Life and Death of the Salt Marsh summary

     John Teal and Mildred Teal's article is about the ecological significance of salt marshes. Salt marshes vary depending on the region upon which it is found. In the north the marshes are covered in a dense grass. The roots bind the wet mud into a firm surface. In the south the marshes are covered by only one grass which is much more separated than in the north. The roots however are developed into an intricate mass holding the squishy mud together in a layer that floats above a more liquid layer. At low tide the salt marshes is a vast field of grasses, but at high tide it becomes a floating sea of grasses where much water is visible. This environment provides a refuge for marsh animals that cannot stand submersion in salt water.
    We are destroying these marshes by dredging, filling, and building. We also destroy them indirectly via pollution. We need to implement a method of preserving these marshes which includes safeguards against increased pressures for further development due to our ever increasing population.

Environmental Justice for All summary

    Robert D. Bullard's article is about environmental discrimination against racial minorities and the poor. In 1991 the idea of what "the environment" is was broadened to include where we live, work, play, worship, and go to school, along with the prior understanding of it to be the physical and natural world. Since the early 1920's through to 1978, over 80 percent of Houston's landfills and incinerators have been located in or close to Black neighbourhoods, thus exposing them to many harmful substances. Similar discrimination's against the Black community have been made all across the nation, weather it be dumping of oil laced with toxic PCBs along roadways, or hazardous waste landfills these are all predominantly located in or along Black communities, even though Blacks make up only 20 percent of the region's population. In 1996 after five years of organizing, the EPA was finally convinced to relocate 358 Pensacola, Florida. families dioxin dump, thus marking the first time a Black community was relocated under the federal government's giant Superfund program.

Our Stolen Future summary

    Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers article discusses the disruptive developmental effects of environmental hormone mimics. The process by which chemicals are tested on animals with high dosses to determine potential health concerns has been questioned by many. As it is commonly argued "mice are not people", while this may apply to testing for carcinogens where scientist have an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that induce cancer, it can`t be said for testing of synthetic hormone mimics because scientists have a very good grasp on the mechanisms and actions of hormones. It has also been discovered that in most cases of testing for hormone and endocrine disruptors an extremely high dose causes less damage than lower doses. This adds a further complication to determining whether a synthetic chemical is dangerous or not.

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment summary

     Sandra Steingraber discusses in her article the need for further research on environmental factors in cancer incidences. She discuses how she has cancer and so does many members of her adoption family, however her biological family doesn't have history of cancer in it. This is proof that cancer is inherited  from the environment as opposed to being passed down through family genes. She also discusses the process by which cancer forms. Also discussed is the various substances that are known to cause cancer, however what is not known is how these substances behave when they are combined. Unfortunately most cancer research is focused on inherited cancers which make up only about 10 percent of known cancers. Cancer research needs to focus more on environmental factors that are causing cancer. We need to take on the approach of not using toxic substances unless their is no other way of accomplishing the task.

Ecosystems and Human Well-being summary

     The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment covers the need for changes in government, economics, technology, social behaviour, and knowledge in order to achieve a sustainable future. Approximately 60% of the ecosystem services that were assessed during the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment are being degraded or used unsustainably. This includes freshwater, capture fisheries, air and water purification, regulation of climate, natural hazards, and pests. The effects of degradation of ecosystem services are being borne mostly by the poor which is further contributing to inequalities across groups of people. These problems are only going to get worse, as by 2050 global GDP is expected to increase by three to six times its level. The structure and function of ecosystems has changed more rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century than any other time in human history. This is mainly due to rapidly growing demands for food, freshwater, timber, fiber, and fuel. The eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2000 are aimed at improving human well-being by reducing poverty, hunger, child and maternal mortality, by insuring education for all, by controlling and managing diseases, by tackling gender disparity, by ensuring environmental sustainability, and by pursuing global partnerships.

