weekly response 12

It is very clear that humans have had many negative effects on the natural environment, and therefore have contributed to the decline of many societies in the past. Diamond discusses that many factors have become reasons as to why so many societies in the past have failed, but after reading this book, I find deforestation to be one of the biggest contributors to the problem at hand. (Diamond feels this to be one of the major problems as well.) I feel that this is the only aspect of destruction I can most understand and see the effects of most directly. When you drive through most areas these days, we are overwhelmed with the many shopping malls, and houses that seem to be popping up on every inch of land possible. It’s this aspect alone that is causing so many problems in our natural environment. Even though malls and homes are very pleasurable and even necessary, it’s the creation of them that destructs even more valuable resources.
Diamond states that just the cutting down of trees is destroying many natural habitats. Forests provide us with many valuable resources, such as timber and other raw materials, and by cutting down all the trees, we are directly hurting ourselves. Forests are also responsible for many other aspects, like protecting our watersheds, and preventing soil erosion. Forests are also a valued aspect of our environment seeing as how they help the air we breath, become filtered, removing carbon monoxide and other pollutants. Deforestation is also causing more desertification, also creating the potential for more landslides, erosion and the admission of sediments into our streams to occur. It is also responsible for crucial steps in the water cycle, as well as provides a habitat for many plant and animal species. By clearing out forests we are leaving vast areas of land infertile.
By eliminating our forests, we are destroying many other aspects of the environment as well, and may cause other plant and animal species to become extinct as well, forcing them out of their “homelands” and giving them no other alternatives. We forget how valuable our forests really are, and take for granted all the items made from timber, the main natural resource being destroyed. Another main example of how deforestation is affecting us currently is the idea of global warming, due to the fact that we are decreasing the “carbon sink”. It is clear to see that one thing leads to another in this situation, and if we continue to destroy forests like societies in the past, we are just going to hurt ourselves even more, and most likely contribute to the downfall of our own present society.

Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 2005. Print.

Weekly Response 12: ECOCIDE

Of the eight forms of ECOcide that Diamond talks about across examples of past failed societies, choose one to discuss in depth. Bring up as many specific examples of it both in the book as well as contemporary examples you see happening. One paragraph is acceptable as long as you're concise and coherent.

Good luck getting everything else done!

-R

Sarah Pearson Prompt 11

Sarah Pearson

Writing prompt 11

One of the most challenging decisions I had to make was weather to transfer schools from Chicago back to Ann Arbor. This was particularly difficult because I loved the city of Chicago, but the Art school in Michigan had more to offer. If I would’ve stayed in Chicago to study art, I would not have had the opportunity to take other classes such as language courses, or science.

Diamond discusses the issues of Montanan society and how past societies were in a similar situation. One challenge specifically is the growth of population. Not only can population can affect a society, but the environment as well. In chapter 13 “Australia” it also discusses similar issues of population control which begins to touch on immigration as well. “The best estimate of a population sustainable at the present standard of living is 8 million people, less than half of the present population.” (398) Even though Australia is over populated, it is nothing compared to the United States. This is because Australia has a limited supply of water, and their food production is horrible. Also, there are many problems with forestry and fisheries as well which used to bring in a lot of money for Australia, but now is not contributing to the state of its economy. There are many similarities with Montana and Australia when it comes to natural resources. Montana has issues with loss of nutrients in its soil, overgrazing, and logging. The problem is, these issues have been going on for so long, they cannot really be reversed. There are ways to reverse the loss of nutrients in soil but it would cost a lot of money, and the outcome would not be worth the time and expenses. I feel as though the government it slightly to blame for all of the problems regarding the land, production, and mining. If issues were taken seriously from when they first started, then something could have been done to help prevent or slow down the process.

Levester Williams
Reed Esslinger-Payet
ADP 250:Technology and Environment

Having both talent and strong interests in fine art and electrical engineering, I had to decide which major I would pursue. Since I was raised on a very limited income from my grandmother, I had the aspiration to find a job that will lead me to a financial stable career. Also, since my fortes in school, besides art, were mathematical and science courses, I wanted to pursue engineering—specifically electrical engineering since their starting salaries are generally higher than the other engineers. However, I creating artwork since it allowed me to express myself and free myself from the worries from home and school.
To decide to major in fine art frightened me at first since I was deciding not to choose a career that was financially stable and has a high salary. Moreover, choosing art, according to my family, seemed a waste of intellect. Also, I wanted to be able to support my future family. However, I choose art because I knew I am capable of helping my community out, whether it is on a local or global scale. Instead of being selfish to a certain extent—I could still help my community out by being in engineer—I sacrificed a stable career to pursue a path of community involvement. Eventually, I was ignorant that artists could be successful and that art is not constrained to such painting and drawing yet it is ubiquitous. If I had chosen to become an engineer, I would have ended up not enjoying my career as much since I am only doing it to ameliorate my lifestyle and the immediate people around me.
Montana, however, failed to make the correct choice when the government did not admonish nor delegated the mining corporate owners to “bear financial responsibility” (Diamond 36) for disposing of the waste from the mine. Now, toxic metals are leaking into the environment without anyone taking responsibility (Diamond 36). This habitat destruction is one of the eight categories that Diamond refers to as being ecocide—“environmental suicide”—that precipitated the collapse of past societies (Diamond 6). The past societies that could be compared to the decline of Montana’s environment are the Pitcarin and Henderson Islands.
Montana has a small population (Diamond 30), compared to the rest of the states, and its economy cannot support the lifestyle of its inhabitants; thus, Montana is interdependent to rest of the United States (Diamond 74). Similarly, due to the limited opportunities—such as limited natural resources and hospitable living condition—on both the Pitcarin and Henderson Islands (Diamond 123-124), these islands were interdependent to Mangareva that was capable of supporting a large opportunities (Diamond 122). Unfortunately, since Mangareva committed ecocide by deforestation of trees that effaced all the trees used for the manufacturer of canoes, trades stop among the islands. Therefore, the other islands could not receive the needed resources, so their population was extirpated (Diamond 132).
Since Montana’s main industries and agriculture are declining (Diamond 34), it unlikely will be capable of supporting itself if assistance from the rest of the other states ceased. However, the inhabitants of Montana could become more self-sufficient if the citizens of Montana begin to place pressure of the corporations as Diamond mentioned (Diamond 35). This will cause the companies to take responsibilities for how they interact with the environment. They will be more cognizant and precarious of how the handle the environment since the citizens would strive for a common goal of saving the environment. However, the care of the environment must be instilled in the citizens.

