Tomorrow's Biodiversity

"Biodiversity works in harmony and in concert to create and maintain life." (Shiva 41)

This phrase couldn't of said it any better.  It's not just one thing that makes this world sustain life.  It's the diversity around us that make it more synchronized and beautiful.  Diversity means everyone or everything giving a little something to the world and making it better.  Biodiversity is the diversity of life and it expresses the life we live in today.  Biodiversity has shaped the world around us and helped make it a better life to live. We are basically all connected by biodiversity.

                http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/preserving-biodiversity


"The recycling of water, oxygen, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon is made possible by diverse species working incessantly to maintain the ecological processes that support life." (Shiva 43)

This is definitely accurate and nice to know.  This phrase is telling us that everything in this world, whether it be us, animals, plants, chemicals, or the different elements, is working together to maintain the life we live.  If there were no recycling then the ecological processes wouldn't be so easy to accomplish.  The breaking down of chemicals and unwanted substances is what makes the earth revolve around and repeat life.  In order to maintain life we need certain things to help break things down or the process of recycling. 

                                              http://www.cumberlandri.org/trashrecycling.htm

"We owe practically all life to bacteria." (Shiva 43)

I don't believe that we necessarily owe everything to bacteria.  I know bacteria is beneficial in a lot of ways with helping break down things, but bacteria is dangerous.  It's not a thing we should be applauding, it's something that we should avoid.  For bacteria to take all the fame for sustaining life, then that's like saying that we should give thanks to diseases.  I think I speak for mostly everyone on this planet when I say that I do not give any kind of credit to diseases or bacteria.

                                           http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/bacteria-20clipart


"Biodiversity is not just a conservation issue, it is an issue affecting economic survival." (Shiva 50)

I believe this phrase is a little too exaggerated in my opinion.  Biodiversity is very important, however, there are a million companies out in today's world with enough economic value.  This world is always hungry for money and will do anything to help keep things in order.  Biodiversity is scarce when everyone just wants to keep taking what they want without no limits.  This is when it comes to be an issue involving money, but not to the point where we have to think about going broke.  I don't believe biodiversity is too much of a problem with economics.

                                  http://www.staidanscatholicacademy.co.uk/curriculum/economics/

Carson Silent Spring

"Since the mid-1940s over 200 basic chemicals have been created for use in killing insects, weeds, rodents, and other organisms." (Carson 155)

This is just unbelievable and ridiculous.  I understand that we need to get bugs and unwanted plants out of our way, but exposing a lot of these chemicals out in the atmosphere is really bad.  I don't want insects in my place either because I hate bugs and rodents.  How about just killing them with your shoes or smacking them with a swatter? Whatever happened to this solution.  It's way better then spraying a bunch of chemicals out in the atmosphere and killing our world slowly.  I understand that it's a convenience but what the more important fact is that we need to start putting the environment first for a change.

                               https://goodtogrow.wordpress.com/tag/fungus-gnats/


"The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials." (Carson 153)

Even though we don't want to blame ourselves for the pollution that we brought on this earth, we need to start taking account for it.  Polluting the seas, rivers, air, and every other place on earth is terrible.  We need to stop being lazy and dumping all of our problems into the waters and the air.  In the long run we still use this stuff because it's necessary to breathe and drink water.  So we are really messing up ourselves at the end of the day.  We need to stop the pollution and start realizing how bad it's getting and put an end to it.

                                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pollution_in_India


"The rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the impetuous and heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature."  (Carson 154)

I don't necessarily think that putting ourselves first to get where we need to be and then taking nature second and taking care of it is a bad thing.  I believe that we are more important.  Nature is very important though too but if I had to chose I would chose man over nature.  We are changing things at a fast pace around us and building empires everywhere we go but that's so we have better lives.  We are constantly changing but it's for the better I believe.

https://tothewire.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/the-anthropocene-era-is-man-dominating-nature/ 

"Insects came into conflict with human welfare in two ways: as competitors for the food supply and as carriers of human disease."  (Carson 157)

This is where I draw the line.  I know chemicals are terrible to expose but if these insects are bringing some diseases that can kill us then it's time for them to be sprayed.  I don't want insects around that carry these harmful diseases.  This is why we came up with the chemicals to kill them.  I still think that we should come up with something different then a harmful pollutant but if it gets the job done then no complaints from me.  Some of these insects can steal our food too? I didn't know this but if they do then these animals need to be gone for good.

