What size is your Foot?

I am actually very, extremely disappointed in my carbon footprint quiz. I know I do not live extremely green but I thought I would do a lot better compared to the average American, but in reality I would need 4.2 earths to live the way I do if everyone did what I do, compared to the average 4.6 earths. The max population that the earth could sustain if everyone lived like me would be 1.75 billion compared to the 7 billion we have today. This to me is unacceptable.

Though the services portion of the quiz is what seems to be the most detrimental to my carbon footprint I think the food is an area I am more likely to fix. I consume a lot of animal products and not a lot of it is locally grown, causing a lot of long distance transportation to be needed for me to get my goods. In order to reduce this weakness I must look into more locally grown foods, organic foods and less animal products. If I adjust my food habits I can bring down my earth count to 3.7 much better then the above 4.2.

Heated Conversation!!

Energy is not cheap at all because we have not made it so. We have become fully dependent on oil and therefore dug ourselves a hole where either we keep paying rising energy prices or find alternate sources of energy. Conservation is key in the energy crisis. If Jimmy Carter were here I would tell him he is the Nostradamus of energy, because he knew we had to conserve our energy and he made it clear through his efforts to encourage the American people to do so.We must find a source of energy that can be conserved for the next generations if not for the rest of our life. A source that will not run out in just a few years and that has costs that are not constantly on a rise. I am a strong believer in having a government but one that also believes that we cannot leave things up to them in order to initiate change. We must invest in private marketeers to innovate new ideas that can be used as renewable sources of energy. Investing in such people and becoming successful will steer the government to intervene and maintain this success because ultimately it would stimulate money for any economy. We must investigate more than just one energy source. We must have alternatives so we do not just become dependent on one because then we could find ourselves in the place we are now. Therefore we must consider, other fossil fuels, wind, solar, geo, and hydro energy for us to be successful. However, to me the one with the most potential seems to be solar energy. Solar energy has been around for over 3 billion years and we must take advantage of it. Solar energy can be our key in a renewable resource so that we can become independent of oil.

To understand why solar energy is a strong candidate here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

Not much pollution is given off from solar panels except during production of them.

Solar panels are easily installed and can be installed practically anywhere (They are not location specific).

Fossil fuel cost deviate constantly due to market demands but solar energy can avoid that because a constant supply is readily available.

The electricity produced by solar energy is relatively quiet compared to other resources (wind turbines).

Cons:

Installation and production of a solar panel is very costly in the beginning.

Solar energy is only able to be produce during daylight hours and weather can affect production.

Increasing pollution affects efficiency of solar cells. Industries installing solar energy plants in highly polluted areas such as cities can have trouble in being efficient.

The above points are very important in considering solar energy as a powerful alternative.

Individually we can take minor steps today to reduce our energy footprint such as investing in energy saving light bulbs, use of public transportation, and consume locally grown foods. But for the future we can choose to invest in hybrid or electrical cars, grow food and participate in energy saving movements. There is opportunity for everyone to help you just have to look around.

Scandel of the Century

Climate change: the talk of the century. The question is where do we stand? Everyone wants to be placed in a category: the ones who believe in it and the ones who don’t. I like to say yes climate change is happening but it always has been however, we humans are now speeding up the process. In the past the climate changes were due to changes in the Sun’s intensity, Earths tilt, volcanic eruptions, and changes in greenhouse concentration. Today the climate changes for the same reasons but human impact has played a role. For example deforestation can change the amount of sunlight a land gets, which can change the temperature, wind and precipitation of the particular region. Deforesting an area also comes with other side effects, it can mean perhaps human development in that particular area. The once remote forested area had its natural ecological balance, but with the presence of human development (i.e. cities and industries ) an unbalance occurs perhaps the resources are exhausted and carbon emissions increase, leading to an increased rate of climate change. So the question is which philosophical group do I belong to? With the above said, I believe climate change is not man made instead it is aided by man. I do think that a lot of the information out is propaganda in order to collect money and we must be the judge of which is real or not. We need to do our own research and figure this out because we are causing change and education and global communication is great start to figuring out a solution. If we allow false information to spread sooner or later people will begin to feel as if the debate is a joke and more people will join the side of denial and will choose to not help in the further prevention of a negative human impact. Plenty of media coverage is given to this debate and therefore a lot of it gets stretched to extremes in order to get the most attention so using websites such as ones from EPA or other governmental agencies instead of personal opinionated blogs are great ways to get solid information but also do not allow yourself to be guided by just one make sure to compare many different websites and do not be scared to question them either. Following my own advice to do my own educated research and asking questions has allowed me to change small things in my life. Decisions such as which foods to buy, what materials to use and how to dispose of my materials are little steps I have taken towards my effort to reduce my and my family’s carbon footprint. If we do not take the first step in educating ourselves in this topic then our kids will have a lost cause in front of them because they too will not know what to do, which could lead to our demise. So I would say educate ourselves now so our next generations can too enjoy life have the opportunity to fix our past mistakes and prevent them.

