McKibben podcasts and Bio-regional quiz

The bio-regional quiz and podcasts both proved to be somewhat informative. Bill McKibben explained in the podcasts about Earth and how it is constantly changing due to human influence. Humans use a vast amount of resources, but replace nowhere near as much that which is used. Supposedly, there will be a drop in energy usage by 40%, but such events will cause a rise in CO2 levels being released into the atmosphere. The Earth of today is vastly different from the Earth of previous years. Technology is increasing and advancing at an incredibly fast rate while more and more resources are being used to accommodate the constantly increasing population. The upside to such advancements has been the creation of social networking sites and well as video chat sites such as Skype and Oovoo. greater forms of communication are constantly being created. 

The bio-regional quiz showed just how little people know of surrounding situations. Many do not know where the food is grown of how many days are left until a full moon. Those raised in the country, on the other hand, may have a greater knowledge of such happenings.

            There are many environmental issues that are occurring in the world today.  The problems range from pollution, the addition of harmful substances to the environment, and run-off, chemical running off in to lakes and rivers, to deforestation, the rapid cutting down of forests, and ozone depletion, the degradation of the ozone layer.  More and more of the environment is slowly disappearing as the human population is rapidly increasing.  Almost any of these issues could be a cause for an island civilization.  Desertification is the most justifiable cause for the upbringing of an island civilization.

            Desertification is known as the degradation of land, normally in the dry lands.  Dry lands are areas that contain low amounts of water within the soil. Desertification can be caused by a number of factors.  A few common causes are climate changes and human activities.  If the climate rises drastically in a short period of time, it could cause the nature in that area to die because they cannot adapt to the environment quickly enough to ensure survival.  What people do not understand is that dryland areas are very fragile and are rarely able to sustain themselves in increased pressures that are the result of an increase in population.  The result is that the land essentially dies and becomes a desert, bringing about the name desertification.  This would be the call for an island civilization.

            An island civilization would then be the perfect reaction since it provides a limit.  A population can only be so large on an island because it will eventually run out of space and resources.  The island inhabits will seek to preserve their resources seeing as they only have so much to begin with.  The population will increase at a much slower rate that the island can handle and, should the population get too high, they can send people out in search of another island to inhabit in addition to their own.  They will seek to lower the rate of expansion seeing as they cannot go very far.
http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-193/002-193.html

Island

Island Civilization

           

            Roderick Frazier Nash claims that by the fourth millennium, which is nearly 1,000 years from now, the world will need to enter a different stage of civilization.  The rate at which the environment is being overtaken by humanity is rapid and destroying nature.  While environmental programs and national parks have been created, they have only helped to slow down what appears to be the inevitable.  Humans have defined nature as wild and sought to change that by “domesticating” animals and “civilizing” other people and nations in the past.  He states that humans seek to take frontier and mold it to what they view as civilized.  The only way to keep the world from losing nature and all its ecosystems is to become an island civilization.

            In early history, nature was full of wildlife and creatures while humans accommodated to it and hunted for food.  As time passed and humans developed further intelligence, their natural purpose evolved to encompass shelter, authority, to spread their genes, food, and water, which are the basic needs.  These needs became overpowering to the mind of man as they began a quest to find satisfaction.  In order to satiate these desires they had to go beyond mere caves and raw food.  They began to crave cooked food, more accommodating shelter, locations, and families.

            The first basic need is shelter.  As man began to make discoveries, they learned to create and wield tools. These tools were used to hunt and build shelter.  Shelter was needed to house the family and establish a place of authority.  Shelters began to be more immaculate and glamorous, requiring more resources.  Forests are shrinking due to the greater need for resources as the world population continues to increase.  This lead to the expansion of frontier and the “need” to “civilize” the populations found in the overtaken areas.

            The second need is authority.  Humans love to be in control.  It’s just a basic necessity that helps us to be secure.  People in a position of power are more comfortable because they know they, are pulling the strings and that they are needed for others to do what they need to do in order to succeed.  When one has authority, they know that the game is theirs to play and all the people are their pieces.

            The third need is food and water.  The human body is approximately 70% water, which makes water a necessity for survival.  A body with no water is essentially dead as is one with no food.  Water is needed to keep the body hydrated while food is required to provide energy and sustenance.  No energy means no bodily processes occurring, which means that no energy is being produced and no oxygen carried or consumed throughout the body. Lacking in this leads to starvation and death.  The lack of water leads to dehydration, which occurs in stages similar to starvation. This includes hallucinations.

            The final necessity is the need to spread the genes.  The human population populates through the exchange of genes.  In order for the family lines to continue, seeds must be spread for earth to survive.  This has led to the population increase and the greater need for resources.

            An island civilization might prove to be impractical because eventually a greater need for resources will come. At the rate at which humans consume, resources will not last long.  Soon the need to expand will rise.  Then the cycle will be repeated over the same scale just in different areas.