Stolen Future

Reading - 

Ecosystems and Human Well-being 

All of us depend on Earth's ecosystems and services, humans have extensively remodeled these ecosystems to meet increasing demands of human greed. Three problems related to our management of the world's ecosystems are outlined that have caused harm, more prominently to the poor. 60% of the ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably. Second, "changes being made in ecosystems are increasing the likelihood of nonlinear changes in ecosystems,"(*) and third, this degradation has led to harmful effects being born disproportionately by the poor causing poverty and conflicts. There are two main drivers of ecosystem change will unlikely cease, climate change and excessive nutrient loading and "rural poor people, a primary target of the MDGs [UN Millennium Development Goals], tend to be most directly reliant on ecosystem services and most vulnerable to changes in those services,"(*). "The sound management of ecosystem services provides cost-effective opportunities for addressing multiple development goals in a synergistic manner,"(*) but it must be noted that even past progressive measures are minute compared to the growing pressure and demand. "An effective set of responses to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems requires substantial changes in institutions and governance, economic policies and incentives, social and behavior factors, technology, and knowledge,"(*) meaning; integration in several sectors, transparency and accountability of the government - disabling perverse subsidies, in addition to incorporating nonmarket values of ecosystems and their services in management decisions. 

Four major findings are presented in the Summary for Decision-makers:

       1 -"Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber, and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth,"(*).

Land converted into cropland, loss of the world's coral reefs, the impoundment of water, cultural eutrophication, increasing atmospheric carbon concentration, conversion of biomes... We are fundamentally and to an extent irreversibly remodeling the diversity of life on Earth resulting in a significant loss in biodiversity.

       2 -"The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development, but these gains have been achieved at growing costs in the form of the degradation of many ecosystem services, increased risks of nonlinear changes, and the exacerbation of poverty for some groups of people. These problems, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future generations obtain from ecosystems,"(*).

All forms of agriculture have been the mainstay of strategies for the development of countries. The gains have been achieved at a discernible cost.

       3 -"The degradation of ecosystem services could grow significantly worse during the first half of this century and is a barrier to achieving the Millennium Development Goals,"(*).

They present scenarios that explore a set of futures, "most of the direct drivers of change in ecosystems currently remain constant or are growing in intensity in most ecosystems. In all four MA scenarios, the pressures on ecosystems are projected to continue to grow during the first half of this century. The most important direct drivers of change in ecosystems are habitat change, overexploitation, invasive alien species, pollution, and climate change," all synergistic direct drivers. And regions facing these repercussions are those in greatest environmental degradation. MDGs particularly dependent on sound ecosystem management: hunger, child mortality, and disease.

       4 -"The challenge of reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services can be partially met under some scenarios that the MA considered, but these involve significant changes in policies, institutions, and practices that are not currently under way. Many options exist to conserve or enhance specific ecosystem services in ways that reduce negative trade-offs or that provide positive synergies with other ecosystem services,"(*).

It is important to keep in mind that even in scenarios that supports mitigation, biodiversity still continues to be lost, thus long-term measures of mitigation prove uncertain. "The scale of interventions that result in these positive outcomes are substantial and include significant investments in environmentally sound technology, active adaptive management, proactive action to address environmental problems before their full consequences are experienced, major investments in public goods, strong action to reduce socioeconomic disparities and eliminate poverty, and expanded capacity of people to manage ecosystems adaptively,"(*) in addition to addressing five indirect drivers of change: population change, change in economic activity, sociopolitical factors, cultural factors, and technological change. 

Why is it difficult to manage ecosystems sustainably?

