Necessity of Education in the Preservation of The Environment

Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment. As a result, individuals develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions (United States Environmental Protection Agency 2021). An incomplete understanding of our earth leads to us degrading our own life-support systems and also leads to differing worldviews about environmental facts and the way that the earth should be treated as a whole. Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course of action. Rather, environmental education teaches individuals how to weigh various sides of an issue through critical thinking and it enhances their own problem-solving and decision-making skills. However, if the education system put a heavier emphasis on the importance of our environment rather than pushing students to pursue money-orientated occupations, then more people would show attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to improve or maintain environmental quality.

Miller and Spoolman separate environmental worldviews into three categories; human-centred, life-centred, and earth-centred (Miller and Spoolman 2021, #637). A human-centred worldview focuses on the needs and wants of human beings - preserving what they believe to be useful and neglecting what they believe to be unnecessary to humans, conversely a life-centred worldview holds that all forms of life have value as participating members of the biosphere, regardless of their potential or actual use to humans. Finally, earth-centred worldviews believe that we have an ethical responsibility to take a wider view and preserve the earth's biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the functioning of its life support systems for the benefit of the earth's life, now and in the future.

A lack of education also leads to people being unaware of the impact they have as consumers. Fast fashion and overconsumption of energy, water and food are the biggest catalysts in the degradation of our earth. If people were more aware of the number of resources it takes in order to produce items of clothes, food products or electricity, I believe they would be more inclined to make a change in their habits in order to help the planet’s preservation. For example, it can take up to 2,700 litres to produce the cotton needed to make a single t-shirt (World Wildlife Foundation 2013). This is enough water to sustain a human's life for more than two years. Making people more aware of their environmental citizenship - the idea that each of us is an integral part of a larger ecosystem and that our future depends on each of us, embracing the challenge, and acting responsibly and positively toward the environment - is essential to seeing a change in the sustainability of our earth. Not only do we have a responsibility to the current population of the earth but also to future generations - this intragenerational justice is the obligation of the members of one generation owe to one another - specifically in the conservation of resources for the benefit of people who will live in the future.

Humans possess an instinctive tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life - we, as a race, have not adopted a negative attitude towards the environment through our human nature but through education and the priorities of society. Since the mid-1980s, a variety of research has shown that contact with nature generates emotional, physiological and social benefits. The Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson, who popularized the term biophilia, describes it as an ‘‘innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms’’ (Wilson 1993, p. 31).

Each and every human being - past, present, and future - deserves the opportunity to experience our natural environment to the fullest extent, however, due to the decisions and actions of a small community of people this environmental equity is becoming more and more scarce. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies (United States Environmental Agency 2021). Due to the lack of information provided through our education systems and our media, this justice is often lacking, for example, Flint is a town in Michigan that is facing major water contamination and lead exposure thanks to the actions of its government (Ben Crump 2021). The city did not perform enough due diligence research before switching its water supply. As a result, it chose a water system that was highly contaminated with lead and other waste products that had been dumped into the river. The Flint problem disproportionately affected minorities and low socioeconomic classes that could not fix the problem, find other sources of water or leave the area. Many people were made sick by exposure to contaminants. Even worse, the problem has not been resolved. Many people who cannot afford an alternative are stuck in the area and continue to be exposed to health hazards.

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References

Ben Crump. 2021. “WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE?” Ben Crump Trial Lawyer for Justice. https://bencrump.com/environmental-justice-lawyer/what-are-some-examples-of-environmental-injustice/.

Miller, G., and Scott E. Spoolman. 2021. Living in the Environment. 20th ed. Boston, United States: Cengage Learning.

United States Environmental Agency. 2021. “Learn About Environmental Justice.” EPA. https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/learn-about-environmental-justice.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2021. “What is Environmental Education?” EPA. https://www.epa.gov/education/what-environmental-education.

Vanburen, John. 2007. Living in the Environment. N.p.: Cengage Learning. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fd3b7d419aac/8077468?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1632862800000&X-Blackboard-Signature=ZHST%2B1UNgKVT7%2FszfD6a9tJKSn345nfoSrg5yWe0bCE%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100403&response-cache-control.

World Wildlife Foundation. 2013. “The Impact of a Cotton T-Shirt.” World Wildlife Foundation. https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt.

Environmental History of the USA

The United States' position in the world of Environmentalism has fluctuated significantly over the past 150 years. From the first industrial revolution to the period of enlighten­ment to the Great Depression and even in the 21st century. Each period holds an important place in history and each decision made by individuals and the government has made a significant impact on the state of our planet today, how will our era in history be viewed in the future? Will we be in the era of environmental prosperity or environmental failure?

