Readings and
Summaries
Could Food
Shortages Bring Down Civilization?
The future is projected by studying the past
trends. The effects of these
agricultural, populations, environmental and economic trends along with
political tensions can breakdown governments and societies. Food shortages, falling water tables, eroding
soils and rising temperatures can result in a collapse of global civilization.
Studies over decades have shown that environmental
degradation trends are happening without effort to reverse these trends. The demand for food, problems stemming from
population growth, is higher than the supply resulting in price inflations,
putting stress on government. Failing
states start to lose control when food and personal security as well as basic
social services are not provided. When
control is lost, law and order begin to disintegrate. These failing states are sources of
terrorists (Iraq is a terrorist training center), drugs (Afghanistan is the #1
exporter of heroin), weapons (Somalian pirates) and refugees (Rwanda refugees
joined soldiers to destabilize the Democratic Republic of Congo). These are all of international concern and
there is a need for politically stable nation-states to control the spread of
disease, manage international monetary systems, control terrorism and for
reaching common goals. If enough states
collapse, it will threaten the entire global civilization.
Surges in grain prices pose threats to food security
as poor harvests result in grain, rice and corn prices increasing
dramatically. The food market is a
trend-driven market meaning as sources become scarce the market value of the
food is driven upwards. With the
shrinking grain yield and the use of ethanol as an energy source, it generates
food instability on a global scale.
Water shortages are serious and an immediate
threat. Currently irrigation uses about
70% of freshwater worldwide. The water
in the irrigation wells are not being recharged as fast as the water is being
used. This is happening in China, India
and the US. There are 3 “fossil”
aquifers in the US Saudi Arabia and China that are not rechargeable aquifers
which could end agriculture in those arid areas. The North China Plains aquifer is a fossil
aquifer that is being drained due to is use since those shallower aquifers were
being depleted. Unmanageable food
shortages and social conflicts due to shrinking water supplies could happen.
Topsoil is eroding faster than it is being replenished
which is due to deforestation, tilling and wind. It has been proven that erosion from wind and
water had doomed earlier civilizations.
If soil fertility and erosion is not reversed, it too could cause crop
production to cease. Also rising surface
temperatures can impact harvest yields.
Studies have shown that as surface temperatures rise 1 degree above
normal, crops decrease their yield by about 10%.
Politics play a large and dangerous role in food
sacridty. Limitations and bans on export
of food have put pressure and create panic in those states that rely on the
import. Russia, Argentina and Vietnam
have all put limitation and bans on the export of grains in hopes to drive down
domestic food prices. Also bi-lateral
agreements between states have risen out of this sacridty. Such agreements have been enacted between the
Philippines and Vietnam. Food prices
and hunger breakdown social order which leads to theft and hijacking of grain
trucks and supplies. No country is
immune as the US must continue to export their grains to China as they have a
large debt with Chinese Investors.
The Earth Policy Institute had come up with Plan B
which has 4 components for mitigating the global food shortage. One is to cut carbon emissions by raising
energy efficiencies, transitioning to renewable energy and creating carbon
taxes. Second is to stabilize the global
population at 8 billion by having family planning services and reproductive
healthcare available to women. Thirdly
is to eradicate poverty by ensuring all genders receive at least a primary
education and everyone has access to village healthcare. Last is to restore the forests, water and
soils by creating more efficient irrigation systems, planting water efficient
crops such as wheat and planting less rice, recycling water and planting trees,
especially shelterbelts to reduce wind erosion. The implementation of Plan B must be done quickly as
it is nature’s clock we are racing against.
Critical
Thinking – According to Lester Brown, what is the greatest threat to global
political stability?
Food shortages are the greatest threat to global
political stability according to Lester Brown.
I do agree with Mr. Brown to an extent but I believe the real issue
behind it is populations and population growth.
Increasing populations mean that more resources are needed to sustain
these populations. If we could reduce or
maintain our population we would be in better shape globally. I think that the main issue is global
population and food shortages are what come with a growing population. Food shortages then create chaos leading to
the collapse of states and eventually global civilization.
