4 speakers

Video Comment

When listening to Jeff Eisenberg, I found it interesting that he thought maintaining biodiversity should be through politics. I feel like, if people already have their political views it would make it easier for them to find ways to maintain biodiversity.
I also liked how he stated that people should make conservation programs to eventuality work at congress and Federal levels.
I thought that Hillary Swain’s talk was easier to understand and made more sense to me. When she stated that many endangered animals are on private lands; I completely agree with her opinion to make reserves where the endangered species are. I also liked how she stated that the endangered species act has only 14 species listed and will not take any others. I also found interesting that she thought we should target where we should get the most value with money.
I thought all of the speakers had made good points about what they thought of the reserve programs. This was clearly a very well planned convention for these people to come and state what they think will be best for the future.

James H Kunstler dissects suburbia | Video on TED.com

This is a humorous discussion about the impacts of sprawl.

Warning: There is some adult language in this video.

vid comment

what i learned on the 24th

Natasha Lebby
What I learned on the 24th

On Saturday the twenty-fourth, in class, I was surprised that it is common among species to go extinct after a certain amount of time. I know that species can live for a shorter amount of time if their environment changes dramatically. The Siberian Tiger is one species that went extinct due to humans changing their environment. Russians contributed to the disappearance of them by poaching, while people were building roads and logging. This pushed the species away to extinction.
I never realized that humans had such an affect on the environment in the past. People did not have the technology we have today; however, were still successful in making mammals from Africa and Australia extinct.
In the last half hour of class I was very interested about learning how and why people moved into cites and why they spread. I also found it fascinating that there are different types of land development. I am very interested in what is to be said for the rest of the chapter in next class.

Last week's class

It is amazing to me that we always have to use "cute" in order to drudge up support for a cause, ie. Pandas for endangered species (or starving African children, even though their mothers are probably starving, too.)I also didn't realize what a fine line the cheetah is balanced on, one new infection could quickly remove them as a species. It's sad that humans are often the cause of species to become extinct, even today when we "know better".

Life is Incredible

Life is so diverse and strong but fragile.I was amazed to learn about the cheetah and how they are pretty much a clone of the next.Through years of interbreeding that their gene pool is so similar.It seems that if one link in the chain were to break there would be a downward spiral for these majestic animals.

Very important presentation! Now society needs to come together to save the species left and our biodiversity.

Urbanization

Urbanization is defined as the process of human movement and centralization towards and into cities and urban areas, with the associated industrialization, urban sprawl and lifestyle that brings.

Urbanization affects economic relations and social structure throughout the world. It contributes to the globalization trend, with increased cross-border trade and cross-cultural ties bringing the world closer together. At the same time, urbanization creates opportunities and challenges, not least regarding sustainability.Urbanization represents many of the major environmental problems facing the world, however, and urban areas tend to be environmentally as well as socially unsustainable.

Expanding urbanization changes the social fabric and economic relations in both urban and rural areas – and within the rural agricultural community that Yara serves with its fertilizer products and agronomic knowledge. The population shift from rural to urban areas not only affects agricultural activity and food production, it also tends to create new consumption patterns that further affect agricultural production and food demand.

Urbanization affects human health in several ways, from dietary patterns to the physical environment. The concentration of people in urban areas, with a multitude of economic activity including industrial production and extensive transportation, contributes to air pollution, which is a major health hazard. Increased urbanization offers challenges and opportunities to provide products and knowledge that help improve agricultural productivity and the nutritional value of food products. Other products and knowledge reduce harmful emissions and other pollutants to air and water. The growth of urban areas combined with stricter policies and regulations aimed at stemming local pollution as well as global warming offer new business channels for an industrial companies worldwide.

September 24 Class

I wasn't in class but I read up on the notes and enjoyed learning about urbanization and the influence that industrialization that it has had on it. I liked becoming knowledgeable what the word sprawl means and how is effects our entire population.

September 17 Class

Last weeks class I learned about invasive species and how all organisms face challenges that risk their existence in some way throughout their life. It is a very frightening thing to think about when it comes to some animals that are becoming extinct because in some way we do need them in our society to maintain the balance.

September 24

Urbanization being the greatest change of human society since its transition to sedentary agricultural lifestyle was something interesting to know.i also learned the impact of sprawl and its several causes.

September 17 class

i learned how species interacted with one another and the ecological restoration. Also the trophic levels which i found interesting going from producers to consumers though detritivores and decomposers.Very interesting course!