From the moment the USA was colonised people began to spread across the land, clearing forests for cropland and settlements. This era, 1607-1890, was known as the Frontier and by 1890 more than half of the country's public land was given away or sold cheaply to the railroad, timber, mining, and development (Vanburen 2007, 1). During this time some citizens became alarmed at the scope of resource depletion & degradation- this lead to an early conservation era (1832-1870) in which several authors' published books on our early environment. For example, Henry David Thoreau & George Perkins Marsh published Life in the Woods and Man and Nature (Vanburen 2007, 2).

In 1870, the role of the federal government in resource conservation & public health increased. The Forest Conservation act (1891) (Vanburen 2007, 2), established the responsibility of the federal government in protecting public lands from resource exploitation. This era also saw an increase in environmental activism, for example, John Muir. The protection of forests and wildlife did not begin until 1901 when Theodore Roosevelt became President. In 1903, Roosevelt established the countries first federal refuge at Pelican Island for the preservation of the Brown Pelican. By 1904, Roosevelt had added 35 more reserves and also more than tripled the size of national forest reserves. This era was declared the Golden Age of Conservation in America and most environmental historians consider Roosevelt as the country’s best environmental president.

The 20th century saw US conservation movements divided in two; conservationists and preservationists. Conservationists believed all public lands should be managed wisely and scientifically to provide needed resources, while preservationists believed wilderness areas should be left untouched.

After World War I, the US entered a new era of economic growth - Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover all promoted the increased sale of timber, energy, mineral and other resources found on public land at a low price to stimulate economic growth. Hoover proposed to return federal lands to states for them to sell to private interests for economic development, however, the Great Depression (1929-1941) made owning land unattractive and some say that without it we might have little to no public lands today.

The 1930s saw a second wave of national resource conservation. President Franklin D Roosevelt strove to bring the country out of a depression, persuading Congress to enact programs to provide jobs and help restore the country's degraded environment - to do this the government purchased large tracts of land from cash-poor landowners and established the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933), which put 2 mill people to work planting trees, developing & maintaining parks & recreation areas, restoring silted waterways, and building levees and dams for flood control (Vanburen 2007, 4).

The world saw a new level of environmental devastation in 1945 with the development of radioactive weaponry. On August 6th and 9th, the USA dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 105,000 people (Stoll 2007, 1). The radioactive plumes shot into the atmosphere and diffused into air currents, subjecting every natural environment and every human on earth to low but continuing levels of radiation. Nuclear weapons released levels of radiation that had never existed on earth before and in the following half-century a new level of environmental activism emerged.

Between 1965 and 1970, ecology emerged & received widespread media attention - ideas of population growth, resource use, and pollution gained a large amount of public awareness. The 1970s were the Environmental decade and April 20, 1970, saw the first annual Earth Day in which 20 million people in more than 2000 US communities took to the streets to demand improvement in environment quality (Vanburen 2007, 5). This decade also saw the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970, the Endangered Species Act (1973), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (1978), and the Department of Energy (1977) (Vanburen 2007, 5). By the time the 1980s arrived, the USA led the world in the research & development of wind + solar energy technologies. Unfortunately, the 1980s also brought an environmental backlash in which farmers, ranchers, miners etc. opposed environmental laws and regulations that had been established during the 1960s and 70s. Between 1981-83 Congress cut 90% of government subsidies for renewable energy research & eliminated tax incentives for residential solar energy (Vanburen 2007, 6). They also increased private energy and mineral development, timber cutting on public lands, lowered automobile gas mileage standards, and relaxed federal air and water quality pollution standards.

Between 1990 and 2010, opposition to environmental laws and regulations gained strength. However, interest in environmental issues also increased on many college and university campuses, including sustainability, population growth, biodiversity protection, and threats from atmospheric warming and projected climate change.

The last 10 years has seen another shift in opinion, media attention and environmental speculation. My generation has a desire to change the way we are seen through the eyes of history, however, we all have a part to play, and the time to play is now.

Bibliography

Jackson, Peter. 2019. “From Stockholm to Kyoto: A Brief History of Climate Change.” UN Chronicle. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/stockholm-kyoto-brief-history-climate-change.

Miller, G., and Scott E. Spoolman. 2021. Living in the Environment. 20th ed. Boston, United States: Cengage Learning.

National Geographic Society. n.d. “Biodiversity.” National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biodiversity/.

National Georgraphic. 2021. “Biome.” National Georgraphic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biome.

Stoll, Steven. 2007. U.S. Environmentalism since 1945. New York: PALGRAVE MACMILLAW. 10.1007/978-1-137-11293-4.

Union of Concerned Scientists. 1997. “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.” Union of Concerned Scientists, (April).

Vanburen, John. 2007. Living in the Environment. N.p.: Cengage Learning. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fd3b7d419aac/8077468?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1632862800000&X-Blackboard-Signature=ZHST%2B1UNgKVT7%2FszfD6a9tJKSn345nfoSrg5yWe0bCE%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100403&response-cache-control.

