Week 6 Bio: why are ecosystems both strong & fragile?, and how to assess the "end goals" of social ecology...
The reading in our packet this week shows an interesting dichotomy in our understanding of ecosystems: they are fragile, yet strong.
The environment is rather resilient when we consider that animals which human activity once drove to extinction can be then reintroduced, such as wolves and bison.
Not so long ago, we used chlorofluorocarbons in our refrigerators, ACs, and antiperspirants. Later, we found that these chemicals chipped away at the ozone and created toxicity in the air we breath. We banned these chemicals and already we see an improvement in the ozone layer because of this.
This shows that despite egregious human activity, the environment is strong enough to "bounce" back.
Yet on the other hand the environment looks fragile, we see this when we study the shifting rainfall patterns after deforestation, or how cutting down trees in the Amazon somehow benefits the weather in North America whereas in Siberia it adds to the barren quality of the landscape and affects agriculture negatively.
We can't easily 'plan' what will happen when we cut down trees, though we know the local environment becomes cooler and dryer.
We also see the fragility of earth when we remove one element of the whole picture only to find how crucial that element was. An example of this was mentioned by our teacher in how prairie dogs impacted the rainfall. These animals were removed, thought of as a nuisance, turns out, as the Navajo have said long before: “If you kill off the prairie dogs, there will be no one to cry for rain.”
Maybe we don't know in what scenarios Gaia will respond in a very sensitive way, showing her vulnerability, or in what ways we can tax her and she is seemingly unaffected and strong - however, we should probably never assume that our actions will go one way or the other - it's a gamble. Removing prairie dogs may seem innocuous, but we need them a great deal for our environment, we need them to cry for the rain (and maybe also be cute like in the photo above!)
How to assess the "end goals" of social ecology...
I'm not sure how to assess the end goals of social ecology, but a thought: maybe "end goals" is not the goal since if we were to really co-exist with our environment as a participant this implies that we don't have 100% control over our ecology. Environmental order requires continual mutual adjustment. So there isn't an 'end'. BUT - it would be good for some practices to just stop, to come to an end! A great 'end goal' would be banning Monsanto's Roundup for instance, and genetically modified food. Weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels would be a great end goal - maybe better promoting public transit and electric cars, or bikes!! :) Another great end goal would be strongly regulating the meat industry and reducing meat consumption.
I think it's also important that people have their own individual goals because the more we realize that our small habits really add up, the more we can make a collective, positive change. I hope we can encourage and motivate one another in this and not judge one another. I'm sure there's kind ways for us to bring awareness into one another's lives.
I still can't forget when I lived abroad and moved back to the bay area during a severe drought - clueless as to what was going on in California recently. I was staying with a friend and thought I'd help by doing the dishes. I let the water run the whole time while washing up, and she literally gasped and then caught her breath and said "Sttooooopp!!". I was really clueless! What, stop doing the dishes? She ran over and turned the sink off. Then she scolded me about the drought. Do not let the water run!!!
Well, we are friends so her scolding was okay! :D I'm just saying that even if we are not friends we can talk to one another about our habits and about what we can and can't adjust. We can live contradictory lives too. I walk everywhere and ride a bike, if I travel somewhere I'm using public transit, and I often carpool when I visit family out of town - yet I sometimes take looong hot showers, or use way too many napkins when I eat out. -- the thing is, what is an easy change for me isn't necessarily an easy change for someone else, and vice versa.
The environment is rather resilient when we consider that animals which human activity once drove to extinction can be then reintroduced, such as wolves and bison.
Not so long ago, we used chlorofluorocarbons in our refrigerators, ACs, and antiperspirants. Later, we found that these chemicals chipped away at the ozone and created toxicity in the air we breath. We banned these chemicals and already we see an improvement in the ozone layer because of this.
This shows that despite egregious human activity, the environment is strong enough to "bounce" back.
Yet on the other hand the environment looks fragile, we see this when we study the shifting rainfall patterns after deforestation, or how cutting down trees in the Amazon somehow benefits the weather in North America whereas in Siberia it adds to the barren quality of the landscape and affects agriculture negatively.We can't easily 'plan' what will happen when we cut down trees, though we know the local environment becomes cooler and dryer.
We also see the fragility of earth when we remove one element of the whole picture only to find how crucial that element was. An example of this was mentioned by our teacher in how prairie dogs impacted the rainfall. These animals were removed, thought of as a nuisance, turns out, as the Navajo have said long before: “If you kill off the prairie dogs, there will be no one to cry for rain.”
Maybe we don't know in what scenarios Gaia will respond in a very sensitive way, showing her vulnerability, or in what ways we can tax her and she is seemingly unaffected and strong - however, we should probably never assume that our actions will go one way or the other - it's a gamble. Removing prairie dogs may seem innocuous, but we need them a great deal for our environment, we need them to cry for the rain (and maybe also be cute like in the photo above!)
How to assess the "end goals" of social ecology...
I'm not sure how to assess the end goals of social ecology, but a thought: maybe "end goals" is not the goal since if we were to really co-exist with our environment as a participant this implies that we don't have 100% control over our ecology. Environmental order requires continual mutual adjustment. So there isn't an 'end'. BUT - it would be good for some practices to just stop, to come to an end! A great 'end goal' would be banning Monsanto's Roundup for instance, and genetically modified food. Weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels would be a great end goal - maybe better promoting public transit and electric cars, or bikes!! :) Another great end goal would be strongly regulating the meat industry and reducing meat consumption.
I think it's also important that people have their own individual goals because the more we realize that our small habits really add up, the more we can make a collective, positive change. I hope we can encourage and motivate one another in this and not judge one another. I'm sure there's kind ways for us to bring awareness into one another's lives.
I still can't forget when I lived abroad and moved back to the bay area during a severe drought - clueless as to what was going on in California recently. I was staying with a friend and thought I'd help by doing the dishes. I let the water run the whole time while washing up, and she literally gasped and then caught her breath and said "Sttooooopp!!". I was really clueless! What, stop doing the dishes? She ran over and turned the sink off. Then she scolded me about the drought. Do not let the water run!!!
Well, we are friends so her scolding was okay! :D I'm just saying that even if we are not friends we can talk to one another about our habits and about what we can and can't adjust. We can live contradictory lives too. I walk everywhere and ride a bike, if I travel somewhere I'm using public transit, and I often carpool when I visit family out of town - yet I sometimes take looong hot showers, or use way too many napkins when I eat out. -- the thing is, what is an easy change for me isn't necessarily an easy change for someone else, and vice versa.
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