                                             http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/westnile/

                                                

Nature of the Everglades

"That is the name later Indians gave the lake, a name almost as recent as the word "Everglades."  It means "Big Water."  Everybody knows it." (Douglas 107)


Douglas is saying in this sentence that everyone knew that Lake Okeechobee really meant "Big Water."  Well I didn't know this actually so I would say that not everyone knows this.  I hope I'm not the only one who didn't know this but I would like to guess that there's others out there in my position.  This sentence really stood out to me because it was so well assumed that everyone knew this information about the great Lake Okeechobee.  Honestly I would also like to point out that I didn't know that the Indians gave the lake it's name.  After I read this sentence I was happy that I got to know a little fact about this popular lake.

                               http://www.expresslakerentals.com/lake-okeechobee-rentals.php


"It reaches one hundred miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico, fifty, sixty, even seventy miles wide." (Douglas 108)

This sentence definitely stood out to me and after reading this sentence I thought wow! I never knew it stretched out that far.  I guess I never really learned about this lake and I'm realizing that this is very huge and magnificent.  Their saying the lake is maybe even seventy miles wide.  Now that's just ridiculous.  After learning how big this lake is, this sentence makes me want to go and see this lake for myself since I never have before.

                            http://www.a-guide-to-florida-bass-fishing.com/lake-okeechobee.html


"Here the rain falls more powerfully and logically than anywhere else upon the temperate mainland of the United States."

I find this so amazing! The fact that rain hits the Everglades harder then anywhere else in the United States is just so cool to me.  I know that the Everglades only gets it's water from the rain so this sentence makes a lot of sense now.  Now this sentence has me wondering how much rainfall does the Everglades really get each year.  This sentences stood out to me because it is really cool to know now where exactly rain falls the hardest here in the U.S.  I think it's great too that the Everglades gets it's water only from the rain and not other places where water might be polluted and such. 

                                http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/197196/Everglades

"Life on the Rock section" (Douglas 134-149)

This whole section about plants and animals who live out in the Everglades was the most interesting to me, because I love animals and I am fascinated by the different plants that exist.  Learning about the different kinds of animals that live out there were really cool to read about.  There were rattlesnakes, woodpeckers, alligators (of course), mockingbirds, deer, red and yellow grasshoppers with heads shaped like horses, and a lot more.  Those grasshoppers got to me because I never knew there was such a thing.  Only in the Everglades I guess!  The plants that I read about sounded beautiful as described in the book and there were a ton of different plants.  I loved this section because it taught me the different and most remarkable life that lives out in the Everglades. 

                               https://www.flickr.com/photos/bowlesi/2617575705/

A Land Remembered

In the book, A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith, I chose the character Solomon MacIvey.  This character is from the first chapter and takes place in Miami, Florida in 1968.  This character is an older man who is wealthy based on his empire-building career.  He built hotels and banks and other kinds of businesses.  He has a half brother who is Native American that lives on a reservation.  MacIvey's father was Native American and his mother was white.  He chose to make his career based on his mothers side to build on the land instead of preserving it.  Towards the end he knows that he was wrong by building all of the buildings that he created instead of preserving the land and the animals.  Towards his last few days he returns to this cabin that his father built.  On his way there he stops and visits his half brother Toby Cypress and makes peace with him.  MacIvey tells him that he made a mistake building his empire on the land and destroying it.  MacIvey's role in this novel is to make a point to people that building on a lot of land can hurt it and the animals that live on it.

http://nativeappropriations.com/2012/02/bon-ivers-towers-a-tribute-to-native-american-preservation-land.html 

The relationship between MacIvey and the environment is that he has a sensitive feeling towards it and cares about it.  He knows that in the end he made a mistake by building his empire on the land and how it affects people like his brother who is Native American.  His brother lives on a reservation because of all of the building that were created on their land.  MacIvey is sad in the end that he was a part of destroying the land that the Native Americans once lived on and the animals as well.  The relationship between MacIvey and the natural world is also a closed feeling.  This world has a lot of reservations now because of people like MacIvey creating more and more buildings on the land and basically took over the Native American lives.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/reservation/ 

The character MacIvey experiences his strong sense of place when he knows he only has a few days left to live.  When he knows he is going to pass soon, he realizes that his real sense of place is not in his mansion in Miami, but in his fathers cabin out near the reservation that his brother lives on.  There he feels most comfortable and at home.  The legacy that MacIvey left behind to others was that building these empires on the land of Native Americans isn't right.  Making them move and live on a reservation is just simply wrong and unfair.

http://www.glogster.com/mmacquarrie/indian-reservations-in-the-u-s-/g-6lg7nisunokv8mmf9ov1ua0 

I relate to the character MacIvey because  I also do not think it is fair or right to take the land of Native Americans and put them on reservations to live.  In the end we think about the land, the animals, the Native Americans and how it isn't fair to do what we have done to them now.  If they own a certain type of land then we should leave it be.  We can build on other sections of land because we need to live too.  But this doesn't mean to take all of the land away from the Native Americans and the animals and plants that live on it already.