World Scientists'. 2017. “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice.” BioScience 67, no. 12 (December): 1026.

Ecosystems and Their Services

The world in which we live is continuously changing and everything that lives on our earth and in our environment is constantly affected by our actions. Biodiversity provides vital ecosystem functions such as soil fertilisation, nutrient recycling, pest and disease regulation, erosion control and crop and tree pollination. If we continue to ignore the effects of our actions, our ecosystems will be pushed past a point of return - destroying our biodiversity as well as the future of our species.

An ecosystem is a community of organ­isms that interact with one another and with the physical environment of matter and energy in which they live (Miller and Spoolman 2021, 43). Organisms within an ecosystem are organised into trophic (feeding) levels based on the source of their nutrients; producers make the nutrients they need from compounds and energy obtained from their environment, while consumers obtain their nutrients by feeding on producers or other consumers. Decomposers are consumers that get nourishment by decomposing the wastes/remains of plants/animals. In natural ecosystems, the waste and dead bodies of organisms are resources for other organisms in keeping with chemical cycling - one of the principles of sustainability.

A niche is a physical space in which species live, how they use their resources, and how they interact with other organisms. All of the species within an ecosystem depend on one another, forming relationships. The interaction among organisms within or between overlapping niches can be characterised into five types of relationships: competition, predation, commensalism, mutualism and parasitism. All of these relationships are interconnected through webs and chains of relationships, for example; sharks are avid predators that feed on fish of all kinds, they have been regulators of life in the deepwater ecosystem, not only keeping the count of fish manageable but also reducing chances of disease from infected or dead fish. With limited resources, fish compete in order to survive, if the population of this species becomes unmanageable for the ecosystem, they could become extinct - it is for this reason that sharks (and others alike) are a necessary part of the ecosystem and a keystone species.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi. While Earth’s biodiversity is so rich that many species have yet to be discovered, many species are being threatened with extinction due to human activities, putting the Earth’s magnificent biodiversity at risk. (National Geographic Society, 2021). A more biological diverse ecosystem with a greater variety of producers can produce more plant biomass, which can support a greater variety of consumer species. Biodiversity promotes stability within an ecosystem, making it more likely to include more species that have traits that allow them to adapt to changes in the environment, leading to genetic diversity, evolution and the avoidance of species extinction. Biodiversity of species leads to each species acquiring a role - leading to a chain effect when a single species becomes extinct or threatened within an ecosystem. This is a significant problem when human activity so heavily affects the environment.

A biome is a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate. The five major types of biomes are aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra (National Geographic 2021). 60% of the worlds major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainable, as the human ecological footprint gets bigger and spreads across the globe, according to the 2005 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (Miller and Spoolman 2021, 148).

The aquatic biome is divided into freshwater and marine regions, which make up 73% of the earth’s surface (Miller and Spoolman 2021, 154). Freshwater regions, such as lakes and rivers, have a low salt concentration, while marine regions, such as estuaries and the ocean, have higher salt concentrations (National Geographic 2021). These aquatic environments provide ecosystem and financial services, including oxygen through photosynthesis, climate moderation, CO2 absorption, food, minerals, and recreation/tourism. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are under serious threat due to human activity. Over half of the coastal wetlands have been lost to urban development, ocean bottoms are being degraded by dredging and trawler fishing, and beaches are eroding due to development and rising sea levels.

A significant part of the aquatic biome is the coral reef; coral makes up only about 2% of the ocean floor - however, it protects 15% of the world’s coastline from flooding and erosion (Miller and Spoolman 2021, 153). The coral reef also provides habitats, food, and spawning grounds for one-third of the organisms that live in the ocean. The reef around the world is a fundamental part of our environment and our economy, with reef tourism and fishery providing goods and services worth about $40 billion per year. It is distressing to know that our activity has severely damaged 20% of the world’s coral, with another 25-30% under grave threat (Miller and Spoolman 2021, 153).

Bibliography

Jackson, Peter. 2019. “From Stockholm to Kyoto: A Brief History of Climate Change.” UN Chronicle. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/stockholm-kyoto-brief-history-climate-change.

Miller, G., and Scott E. Spoolman. 2021. Living in the Environment. 20th ed. Boston, United States: Cengage Learning.

National Geographic Society. n.d. “Biodiversity.” National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biodiversity/.

National Geographic. 2021. “Biome.” National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biome.

Union of Concerned Scientists. 1997. “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.” Union of Concerned Scientists, (April).

World Scientists'. 2017. “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice.” BioScience 67, no. 12 (December): 1026.