Any global problems faces challenges far greater than expected, especially problems that have yet to be recognized as true or important by the majority of the world. The sustainable management of ecosystems is very much a work in progress but "there is no simple fix [the problems] arise from the interaction of many recognized challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, each of which is complex to address in its own right,"(*) a spectrum far greater than the knowledge of a common individual. An effective set of responses to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems require substantial changes in: institutions and governance, economic policies and incentives, social and behavior factors, technology, and knowledge (*). And to no surprise, changing just one of these factors takes large quantities of time and effort, from many parties. "Significant changes in policies, institutions, and practices can mitigate many of the negative consequences of growing pressures on ecosystems, although the changes required are large and not currently under way. All provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services are projected to be in worse condition in 2050 than they are today,"(*) the issue of sustainable ecosystem management is not simple, even if changes are made today, the effects of our present existence are far greater than any mitigation strategies we strive for today. An effective set of responses to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems must address the indirect and drivers just described and must overcome barriers related to(*): inappropriate institutional and governance arrangements, market failures, social and behavioral factors, underinvestment in efficient technology, and insufficient knowledge concerning ecosystems.

* citation for Ecosystems and Human Well-being by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005 (S 10)

Living Downstream

"Unfamiliar many of us are with the notion that families share environments as well as chromosomes or with the concept that our genes work in communion with substances streaming in from the larger, ecological world. What runs in families does not necessarily run in blood,"(*) but the entirety of her family displayed different forms of cancer, and she, in fact had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Bladder carcinogens are present as contaminants - "in cigarette smoke; added to rubber during vulcanization; formulated as dyes for cloth, leather, and paper; used in printing and color photography; and featured in the manufacture of certain pharmaceuticals and pesticides,"(*). "More than most malignancies, bladder cancer has provided researchers with a picture of the sequential genetic changes that unfold from initiation through promotion to progression, from precursor lesions to increasingly more aggressive tumors,"(*). Bladder cancer has most predominantly been attributed to cigarette smoking, but what about the others? Bladder carcinogens can be found in rivers, groundwater, dumpsites, and indoor air. Drivers of the cancer are trihalomethanes and tetrachloroethylene, but what about the risk of multiple trace exposures? Considerable interest is placed on the heredity of cancers rather than its environmental roots, but less than 10% of malignancies is attributed through inherited mutations; "when rare, inherited mutations play a role in the development of a particular cancer, environmental influences are inescapably involved as well. Genetic risks are not exclusive of environmental risks. Indeed, the direct consequence of some of these damaging mutations is that people become even more sensitive to environmental carcinogens,"(*). "We cannot change our ancestors. Shining the spotlight on inheritance focuses us on the one piece of the puzzle we can do absolutely nothing about..."(*). The legacy of Rachel Carson urged the recognition of an individual’s right to know about poisons introduced into their environment by others and the right of protection against them. The process of cancer exploration begins retrospectively for two reasons; many carcinogens are no longer produced but linger in the environment and human tissue and cancer is a multicausal disease and "to survey our present situation [we] require a human rights approach. Such an approach recognizes that the current system of regulating the use, release, and disposal of known and suspected carcinogens - rather than preventing their generation in the first place - is intolerable,"(*). "None of these 10,940 Americans will die quick, painless deaths [from environmental caused cancers]. They will be amputated, irradiated, and dosed with chemotherapy. They will expire privately in hospitals and hospices and be buried quietly. Photographs of their bodies will not appear in newspapers. We will not know who most of them are. Their anonymity, however, does not moderate violence. These deaths are a form of homicide," all activities with health consequences should be driven on the principle of the least toxic alternative "which presumes that toxic substances will not be used as long as there is another way of accomplishing the task,"(*). This principle will lead us to the availability of safer choices, making the release of chemical carcinogens as "unthinkable as the practice of slavery"(*) Steingraber states.

Why is it hard to tell whether—and how much—a chemical is carcinogenic in humans?

The performance of a carcinogen is unique to each individual even if it shares commonalities, it depends on familial and ecological roots; the proximity to carcinogen and the frequency of exposure to the carcinogen. "People are not uniformly vulnerable to effects of environmental carcinogens. Individuals with genetic predispositions, infants whose detoxifying mechanisms are not yet fully developed, and those with significant prior exposures may all be affected more profoundly,"(*) our bodies translate the effects of a carcinogen, dependent on its own living history which is in more ways than one different from every other living human on Earth.

