Joe Mederios

I found Joe's talk to be very informative and helped me make sense of the different kingdoms of species, ecosystems and the need for biodiversity. I liked how Joe used the example of the grocery store to explain biodiversity. It made it very understandable. I also liked the number circle used in the video in showing the number of different species there are and to see the numbers within each group. I never knew there we so many different kinds of ants, fungus and beetles. I feel bad now that I was so angry when ants invaded my home a few years ago and the measures I went to for them to go away. Makes me look at the insect kingdom differently. I like how he broke it down to show how dependent we humans are on the different species or derivatives of the species, to what we eat, wear, live and the medications we use. I have a better understanding of ecosystems and the importance of the biodiversity within them. It seems that everything in nature is important because we all need one another to exists. Again, I am reminded of how interdependent and connect we all are.

Yikes Toxins!

I care that we have toxins in the environment. They are everywhere in our earth, in our air and water. In the youTube clip, "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in 5 years we have much more plastic in our oceans. It is frighting. We have toxic problems in other states as well as California. I think we should clean up the mining waste in our community. But who will pay for it? And more importantly, where will we put the waste? I think this is an important question. We can't burn it because then it will float into our air and we can't bury it because then it will get into our soil. The same problem with the baseball field that was on top of a tailing's pile and all the asbestos in on the hazard suits would happen again. It might even be a more toxic substance that doesn't take years to kill you but days. We also need to make sure it doesn't harm any other species.
If we didn't have so much garbage maybe it can cut down on adding more toxins to our environment. I think we all have a personal responsibility to take care of the choices we make as we live our lives. The amount of water we use, the types of containers we choose to story food in, cook with and drink from are all choices that we make. We also have a personal responsibility to be informed and stay informed about our environment. But I also feel that the government has a responsibility of providing us with acquate information about our environmental issues that we might not know are happening. It would help for them to be open and honest about the short term and long term effects that can happen if we choose not to care.

Dr Mike Thornton

Wow! Dr. Thornton's talk was so interesting! I had no idea about hydraulic mining or suction mining/dredging. I was one of those people who thought of gold mining with a pick and a pan. I never knew about the devastation and carelessness that happened during the gold rush. What a mess! It is sort of scary all the clean up that must be done. It is sad that tourism seem to want to cover up the whole truth of the gold rush mining and the impact it has left today. My daughter studied the Gold Rush last year in fourth grade and we went on many field trips and they never mentioned any of the bad effects that have happen in the Gold Rush, from the environmental impact, the towns being built up fast, the trees being cut down, to the mercury dumped in the water and contaminating the rivers and fish. I'm glad I got to learn about the other aspects of the gold rush. In some ways I feel overwhelmed by the devastation that humans can do all in the name of staking a claim and finding their fortune.

Gary Noy

I learned a lot from Gary Noy's talk on Tuesday. I did not know that Sacramento was part of the Sierra Nevada range. Never knew that they cut down trees in the past just because they could. I did not know about hydrolic mining and the damage it has done. Or about the law suit, Woodruff vs. Northbloomfield and how if is still refered to today. I did know about the how we are looking into the way the Native Americans set controlled fire to renew the soil. I also knew a little about the gold rush in 1848. I'm pretty new to this area but have heard or visited some of the areas he was refering to in his speech. I found it interesting.

Who Decides?

Who do we save? Which species matters most? How do we know that a species extinction is not part of the natural evolutionary process?
Wow! These are really difficult questions to answer. It seems that even scientist in the program we watched did not seem to have answers to these questions. It is clear that something must be done in conservation or else everyone will suffer. But what right do Western countries have to tell others what to do? What right do we have interfering with other countries that live with these animals, insects, plants and amphibians/reptiles to tell them what to do? I'm not sure we do. But if something must be done and we have the resources to do the research then I think at least this much should be done.
We know that the cute, fluffy animals are the one's with the most attention to conserve because of their charismatic appeal and more people will pay attention. This is good as far as opening the door to introducing the idea of conservation to the masses. In time maybe other species that might need help will get t because conservation will be a common idea and movement. Everything is so interdependent with the food chain and the people of the world, with poverty effecting the environment and also our affluence as shown in the carbon foot print test.
We tend to ignore insects and plants but I feel they are very important. I think we should look into what plants are on the verge of extinction. Plants are important on different levels. Plants can feed us and give us oxygen. Some medicines have been made from plants which means some plants can cure us. As far as eliminating new species, I think we shouldn't. They might be the next step in some evolutionary process that might effect and help with new growth and development in other species.
Who decides what species matters most? I really don't know. Since plants, animals, insects, humans, reptiles/amphibians and the environment are so interconnected it seems that any change will effect the whole system. A balance can be made between humans and wildlife. We just need more people to be aware of the fact we do share this planet, not only with other humans, but with many other species and the importance they all serve to help us maintain life on earth.