not be used.

This makes you think about what is really happening in the white behind closed doors? What pieces of information do they have that we do not know about? How can politicians be in denial of these scientific facts being true or not?

We have been using fossil fuels for over a century now, there are ways to get out of this rut we are in, there are ways faster than we think. Fossil fuels are costing more money than the leading energy sources which happen to be sustainable. We have the opportunity, the choice to use different things.. Since the United States are the largest contributors of greenhouse gases, they should be the first to fund new technologies and lead on implementing them.

We have to make these clean technologies available to those who want to make knowledgeable decisions, not only to those who can afford them.

The government of Canada does offer fairly valuable benefits for those who invest in energy saving products and technologies, these can include building your proper home with geothermal earth power, this would cut your annual energy bills from 50% to 70%. Not forgetting to mention that this system is environmentally friendly, it draws on soil temperature to heat or cool your home.

The eco-ENERGY Retrofit Homes program offers a $4,375 grant for geothermal installations that replace an existing heating system.

The video did not shock me too much because politicians in business suites for me all work together. They work for the same reason, some cash in their pocket. These politians, in fact every person, has to start putting some thought and feeling into what actions they do, what they write and what they teach. Doing so we would be able to have a clear image that the Earth's services will be extremely expensive if not impossible to offer for future generations.

Blog 3- A Sand County Almanac

Aldo Leopold was an activists for the worth of all living things, he supported the value that humans had to manage and protect wild lands. In this selection Leopold speaks of an ethical relationship between humans, animals, and the land.

A mountain is home for many creatures, from wolves to bunnies, from squirrels to deer. The diversity of an ecosystem is important as everything is interrelated to each other. A mountain can support many kinds of species but could not sustain itself if one of these animals exceeded in population.

Leopold remembers when he was a child and he seen a wolf before him, he had a trigger itch because he thought that since less wolves meant more deer, then no wolves would mean a hunter's paradise. He sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

Since then Leopold has lived to see state after state extirpate their wolves, he has seen many wolfless mountains, with this came many mountain slopes have a surplus of deer trails. He has seen bush and foliage grazed, and trees defoliated. In the end this has lead to starved deer bones dead of its own too-much. Leopold has then suspected whether deer live mortal fear wolves, or if a mountain lives in mortal fear of its deer. It is the wolf's job of trimming the deer or herd populations.

We all live to want safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness. However this is achieved it all comes to the same thing peace in our mind.

Politics and economics are no longer competition, it is replaced by ethical co-operative mechanisms. These mechanisms are becoming more complexe as population density increases. Ethics in politics and economics deals with relations between individual, it then tries to integrate social organization to the individual. Yet there is no ethic relating man to land or to the animals and to plants. Land is still property, it is a priviledge not an obligation. Land stripping is not only unwise it is wrong, yet society still does not believe this. Such example to prove this would be the present conservation movement.

All these ethics evolve to be that the individual is part of an interdendant system. Instincts promt humand to compete but ethics prompt us to co-operate. Land ethics is simply including soils, waters, plants, and animals.

Our economy is heading away from land consciouness rather than toward it. Humans have no relation to land, to him it is simple space between cities where food grows. Most humans are bored when outside a city, unless it involves golf courses. Land or natural things is something humans have outgrown.

It is right to think of preserving integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it thinks toward a economical perspective.

The evolution of a land ethic is an intellectual and emotional process. Conservation has good intentions but are still in need of understanding the land and moving away from an economic land-use. Our present problem is that of attitudes and implementations.

Blog 3- Principles of Conservation

In this selection, Gifford Pinchot explains how to achieve the maximum value of resources for human use rather than for preserving wilderness.
The conservation of natural resources movement has had the fastest progression and spread in the most directions as any other movement. It is believed that conservation began with forestry; the ideas about the forest, the principles of the service of the forest.
The conservation movement now has immense force, first only relating to forest now beyond natural resources. Back in 1907 few people even knew what conservation meant.
Conservation principles are simple yet decisions to implement it is not so easy or direct. Development is the first principle of conservation, natural resources exists on this planet for the benefit of humans. Resources are used for current generations prior to thinking about future ones. Coal is the main natural resources that drives our civilization, and if extrapolating it to the point there is no more, that would mean we were well deservant.
Conservation now stands for the use pf water-power, it allows for immediate construction of navigable waterways, just like the broad construction of railroads. The development of our natural resources and the full use of them is the duty of our generation.
The second principle of conservation stands for the prevention of waste. We have come to terms that waste is not a good thing. Forest Fires used to be seen as acts of god, now they seem to be controlled by men. The human race's duty is to control the earth it lives upon.
The effort the stop waste is considered to be controlled by economic law, but in fact the effort comes before the actual stopping.
Third principle of conservation would be that the natural resources must be developed and preserved for the benefit of all and not for few.
The conservation idea means "the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time." (4).
It is the duty of people to act to benefit the people. Conservation demands common-sense to problems for the good.
The conservation point of view is for the education of people as well as in forestry, it applies to politics as well as the earth.
We must apply common-sense to all problems for the Nation's good.