Women’s
Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation.
In a patriarchal world, women are treated as unequal
and inferior to men but it has been viewed that women are preservers of
biodiversity, as gender and biodiversity are linked. Biodiversity can only be protected when it
becomes the basis, foundation and logic of the technology and economic of
production.
Diversity is the principal of women’s work and
knowledge. In Third World countries, the
people rely on biological resources for sustenance and well-being, essentially
survival and sustainability which is connected to the conservation and
sustainability of these resources. Progressive technologies destroy both
diversity and people’s livelihood. There
is a misconception that diversity based production systems are low-productivity
but that is not the case. A monoculture
crop of coconut palms in Kerala, India requires an annual labour rate of 157
man-days per ha whereas a mixed cropping system requires 960 man-days per ha,
ultimately increasing people’s livelihood by increasing job demand. Labour
displacement causes poverty, dispossession and the destruction of livelihood
which is unproductive. Sustainability at
the Third World level is achieved by the sustainability of natural resources
and sustainability of livelihoods.
Women have remained invisible
because economics discount their work as “production” due to them falling
outside the production boundaries. Women’s
work is hard to define as they work both inside and outside the home. The work women do to sustain their families
is not measured in wages as well as they do a great volume and variety of
work. This work is considered invisible
because it is outside mark-related work.
Gender studies in India have
confirmed that women are major producers of food in terms of volume, value and
hours worked. There is an extensive
knowledge needed in the production and preparation of plant foods. Preparing seeds, sowing the seeds, nurturing
the plant and harvesting require enormous amounts of knowledge, time and
judgement. This knowledge has been the
mainstay of indigenous grain and dairy industries. Women have been the experts in agriculture,
breeding and feeding of farm animals and forestry. This knowledge and skills should be the basis
of all crop-improvement strategies.
Corporate scientist produce
through uniformity but women produce though biodiversity. Corporations view biodiversity only as “raw
material” and the value of the seed lies in the discontinuation of its
live. Women farmers view biodiversity has
intrinsic value and the seed is the continuation of life. Corporations have deliberately breed seeds
that will not give rise to future generations in a tactic to ensure those
farmers who buy the seeds keep coming back.
Legal patients and intellectual property rights are also a tactic to guarantee that farmers must buy the seeds from them again next
year. Essentially Third World farmers
are being robbed and depleted by multinational corporations. These genetically altered seeds are neither
natural nor safe as many risks have been associated with them.
Critical
Thinking – What
is ecofeminist?
According to dictionary.com, and ecofeminist is
someone who attempts to unite environmentalism and feminism who argue that
there is a direct relationship between the oppression of women and
environmental degradation. Vandana Shiva
describes ecofeminists as feminists who are ecologically focused and see
important connections between the domination of nature and the domination of
women. Although ecofiminists do not have
a set of principles and beliefs they do believe that our experiences as women
in a male-dominated society provides us with a different way of thinking when
it comes to environmental issues.
Human
Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems
All organisms modify their environment and we as
humans are no exception. Humans directly
dominate ecosystems and no ecosystem is safe from human influence. We alter the Earth’s systems by participating
in activities such as agriculture, industry, fishing, and international
commerce which then transform the land surface, alter the major biogeochemical
cycles and add or remove species and genetically distinct populations of many ecosystems. These activities also drive climate chance
and causes irreversible loss of biological diversity.
Land transformations that use the land to yield goods
and services alter the structure and function of ecosystems and how these
ecosystems interact with the atmosphere, aquatic systems and surrounding
lands. Measuring land transformations on
a global scale is very challenging because they encompass a wide variety of activities
that vary in substantially in intensity and consequences. About 39-50% of land
has been transformed or degraded. Where
the land has not been transformed it has been fragmented which can alter
species composition and functioning.
