Understanding Our Planet Paper

 By Adam K Eckard

            This is an essay on the nature and function of our planet and just how it can sustain life and how long this can go on. Just how we must learn how much damage humankind has done to this planet and just how it can be repaired. In other words what can we do as humans to repair our planet so that it doesn’t die taking us along with it.

            Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary science that incorporates the influences of many other sciences such as the physical, biological, and informational sciences to understand the effects of what humankind has done to the world that we live in; how we can repair it so that it is sustainable. It also studies how the natural world functions and how it has changed or evolved over the millennia.

            By gaining a better understanding of these sciences and their interdependence we can repair the planet if we work together. This includes the new economic powers such as India and especially China. We need to work together to solve these problems and the internet can make the sharing of information so much easier. The great advantage of the Information Science is that it combines the understanding of the ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, plant sciences, zoology, mineralogy, oceanology, limnology, soil science, geology, and physical science and atmospheric science. The better these are understood the more we can repair things like the ozone or come up with better way to produce power that are not so catastrophic. Such as Chernobyl or Fukushima.

            In environmental science ecologists study how plants and animals interact with each other. This includes biodiversity and complexity of the environments that make up the world that we live in. How the decline of the Great Barrier Reef affects the Eco structure and the living things that live in it. And hopefully how to fix it.

            This can include social sciences as well. The need for trained scientists in a broad range of fields has created a need for this as well. Having the proper people trained in these fields creates a need to better utilize them and to have a better trained cadre of supervisors and managers to accomplish this task. How to use the correct techniques and equipment to say repair creeks and streams in areas affected by over logging or severe forest fires. How to make a comprehensive land use plan to restore the Tillamook Forest in the Pacific Northwest. That forest has been ravaged by forest fires in 1933, 1939, 1945, and 1951. Also, in 2021 another large forest fire has been raging. To restore this forest, it would really take a very complicated plan that would take a millennium at least.

            As soon as we can get a better understanding of these sciences then we can create a truly sustainable energy grid that would emphasize more solar, and a less damaging footprint ecologically. Slowing the use of coal powered power plants. Or how to create a more natural ‘fish ladder’ so that salmon runs could be easier for the fish. This would be a major ecological and economical infrastructure for the nation and the world. Or a more efficient use of water around the world.

            This is a complicated subject not just scientifically but politically as well. To get the worlds scientists to work together might happen, but to get the worlds politicians to cooperate is a totally different matter. Political science has not been incorporated into the study of the environment yet. It is the opinion of this person that it should be, and soon.

References

Rinkesh. (2021) What is Environmental Science?

www.conserve-energy-future.com/what-is-environmental-science-and-its-components.php

Mid Summer

 Summers are hot, that is what summer is. The hottest period of the year. This year however we have experienced at the end of June, record-breaking hot weather in the Northwest of the USA. The phenomenon called a heat dome produced temperatures about 100 Fahrenheit, 38 Celcius to one day an extreme 116 F (47 C). Many people died caused by this heat. It got to national news. Click here to see CBS's great article about this with an explanation of why it happened. 

NPR photo showing cooling stations

The government at the state and city level acted immediately to help those who needed but the effort was insufficient and people died from the extreme heat. Cooling stations were set where people who didn't have air conditioning in their homes could come and stay. The need was overwhelming and now government officials are planning proactively for the next one that will happen for sure in the not-so-long distant time.

David Wallace-Welch's book "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming is a good description of what we are witnessing now.

We don't have to wait for a long time to see the devastation that Climate Change and in particular Global Warming is having on our lives. At the same time, we are witnessing flooding and forest fires that are unprecedented.

The question now is what can we do? As individuals? As a community? 

I am an optimist and think that there are many things we can do, and the first one is to get educated in these matters, as for me the main problem we have is a lack of understanding of how nature works and how we humans are part of nature. Being educated on these issues is the first step to get organized and active. The good news is that we are not alone and we are not the initiators of the environmental movement. Many have come before us and many more are side by side with us in this endeavor.

So let us not be discouraged!

January 2021

 Even though today is December 21, 2020, I am focusing on the beginning of the year 2021. Without forgetting that we are in the midst of a pandemic, the Coronavirus (COVID 19) outbreak. There is no doubt that 2020 will be remembered for many reasons, some negative as the hundreds of thousands who have died because of the virus, the lost jobs, and the sacrifice that lockdown has imposed on families and friends. Even church gatherings have to be transformed. For my family in particular a major event, the wedding of our daughter had to be postponed. More difficult to see were the positive outcomes. Mainly because these will need long term progress to be fully understood. The ability to communicate through electronic means, the use of the Internet, has been a lesson that will produce fruitful outcomes for years to come. Innovative ways to continue with our human experience, from commerce to worship, through online concerts have experimented with mixed results but with an overall sense of the possibilities.

"99.366 Winter Solstice" by HelenHates Peas is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Regarding the environment, we have seen an increased awareness of the reality that the environment has been for many years abused. As cities in China were locked down air quality improved appreciably and urban wildlife increased. Almost everywhere around the world, big urban centers reported the same increase in wildlife and decrease in pollution; the environmental impact of lower human activity was without a doubt observed.

Now we are pondering about the ways in which we can go "back to normal' with the understanding the there will be a new normal. Not only the social disparity and injustice that is affecting our society have become unbearable, but the mechanisms for improving the standards of living have changed radically. 