* citation for Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber (S 28)

Our Stolen Future 

Damage observed in lab animals and wildlife has foreshadowed what is increasingly becoming a reality to the human population. "At the same time that evolution experimented greatly with form, shaping the vessels in various and wondrous ways, it has strayed surprisingly little from an ancient recipe for life’s biochemical brew,"(*) we are more synonymous than we make ourselves believe. Our well-being stems from natural systems, a common evolutionary legacy shares by us and animals - the man-made landscape we live in today allows us to forget. "Our regrettable experience with persistent chemicals over the past half century has demonstrated the reality of this deep and complex interconnection... With this shared biology and shared contamination, there is little reason to expect that humans will in the long term have a separate fate," it is absurd to believe that humans are separate entities from everything else in the world. Unlike the incomplete knowledge of cancers, scientist understand the mechanisms and actions of hormones, how chemical messages are sent and received and the possible synthetic chemical disruptors of such connections. The linear understanding of dosages does not actually "conform to the assumptions that underlie classical toxicology—that a biological response always increases with dose. It means that testing with very high doses will miss some effects that would show up if the animals were given lower doses,"(*). Current animal hormone disruptors are very likely, and even currently are, threatening the human future. "The animal studies provide a touchstone for identifying and investigating what might be happening in humans. They can alert us to the probable kinds of disruptions and help focus research efforts. They can also provide early warnings about the hazards of current levels of contamination,"(*) it is unfortunate that these warnings are being ignored by a majority of the global population, we are in need to adequately and efficiently address the warnings before an unprecedented escalation of this event begins.

What effects are environmental hormone mimics known to have on animals?

"Transgenerational effects, such as changes in behavior and diminished fertility, are also likely to show up faster in wildlife because most animals mature and reproduce more quickly than humans," in most simple terms they produce defects. Defects in reproductive and immune systems, and large population declines, in mammals. Eggshell thinning, in birds. Altered sex organ development, forming abnormalities, being born male instead of female. Even displays of obesity and thinning, in a variety of animals.

* citation for Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers(S 29)

Environmental Justice for All 

Activists stand up to corporations and demand government intervention - environmental activists for environmental justice. "In 1991, a new breed of environmental activists gathered in Washington D.C., to bring national attention to pollution problems threatening low-income and minority communities. Leaders introduced the concepts of environmental justice, protesting that Black, poor and working-class communities often received less environmental protection than White or more affluent communities,"(*) this indeed is was the first acknowledgement of inequitable environmental burdens. From the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summits, to the National Black Environmental Justice Network launching its Healthy and Safe Communities Campaign, targeting lead poisoning and cancer. The environmental racism - any environmental policy, practice, or directive that negatively affects individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color - was introduced by the Warren County protesters whom were protesting against the illegal dumping of oil laced with highly toxic PCBs. This even led the "events in Warren County led the "United Church of Christ (UCC) Commission for Racial Justice to publish its landmark 1987 “Toxic Wastes and Race in the U.S.” report. The UCC study documented that three of every five Blacks live in communities with abandoned toxic waste sites,"(*). Environmental justice networks are being heard; from the win of the Citizens Against Toxic Exposure in Pensacola to Bill Clinton's 1994 Executive Order 12898, issued in response to "growing public concern and mounting scientific evidence" - "in attempt to address environmental justice within existing federal laws and regulations,"(*). So it does seem odd that three decades after the Clean Air Act the nation is become more lenient, opposite it is supposed to be, especially because of our current environmental tragedies. "Rolling back the Clean Air Act and allowing polluters to spew their toxic fumes into the air would spell bad news for asthma sufferers, poor people and people of color who are concentrated in the most polluted urban areas,"(*).