Transformation of land also results in a loss of biological diversity
and can affect climate. It is difficult
to understand land transformations.
The alteration of marine ecosystems by humans is harder
to quantify than of those terrestrial ecosystems. Presently 60% of human populations live
within 100 km of the coasts and the costal margin productivity have been
strongly affected by these populations of people. An example would be about 50% of mangrove
ecosystems have been destroyed or transformed by human activity. Many fisheries focus on removing the top
predators which alter marine ecosystems out of proportion and have proven
fisheries to be unsustainable. As of
1195, 22% of marine fisheries were overexploited or already depleted with 44%
more at its exploitation limits. Also
the non-target animals are being removed at a rate of 1/3 total landings per
year, approximately 27 million tons per year.
Also the use of dredges and trawls damage sea floor habitat. Algal blooms increase marine phytoplankton
that can produce harmful structures or chemicals and are usually correlated
with changes in temperature, nutrients or salinity.
Alterations of biogeochemical cycles such as carbon,
water and nitrogen are also directly altered and affected by human activities. Carbon dioxide has increased exponentially
since the 1800’s, driven by human activities and the combustion of fossil
fuels. As CO2 levels
increase, it affects species differently and may drive changes in species
composition and the dynamics of all terrestrial ecosystems. We as humans use about ½ of all runoff water
and use about 70% of that in agriculture.
River systems have been altered because of increasing water demands,
transportation, flood controls and the dilution of chemical wastes. These directly affect freshwater
ecosystems. Regional climate is also
affected by alterations to the hydrological cycle. Nitrogen is required of all life and must be
fixed before it can be used. We have
alter this nitrogen cycle by the use of fertilizer and fossil fuel combustion
which has multiple consequences. It increases
nitrous oxide concentrations, increases reactive nitrogen gases and contributes
to acid rain and photochemical smog.
Also the increases in nitrogen drive eutrophication which leads to
blooms of nuisance and toxic algae.
Other cycles such as oxidized sulfur gases affect regional air quality,
biogeochemistry and climate. Other
synthetic organic chemicals may seem beneficial buy many are toxic to human
health and other species. These
chemicals may also persist in the environment for long periods of time such as
DDT which is known to biomagnify in food chains.
Biotic changes due to humans modifying biological
resources are substantial and growing.
Extinction, transportation of exotic species and a loss of genetic
biodiversity can disrupt both natural and human systems. Rates of extinction have increased
dramatically since the human domination of earth and many species are
threatened. Land transformation is the
most important cause of the extinction of species which results in a loss of
genetic variation and genetic materials within populations. The invasion of non-native species also
reduces the variation of species by degrading habitat and introducing
infectious diseases, altering the structure and functioning of a whole
ecosystem.
If we can work to reduce the rate that we alter Earth’s
systems, accelerate our efforts to understand Earth’s ecosystem and how they
interact with the numerous components of human-caused global change we can ultimately
slow down the global consequences for human dominance.
Critical
Thinking – Almost 50% of land surface has been transformed by human endeavors
and more than half of all available fresh water is presently being used by
humans. We thus have a long way to go
before we run out of land or water. What
is wrong with this statement?
Everything is wrong with this statement. Our populations are growing at an exponential
rate; therefore the use of resources will also expand exponentially as we need
to consume more resources faster to sustain life. The more the population grows the less time
we have and the more resources will be used leaving less and less for the next
generations.
Activity
Jane Goodall
TED Talk – Jane Goodall helps humans and animals live together.
The main concept of Jane’s talk was to show what given
the education and opportunities not only can the people in Gombe Stream National
Park, but anywhere can remediate the lands and take care of said lands. Goodall’s program TACARE was established to
improve the lives of the people and refugees living in the 24 villages in the
Gombe Stream National Park by teaching these people ways of reclaiming the
land, drilling wells and building school rooms for education. With these teachings the people have proven that they can sustain and replenish those resources in the Gombe Sream National Park. Jane talks about how previous indigenous cultures make decisions based on how it would affect the next 7 generations comapre to coporations who make decisions based on the next corporate meeting instread of looking further into the future. She also touches on other programs that are established to help people, animals and the envrionement to help live in peace and harmony.