Reflection

     The unit on food has really opened my eyes to where my food comes from and the environmental impacts of buying cheaper food that is imported from around the world and is provided by unsustainable practices. It really doesn't make sense to buy food that is imported from across the country or globe when we can and do grow the exact same food locally. It just creates excess use of fuel and excess emissions through transportation of the good. Locally grown foods should be made more available in large grocery stores, its fresher, supports the local economy and reduces reliance on transportation. Now when I am buying foods I try find better quality foods and food that is grown locally. Price is no longer my deciding factor.
    I don't think that GMO's are necessarily a bad thing. I think they are an important technology in future food development and can help increase our food security however, more research and funding needs to go into the development of GMO's so that we are more certain of what the effects will be one both humans eating the food and on the surrounding environment. The idea of patenting life is a scary one, I think the line needs to be drawn there, otherwise we are going to end up with a world dominated (more so than already) by a select few very powerful multinational corporations.

John Doerr sees salvation and profit in greentech summary

    John Doerr discusses in his video green technologies and there implementation. Walmart which is the largest private user of electricity has made becoming green a top priority. They made their stores more efficient by painting the roofs white to make cooling easier, installing skylights to harness daylight instead of using artificial lighting, and installing doors and led lighting on all their refrigerators and freezers. By Walmart declaring they are going to go green and be profitable it strongly encourages other corporations and businesses to do the same because Walmart is on of the most powerful and influential corporations.
    Brazil mandated that every gas station carry ethanol, they also mandated that all their new vehicles be flex-fuel (can run both ethanol or gasoline). As a result they now have 29,000 ethanol pumps as verses the U.S.'s 700, their car fleet is now 85% flex-fuel as versus the U.S.'s 5%. By doing this they have reduced their fuel consumption by 40% and reduced their country's CO2 emissions by 10%. There are new green technologies being  developed everyday with funding for research and development coming from all over the place, however Doerr is scarred it isn't enough. Scientists estimate that we need to decrease CO2 emissions by 1/2 in order to stabilize our atmosphere.
    The problem is even though we got the political will in the U.S. to reduce emissions, we need to reduce emissions all over the world, in order to do this we need to make it economically viable for everyone and make it so all country's still have the ability to make profit.

Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems summary

    Peter M. Vitousek, Harold A. Mooney, and Jerry M. Melillo collaborate on this article about the impacts of our accelerating dominance over the Earth's ecosystems.  Human enterprises such as agriculture, industry, fishing, and international commerce transform the land surface, altering major biological cycles and adding or removing species from ecosystems. These changes prompt further changes through a domino effect which is driving climate change and irreversible losses of biological diversity. It has been estimated that 39 to 50% of the Earth's land has been transformed or degraded by humanity. The most powerful of which is row-crop agriculture which occupies 10 to 15% of the Earth's land surface. This land transformation is the primary driving force in the loss of biological diversity.
    Humans also have a substantial impact on marine ecosystems. We use about 8% of the primary production from oceans, with 25% in upwelling areas and 35% in temperate continental shelf systems. As of 1995 22% of marine fisheries were over-exploited or already depleted, 44% were already at their limit of exploitation.
    We have also significantly altered biogeochemical cycles by addition of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, deliberately fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere, substantial use of the worlds fresh water supply (over half) with 70% going to use for agriculture. Synthetic organic chemicals also play a major role in the alteration of biogeochemical cycles, many of them are highly toxic to humans and animals, they also tend to persist in the environment for decades.
    Recent calculations suggest that current rates of species extinction are among the order of 100 to 1000 times those before humanity's dominance over the Earth. 11% of birds, 18% of mammals, 5% of fish, and 8% of plant species are currently facing threat of extinction. Humans have also largely increased the rate of biological invasion (invasive species). These invasive species can introduce new pathogens and also can out compete some of the native species which puts further stress on the ecosystem. Our number one goal should be to try and reduce the rate at which we alter the Earth's systems, thus hopefully giving ecosystems a better chance to change and adopt.