My view point of the Environment

First off, I have to say that my view point of the environment has changed slowly through the years and especially since the beginning of this class. I have Spring time allergies so my view point of the environment for me is partly associated with sneezing, watery eyes and a runny nose. I grew-up only going camping a few times with my family and with Girl Scouts. I think my family's idea of nature and the environment was more utilitarian. Although my Mom loved plants and we had lots of plants around the house and in the front yard. She was constantly weeding. She was also constantly buying new plants because she did not have a green thumb and replaced the ones that died. But again it was more in a utilitarian way. I just recently read a book by John Connolly called, "The Book of Lost Things". It is about a boy who grows up and loses his innocents and sees death, danger, betrayal, friendship and love in the world in a grown-up perspective. The author uses fairy tales and twist them to make his point and it takes place in a dark forest. The dark forest has creatures that want to kill him making it a very dangerous place. The description of the forest was a lot like the one Snow White sees when the woodsman takes her to the deep dark forest as the Queen requests to cut out her heart. I suppose this is the point of view of the environment that is easier for me to associate with. Although, I look around me and think that the trees, ocean, birds and streams are beautiful. I love spending time at the beach where all the elements meet (air, sun, earth, water). But now I go further and think about the species that live in the ocean and the layers of biomes that are out there. It takes on a different significance and meaning to me. I walk through a ravine every Saturday morning and enjoy the sounds of nature and seeing the ducks and the heron in the stream near by. It wasn't until taking this class do I appreciate the homes of these species in a whole new way. I am seeing that the environment exists for more than just myself. The world really is diverse in so many more ways and on so many different levels and here for us all to exists together.

Vernon Martin - Finding Nature in the Mall

I thought Vernon Martin was an interesting speaker. He made me think differently about the mall. I haven't been to the mall in a long time but it is true how they try and bring a false sense of "nature" to inside the mall. The natural lighting and trees and water elements surround you as you walk around. I see parents bringing kids to the mall to play on the little play structures they have set up and sometimes I do wonder why they don't just take them to an outdoor park. I was really fascinated with the way marketing and advertising has changed. It was interesting to see the "er" of advertising in the 1950's to what is it today with giving us a sense of belonging and something to believe in when at the end of the day it just a tennis shoe. It is almost scary how easy it is to buy into this advertising. I can now see how I have done this in some of my purchases in the past. It is sort of like Gigi in the movie "He's Just Not That into You"and how she thinks she sees the signs of how the guy feels but really she is misreading and looking at something that isn't real. So we walk into the Rainforest Cafe and we think we are experiencing something real and but it really isn't. It is just an idea of what is palpable for most of the public to understand and digest and feel comfortable looking at. It was also interesting to see how we used to buy things like a television, new car to signify our class status and today we buy name brands to signify who we are. Are you a Coca-cola vs. Pepsi drinker? Are you a Mac vs. PC user?
I really liked the quote by Baudrillard," It is no longer a question of imitation, nor of duplication, nor even a parody. It is rather a question of substituting signs of the real for the real itself" Interesting stuff to think about.

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.