Each of you has been assigned a specific question from the chapter to correlate with the question below. Make sure that you place the number of your assigned question at the top of your response so I know what angle you are coming from.
How do the concepts presented in your assigned question relate to our national viewpoint on ecosystem capital usage? What does this show us about where we are at as a society? Are we making positive preogress?
Responses are due no later than 11:59 p.m. this Sunday.
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9 comments:
First, let me just preface this by saying I was late to class on Friday so as best I understand it I'm coming from the view of Review Question #19, and talking about how it relates to the national viewpoint of ecosystem capital, etc.
Land Trusts are a reflection of a growing American concern with bad ecosystem capital uses. As the environmentalist movement grows, people are becoming more concerned with whether it is really worth the destruction of so many habitats for what is gained. Trusts are a reflection of the idea that it isn't worth it. A trust is when a landowner gives up development rights for the future, but retains ownership of the land. This means that the land is saved from use by industry, etc. As a society the use of parcels of land as trusts seems to be a smart investment in the world, as well as what could be considered a statement of mistrust in the government to protect the environment. I believe that we are making positive progress by setting pieces of land aside, making them free from the threat of use. It shows that even though the government may be preoccupied with other issues, it is still an important issue.
#6 Response:
Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is defined as the maximum amount of use an ecosytem can incur without being depleted or exceeding its natural replacement level. It serves as the central question when managing any natural resouce. We rely on our understanding of the MSY in order to sustainably exploit ecosystem capital. When using any natural resource, it is important to make sure that the amount of exploitation is below that particular environment's MSY. The definition of the maximum sustaibale yield of an environment has helped us through the tranistion from being a culture based on exploitation to one that takes both economic and environmental concerns into consideration. This transition shows that society is beginning to concentrate more on the quality of health of the environment. Society is now beginning to incorporate environmental concerns with the need for commercial exploitation.
damnit davey, that was my question, you were like 15 or something. oh well, I'll do it anyway.
#4
Essentially from what I understand of the question, we've accomplished the first baby step in terms of global sustainability, which is awareness. We know that we can't continue at the current pace, and we know that we are completely capable of making the changes necessary to become a functional world. However, the reason that this hasn't happened yet is that it isn't profitable in the short run. We still have fossil fuels at our disposal, and they continue to bring in large sums of money to a small group of elite. They are willing to sacrifice future generations, even of their own descendants, in order to profit as much as they can. It is this attitude of selfishness that holds us back: people either fail to see or fail to care that the world simply can't exist like this forever. It seems to be the common conservative agreement that you (personally) aren't going to be around when the hurricane strikes, so it doesn't matter if you instigated it. This is holding us back from taking the next step, but I do still think that it's important that we've even made the first. The next step is possibly the hardest because it requires actual financial backing, but it is possible.
#19, as well.
The popularity of land trusts shows us that we are making positive progress toward sustainability and that individuals do care. Land trusts protect land from development, saving it from industrial uses and damage. Over 6.2 million acres of land have been protected in this way. Although it may not be enough to make us sustainable, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Land trusts serve both the owners of the land and the rural people while also protecting the environment. As much as we can connect the needs and desires of people to protection of the environment, the easier it will be to become a sustainable society.
response for question 16:
In relation to ecosystem capital usage, coral reefs and mangroves share the trend of being purposely exploited despite the numerous benefits and resources that both provide. While coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems, mangroves offer coastal weather protection as well as refuge for marine fish. Coral reefs supply food as a result of the fish and shellfish populations. While a lot of these fish make there way through the food market, a good amount are meant solely for the aquarium trade. U.S. owners of tropical fish are likely uninformed of the contribution they make to the decline of coral reef ecosystems. As for mangroves, they are deforested and exploited for development purposes, logging and shrimp aquaculture. In both cases, it seems that the national view on ecosystem capital is that it’s okay to exploit a given ecosystem to the point that ignorant consumers are pleased with the aesthetics of their fish tanks and full of shrimp appetizers. I think there is a fair amount of unnecessary exploitation going on here and the only reason society seems to be fine with this is because so many people are unaware of the decline. For example, most people would never consider that purchasing a colorful fish plays a part in the collapse of a coral reef somewhere off the coast of Australia. With that said, I do think that positive progress is being made in the form of The Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Project and the TRAFFIC network, which are providing funds and drawing attention to the fish/coral species that are negatively effected by coral reef exploitation. Mangroves are also beginning to get more attention as there is growing local and international pressure to cease destruction of the trees.
Review Question #11
Deforestation of the tropics in developing countries is a good example of our national view on ecosystem capital usage. Like many other countries, America is becoming more environmentally conscious when it comes to natural resources. For example, the American Forest and Paper Association has adopted the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The Initiative consists of principles such as sustainable forestry, which is an effort to maintain habitat quality as well as the sustainability of the forest. However, this doesn't show the whole picture, and obviously there is still much work to be done towards making all of our resource usage sustainable. What this does show is that we are making progress towards a more environmentally conscious attitude, but we are still far from done.
Question #5
Our national viewpoint towards our current ecosystem capital is for the most part a productive use viewpoint. Although we are using some of our resources mostly for consumptive use, there is usually someone behind the sale of that resource that is turning the resource that is usually consumptive into a productive one. If we continue the current trend of the exploitation of ecosystem capital for economic gain (productive use) the ecosystem capital will eventually run out. Consumptive use on the other hand can be a renewable practice and I think we as a society are making positive progress towards that direction. The current use of fossil fuels for energy instead of a renewable resource shows us that as a society we are focusing far too much on productive use.
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