September 24 Class

As we continue to talk about how all species fit into the bigger picture I was surprised on how many of our medicines come from plant life - never really thought of where they get the ingredients before. It is interesting to see how land use and the control of land uses play into this bigger picture of biodiversity. I believe property rights need to be protected but at the same time controls can be put into place to meet the needs of individual people, developers and businesses - one idea which really belongs to a sitting Dauphin County Commissioner is to document all buildings in the county and determine uses for those buildings, then when there is a need for a new business to move in or expand, instead of using pristine land to build before they get approvals they need to look at the existing stock. Something I think would be a big step in the right direction.

Maintaning Biodiversity on the Working Landscape and Working Seascape

Great discussion. Was not surprised to hear from the experts and those working with the ESA that it is not working and if nothing changes true success is doubtful. Jeff Eisenberg hit it right on with his comment that going forward whatever gets done needs to be balanced and property rights need to be considered and preserved. Property rights are protected in the Constitution therefore laws and regulations that will minimize or remove that Constitutional right needs to tread lightly. Then there is the issue of economics. As it should be with all government programs, economics should be the keystone element, unfortunately it is always an afterthought since everyone lets business absorb the costs. As was pointed out in the presentations protecting biodiversity is a costly initiative and will continue to be. Due to the high cost they are missing a huge audience since small landowners cannot comply cost effectively, because of this they do not try or just give up and sell out. No surprise to learn that after all these years and all the money spent - which comes out of our pockets be it from the government funds being used (which is really tax dollars) or packed into the cost of the product or service we as consumers purchase from businesses complying - those who work with the program reported that is has been ineffective.

I felt the presenters did an excellent job in laying out the needs and noting time and time again that this could not be done by government purchasing land to create protective reserves. I like the idea of using the citizens and their property through education of the landowners and economic incentives such as tax exempt conservation bonds for landowners of varying landmass so more successes could be documented. Along with that I think there was a clear message that the processes need to be streamlined and the paperwork load reduced as well as a better working relationship between similar laws at the federal, state and local levels. This is obviously a huge job, but one that needs to be done.

Maintaining Biodiversisty on the Working Landscape and Working Seascape

Great discussion on a very important issue. Was not surprised to hear from the experts and those working with the ESA that it is not working and if nothing changes success is doubtful. Jeff Eisenberg hit it right on when he said whatever gets done needs to be balanced ... property rights need to be a huge consideration. In short property rights are protected in the Constitution, laws and regulations need to tread lightly. Then there is the issue of costs to comply. As it should be with all government programs, economics should be the keystone element, unfortnuately it is always the afterthought since everyone thinks business can just absorb the costs. The presenters pointed out the biggest deterrent was the cost to comply and if the business was not large enough they looked for ways around it or just did not try. I was not surprised to learn that after all these years and all the money spent - which comes out of our pockets - those who work with the program reported that it has been ineffective.

I felt the presenters did an excellent job in laying out the needs and showing that through education of landowners and economic incentives such as tax exempt conservation bonds for landowners of varying landmass that more successes could be documented. Along with that I think there was a clear message that the processes need to be streamlined and the paperwork load reduced (no surprise there) ... at all levels - local, state and federal.

last class

I was very insterested in the endangered spieces. i had no idea that there were so many out there and they are starting to all die off because of us humans. That is just stupid of us.
But i do remember you saying about how many plants are medicines. This bothers me because plants can become endangered too and if that one plant that happens to die off is the cure to cancers then we are back in this long cycle of trying to find a cure. i just think we {humans} should be careful what we do before we do it.

The Endangered Species Act at 30: Maintaining Biodiversity

This is a fairly long video, but it covers the theme of tomorrow's lecture: Endangered species and biodiversity.

September 17 class

It was a very interesting class. I learned a lot about the feeding relationships of animals and how important keystone species are to the environment. It was very interesting to learn of invasive species and what impact they have.

What i learned in class of sep17

It was intresting class. i learned the impact that other species can have on environment that they are not suppose to and how evolution influences biodiversity and that population ecology also informs the study of human populations. and learned that we have to protect the envirnment around us, and stop destroying it.

Video from sep 10

All the videos were so intersting the first video is posing the question if really man is the most destructive invasive species and its really man have done a major destruction.

The second video is good and funny how 24 rabitt can make a problem and its so sad how they coudn't find other solution instead of shoting them.

The third video it just showing that throught out years poeple are trying to find solution but it seems that were trying to fix something bad withsomething worser

Class of september 10

from this lecture, i learn how envirnmental science is related to chimestry, i didn't think that environmental science as chemistry physics.

What I learned in class on 9/17

What I learned on the 17th

This week I learned that invasive species can have a massive negative impact in the environment, such as the Zebra Mussel. However, some species can better the environment. I was shocked to find that the Honey Bee was a new species and helps better the environment by pollinating the nectar in the flower.
In class, I also found interesting that species use resource partitioning. I knew that some animals need the same food in order to survive; although, I never realized that there were so many ways to retrieve it without disturbing other species.
I was also interested in the biomes that were talked about at the end of class. I liked how each biome was described individually.