http://foremostcanada.com/environment-responsibilities/

The Land Ethic

"His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate."  (Leopold 60)

I agree with this quote mainly because it's basically saying that the land ethic implies that we learn to co-exist and co-operate with others so that we can make this world better.  It's respect for the land owners as well as the community that surrounds it.  We all fight for land that we want to make ours but we also have to consider the outcome that others can live in the same community.  This doesn't just imply humans but we also have to consider the fact that we have wildlife living amongst us.  If a certain area is being protected because of the certain species living in it, then we must reevaluate our living arrangements. 

                                  Community coming together across the globe.  Photo by Extension.



"Ornithologists jumped to the rescue with some distinctly shaky evidence to the effect that insects would eat us up if birds failed to control them." (Leopold 65)

I definitely believe that birds should be taken seriously not only because they would help us with the insect problem, but the fact that they should be a biotic right.  The absence or presence of theses birds shouldn't matter if we are economically unstable.  Preferably songbirds are slowly disappearing.  This should be taken into effect if we can do something about it.  We shouldn't just let them completely disappear when we could help.

                                                   Songbird. Photo by Mountain Denver.


"If the private owner were ecologically minded, he would be proud to be the custodian of a reasonable proportion of such areas, which add diversity and beauty to his farm and to his community."  (Leopold 66)


Some people aren't nature lovers. Yeah this guy might live on a farm but maybe because he might have too due to family or economical problems.  He is probably stuck where he is and he has to make the best out of it. He might not like the whole nature background so he tries to tear everything down or take away that type of background.  Now if he is ecologically minded, then he might be happy to provide and nurture the ecologically land he has, but he probably just prefers not to have it.

                              Farm with mountains in the background. Photo by Steven Ahiquist.


"The ecological fundamentals of agriculture are just as poorly known to the public as in other fields of land-use."  (Leopold 75)

This to me is an opinionated statement.  Only because I believe differently about our agriculture workers. I believe they are working as hard as they can and they provide us with food that we need.  To me that's enough if everyone is getting food.  I think that the fundamentals of agriculture is greatly known and they are doing a sufficient job. Agriculture is progressing and providing us with enough supplies.

                                           Tractor plowing crops. Photo by John Boehner.

Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment

"Those who walked in the nature preserve performed better than the other participants on a standard proofreading task.  They also reported more positive emotions and less anger."  (Hartig 7)



This statement makes a lot of sense to me.  Of course someone who chose their activity in a nature setting would feel more peaceful and good about themselves then they would watching T.V. or listening to music.  I know when I am cooped up in my room I start to over think things and feel bored.  When I'm outside laying by the pool or studying outside cause the weather is nice, I feel great inside.  I feel more happy and alive.  Our attention span is better when we are outside in nature then it is when we are inside.  Maybe it's because we have different things to look at and their beautiful because it's unexplainable.

  

Girl studying outdoors. Photo by GettyPhotos.

  

"Positive influence of near-home nature on concentration may be more pronounced for girls than for boys."  (Louv 8)

I don't necessarily see how they can say that girls have a more positive attitude towards life than boys do.  I think it would be equal not gender oriented difference especially because it's nature.  Nature is everywhere and influences everyone, boys and girls.  I believe everyone that steps out into nature are going to have a more positive influence on concentration.  We all concentrate more when we are surrounded by nature rather then be indoors.  We get distracted more when we are inside because of the T.V. or eating or listening to music.

                                        Photo of little kids playing with nature. Photo by Webmaster.

"The society that has disengaged the child from nature is most certainly disordered." (Louv 11)

This couldn't be any more from the truth.  I think this society is more reliant on technology making their kids happy or better test scores in schools rather then having recess for exercise.  Either way this society is forgetting all about nature and children that should be experiencing it.  Taking nature away from a child is utter nonsense.  We are becoming a society who is lazy and too relied on technology.  I think a lot of people are forgetting about nature and the importance of being active and experiencing the outside world around us.  

                                     Photo of kids with technology indoors. Photo by aupairusa.


"Encourage girls to study or play in rooms with a view of nature."  (Louv 9)

If they encourage just girls to be by a nature-viewed setting when they are studying or playing then why shouldn't boys do the same?  I thought it was weird that they didn't mention boys.  I don't agree with the fact that we should be encouraging just girls to be placed near nature.  I think boys should be too.  Boys and girls are the same learning wise and shouldn't be broken up into two groups when it comes to this example involving nature.

 

Children learning nature.  Photo by islandwood.