The role of government has been, once again, analyzed through the lens of objectivity (scientifically based) and of the common good. "We are in this together" has become the crying motto of those working hard to stop the pandemic. Front line workers, physicians, nurses, personnel of hospital and other care facilities, and other services like fire and police departments have now been identified as "the" important people in our society. Many of us have recognized how they should benefit from a decent living wage, well beyond what is called "the minimum wage." Many of us have recognized that in order to achieve environmental restoration we need to address the social inequities ailing our society.

The questions we must ask are: 

What now? 

What is my role in this change? 

How can I prepare myself for the task ahead of me?

With whom will I work in this endeavor? 

What Bio-Region Are We Talking About?

Where are we?

It is, always, easy to forget when looking at where we are,  that we are here at this moment.
Normally we look at the geographic situation missing out the historical context. More so when we try to understand our bio -regional reality. It is true that there is a geographic reality that we must take into account, more so today when we witness climatic changes that affect us differently in different regions of the globe. While some are suffering drought, others are suffering floods, and so on.

But we must not forget that all these events are related, take for instance droughts and floods. Water is the common denominator here. How water is distributed over time around the Earth is a climatic phenomenon. About 2/3 of the surface of the Earth is covered by water depending on who you ask. Most of it is not potable, fresh, drinking water.
For more on the amounts visit the U.S. Geological Survey at the following link: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html 

Life is intrinsically linked to water so understanding where water is, is critical for the understanding of our society. One of the most interesting tourist attractions is to travel on rivers that cross old cities in Europe, and elsewhere, where you see the historical development of those towns from the river up. In the PBS series Journey to Planet Earth a video documentary "Rivers of Destiny" makes the case for the importance of rivers in the development and sustainability of cultures around the life on the river backs. http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth/programs/rivers-destiny/. Without the river, there is no life!

Water knows no borders, even though sometimes it is the border between regions, states, or countries. Air, our atmosphere also knows no borders. Pollution of the atmosphere in one place can, and normally does, other areas. Sometimes the contamination can be felt miles and miles away from the source of contamination. Carbon dioxide produced in China will contribute to climate change in the whole world, like the one produced in the USA, Brasil, Japan, or any other part of the world. 

So we can at least think of two sources of common ground, two things that can contribute to the common good or lack of there off. Studies of the Bio-Region must include these two. water and air,  in order to see how we all are affected and how we all can contribute to the wellbeing or our society.

Business Solutions to Environmental Problems

But, before we start I have to share with you what the regulations are relative to your information.
This is what I got:

"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used and data collected on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. 

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies, and other data collected by Google. 

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. If you include functionality from other providers there may be extra information collected from your users. "

I am not using third-party apps so you don't have to worry about it.

So let's get going!

The USA government has released a report that mentions the huge cost of global climate change. So the question is: what are we supposed to do?

An organization of businessmen is proposing that the solution has to be market-oriented. Market-controlled and that it is through taxation that it can be managed. More information can be found at RepublicEn.org.

There is something coming back in this idea, the common good. Since the 70's a move towards more selfish solutions has been strengthened by the success of individual enterprises, even though the cost for the commons, the externalities, have been ignored. 

Cutting Corners and Externalizing Cost

Several times before I have blogged about how capitalists have a double standard. On the one hand, they don't want to pay taxes for the benefit of society, a society that sustains them. But on the other hand, they want society to pay when something goes wrong. They are always expecting the government, that is us, to bail them out when they make mistakes or even fraud. The example I have in mind is the disaster caused by mismanagement of a chemical plant in Texas that caused an environmental disaster when hurricane Harvey poured torrential rain over it. As you can read in the following article in The Guardian newspaper:
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/01/harvey-shines-a-spotlight-on-a-high-risk-area-of-chemical-plants-in-texas

It was a disaster waiting to happen. Those responsible were aware of the danger but nevertheless opted for saving a few dollars, now we all have to pay. Proof of their negligence these officials were indicted for mismanagement as you can read here https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/03/arkema-indictment-chemical-fire-hurricane-harvey/

This picture from Arkema Facebook page shows the extent of the flooding at the plant in Crosby TX.

Hurricanes are a common occurrence so how are we going to make those who are responsible for the safety of our society accountable when they neglect their duty.

Sense of Style

Reading Steven Pinker's book "The Sense of Style" helps one think about writing, have a look:
https://stevenpinker.com/publications/sense-style-thinking-persons-guide-writing-21st-century
A master of communication Pinker is clear in defining objectives and critical of the waste many authors create. We must be articulated when addressing an environmental issue, must be direct and clear without distractions or examples that are not relevant.

I am with Prof. Heidi Owsley writing a book titled "Earthkeeping" where we bring together the analysis of human nature and its relationship to how humans relate to their physical environment. We can not forget that the way one behaves relates directly to the way one thinks.

Another aspect of communicating is honesty. Are we communicating to inform? or are we communicating to convince? or are we communicating to mislead? There are ways one have to express an idea so the reader has to be involved in the process. Dave Levitan in his book "Not A Scientist" focus on the misleading tools and artifacts that people use to mislead. Mainly politicians that use this gimmicks for their political gain. http://www.davelevitan.com/not-a-scientist/ 
Natural science is a complex discipline and can be oversimplified both for good and for bad purposes.

One can talk about human evolution in general which is systematic or in particular which is selective. The systematic approach needs to take into account all particularities of its elements and that makes it complicated. For this approach to be effective the elements in the system have to be organized within categories, take for example an organism the categories would be organs and functions. Humans as organisms have organs (hearts, eyes, lungs, etc.) and functions such as senses (sight, smell, taste, etc.) and motions (grabbing,  locomotion, etc.) Individual organs can also be analyzed as systems when parts of it can be defined, this appears to be a fractal relationship appearing always in the universe.

An interesting philosophical proposition.