Biosphere 2

I found the talk of Jane Poynter really interesting. It was nice to hear of her experience in Biosphere Two. I feel that she has a good sense of the world and I am glad that she is trying to pass it on to others. I feel that the project gave some realization for people to have to work for their food in order to survive. I also believe that it gave people the opportunity to at least understand that humans need trees to minimize the carbon dioxide atmosphere.
Today, I feel that people do not really have a sense of where their food comes from and how much we, as a whole affect the environment. When she talked about her back yard in Arizona; I was pleased she brought that matter up. Many people in the United States are very worried about what their garden looks like that they forget or don’t know what the they should be really worried about. I was shocked that if everyone let their grass grow it would help the environment tremendously because we in fact need it.

Biosphere 2

Great presentation, she gave us a lot of think about as we continue to think of how our reactions affect the world around us. Biosphere experiments are a very important way to determine how the enviorment works with and without human intervention. Have always been intrigued by Biosphere experiments. Would welcome an opportunity to particiapte in one someday. It was refresher to hear her thoughts on the fact that small stuff counts towards the whole when she explained how she threw out her rake and let the natural environment take over her back yard. Really drives home her insight that we need to move from the mode of killing life to the mode of nuturing life. This gives hope that people can make changes one person and one action at a time. Her surprise to find out how her sense of smell changed was surprising - maybe my sense of smell is more keen than the next persons but that is the first thing I notice when going into a different area be it a country, state, city or even a persons home - temperature, plants, animals all play into the smell of something.

September 17 class

Very intersting talking about how changes in the weather, food supply and the introduction of new species can make such an impact on the environments balance. Not surprised to learn that humans are the biggest contributor to making changes happen. In thinking through the information the world in which we live is constantly and naturally evolving and would do so minus human intervention, our involvement is simply speeding up inevitable changes - we know this and can and should be better caretakers.

what i learned on the 17th

SMALL POX

Smallpox is a viral disease that infects exlusively humans. It causes extensives rashes that may become vesicular or pustular; it may also cause death.

Smallpox is spread from person to person by inhalation of air droplets or aerosols; it is highly infectious. Moreover, what is really scary is that there is no treatment for smallpox.

There is a vaccine for smallpox, but in May 1980, the World Health Organization declared the global eradication of smallpox. No vaccination or other preventive measures are necessary.

For all these reasons, smallpox is rated among the most dangerous of all potential biological weapons.

Scary!!!

SEPT 17TH CLASS.

I am not a physics fan...It was an informative class. I enjoyed learning how ecosystems work. My favorite topic of the class was natural selection, species and extinction. It was also pretty humorous to learn that certain animals can breed and what their off spring may look like!

Poynter and Biospher 2

Jane Poynter explains her experience in Biosphere 2. She explains it is a completely natural and alternative micro world. Her experience has provoked her to explore how we might sustain life in the harshest of environments. This is a demonstration of the necessity to be conscious of our impact on the world we live in for a better future. Biosphere 2 contains almost everything that planet earth does, but on a much smaller scale: a rainforest, an ocean, marshlands, savannah grassland, and a fog desert. Although it might seem like a fun experiment, Jane Poynter,explains how challenging the experience could sometimes be.Poynter’s experience was eye-opening in many ways. In her testimonial, she points out: “In Biosphere 2, I totally understood that I had a huge impact on my biosphere, everyday, and it had an impact on me, very literally”. Scientifically, the experiment was enlightening; the scientists were able to gain invaluable hands-on experience with malleable life systems in a closed environment. Poynter had direct impact on the biosphere not only through the physical labor, but also just by breathing and circulating the oxygen and carbon-dioxide.
However, life in Biosphere 2 was often hard work, and things did not always run smoothly. In fact, at one point the structure started losing oxygen at a dangerous rate, and the crew had to resolve the situation before they ran out of oxygen altogether. Nonetheless, her experience had a lasting impact on her life – after Poynter finally emerged from the structure, she had a completely different outlook on the human existence.
Hopefully Biosphere 2 is only the beginning of these types of experiments. In the future, if we plan on exploring Mars and beyond, it is imperative that we are able to sustain life wherever we end up. Furthermore, these types of experiments help expand our knowledge of basic life systems and how we all fit into Earth’s composition.

What biosphere do you want to be in?

I found it interesting that they decided to create a biosphere of essentially what "used to be". I thought the project was interesting, however, I was more interested in the things she noticed AFTER leaving her "bubble": food ingredients, perfumes, and landscaping. I wonder what would happen if we all threw away our rakes? Her rake thing is a little unfair, since she doesn't appear to have any actual grass which for us would be probably 3 feet high, depending on what kind we have, that would be kind of annoying.