Jane talks about future generations alot which makes so much sense because we are degrading our environment so much that the next generations will not be able to sustain themselves properly. It is our job to enure that our children and grandchildren have the ability to live comfortably in their world.
Blog
Reflections
1) Consider
your food system. What do you like and
dislike about it? Consider taste,
nutrition, cost, equity and environmental issues.
I feel like I have two food systems. The one I use in Swan River and the one I use
in Winnipeg, each are significantly different.
Back in Swan River life is easy as I leech off of my parents. Our meat comes from the local butcher where
local beef and pork is sold. Produce and
bread are bought from the local Co-op which I feel is a trustworthy
source. Unfortunately living in Canada,
we import a lot of our produce, although there are quite a few Manitoba and
Canadian options in Co-op. Our bread is
bought at a local bakery or the Co-op where it is made daily. I like my food system back home because I
know where everything is made and the people who make it. It is averagely price and tastes pretty good
to me. However in Winnipeg, everything
is bought from stores such as Superstore and Costco. Living as a student I tend to lean towards making
a purchase based on price instead of environmentally good choices. Meat and veggies come from Costco, the
chicken is cheap but I’ve also noticed it tastes cheap unlike the chicken I get
back home. The veggies seem to last
longer in the fridge than what they normally should so I’m thinking there is
something they are putting on them. I
dislike everything about my food system in Winnipeg but unfortunately my
roommate also likes cheap and we are students.
I feel that once I establish myself in life with a job I can make better
choices as to what I am buying.
2) What role if
any, should zoos play in conservation/education? Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos? If so what size/type of animals or zoos? Do
you enjoy visiting zoos?
I’m so torn on the zoo idea. I feel in some cases zoos could be great for
the conservation of animals such as the black footed ferret that was near
extinction but do to breeding programs they were re-introduced into the wild
but I don’t think it is ethical to keep animals in zoos. I feel zoos are not a good way of conveying
conservation or education. Animals
behave differently in zoos than in the wild and educating people on animals in
the zoo doesn’t feel right. I would
prefer to have children go to an interpreter event in a provincial park and
learn about species in their natural environment. I am also a strong believer in letting nature
take its course. I don’t believe that
young or injured animals should be rehabilitated to spend their lives in cages. The last zoo I visited was in Sydney,
Australia and honestly I don’t remember much of it. I do however remember a petting zoo that we
went to just outside Sydney. From what I
remember (I was 9) was the kangaroos and emus living in basically a fenced in
park and had quite the distance to roam around. I have inner turmoil because I loved petting
and feeding the animals but I know we should not be interaction with animals in
that kind of setting. I think now I
would find the zoos depressing due to the fact of the animals in those cages
not being allowed to live as they should.
3) What am I
doing to promote sustainability and happiness in my life? What would I like to do? I pledge…
Right now I don’t feel I am doing anything to promote
sustainability. I don’t have a lot of
money so I continually buy the cheapest of everything, get mad when it breaks
and continue to buy a new one of whatever.
I do however attempt to recycle or fix whatever I do break but after the
class discussion one day I noticed that since graduating in 2007 I’ve had 5
cellphones and 3 laptops. The laptops
have broken completely and I’ve giving them to my brother for spare parts. My cellphones I did keep and have given away
to people who have lost their cellphone so I suppose they are getting a second
life. I try my hardest to use everything
I own to its full potential as my parents are constantly boasting about all the
things that are still working 30 years after buying them so I feel my things
should do the same. Once I get a job and
a place of my own I would like to buy more expensive things that will last
longer, plus I’ll probably save some life in these things as I’m not hauling
them around 2 times a year. I pledge to
stop buying crappy, cheap objects and spend the extra dollars to acquire more
sustainable things.
