Deanne M Johnson

Journal Assignment four

PHI 216 Lesson 7 and Lesson 8

Before getting started on my completing my assignment, I came across this article posted in yahoo news. In short the NASA scientists are stating, Scientists on all sides of the global warming debate are in general agreement about how much heat is being directly trapped by human emissions of carbon dioxide (the answer is "not much"). However, the single most important issue in the global warming debate is whether carbon dioxide emissions will indirectly trap far more heat by causing large increases in atmospheric humidity and cirrus clouds. Alarmist computer models assume human carbon dioxide emissions indirectly cause substantial increases in atmospheric humidity and cirrus clouds (each of which are very effective at trapping heat), but real-world data have long shown that carbon dioxide emissions are not causing as much atmospheric humidity and cirrus clouds as the alarmist computer models have predicted. (http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-data-blow-gaping-hold-global-warming-alarmism192334971.html) I found this article to be defeating. How can we expect people to change if there is no science to prove we humans are impacting global warming? This article pretty much came out and said eh no worries continue business as usual, use all the carbon emission resources you want. Continue deforestation, buying hummers, drill for oil in ANWR, and forget offshore drilling come closer! If science isnt agreeing on the human impact on carbon emissions or the rise of heat in trapped in our atmosphere, how can we to prove it otherwise. I am left so confused and frustrated today. Thankfully I am an environmentalist who isnt just concerned with proving that global warming is in fact happening but an environmentalist who values all species, ecosystems and living things. However it makes the fight just a little bit harder. Environmentalism, in my opinion, is the holistic approach in protecting life and natural things. It is the bringing harmony between humankind and the world in which we live because

we are in some way dependent on each organism for our existence. I cannot explain why we need mosquitoes or snails but they must connect to some eco-system in some important manner. Being an environmentalist is not being an alarmist fearing extinction of every living thing. I believe in the natural world there seems to be a natural order of extinction or possible adaptation to an ever changing environment. Organisms, animals and entire species die out all the time dating back to the beginning of time because they could not adapt to the changing environment. It is when humankind forces the extinction of an organism, or animal or species where I take issue as an environmentalist and where I believe environmentalism is or should be focused. Would we have wanted extremely large dinosaurs to have survived and try to coexist with humans? To be an environmentalist today you need to be verse in biodiversity, deforestation, and desertification. Biodiversity is a way to view the overall health of an ecosystem because the very word implies biological diversity organisms. Without biodiversity it is far easier to have mass extinction in ecosystems. I see biodiversity in the form of agriculture. My organic garden does far better when I plant a variety of bio-diverse plants. This diversity helps to defend against drought, and pests to help each other grow. The agriculture community was once diverse in its variety of produce however they have become more and more reliant on companies like Monsanto who have bought out multiple seed companies to control and limit the release diverse crops. Biodiversity in crops are as important on a large as it is in my back yard. However some companies such as Monsanto have caused farmers to grow only one type of potatoes for example because they introduced their roundup chemical DNA into that seed thusly making our history in bio-diverse farming nearly a thing of the past.

Although I do not recall reading if biodiversity also leads to deforestation or desertification but it would make sense too. Deforestation and desertification I feel can be caused by destroying a bio-diverse ecosystem due to the need by humans to plant crops or destroyed by cattle. Deforestation is defined as a mass clearing of the planets forests and desertification happens from humans settling in semi-arid regions planting crops and/or graze animals causing erosion of the soil. Our constant and ever growing need for space to grow crops or have cattle for food are destroying ecosystems that will have a greater impact on the environment that in turn will cause regions to have more draught and famine. I think of Africa right now and all the environmental refugees settling in other areas trying to escape drought and famine in other regions. It is a cyclical, horrifying effect. What is the answer? Population reduction? Our thirst for more resources and our ever expanding population will cause many regions to experience small forms of extinction or the natural world just adapting. Our current rate of population growth will (if not already) put far too many demands on the planet to continue the existence of every person, animal or living thing. Our deforestation, desertification and land use for mining, drilling for oil or natural gas will give way to more environmental refugees. Mass amounts of people moving to other regions that have resources until those resources run out then they move again. During which many if not hundreds of thousands of people die from drought and famine. It may not be a popular plan but limiting population growth may have to come in to play as a global standard. That means we would have to slow or eradicate poverty, put sustainability first, restore/regrow forest, clean up our water ways, reduce the consumption of water by saving/reusing water, and most definitely put a price on carbon emissions. I think of how much

Asia will be in need and is using up resources since they have more than half of the worlds population. I am also reminded just how much our society in the US has become a throw away one use society everything from lives tossed aside to a new phone every month. For us to change the outcome each of us has to look at our own impact on our communities. If each person changed our way of thinking from throw away to holistic environmental thinking in each block on each neighborhood in each community of every city of every state then we would dramatically slow our impact on the very commodity we need the environment. The trick or key will be how do we model this behavior in every country with so many different or dare I say biodiverse cultures. Money speaks loudly! We consumers know this all too well when gas prices go up we either cut back on driving or do not drive at all and even go as far as buying hybrids. Sometimes change only happens when the bottom line or the consumers wallet are impacted. This can come in many forms cap and trade, higher gas/oil prices, instead of child tax credit families have to pay for more than 2 children, higher water prices or discounts for homes who use water saving or capturing techniques, subsidies for organic/sustainable farming and removing subsidies for companies who are not certified sustainable or organic. These are just some ideas, however something has to change or we will have a mass famine and extinction as our predecessors the dinosaurs.