What I learned about smallpox...

I thought the bit about the smallpox vaccine was strange, but fascinating. I think it is interesting that there was enough "virus" in the scabs to "rub" and vaccinate...

Environmental Policy and Economics

I think this guy had some good ideas. Alot of them were reflected in the text. I dont disagree with his ideas but I wonder who would oversee these types of policies. Including the cost of pollution in the production sounds really good but what if the companies production and output of pollution changes from one month to the next? How do you regulate something like that? How do you keep that cost from being passed on to the consumer? Creating property rights sounds like a good idea because it gives someone responsibility but wouldnt it also give the person or entity who owns it the right to do what if pleased with the property? It seems we always run into trouble when we start to put a dollar value on things that should be priceless. It is interesting that there are painting and artifacts that are deemed priceless but we managed to come up with a dollar value for the very air we breathe!

Sept 17th class

I learned the impact other species can have on an environment that they are not suppossed to be in. I never knew anything about the zebra mussels until this class. I also found the lecture interesting when discussing the amount of land that can support any particular species. I began to think about all the black bears in our back yards all of a sudden and deer more common in peoples back yards. I have always been an advocate for not developing every piece of land that we have. It is becoming obvious the animals have no where to go. It gives the appearance that there are too many deer or whatever but in actuality we have developed there land/homes. Listening to the lecture and reading the chapter has definitely given me some insight into the balance of nature. Humans think that if we can not explain it or we feel it has no purpose then it does not. We are so ready to get rid of something. I think cats in the city will be just like the rabbits in Australia

Invasive Species

I thought the first video was kind of cool. When it comes to moving different plants and animals into a different ecosystem you can never be to sure of the long term consequences. At the moment, pythons I believe, are a problem in Florida because of people releasing them into the wild. This was exactly what we discussed in our last class.

In the second video it seems disease has come into play because of the overpopulation of rabbits. They were suppossed to be helping at first.I did not know that Australia had a problem with rabbits or that there was any disease associated with them.

I dont have a stink bug problem and honestly I have never smelled one. This is something that I only heard of this year. But I must say, people use science to try and explain everything as if we are suppossed to understand everything. I think if a big bang or whatever caused all this then we should be able to take any species from anywhere do as we please. I think the good Lord set the boundaries that were required and that is the reason that once its broken we have such a hard time. We need to learn to live with the problems we have or look more closely at our own actions.

Sept. 10th class

This was another week of review from previous science classes. There was not much new information on physics that I learned, but I didn't learn it with regards to the environment. I did learn more about ecosystems than I knew like productivity and landscape ecology. It was also a review about evolution with natural selection and Darwin and biodiversity, species, and extinction, but I did learn about artificial selection.

What I learned in class on 9/10

what i learned and vid comment

Natasha Lebby
10th September 2011-17th September 2011
Blog Three: what I learned in class today

I learned a few interesting things today in class. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Chihuahuas were genetically made to be rat hunters. I was also surprised that cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli evolved from the mustard plant.
I also found interesting that Darwin and Wallace figured out why birds had different shapes of beaks. They figured out that the birds must have come from South America and ate whatever was the most abundant on the Galapagos Islands. The beaks were different shapes according to what they ate. For instance, the Kauai Akialoa bird has a long, slim beak, which is useful for eating insects and nectar from flowers. Another bird that the men spotted was the Grosbeak Finch. The bird has a short, stubby beak which is useful for eating nuts, and seeds.


After watching the first video; I felt that the people bringing in new the species to a different environment, do not look at what potential problems could occur. It seemed kind of silly that they did not realize that the vine dies off in the winter within China and would not in the southern part of America.
In the second video, I too was surprised that rabbits can carry the plague. I was also surprised that there was a massive pile of them (in one of the pictures) from RHD.
I thought that the third video was kind of funny. I like how the news lady had to state to the public that people should not take in skunks for pets, in order to get rid of their stink bugs.

Biosphere 2

Jane Poynter discusses her experience in the experiment to create an artificial biosphere.

invasive videos

I can relate to the problem of invasive species. I used to live in the South, and even now my neighbors garden is being overrun by an ornamental Japanese grass (she didn't plant) and peppermint. All i can say is at least peppermint is USEFUL in the sense that its edible! She rips it all out and in 2 weeks its back... Both the grass and kudzu are Japanese... Reoccuring theme? Moral of the story: Japanese maples are good, Japanese grasses? Beware!
As for the rabbit issue my concern is them trying to control the population with disease, which most species become immune to, or worse, we can become sick from. Maybe they should just hunt them and eat them? Hossenpheffer (spelling?) anyone?
Finally the stink bug issue is definitely not nearly as big a deal to me as some other things, such as wasps! I had to laugh though because I've seen dogs with the same reaction to stink bugs as the one on the video, even my sister's dog (who eats acorns and anything that buzzes, including bees) won't eat them!

