Friday, January 27th Class

Last Friday in class we discussed Postel's article " Water Adapting to a New Normal", and elaborated on the resolutions she proposed. I personally enjoyed reading her piece. She provided reliable statistics and many current situations applying to us today. I especially liked how rather than scolding us and presenting the issues we have with water usage, she made us aware of the problems we have created, and in turn provided solutions. I also liked her suggestion of taking after those in Oregon, Portland who have adapted a method of turning sealed surfaces, (roofs, streets, and parking lots), into water catchments by strategically planting vegetation. I've never heard of a tactic such as this, and it seems like a great technique that would have positive outcomes.

We were also assigned to read one student's post to his/her blog in response to the article by Jonathan Waterman on the Patagonia site. I read Justin's blog, where he posted a video about the Colorado River and how it is beginning to dry up due to our lack of conserving our water consumption. One thing that really stood out to me from the video he chose was that Jim Creek is on the verge of losing all its fish, which in turn will be detrimental to their tourism/fishing industry. The video, as well as Postel's article, opened my eyes about just how serious the conditions are.

If the Oceans Die, We Die: Response to Patagonia Article

I've included a video that honestly shook me up. It was created by the World Commission of Protected Areas (WCPA) to bring attetion to the fact that we only have one ocean and we must take care of it before it vanishes forever. The video was posted by a vegan promoting plant-based diets and although I, myself, am not a vegetarian of any sort, this clip really interested me. Taking this class has certainly opened my eyes about the environment and the damage we have done to it. We are causing our world to literally slip away from us.

The video talks about how the earth's seas have been unaffected for most of the 5 million years we have occupied the planet. Just under 1,000 years ago is when humans began taking from the sea and the narrator states that fish populations were so dense that ships could hardly navigate -- the tables have most definitely turned. Significantly. Today 90% of the big fish in the ocean are gone. Our oceans are now acid. Coral reefs are "algae covered deserts". The narrator affrims, "for over 30 years there has been a valiant effort to save the sea and it has failed." We must take extreme measures because evidently we are out of time.

In relation to the Patagonia Environmental Essay by Jonathan Waterman, this video shows how the impacts we have had on earth are affecting all kinds of bodies water, not just the Colorado River. Our ocean is vast and covers 75% of the earth -- that is not something to be messed with and this video surely demonstrates that. Waterman writes about how pathetic it was to walk over dried up land that had once been a lush and flowing river. He describes meandering through a delta "as hygienic as an intravenous drip from a catheter" -- is this the kind of world we want to live in?

Experiences that Led me to Choosing My Major

 Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences

 Concentration in Human Biology

A typical college student changes major 3 times on average throughout his/her college career. When applying to NC State the fall semester of my senior year in high school, I took the liberty of deciding my major from the start. Many of my peers applied to schools as undecided, but several factors influenced my decision to apply with a desired major of biology; I am currently in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), majoring in Human Biology, and hoping to specialize in sports medicine.

As my father practices internal medicine in his own clinic, I spent a lot of time in his office as a young child. You could always find me in the exam rooms playing with stethoscopes, reflex hammers, and other items you would normally find in a doctor’s office. I remember always getting in trouble for playing with my dad’s latex examination gloves because I would fill them up with water from the sink to make them look like cow udders… little did I know that I would be pursuing a career in medicine twelve years later. Aside from using my imagination with medical equipment, I had an interest in science from the start. In elementary and middle school, science was my favorite subject and I had a curiosity unlike others about everything when it came to the body. Why does a scab form after I fall down and get hurt? Why does my nose become runny when I have a cold? After taking my first formal biology class freshman year of high school, my questions were answered in detail as I learned how a scab forms from platelets in the blood to plug the bleeding site, and your nose runs when you have a cold because your body produces more mucous to help keep out the germs (Postlethwait 97-99).  It was also this year that I broke my ankle while playing basketball; my foot swelled up immediately and I couldn’t bare any weight on it – it turned purple and blue within an hour of falling on it! I went to an orthopedic surgeon the following day, and after multiple X-rays and MRIs on my ankle I was put in a cast, told to stay off my foot, and to come back for a follow up visit after six weeks. During my sophomore year I got injured again, but things were more serious this time around. During a basketball game I was going up for a rebound and was elbowed directly in the forehead and was knocked unconscious after taking a hard hit to the ground; an ambulance rushed me to the hospital and CT scans and X-rays were performed on my brain to make sure no permanent damage was done. Luckily, I was going to be okay but was diagnosed with a grade III concussion, I being of least impact and III as most severe. It took about 6 months to fully recover after having intense migraines every day and suffering from short term memory loss; I literally would spend all night studying and not remember a thing the next day, which certainly got frustrating.