Lets Invent Nature!

We are always trying to find quick answers to big problems but the only thing we do is dig ourselves a bigger hole. Developing genetically engineered eucalyptus trees to withstand colder environments is not a good response. Creating such a Frankenstein- tree would mean disrupting our natural environment, placing a foreign object that does not belong there and taking over the homes of other organisms that do belong there.

Eucalyptus trees are not just any trees that you can place wherever you want. Introducing such a species poses various extrinsic and intrinsic concerns. The problem with this tree is that it is invasive, sucks up tons of water and dries the land, and ironically though it requires plenty of water it is a very dry tree and very vulnerable to catching fire. Besides the ecological concerns this tree poses, one has to think of the extent of the actual project and look at what in reality we would be doing with this tree. By genetically engineering an organism we are manipulating the circle of life. We would be attempting to play the role of God and breaking the rules of nature and this ladies and gentlemen is unethical. We are giving ourselves a power we do not have and creating things that do not happen in nature. Instead of genetically engineering more problems we need to further study the organisms already available.

Yes, creating such a tree would allow us to grow them in more environments and economically provide more opportunities wherever grown however the cons out weigh these two positives. Introducing this to FGCU land would make our land more prone to fires and in this South Florida heat fires are inevitable. Besides fire it would also dry out our land and Florida’s unique environment is built on wetlands.

Before taking such drastic steps to planting a forest of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees researchers could mitigate the risks by doing further extensive studies in a lab and if creating the trees needed to be

done then we should think of ones that do not require so much water and are not prone to fires. However, we do not need to create these we can just go look in nature.

Farming Overseas

Overall I really enjoyed my visit to the farm. Since I was out of the country I was not able to visit Echo. Instead I visited a small farm in Colombia. This farm had vast amounts of green land. Acres and acres of green hills covered the farm. Small shrubs of wild berries were all around in the simple green, meadows. Further into the farm the land was divided. Some had cows, dogs, but the majority of the land had Uchuva or what we would call the Peruvian cherry. This fruit hung from wires planted over the fields, creating a vine type of blanket suspended off the ground. This farm stood out and caught my eye because it was very different to one you would see in the U.S and did not look like anything you think about when you hear the word farming in the U.S. They had very minimal electronic devices to run the farm. A few tractors but besides that it was just a ton of farmers that participated in all the work. Though the farm seemed like it followed organic farming methods in reality it did not. Some of the workers were still spraying synthetic pesticides on the plants. Its crazy that this farm so far from the Americanized farming techniques and located in such a remote area still did not follow organic farming techniques.

Besides the chemical used on the plants, the farm still seemed to be running a sustainable operation. Cow manure from the herd in the other land was used to fertilize the land. Water for their irrigation system was obtained from a nearby natural spring, and they filtered and reused as much water possible from other farming activities to use on the crops. The farmers worked on the farm 24/7 from dawn to dusk. Like stated earlier men ran the farm not machines which is very different to what we see in American farming.

The methods on this farm are very simple, and with that said I think this is very useful in such a developing world because it shows that though we are complicating our selves in everything we do we can still keep farming simple and just let nature take its course in producing the product. This would be a perfect place to volunteer; I feel that it is locations like this one where you learn to grow with nature and at the same time all the work YOU (not machines) put into it is rewarded by growing an amazing, sweet fruit such as this one, Uchuva. But sadly I cannot volunteer there because I am now 1509 miles away.