Sept 10

From the lecture,I learn how environmental science is related to genetic variation, and the natural selection and also how organismes adopts to their enviroment and change over time. How fascinating environtal science is!

Sept 10 Class

I thought the last class was interesting. I did not realize that evironmental science encompassed so many areas. I feel sorry for those frogs. How do you get the rest of the world to care about issues like that.

Invasie spiecevideo

I was more interested in the third video only because those stupid bugs are all over our area. They are terrible and i have no idea where they came from but im sick of them. Why havent we(humans) found a way to kill them without attracting more. Because if you kill one more will come. Besides the point, they are a terrible thing and it is ashame that they do not mean to, at least i dont think they would. We are doing to same to wild life. We are an invasive spiece to them because we cut down their habitat to make ours and that is all they are doing. That goes for any animal.

Lesson on 9/10

I honestly had no idea that all the things we talked about was incorporated with enviornmental science. I have been taught chemistry but never physics so i definatly learn more than one thing that day! It still bothers me that we now do not have some animals on this planet because of us humans. Some people just do not seem to care about how many animals there are. I am referring to the passenger piegons. There were so many but selfish people needed to kill them in such large quanitys that it destoryed them completely. It was excited to learn about how many little topic/subject are all tied together with enviornmental science.

Class lesson for sept 10

The biggest lesson that I took away from this lecture was the fraility of life.You always hear life will find a way to survive,and this is true,but not always.You cant take a step without leaving a footprint that you were there and which way you are heading.The small and extinct golden toads only legacy is a few pictures to remember them by.

Life is so fleeting and special and everyday is a struggle.

The Videos

The first video I can really relate to,as being from the south,Kudzu is a real monster of a problem.You can try and kill it,but the main vine may be a mile away from the end.No grazing animal that I know of ever eats it,so it just lays there and grows.

The second video about the rabbits I found amasing.Twenty-four rabbits started a enviromental disater that is still going on to this day.My first thought was that the predators would control the population,but with the numbers being so large nature can only do so much.Either with good intentions or bad everthing we do affects something else in someway.

The thrid video I found sort of funny, even though it is a serious situation.Levity was used to explain real concerns,as using the skunk to control a stink bug.It really drove home the point of going from a bad situation to a worse one.History is full of examples of going from bad to worse,trying to use one animal to control another.Humankind being the puppeteer is controling the whole show.

Golden Toads

I enjoyed learning about the golden toads and how so many were found living in such a small area. I liked the simplicity of Mr. Wilson's drawing to give us a visual idea of how the drying effect was caused that led to the golden toads extinction.

Sept 10 Videos

All three videos were interesting. I can relate to the third video about stink bugs. We get them every year and I can't stand the site of them. I don't think they really stink while alive, but I have heard that when you smash them they stink. It is ironic that the one predator in the video that liked them was the skunk. Maybe everybody in the infested areas should have pet skunks.

The first video does make me stop to think, is man really the most destructive, invasive species? We have done a major amount of damage to the planet over the years. Maybe it is best to just leave things alond and let nature figure out the answer to problems rather than introducing new species to an ecosystem and making matters even worse.

The second video about bringing 24 rabbits to Australia and them becoming such a problem is just sad. What makes me upset about this is that after watching the video I looked up more information about it online and found out all the measures that are taken to control the rabbit outbreak. I also found out that they were originally brought to Australia for the sole purpose of hunting. They are labeled as pests. I have never seen them as pests even though they eat my flowers and have tried, but not succeeded, to get into my garden. Instead of infecting them or or shooting them in Australia, they should come up with some way of making them sterile.

Sept. 10 Videos

All three video were intersting. I can relate to the third video

3 vids

After watching the first video; I felt that the people bringing in new the species to a different environment, do not look at what potential problems could occur. It seemed kind of silly that they did not realize that the vine dies off in the winter within China and would not in the southern part of America.
In the second video, I too was surprised that rabbits can carry the plague. I was also surprised that there was a massive pile of them (in one of the pictures) from RHD.
I thought that the third video was kind of funny. I like how the news lady had to state to the public that people should not take in skunks for pets, in order to get rid of their stink bugs.