It was these two events of becoming injured that really got me thinking about a potential career in the medical field, specifically in sports medicine. After going to so many doctors’ offices as a patient and having gone through many different tests, I wanted to know what was going on behind the scenes – what do all of these numbers and letters in my lab results mean?  How does all of this equipment even work to produce such precise calculations? It was a scary thing  to be an athlete and not know how long I’d be off the court. It was also disappointing to sit on the sidelines and not participate; I felt like I had let down my teammates. In the future, I would like to be on the other end of the situation and be able to help athletes who are suffering from medical conditions or injuries. I hope to work in the medical field and sports medicine – a dream job would to be a team doctor for a collegiate or professional team.

Completing a graduate program, let alone gaining acceptance to one is challenge. As a CALS student, I have access to a database of alumni from NC State who are performing research in the Triangle area or are students/recent graduates from medical schools. I interviewed a Wake Forest medical student and asked several questions about studying for the MCAT, the application process, work load in medical school, etc. I got a great response back as Shannon, my interviewee, advised me to get involved with extra-curricular activities, not to stress about the MCAT until after my junior year, and to gain experience through internships or shadowing (Drohan). With a lot of determination, hard work, and perseverance I hope to graduate from NC State with a degree in Human Biology, and to attend medical school in order to achieve my goal of becoming a physician specializing in sports medicine. I understand that my path of interest could change, but for now I am just hoping to survive my freshman year of college!

Works Cited

Drohan, Shannon. "NCSU CALS Student Seeking Advice." E-mail interview. 15 Nov. 2011.

Postlethwait, John H. Modern Biology. Student Ed. [S.l.]: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. Print.

 

Haiku

Aussies are burning!
Our world is changing... Should we
Stop having babies?!

Google Alerts and Twitter: Sustainability

A few Google Alerts I added to my list pertaining to sustainability include ecological footprint, habitat loss, and sustainable agriculture. I’m still getting the hang of Google Alerts so I tried to keep it limited to just a few. However, I am a big fan of twitter and started following @TreeHugger, @USEPASoutheast, @EPAsmartgrowth, and @EARTHWORKSrocks. I'm guessing my Alerts will start coming in tomorrow, since so far I haven't gotten any emails. On the other hand, my twitter timeline is already filled with all kinds of information and minute-by-minute updates from Treehugger.com, US EPA Southeast, and EARTHWORKS.
               It’s really neat to be able to access this information and be informed about issues affecting our every day lives with just the touch of my fingertips. A tweet from @USEPASoutheast that stood out most to me was an article, “One Girl’s Earth Saving Mission”, about a 4^th grader named Brooklyn who has a true passion for the environment. She considers herself a superhero as she emphasizes on the 3 R’s: reuse, reduce, and recycle. Her motto “Student by day, Earth Saver Girl by night!” explains her efforts in a nutshell – she informs everyone around her and teaches other kids about the importance of being green. This little snip-it made my day and makes me want to go out and spread the importance of the 3 Rs myself!
            The readings about sustainability stress the vitality of keeping our earth under good conditions so that we can live in harmony with nature, allowing us to carry out our purpose here on earth and to pursue our goals we have created from the start. I also learned that it is important to maintain sustainability and to stay on top of keeping our environment as pristine as possible, because as we have seen in recent matters, much of the damage we are accountable for is irreversible. The Wikipedia article suggested that sustainability as a science has tended to be problem-driven and oriented towards guiding decision-making more recently. Rather than controlling global issues, we are now striving to prevent them.