Works Cited
Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 2005. Print.

Weekly Response #11

Yu-Jen(Chris),Tsai

ADP3

Discussion 005

I spent most time of my life in Taiwan and didn’t really have that much too worry about until I reach high school and the years after I came studied abroad. First time ever I leave my high school in Taiwan, my friends in Taiwan, my family, my home and all the people I had known or met for the past sixteen years. Although it had always been my wish to go abroad ever since junior high school, to actually put it into practice is a completely different issue than just talking about it. I remember my dad came to the states with me a week earlier and stayed at the Inn near the high school until the orientation started and also getting some commodities for the winter weather. I remember clearly, as the date got closer to the orientation date, I gradually began having second thoughts about my decision every time I though of how far it was going to be from home, how I was supposed to keep my grades well enough and getting all the college applications, which I had no clue how it was done, done during the first year since I started as a Junior, and many other worries that fretted me then. I remember could not fell asleep the night before the move-in day; I think my father noticed there was something on my mind and so for the first time my dad talked about how is it going to be on your own and also kept telling that it is not a coward move to come back home if I were not able to get used to the new lifestyle in the United States; instead, it is a wise decision to make.

The move-in date finally came and so my dad drove me to the dormitory, my bad mood hit me again and so I complained about the condition of my dorm room. My dad suddenly got mad at me telling me that I came to the States to study, not for a vacation; I hold in all my emotions instantly and began unpacking my stuff. When it was my dad to leave and catch the flight to the other side of the planet, my dad didn’t say anything, he just hugged me real tight and got on the car. I got back to my room and while arranging my books and folders, there was a letter my father left me in the academic folder; I had no idea when I slide it in without me noticing. On the note, he wrote down pretty much everything he had spoken to me about the night before. As I finished reading it, I felt my eyes filled with tears at the same time I felt like I had to try my best to get used to everything that would be coming to me in the future. And so here I am. I graduated from a high school that I was totally unfamiliar with and got into college. I’d say that’s one tough decision for a person to make.

The Montanan collapse example that Diamond brought up resulted from a series of reasons that are brought up in his book. Diamond stated that Montana use to be a pristine location in the United States; however, due to many common reasons that bring a society to collapse, right now, the place has lost billions of dollars. First of all, the human impact on the environment is no doubt the main cause of all pollutions and climate changes in the area. Take climate change for instance, the agriculture in Montana relies mainly on the water from the melting snow after winter season; and so the land becoming dry is bad news for the residents for the area. Then it leads to a broader problem, which is the forest management in that particular location. To resolve all those issues, first the town’s people need to get rid of the main pollution that is the mine waste. By practicing the basics steps, gradually the situation would turn itself around ultimately.

weekly response 11

Throughout my own life, I have come across many decisions that have had to be made that were very difficult for a child or even young adult to have to make on their own. When it comes to all these difficult decisions I think the one thing that they have in common is how we as individuals deal with them. It’s always a concern that the decisions we make may in fact be positive for us at the current time, but may in fact be negative in the long run or to others as well. Will what’s good for me really be good for other people? Will the decisions I make affect other people at all? This is always what made making decisions difficult for me. I often think and then act quickly upon it not really taking into account how it will affect me in the long run, or how it affects others around me. Sometimes however, I make decisions based on what is the best for the common good and not for myself. It’s always a question in my mind after a decision has already been made whether or not if I had chosen a different route, would the end result have been drastically different? There really is no way in knowing unless we were to go back in time and remake decisions from our past. I often think that there are more then one way to approach any situation, and therefore it’s honestly a crapshoot in whether or not a different reaction would have occurred if another decision had initially been made.
Diamond discusses that the decisions that have been made may have lead to the downfall of past societies. One question that I have is what is the correlation between the human population and the issue of the climate changing drastically? Diamond states that most of the climate change is due to natural forces that are beyond our control. Climate change, for sure has a big influence on the decline of many societies seeing as how many societies depended on the climate for growth of crops and the raising of livestock. Diamond discusses that climate also affects the population due to the fact that people often reproduce in times that were “better”. Lack of “disaster relief” has also caused the downfall of many societies from the past Diamond says. Natural disasters are often caused by climate change, and therefore being unable to cope with such change leaves people of a society unable to continue living as they did previously. I think that in order for societies to strive, and remain strong and preserved, as well as prosper is very necessary to communicate by discussing ideas on how to deal with certain situations if they were to occur. Although we cannot directly stop climate changes from happening, being aware of how to deal with natures natural ways is the only thing that we can do. It is important for societies to become aware of the very things that can harm them the most, and in recognizing these aspects, we only improve the ways in dealing with them later.