What is “environmental justice”?

Environmental justice is a civil right and if we want to achieve it "the environment in urban ghettos, barrios, rural “poverty pockets” and on reservations must be given the same protection as is provided to affluent suburbs. All communities - Black or White, rich or poor, urban or suburban - deserve to be protected from the ravages of pollution,"(*). It is the fair treatment of all with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies - as the US EPA dictates.

* citation for Environmental Justice for All by Robert D. Bullard (S 31)

Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services 

"Overall, rates of resource collapse increased and recovery potential, stability, and water quality decreased exponentially with declining diversity. Restoration of biodiversity, in contrast, increased productivity fourfold and decreased variability by 21%, on average. We conclude that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean’s capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations,"(*) but it is said to still be reversible - it is important that mitigation measures are taken in the most timely and efficient way possible. Biodiversity is synonymous with ecosystems stability and productivity, stability from disturbances like flood control and waster detoxification - the loss of services like these can have disastrous consequences. The study was categorized in four sections:

       -Experiments: The results yield that "increased diversity of both primary producers and consumers enhanced all examined ecosystem processes,"(*) including: primary and secondary productivity, resource use, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem stability (measured by resistance to disturbance or recovery thereafter).

       -Coastal ecosystems: Results were precedented by the experiments; systems with higher regional species richness were more stable, in addition to "showing lower rates of collapse and extinction of commercially important fish and invertebrate taxa over time,"(*). Our historical patterns have indeed led us to our present depletion, collapse, and even extinction of many species. "Loss of filtering services contributed to declining water quality and the increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms, fish kills, shellfish and beach closures, and oxygen depletion,"(*) and this is occurring in most water levels - with different intensities.

       -Large marine ecosystems: Fisheries have collapsed globally and the collapse is still in acceleration by anthropogenic pressures. And it is conclusive that "taxonomically related species play complementary functional roles in supporting fisheries productivity and recovery," another emphasis that biodiversity is extremely important to the life of ecosystems.

       -Marine reserves and fishery closures: These have be used in hopes to reverse the decline in of marine biodiversity, locally and regionally. "We found that reserves and fisheries closures showed increased species diversity of target and nontarget species, averaging a 23% increase in species richness,"(*) though the synonyms of biodiversity - resistance and recovery - has yet to be significant in most cases. 

       -Conclusions: Diversity and ecosystems functions are both directly and indirectly related, they state that the collapse of all taxa may be by 2048 if we follow our current trends. It to be noted that invasive species are also a marine issue, "our findings further suggest that the elimination of locally adapted populations and species not only impairs the ability of marine ecosystems to feed a growing human population but also sabotages their stability and recovery potential in a rapidly changing marine environment,"(*).

"By restoring marine biodiversity through sustainable fisheries management, pollution control, maintenance of essential habitats, and the creation of marine reserves, we can invest in the productivity and reliability of the goods and services that the ocean provides to humanity,"(*) in turn these measures would translate into extractive and nonextractive revenue. It remains possible to reverse our effects to an extent, we cannot afford to further extend our economy driven society, their "analyses suggest that business as usual would foreshadow serious threats to global food security, coastal water quality, and ecosystem stability, affecting current and future generations,"(*).

Why are commercial fisheries in decline?

The predicament of species-poor ecosystems is the main driver of decline in commercial fisheries, "changes in marine biodiversity are directly caused by exploitation, pollution, and habitat destruction, or indirectly through climate change and related perturbations of ocean biogeochemistry,"(*). These biodiversity losses are an effect of our unsustainable existence and  "although marine extinctions are only slowly uncovered at the global scale, regional ecosystems such as estuaries, coral reefs, and coastal and oceanic fish communities are rapidly losing populations, species, or entire functional groups,"(*).