Environmental Issue: Habitat Loss

Environmental issues are on the rise and are a more of a problem today than ever before. Climate change, ozone and resource depletion, and overpopulation are just a few among many problems. Habitat loss is the number one reason for the extinction of animals, and humans are solely to blame. Depletion of animals' natural surroundings result from human practices such as agriculture, oil and gas exploration, commercial development, or water diversion. The three major types of habitat loss include habitat destruction, which is the direct destruction of habitat (i.e. bulldozing a forest, home to animals who inhabit the soil, trees, surrounding rivers/streams, etc.). Another kind of habitat loss is habitat fragmentation, in which wildlife on land is divided into sections by roads and development, or marine life is fragmented by dams or other water diversions; this is limiting many species’ resources, making it difficult to access food and potential mates. The last type of habitat loss involves damaging habitats to the extent that they can no longer sustain proper living conditions for native wildlife – this is known as habitat degradation. Because we are the problem, we must revolutionize and in turn, be the solution. Efforts can be as simple as developing a Certified Wildlife Habitat, which can be created near your home, school, or business in no time. By supplying food, water, and shelter, you can seed native plants and raise young that is essential to wildlife.

Source: http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Threats-to-Wildlife/Habitat-Loss.aspx

Island Civilization Summary/Reponse

Nash presents various scenarios in accordance with what he strongly feels would be appropriate tactics for conserving the environment.  He expresses his concerns about how humans have destroyed the earth and that there is no longer wilderness, which he defines as a place where wild animals roam and where natural processes proceed unencumbered by human interference. Nash is convinced that every natural aspect of the world has been tainted by humans and at this point, nature and the wilderness no longer exist.

 Nash’s “wasteland scenario” predicts that Earth will be one giant dump site, ruined with trash and debris from humans. In another possible world known as the “garden scenario”, he imagines humans should inhabit every square mile of land, resulting in low biodiversity. Nash’s third scenario, “future primitive”, suggests to completely disregard the fact that the world and technology ever existed, and to consider the last ten-thousand years of history as merely “a bad experiment.” His most enthusiastic yet obscure idea is called “island civilization”, in which he has humans occupy solely islands, and no other land. From there, we would no longer rely on any form of technology, since according to him, “technology is essentially neutral”, but it’s what we do with it that makes it have negative impacts. Nash insists that in this new society we should resort back to our primitive ways of hunter gathering and foraging. He has a very cutthroat approach for completely transforming our way of life in order to restore the planet and reverse the damage that has been done to it.

            Yes, I have to agree that humans are a wasteful race and we certainly could have done a better job in the past of conserving our environment, but efforts to do so are growing stronger each and every day. For example, recycling is promoted in almost everything we do; whether it is in the grocery store with reusable shopping bags as opposed to the former plastic bags, or the “go green” slogans appearing on merchandise and apparel, becoming popular everywhere. Also, it is common among large public facilities such as in universities, to have advanced plumbing systems designed to use only as much water as needed. For instance, signs above toilets direct one to flush up for liquid waste, which uses less water, and to flush down for solid waste, which uses slightly more water – but just enough; this advances water conservation efforts nationally and has saved millions of dollars.

Nash’s island civilization approach is radical and slightly absurd in that he is insists we should go back to the “caveman days” and completely detach ourselves from any form of civilization. This is quite unnecessary and although change is essential for progress to occur, going from one extreme to another could just as well backfire and lead to further disaster. Anything in moderation is acceptable; island civilization has potential to go a lot further if it were watered down. For instance, instead of migrating to islands, simply occupying less land would be a better attempt at using less space. Changes here and there would make a much bigger difference overall, rather than a completely different way of life, which seems quite drastic. Personally, I believe that technology is what will help us to overcome the problems we have had with environmental damage, and aid in reaching out globally – in moderation, of course.