10th September Class

Natasha Lebby
10th September 2011-17th September 2011
Blog Three: what I learned in class today

I learned a few interesting things today in class. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Chihuahuas were genetically made to be rat hunters. I was also surprised that cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli evolved from the mustard plant.
I also found interesting that Darwin and Wallace figured out why birds had different shapes of beaks. They figured out that the birds must have come from South America and ate whatever was the most abundant on the Galapagos Islands. The beaks were different shapes according to what they ate. For instance, the Kauai Akialoa bird has a long, slim beak, which is useful for eating insects and nectar from flowers. Another bird that the men spotted was the Grosbeak Finch. The bird has a short, stubby beak which is useful for eating nuts, and seeds.

10 September Class

Natasha Lebby

I learned a few interesting things today in class. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Chihuahuas were genetically made to be rat hunters. I was also surprised that cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli evolved from the mustard plant.
I also found interesting that Darwin and Wallace figured out why birds had different shapes of beaks. They figured out that the birds must have come from South America and ate whatever was the most abundant on the Galapagos Islands. The beaks were different shapes according to what they ate. For instance, the Kauai Akialoa bird has a long, slim beak, which is useful for eating insects and nectar from flowers. Another bird that the men spotted was the Grosbeak Finch. The bird has a short, stubby beak which is useful for eating nuts, and seeds.

Videos posted on 9-9-11

First video, had me locked. At the end, when she said about maybe the "most destructive, invasive species is man," I see that. The patterns of earlier generations and current generations bringing animals from earlier times back into our culture is, in my opinion, bringing the problems to present day.

Second video, has me amused when I learned that in 1859 rabbits were a part of plagues that broke out in the later 1880s.

Thirs video, was entertaining. "Fighting stink with stink," says it all. It seems that there is no way to manhandle stink bugs to get them to leave just takes time.

Sept. 3rd Class

This class again had some review material for me, but also a lot of new material. I had an AP Government class where we did talk about policies, but I don't ever remember any of them being about the environment. Along with the government class, I also had an AP Economics class, so I understood a lot of the discussion about the economics, but I learned in in the point of view of business and not the environment. It is interesting to be able to apply things you have already learned into new things that you are learning about. I didn't learn too many new things about the chemistry behind environment issues from what I learned in my chemistry class, the basics are the same. I am a little interested to see how physics is involved into environmental issues though.

Aug. 27th class

In the first class, I got a review of things I learned previously in school and some new things. Even with the things I already knew, I learned more in depth information about the subjects. I knew the basics of what an environment was and what resources are and how important they are, but I learned more about their importance and how learning from past mistakes can help us in the future. I also learned more about the scientific method then I did like different types of experiments. I knew somethings about ethics, but I learned more about how they had to do with environmental issues. I expect to learn a lot more in this class.

What I know so far...

This world around us needs to be protected by everyone.. Everyone needs to start giving a damn, because soon, we will not have the resources that we need to live..Simple acts like not littering, polluting, etc. can help to preserve our life sources..

I live by the philosophy to "think outside the box".. people need to start being more cognizant of their actions, and taking the world around them more seriously.

Invasive Species

This week, we have a three-for-one video treat. Three short videos with the same theme: Invasive Species. Watch each one and comment about about each of them.

Jason Scorse’s presentation uses various economic theories, analyzes the three most important sources of environmental problems: market failure, the tragedy of the commons, and the under provisioning of public goods.One of the things that I found interesting was that Scorse explained that one of the first principles of free markets is that for them to work effectively, the full costs of an activity must be borne by the involved parties. For example, many types of air and water pollutants exact a significant price on human health and or degrade ecosystems, but these costs are not factored in the cost of production or at the consumer level. These costs are known as externalities and these lead to market failure. This is a common argument you hear when people talk about the “true cost of oil.”Scorse notes that if we lived in a world where prices fully captured environmental costs, our entire economies would look vastly different. He writes, “…we would have different modes of transportation, different layouts for our cities and towns, different dietary habits, and consumer goods would likely contain much less toxic material. Prices of environmentally harmful goods would rise and much more R&D would go into alternatives, thereby decreasing their price. In such a world society’s resources would be invested in those things which bring the greatest social value.” All in all, there are unintended consequences of every action and this presentation does address how some of them can be factored into the “true cost” of an environmental activity or product. It’s a good place to start learning about economics.

What I know so far

I admit I never really thought in a global terms until now.This class has made me think of the enviroment as a living breathing entity that is on a path of extinction and we are plotting our own demise.I am realizing now we are all enviromentalist and we must think on a large scale but start on a small scale.The recent floods we are having now,I not only think about the tragic cost it has on people,but now I think about the soil erosion,the contamination from what the water is picking up as it flows across the land.

September 3,2011

I enjoyed learning about the Cayuga River, and the impact it had on our American economy. When people realized that the wastes/oils were causing the river to be engulfed in flames, they realized how far the society had fell into becoming insensitive to the major problem of pollution. Although it was harmful to it's surroundings, I believe that the lesson learnt was worthwhile.