Blog 3- More Profit with Less Carbon

In this selection Amory B. Lovins speaks of the advantages to business and the environment of energy efficient and renewable energy sources. The environmentalists say costs will be worth it and government officials say extra expense will be prohibitive. In fact both are wrong, the costs will actually be lowered.
Enhancing efficiency and switching to less carbon emitting fuels is as important, the world economy has been decarbonizing. In the past two centuries carbon rich fuels (coal_, have given way to fuels with less carbon (oil and natural gas) or none (solar and wind power). By combining the production of heat and electricity it can extract twice as much useful work from each ton of carbon emitted, which would dramatically reduce total carbon by 2050 even as the economy expands.
Improving the whole building engineering can be applied to any building and factorie.
Transportation uses 70% of the total US oil, and 1/3 of the nation's carbon emissions. There is opportunity for enormous efficiency by using light weight material and aerodynamics without compromising comfort, safety, and affordability. With new metal allows - advanced polymer composites- cars can be big, comfy, protective without being heavy, inefficient: this would save oil and lives.
By 2050 US oil consumption could be phased out completely since there are two other fuels coming to the market. The first is ethanol made of woody, weedy plants, and corn is now the main source for ethanol blended with gasoline. The second fuel is replacing oil with lower carbon natural gas, becomes cheaper and more abundant.
By phasing out oil there could be a $70 billion saving per year and also it would lower US carbon emissions by 20%. This would eliminate social and political costs. If the country would become oil free then petroleum will no longer be worth fighting for.
Switching to an oil free economy would happen even faster if politicians would stop encouraging development that makes people drive so much.
Efficiency improvements are occuring with wind power being the greatest success story. In Denmark wind power accounts for 1/5 of all energy, and in Germany wind power accounts for 1/10 of all the energy consumed.
Energy efficiency can outpace economic growth if we payed attention to solar and wind power.
The good news about Global Warming is that it is cheaper to fix than ignore because saving energy is profitable.
Climatic problems are created by millions of bad decisions over time, but climate stability can be restored by millions of sensible choices.
Markets will naturally favor choices that generate wealth, protect climate, and build real security by replacing fossil fuels with cheaper alternatives.
This technology-driven convergence of business, environmental and security interests- holds out the promise of a fairer, richer, and safer world.

Blog 3- Works Cited

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Thomas Easton, 2009. Classic Edition Sources Environmental Studies Third Edition.

Lovins, Amory B. More Profit with Less Carbon. Thomas Easton, 2009. Classic Edition Sources Environmental Studies Third Edition.

Flavin, Christopher. Dunn, Seth. Reinventing the Energy System. Thomas Easton, 2009. Classic Edition Sources Environmental Studies Third Edition.

(4) Pinchot, Gifford. Principles of Conservation. Thomas Easton, 2009. Classic Edition Sources Environmental Studies Third Edition.

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. Thomas Easton, 2009. Classic Edition Sources Environmental Studies Third Edition.

Blog 3- Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (IPCC)

Greenhouse effect first implemented by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph-Fourier in 1827. Svante Arrhenius proposed this effect would change the Earth's atmospheric temperature by four to six degrees Celsius. Most scientists agree that the warming will be accompanied by changes in the world's weather patterns, and increase the sea levels significantly. The data that these conclusions come from have been debated for many years.
In 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established to assess scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relating to the world's climate change. In 2007, the IPCC clearly stated that "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level." Later sections can be found in the following link: http://www.ipcc.ch/. Other reports released in 2006 include http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independant_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfm.
Almost all of the few remaining critics of the reality of climate change are employed or funded by industries and nations that taking action would impact them financially.

Human and Natural Drivers of Climate Change

Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane have increased substantially as a result of human activity since 1750. These measurements are taken from ice cores ranging back thousands of years. The carbon dioxide is due to burning of fossil fuels and land-use changes, while the release of methane and nitrous oxide is directly realted to agriculture.

Carbon Dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. In 2005 the global atmospheric concentration was the highest in 650,000 years and in the past 10 years the concentration has been the highest since the beginning of the measurements in 1960.
The primary source of increased CO2 levels has been fossil fuel combustion, the land-use change issue is significant but a smaller contribution. Estimates of Carbon dioxide emissions concentration have a large uncertainty.
Methane has also peaked in 2005 for its global atmospheric concentration, which exceeds by far the measurements from ice cores of the last 650,000 years prior. It is very likely that the growth of methane concentration is due to to anthropogenic activities superiorily from agriculture and fossil fuel use.
Nitrous Oxide atmospheric concentration has increased from pre-industrial value and has continued to grow at a constant rate since 1980. More than a third of Nitrous Oxide emissions are anthropogenic and primarily due to agriculture.
The understanding of anthropogenic warming and cooling influences on climate has improved to a very high confidence level.