* citation for by Boris Worm et al. (S 17)

Activity - 

Ted Talk: In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore
*{watch here}

Honore claims that we live in a world stuck in fast-forward, obsessed with speed, where even instant gratification takes too long. A culture of speed, hurrying through our lives, instead of actually living them. He came upon an epiphany when he read newspaper article on a One-Minute Bedtime Story and found himself to discernibly support such an idea, he was living too fast and didn't have time to spare for his son's bedtime stories. "In the West, time is linear. It's a finite resource; it's always draining away. You either use it, or lose it... And I think what that does to us psychologically is it creates and equation. Time is scarce, so what do we do? Well, we speed it up,"(*). Then arises The Slow Movement which started in Italy under the proposition that "we get more pleasure and more health from our food when we cultivate, cook and consume it at a reasonable pace,"(*). Europe proves an example of such a complex they are finding that their quality of life increases as they work less, in addition to their hourly productivity going up, "more and more companies now are realizing that they need to allow their staff either to work fewer hours or just to unplug,"(*). On Honore's website most heartrending emails come from adolescents pleading for slowness from their parents, hoping to get odd the full-throttle treadmill they live on. Educational facilities are realizing even with homework less can be more. Students have CV's jammed with extracurriculars "but they lack spark; they lack the ability to think creatively and think outside - they don't know how to dream,"(*). So we ask ourselves, why is it hard to slow down? Speed is fun, it walls us off from deeper emotions, and in our society slow is a dirty word synonymous to being stupid. Yet people, people at the top of the chain, are "starting to realize that there's too much speed in the system, there's too much busyness, and it's time to find, or get back to that lost art of shifting gears,"(*).  His story ends happily as "over the last year or so, go in touch with my inner tortoise... and what that means is that I no longer overload myself gratuitously,"(*) slowness has the ability to make us happier, healthier, more productive than ever; forming deeper, richer, stronger relationships.

The culture came upon us like a massive yet unnoticed wave, and we just went along with it. There's a difference between the popular culture and the culture of speed, speed is a way of life; people gained that momentum and once they felt it, they never want to let it go. It gives you an edge to be better than others, and ultimately that is what every individual needs in order to categorize their success, or so we think. Like any societal event there are those few that are left out, the odd ones, the ones the wave didn't catch and the ones that simple crashed with the wave. I am proud to say I was the latter, in high school I was enrolled in the IB programme, quite rigorous but the point was that it reached a point where I didn't believe I could go on, not necessarily because low performance because my grades were quite high, but I simply just felt like I was falling. I kept repeating to myself, when I decided to progress with an Associates Diploma, that there's only so far a person can be pushed until they fall. I don't regret the "speed" I had beforehand, or the slow[er]ness I gained afterwards. I will never not be enthralled by speed, but I do believe in a balance of both, the successes gained from speed make you proud, and the slowness lets you enjoy that pride, it's a synergistic relationship for me. At different moments in my life I release my inner tortoise, but my inner tiger is never on a leash, I choose my speed based on how I feel, not on what society does. 

In-Class Blog Questions -

Ocean Plastics:

What are your primary concerns about the oceans? What, if anything, do you plan to do about it?

My four primary concerns regarding the oceans start with acidity, created by our on-going anthropogenic carbon emissions. The phytoplankton and zooplankton death due to stratospheric ozone depletion, these are the base of almost entirely all aquatic life, their disappearance would be accompanied by mass species endangerment. All-encompassing pollution and waste buildup, exemplified by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Finally, rising sea levels which, amongst other impacts, will submerge coral reefs to eventually cause their death and the loss of their ecological services. Primary causes of CO2 emissions come from electricity production and transportation, I seldom use any form of automobile for daily transport and I already use electricity sparingly. I do not emit CFCs which destroy ozone molecules. Over 70% of my waste is recycled and the other is unfortunately disposed at a landfill; as a general rule I restrict the amount of waste I produce. As for rising sea levels, sharing the awareness of global warming and its effects on the Earth.