tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541500.post114441740677957398..comments2024-03-29T11:29:58.276+09:00Comments on BigHominid's Hairy Chasms: what is environmentalism?Kevin Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541500.post-1144470038233375312006-04-08T13:20:00.000+09:002006-04-08T13:20:00.000+09:00Well said! I am an environmentalist myself, in the...Well said! I am an environmentalist myself, in the sense that I'd like to keep the planet as friendly to me as long as possible. I have a car, out of necessity, but you will never see me driving an SUV or other fuel-guzzling beast. I pick up trash that floats down the little creek outside my study. At first, my wife and my family thought it was kind of weird that I was picking up trash I didn't put there. But hey, it's my backyard, and I'd like to have a clean backyard.<BR/><BR/>If everyone just kept their own little corner of the earth clean, we'd be a lot better off.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5541500.post-1144434218282727852006-04-08T03:23:00.000+09:002006-04-08T03:23:00.000+09:00Kevin,As an environmental studies major, I have to...Kevin,<BR/>As an environmental studies major, I have to say that I agree with the gist of your post. On a geological time scale, anything we do is not really that big of a deal. However, it is alarming to many people to see their world change so radically in such a short period of time. I think the human brain is wired to see the short-term effects. Thinking in the long-term is a difficult thing to do sometimes. It was a long time before plate techtonics was accepted by the scientific community.<BR/><BR/>Regarding biodiversity, we have a vested interest in preserving it, but right now people don't see the costs of losing it. We don't need to save everything, in fact it would be stupid to suggest such a thing, but it would be nice if we didn't make preventable mistakes that could be avoided with a little mitigative thinking.<BR/><BR/>Let's use genetic modification as an example. Monsanto is committed to having everyone use their seed, which is insect and disease resistant- a good thing in general. There are some major flaws in using one super-cultivar:<BR/><BR/>1. If a pest adapts the ability to overcome the resistant traits of a cultivar, it will quickly become a super-pest, able to mow down all of the crops that share the same DNA.<BR/><BR/>2. Genetic leakage will get back into the natural system, polluting stocks of tradional cultivars that have been developed over centuries by local cultures. These locally developed strains have been naturally selected over long periods of time to best utilize the local climate, geology, and other environmental factors specific to micro-geographies.<BR/><BR/>3. These super-cultivars require a lot of chemicals in order to maximize yields. For poor farmers, the cost of the seed and the chemicals is often prohibitive in such an unstable business. An unnatural surplus of crops in the market puts some farmers out of business, forcing them to become migrational workers.<BR/><BR/>4. Increased yields also tax the land. Salinization renders the land useless for long-term cultivation in some cases, and runoff from the fertilizers contributes to eutrophication in the watershed, impacting eco-systems on a micro and macro level.<BR/><BR/>5.Even though it may not be necessary to have a wealth of organisms, it would be sad to see them go if it they didn't have to.<BR/><BR/>It's so hard to convince people that it is in their best interest not to trash the planet.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, people are easily convinced that any activity that humans do is unnatural and bad for the environment. This is bullshit. The human is an animal, and our actions are an extension of nature. It's presumptious to say that humans are divorced from the natural world.<BR/><BR/>We can only screw up the environment so much before the negative feedback kicks everything into balance again. When that happens, people will die and eventually learn from their mistakes or just die off. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I am optimistic about the future of the human race. Though sometimes the social conciousness is slow to learn, it seems to me that we have made great strides in the way that we accumulate, process, and assimilate information. <BR/><BR/>Or maybe a comet will smash into the earth and everything will start all over again...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com