Environmental Problems, Their causes and Sustainability Sept 15 2021

The environment is all around us. The sun keeps us warm, the plants and animals give us food, and nature, in general, gives us sights to marvel at. So, why is it that we are not sprinting to change the way that we are treating our planet?

“Sustainability is the capacity of the earth’s natural systems to survive or adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.” (Miller and Spoolman 2021, #6)

In 1972, the United Nations (UN) held the First Earth Summit in Stockholm, Sweden (Jackson 2019). The UN Scientific Conference set out principles for the preservation and enhancement of the human environment, and recommendations for international environmental action (Jackson 2019). This declaration raised the issue of climate change for the first time, warning governments to be mindful of activities that could lead to climate change.

Over the next 50 years, the UN Conference and the Earth Summit has continued their attempts to raise awareness about the struggles our planet is facing. In 1992, the Summit released an article titled; “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (Union of Concerned Scientists 1997). This article outlines the climate struggles of the times as well as the ways in which they believe they can be improved, urging people to make a change. 25 years later, in 2017, the Earth Summit released another article, stating that not enough had been done to help out the planet’s environment (World Scientists' 2017, #1).

In 1992, the main areas of concern was the depletion of the ozone layer leading to enhanced ultraviolet radiation of the earth’s surface, air, water and food pollution, water shortage, deforestation and most importantly over-population (Union of Concerned Scientists 1997, #1). After 25 years, the majority of these problems remained to be of extreme concern. Although our planet has helped to stabilize the stratospheric ozone and made advancements in reducing poverty - humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in any other categories. In fact, most are getting worse.

As outlined in Living in the Environment, Miller and Spoolman, the major problems with or environment are; climate change, the loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification, diminishing access to fresh water, resource waste, and hazardous pollutants. They also outline that the main causes for these problems are; population growth, wasteful and unsustainable resource use, and competing environmental worldviews.

The population of the world in 1992 was almost 5.5 billion people, this had risen to 7.7 billion by 2017 (World Scientists' 2017, #1). When 83% of the Earth's land area is now affected by human activity, it is clear that we are going to have to work collaboratively in order to change our planet’s future. (Miller and Spoolman 2021, #9). The effects of environmental degradation by human activities can be described as an ecological footprint - a measure of the total environmental impacts of individuals, cities, and countries on the earth’s natural resources. Biocapacity is also an important measure of sustainability - it is the ability of an area’s ecosystem to regenerate the renewable resources used by a population (Miller and Spoolman 2021, #12).

I believe that Miller and Spoolman sufficiently explore the main idea of why humanity has not succeeded in the World Scientists pleas for environmental improvement; contradictory worldviews. An environmental worldview is your set of assumptions and values concerning how the natural world works and how you think you should interact with the environment. Miller and Spoolman separate these worldviews into three categories; human-centred, life-centred, and earth-centred (Miller and Spoolman 2021, #16)

A human-centred worldview sees the natural world primarily as a support system for human life. This worldview can be separated into two subgroups - planetary management and stewardship. Both hold that humans are separate from nature and that we should manage the earth for the benefit of humans. Also assert that if we degrade a natural resource/ecosystem, we can use technology to find substitutes. According to the stewardship worldview, we have a responsibility to be caring and responsible managers of the planet for current and future human generations.

The life-centred worldview sees all species as having a value in fulfilling their ecological roles, regardless of their potential or actual use to society. Believe we should avoid accelerating the extinction of species through human activities because each species is a unique part of the biosphere that sustains life.

An earth-centred worldview believes that we are a part of and live within nature. This view believes humans are dependent on nature, and that earth’s natural resources exists for all species, not just humans. Everything in nature is connected and the long-term survival of our species and many other species depend on learning how life on the earth has sustained itself for billions of years and integration such lessons from nature into the ways we think and act; Biologist Janine Benyus is a pioneer in this area and calls this study ‘biomimicry’ - effort to understand, mimic and catalogue the ingenious way in which nature is sustainable.

Without sufficient pressure from the larger populations, the governments of our countries will continue to prioritise their economic growth over the future of our species. Humanity needs to wake up and educate themselves, their peers and their families in order for us to be able to save and sustain our planet.

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Q.

I believe that the lack of interest in our planet is because our high schools lack initial education. How do we improve humanity’s education and interest without support from the government (considering they are the ones that implement education systems in the first place)?

Bibliography

Jackson, Peter. 2019. “From Stockholm to Kyoto: A Brief History of Climate Change.” UN Chronicle. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/stockholm-kyoto-brief-history-climate-change.

Miller, G., and Scott E. Spoolman. 2021. Living in the Environment. 20th ed. Boston, United States: Cengage Learning.

Union of Concerned Scientists. 1997. “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.” Union of Concerned Scientists, (April).

World Scientists'. 2017. “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice.” BioScience 67, no. 12 (December): 1026.