The first video- The Lorax

I found the little cartoon clip very cute and childish but in a way it showed us how people really do not think about the eviornment when they want something else that seems so important. In the clip they just want to cut down all the trees, but the Lorax tries to prevent them from cutting them all down because we need the trees.

8/27 & 9/3

Looking at environmental science from an economic perspective is a very interesting and thought provoking approach. It makes perfect sense since everything living and non are interconnected. The success of our economy relies heavily on the sustainability of our environmental resources.

As outlined in the first chapter looking at our past and understanding how we fit into the bigger picture - anthropocentric, biocentric, ecocentric - is a start. We forget this and need to be reminded from time to time. Though I think there is too much government today, I am faithful that a balance can be struck and from what I have learned so far it needs to be sooner rather than later.

Environmental Policy and Economics

I agree with Scorse that we would have a higher quality of life if we improved the environment and I agree the environment needs improved. However, I don't agree that more government is the way to accomplish it. Giving government the responsibility to improve the environment is real scary to me. They have not proven themselves successful in the past why would we think they could do it now. Government policies don't necessarily benefit special interests I believe they mostly benefit "friends" of politicians. His thought of making the polluters pay is an fair one but keep in mind that approach has been used, however, it does not always work - case in point is PA's underground/aboveground storage tank law. The responsible party is the landowner, however, it is not always the landowner that caused the spill - but it is the landowner that pays.

I totally agree with his position that if you use "public resources" you should pay market value but again because of the "old boys' network" that will never work. I disagree with letting government control R& D. We have progressed very well with letting private enterprise do the R&D - my concern with government getting involved would be government would eventually take over businesses.

I do agree with doing away with subsidies. Government should not be in the business of subsidizing farms, companies or individuals. I do not think our tax dollars should be spent on helping people farm or not farm their land and it most definitely should d not to to help those who want to live in areas that prone to weather events, time and time again!

I am of the mind that there war way too, too many laws and regulations on the books today that make no sense or create paperwork that in the end improves no one or nothing.

week one and two...what I have learned in class

Natasha Lebby
27th August 2011 – 3rd September 2011
Blog One: What have I learned this week in class?

This week I learned a lot about people in the seventeen to eighteen hundreds, who created their own theories about the environment. For instance, Garrett Hardin wrote and essay “tragedy of the commons” to inform the pubic that if they wanted food for survival, they should move as fast as they can to obtain it. In class, we discussed, that if fishermen want to catch lobsters, they have to acquire as many as they can because they will eventfully run out. Today we know that this fact is not entirely true; we just need to take the lobsters in fewer quantities to maintain the habitat.
I learned more about a man named Thomas Malthus. I knew a little about him before and was glad to spend a little more time learning about him in this class. I learned that this man was deadly worried about the running out of food for the public.
The last thing I found really interesting in this class, was learning about Easter Island. I already acquainted myself, a little bit with the island, because I think that’s where the idea of Pink Floyd’s Album picture came from. I may be completely wrong though. I was really interested in how the massive heads came about and how many people lived on the island before the Europeans came to it.

Natasha Lebby
3rd September 2011- 10th September 2011
Blog Two: What I have learned this week in class

This week I learned a little about economics. I never really thought that there has to be so many policies to get people to treat the environment appropriately. I am very stunned that people today know that they are harming the environment and continue to do so. I did not realize that polices were created in the seventeenth and eightieth century. With the technology today, I am surprised and slightly angered that we are still having problems within the environment.
I also learned a little bit more about Rachel Carson, the Cuyahoga River, and Eutrophication. I learned that Rachel Carson’s main concern was about the use of pesticides and the harming of bird egg shells.
Another important fact learnt, was that the Cuyahoga River caught fire more then once. This river was a turning point for people. The public realized that something had to be done and the National Environment Policy Act was created and signed by Richard Nixon.
The last interesting thing that I learned in class was about the decreased levels of oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico. Pollution from tributaries across the states flow into the Mississippi River and then onwards into ocean. When this happens phytoplankton multiplies, dies, and decomposes consuming the oxygen from the water. Creatures in the water that need the oxygen to survive begin to die off or retreat to another body of water.

9-3

Today, I have learned just how many pieces there are to actually become knowledgable of the economy. I liked learning about the "waves" that the U.S. has gone through. It really brought me back to those times and realize just how far we have come as a whole.

8-27 Class

The first week of class I learned just how important the study of the economy is when trying to attain more information on how and why our environment is changing around us. I found it quite fascinating how today's evironmentalists grasp onto their selective hearing and completely ignore things they do not want to hear about what is going on in the economy now.