• The carbon dioxide radiative forcing has had the largest change for any decade in at least 200 years.


• Anthropogenic contributions of aerosols (primarily sulphate, organic carbon, black carbon, nitrate and dust) all together produced a cooling effect. Aerosols affect radiative forcing, cloud albedo, as well as cloud lifetime and precipitation.

Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change
Global Warming is now undeniable from observations in global average air and ocean temperatures, melting of snow and ice and rising sea levels.

• Eleven of the last 12 years (1995-2006) rank the warmest years since 1850. Urban heat island effects are real but local, and do not have value in the warming growth rate.
• New analyses of balloon-borne and satellite measurements show warming rates similar to surface temperature records and are constant.
• The average atmospheric water vapour content has increased since the 1980's due to the extra water vapour warmer air can hold.
• Average global ocean temperatures have increased in depths of 3000m, and the ocean has been absorbing more heat which causing seawater to expand therefore increasing sea levels.
• Mountain glaciers and snow cover has decreased in both Hemispheres which has contributed to sea levels rising.
• Ice sheets mass have been reduced, thinned or lossed.
• Sea level have rose at a rate of 1.8mm per year which is still increasing.

Continental, regional, and ocean basin scales changes in climate have been observed. These changes include Arctic temperatures, precipitation, ocean salinity, wind patterns, and extreme weather including droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and intensity of tropical cyclones.

• Average Arctic temperatures have increased at almost twice the global rate in the past 100 years.
• Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk by 2.7% per decade.
• Maximum area of permafrost has decreased by 7% in the Northern Hemisphere since 1900.
• Trends from 1900-2005 have been observed about precipitation and has showed huge changes throughout the globe.
• Changes in precipitation and evaporation over the ocean has increased salinity in low latitude areas.
• Westerly winds have strenghtened in both hemispheres since the 1960's.
• More intense and longer droughts over wider areas since the 1970's.
• Frequency of heavy precipitation has increased over land masses.
• Widespread changes in extreme temperatures have been observed over the last 50 years.
• There is evidence of increased tropical cyclone activity since about 1970, related to increased sea levels. The storms have become more intense and frequent.

Understanding and Attributing Climate Change

Most observations of global average temperatures since the mid-twentieth century has changed from likely to very likely due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.

• It is likely that increases in greenhouse gas concentrations alone would have caused more warming than observed.
• It is extremely likely that climate change of the past 50 years can be explained with internal forces, and very likely not due to known natural causes.
• Warming has been detected in changes of surface and atmospheric temperatures, upper several hundred metres of the ocean, and contributing to sea level rise. The warming and cooling is very likely due to greenhouse gas increases and ozone depletion.
• It is likely there has been anthropogenic warming in the past 50 years over every continent except Antarctica.
• Small-scale temperature changes are very difficult to detect.
• Anthropogenic forces are likely contributing to changing wind patterns, causing severe storms.
• It is more likely than not that anthropogenic forces have increased occurance of heat waves.

Analysis of climate models have constraints from observations are likely to range.

• The global average warming range is from 2-4.5 oc.
• It is very likely that climate changes of seven countries prior to 1950 are from natural forces.

Projections of Future Changes in Climate

For the next two decades a warming of about 0.2 oc per decade is expected, if levels of warming were kept constant, there would still be a further warming of about 0.1 oc per decade.

Continued release of greenhouse gas emissions at or above the current rate would cause further warming very likely larger than that of the 20th century.

• Current advances in climate change models enable best estimates.
• Best estimates for climate predictions are currently at 1.1 oc-2.9 oc for low scenarios and 2.4 oc- 6.4 oc for higher scenarios.
• Warming reduces land and ocean uptake of carbon dioxide.
• Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations lead to an increasing acidification of the ocean.

Now, there is higher confidence in projected patterns of warming.

• Warming is expected to be greatest over land and at most in the Northern hemisphere.
• Increase thawing of permafrost is expected.
• Sea ice is expected to shrink in the Arctic and Antarctic.
• Tropical storm tracks are expected to move poleward.

Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise will continue even if greenhouse gas concentrations were stabilized.

• Climate carbon cycle coupling is expected to add carbon but the magnitude is uncertain.
• If radiative forcing were stabilized by 2100 there is a 0.5 oc warming still expected.
• Thinning of the Greenland ice sheet is expected to continue beyond 2100.
• Antarctic ice sheet is projected to be too cold for melting, it is expected that the ice mass will increase due to an increase in snowfall.
• Past and future anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions will continue to contribute to warming for more than a millenium.