Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is that awful feeling you get when something or someone goes against what you say or believe.  You automatically become defensive in your belief and try to rationalize your idea, most of time without hearing the full idea of the other person.  As human being this is just our natural way of reacting; when someone attacks us we defend ourselves.  Applying this to our environment is something I have never thought of before but definitely will now.  We are somewhat “attacking” the world we live in by polluting it with CO2 and other chemicals and in a sense the environment is defending itself by changing.  Now that is pretty out there, but it is kind of true if you think about it.  A more realistic idea is that people who are much more informed about our world and what is happening to the environment are trying to get our attention but too many times we just ignore them or disregard their argument.  The truth is they are only trying to help us and the environment.  We think that because we are not involved in agriculture and the environment a lot that these ideas do not mean much to us, but they really do.  We live on this earth and that should be reason enough to care about it.  Most people just need to realize that they do make a difference in our world and that we need everyone to be involved in making it a better place to live. 

six degrees warmer...

When we here about global warming we think of icebergs melting, hotter summers, and not as cold winters but normally the thoughts stop there.  The world today is 1 degree hotter than it was decades ago and if this increases it could impact our futures in a devastating way.  I personally have seen the disaster of fires because of the how hot it is and lack of rain.  Even earlier this week it was smoky as I went outside and smoke clouds surrounded a larger part of where I live.  Not too many people realize other contributing factors to why fires have started or why the world is getting warmer.  This video shows us that CO2 emissions are part of the cause.  Besides the obvious consequences of fires we need see how the warming of just one degree has an impact on cattle countries as well.  We could possibly lose cattle farms because they will dry up because of the heat.  Without the cattle farms our economy will suffer and everyone worldwide will feel the effects.  The continuation of this warming will put us in a situation we have been in before.   At 2 degree warmer we could see extremely negative effects with the oceans and forests and some believe this is the tipping point of global warming. At 3 degrees warmer the Arctic will be ice free all summer and snowcaps will disappear. Anything beyond 3 degrees is only a mystery but if we do not act now that mystery could become our reality.   

Diamond Excerpt

Being able to look back at previous civilizations is a privilege for us.  We should not argue about why a certain civilization collapsed or whose fault it may have been but rather we should study what we know about them and apply their success to ourselves and learn from their mistakes.  By doing this we make similar problems that we might come to later easier and will be more prepared.  While our better knowledge of technology and medicines helps to reduce some of the problems earlier civilizations had deal with, we do still have some similarities with them such as globalization and overpopulation such Diamond describes in this excerpt.  We need to use our resources as best we can without becoming completely dependent on them.  They will eventually run out and if we do not plan ahead now we could end up in the same situations as previous civilizations.  These ideas are seen when Diamond talks about his visits to the two farms that are similar yet different at the same time.  We do influence our environment to some extent but sometimes the economy and natural disasters get the best of everyone.  Seeing how these problems had affected the farms Diamond visited brings these ideas to life to because I am sure we can all imagine what would happen if this was local.  We need to be thankful that here in southwest Florida we have been fortunate to have not been hit too hard by the economy and be smart by learning from what has already happened elsewhere and from before.

Goodall's Excerpt

I feel that Goodall's excerpt is trying to get people motivated in helping to save the environment.  If we all just take a little time and effort to work together we can help to make the earth a little bit better.  That does kind of sound clique but it really is the truth.  If we pollute the earth we should at least take the responsibility for it and help to manage how much damage we are doing.  I really like how she is not afraid to dream big and let people know about it.  I found the Hudson River story interesting because not only do you see how one fish made a huge impact, but then how that impact has been maintained and now the introduction of reefs and shorelines can be implemented. I love seeing how one small thing can inspire another small thing and then how that turns into something extreme and beneficial.  Even if something is gone there are still people out there fight to help save what is left and want to make sure that it does not happen again.  Being outside is healthy for us; there is nothing like a breath of fresh air after being in an office all day or a great run outside after a stressful day.  Making subtle changes in our daily routines such as recycling or car pooling or even riding a bike can make a big impact on helping to reduce pollution and keep our outdoors a little more greener.

Shiva's Excerpt

Reading Shiva's excerpt helped open my eyes to how connected everything and everyone is on the earth.  From the littlest form of bacteria to a lion in the jungle, everything is working in harmony so that the world and everything on it can function properly.  It is interesting to see how much bacteria and protozoa's impact our lives as much as they do.  When most people think of them they often associate them with diseases and sickness, not realizing that certain kinds and in certain amounts are actually beneficial to us and the ecosystems.  I personally have only heard of bacteria and protozoa being beneficial in my anatomy classes from a medical point of view, so it is nice to see how the same conclusion is drawn from an environmental point of view. Vandana Shiva makes a great point in her excerpt on how humans do not appreciate or are not educated in the complexity of the web of life we all live in, they simply think of themselves as being of higher standing; I find this to be very true. 

Biodiversity is what our planet is built around.  The more pollution and chemicals we dump into the earth the more we are going to lose animals, trees, and cause harm to ourselves.  The ecosystems are suppose to work together in unison but if we constantly keep polluting the earth the outcome of failures to do this are inevitable.  Yes accidents happen just as we saw a year ago with the oil spill, and while that hurt the aquatic ecosystems it was felt worldwide in almost every ecosystem worldwide.  This helps to support the idea that the ecosystems work together as a team and if one is polluted or “injured” the whole team feels the pain.

National Geographics

A few years ago I had a friend who did some community service out at the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples.  I remember them telling me how the wolves were not what they expected; that they were just like big dogs who wanted to play and needed to be walked.  Not many of us think of wolfs as dogs at least I know I didn’t.  Ever since then I have been more interested in wolves so seeing this first video was really interesting for me.  The way wolves have impacted Yellowstone national park within just a few years is amazing.  At first I did not see how they would have a positive impact at all.  I would have thought they would cause more devastation because they would be feeding on what was left of the animal population.  I was surprised after watching the video that that was exactly what needed to happen.  Sometimes we forget that everything in nature works and feeds off each other like one big team.  Seeing the correlation of the loss of the last wolf and the lack of vegetation was interesting but I do not thing anyone thought that adding wolves would cause a decrease in elk that would then cause new and rapid vegetation and growth.  It makes a lot of sense looking back on it now, but thinking through the process before hand I did not see that coming.  The second video was also interesting in that the same thing was happening in the seas of Jamaica and between the land and sea in Africa.  This just shows that everything is related, and no matter where you are whether it be a third world or first world country the issues are the same when it comes to nature.

Sense of Place

I pretty much grew up playing outside in the woods or on the beach so nature and its surroundings have played a big part in my life.  When your outside in nature everything is more laid back and you really look at things in a different way.  There is no rush to be anywhere and you can take your time with anything.  I feel that is how I am in both my personality and how I approach my academics.  Now that might sound as if I am just lazy, but I assure you it is not.  I just do not let the little things bother me.  When it comes to studies you have to get it done no matter what so there is no reason to complain about them.  Yes you may not like what you are learning about or the millions of pages you need to read, but in the end if you want a good grade you will do what needs to be done.  The way I see things is that life is too short to worry about everything all the time.  We need to enjoy life and its surroundings because it may not always be here.  I'm not trying to come off as a "tree hugger" but I have seen what fires and hurricanes have done to my own back yard.  The way I view my academics is to get them done on time and to the best of my ability; and if you get them done early enough you can head to the beach! :)