What I learned today

Today I learned that for the 38 years I have had on this earth, I have been very blind and naive to the environment in which I am a part of. I was extremely suprised to learn that environmental policy dates so far back. I look forward to learning more about chemistry and how it is crucial for understanding any environmental issue.

What I've learned for 8/26 & 9/03

So far, I have learned quite a bit in the two BIO 103 classes that I have attended. I have learned that an interest in environmental science study does not mean that you have to be a tree hugging hippy, which is good… not that I have anything against tree hugging or anything. I just wasn’t sure what to expect from the class, but I am happy with the direction that it is going in.
I am especially pleased with the amount of science that is involved with this class. As much as I love politics (sarcasm), I am always happy when the dork talk starts. I perked up during the last 40 minutes of class today when we moved out of economics and started on the chemistry portion of the lecture. I now totally agree that economics is the abysmal science and am even more appreciative of people like Jason Scorse’s who are trying to build a strong bridge between economics and environmentalism.
I enjoy the trivia style facts that Dennis gifts us with in class. Topics such as competitive fire companies and leased phones are very interesting to me, so keep on with the history. I also enjoyed the dry comment in the first class that was something along the lines of, “when our sun blows up and turns into a black hole and kills us all…” I found that to be amusing. That being said, I am looking forward to the physics portion of the next class. See you next Saturday.

Today, the lecture seems to go faster than the first one; but anyway i learned a lot from it: how the environment and economy are linked, the ecosystem, the U.S environmental policy and much more.
Thank you Mr Wilson!

Environmental policy and economics

Nice speech! We can tell that the presenter knows a lot about that field and how the environment interact with econimic. Well, everything he said is right.

From the first lecture i learned a lot: the different scientific methods and how to use them; the Thomas Maltus and Neo-Maltus theories, which i found very interesting (and which illustrate our population today) and briefly how our natural world work.
Thank You Mr Wilson!

The Lorax

Today human's activites are diversified.Those activities are useful and at the same time have some effect on our environment.From the Lorax video, we can see how human's activities are killing our environment.How many of us do realize that? It"s time for change.

The Lorax

is awesome.

Today,human's activities are diversified.Those activities are useful and at the same time have some effect on our environment.From the Lorax video, i can said that of course, we are killing our environment. How many of us do realiz that?This video shows us, it is time toe face the reality and act beforit's too late.

Today,human's activities are diversified.Those activities are useful and at the same time have some effect on our environment.From the Lorax video, i can said that of course, we are killing our environment.How many of us do realize. Some really don't care but in this video it has be ten showed that its time to act for that issue.

Today,human's activities are diversified.Those activities are useful and at the same time have some effect on our environment.From the Lorax video, i can said that of course, we are killing our environment.How many of us do realize. Some really don't care but in this video it has been showed that its time to act for that issue.

The Lorax

I think a lot can be learned from this simple cartoon. I think the most important part came at the end when the little fuzzy figure was explaining just what it took to produce one tree. I feel that is significant considering it takes us a matter of minutes to cut down one tree and days to clear a forest!

Economics and the Environment

I do not know much about economics; however, much of what this speaker stated made a lot of sense to me. A point the speaker made, that caught my attention was how he thought the government should get evolved in environmental protection. He stated, “If people pollute, we should have to pay and be accountable.” I think that he brought up a valid point that should be put into action. Although, how do you make someone be accountable for chemicals that they may buy at the super market, such as a plastic water bottle? Will the government make that product more expensive then the eco-friendly products?
I feel that many people try to be eco- friendly to help the environment and themselves; however, there are others who don’t care what happens to the planet in the future. How do you get them to be accountable? I suppose if the public is able to have property rights; something will be figured out.

Enviroment and Economics

I really agree with his view of the government subsidizing people to live in dangerous places. Why do people feel a need to build a house in a place which floods every time there is a storm/hurricane? Or build on the side of a mountain where mudslides are frequent. I get that everyone wants a "pretty" location, but the government shouldn't be paying for it.
The slide "Better Enviromental Messaging" makes so much sense to me. I found myself agreeing to all the points he was making about nationalism, security, etc. I think Economics should be a requirement for everyone (in every major, even High School) to learn to be better informed, especially as Presidential and Congressional electors!

The rest of "The Lorax"

Although it wasn't shown in the clip we watched in class, what I like the most about the story of "The Lorax" is that he doesn't only bring up the fact of the trees being gone, but he also relates how the the loss of trees, and factory "by products" (aka pollution) helps destroy other wildlife, including the birds and fish. I think it's important for us to realize that it isn't just weakening the chain, it actually breaks a link of the chain which makes the chain practically worthless.

Environmental Policy and Economics

Here is this week's video. The speaker obviously has his political views on display here, but he does an excellent job of outlining many of the challenges facing people who have to develop environmental policy.