Author Archives: morrowab

Personal Change

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Throughout this semester I have learned in many different ways how my lifestyle affects the Earth. Before this class, I thought I was a pretty environmentally aware person. I had stopped using plastic bags, straws, and face washes with micro-beads in high school. The first time I was shocked about the impacts I still had on the Earth was during the carbon footprint exercise. Although my “Earths” were lower than the average American, I was still embarrassed and surprised. The biggest impact I have was from my driving. About five times a week, I drive from James Island to Seabrook Island. I did not think much about carpooling with my friends. After the carbon footprint assignment, I made more of an effort to carpool with other people. At least a couple times a week, I carpool with some of my friends now. Although in a perfect world I would be able to carpool everyday to reduce emissions, carpooling some is better than nothing.

Another part of my carbon footprint that was not apart of the assignment is the carbon emissions produced by the food industry. Food that travels across the country or even the world produces lots of carbon emissions. Not only is buying locally better for the economy, but it is better for the environment. This is not the only way my thoughts about food have changed. Chicken nuggets used to be my favorite food, especially Tyson’s. After watching the food documentary, I walked into kitchen and threw away all the chicken nuggets I could find. I was so surprised and disgusted by that documentary. I think majority of the population just doesn’t know how bad our food industry has become for ourselves and the environment. I have also tried to move to more of a plant based diet especially after Professor Saunders’ partner gave us that speech. He proved that a good diet can have a lot more effects than I realized. After that equation that calculated how many protein I should be eating, I realized I was eating too much. Most of our calories should be coming from other types of food. Although I have not completely removed meat from my diet, I have become a lot more conscious about my decisions. I do intend of eventually becoming a vegetarian, and I am spreading awareness to my family and friends. Fortunately, most of my friends have already made this switch. I believe if I did the carbon footprint assignment again, it would be lower.

I also try to make other small changes like taking shorter showers, trying not to buy clothing with plastics, turning off lights and such when I can, etc. It is important to do everything possible because unfortunately, it is very hard to live in the United States without a carbon footprint, which is upsetting.  I figured if I am going to have to have a carbon footprint, I will try every day and every way I can to reduce it. Fortunately, I am moving downtown in August so I will no longer drive to class, which will further reduce my carbon footprint.

Arts & Culture Blog Post

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https://www.google.com/search?biw=1440&bih=721&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=NYWbXOLIMI__5gK-4p3ABQ&q=climate+change+art&oq=climate+change+art&gs_l=img.3..0l10.4025.7287..7408…2.0..0.93.1246.16……1….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i67j0i7i30j0i10j0i7i10i30j0i19j0i7i30i19j0i7i10i30i19.38OyAngWVno#imgrc=6narYBQPEc1F1M:

These two paintings are extremely meaningful in present day discussion of climate change. Unfortunately, even if the entire planet stopped producing green-house gases right this second, we would still experience consequences of climate change. This is why we must make changes now to minimize the future effects of climate change. The comparison of the paintings provide a look into the future based upon how we act now.

The picture on the left portrays our future if we continue on the path that we are on now. The Statue of Liberty is covering her face because the air is so polluted that it is hazardous to breathe. In her left hand, she holds a barrel of gasoline because this is the main cause of climate change. Humans have been using fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s, and tons of carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct and pumped into the atmosphere.  In her other hand, she holds a gasoline bump to show once again, we must step away from fossil fuels because it is a limited resource, and the byproduct is harmful. The background is a musky brown, and even the clouds are dark. Smoke stacks produce large clouds of dark smoke that will increase the rate of climate change and the consequences. In addition, vultures are circling the Statue of Liberty symbolizing death. We are currently experiencing the Anthropocene Extinction, the sixth mass extinction. It is called the anthropocene because all of it is due to human activities. Biodiversity is plummeting, and species are going extinct before humans can even discover them.

The picture on the right is a different story. It gives hope that maybe humans will change, and there can be a positive, bright future. The air appears to be clean because of the blue sky and white clouds. In her left hand, the Statue of Liberty holds a solar panel, a renewable energy source. In her other hand, she holds up a wind turbine, which is another renewable, clean energy resource. This shows the future if humans make the change from fossil fuels to clean energy. In the background, it looks like little green bushes are growing, which shows life is thriving. Bald eagles are flying around the Statue of Liberty instead of vultures.

These paintings are powerful on their own, but when put side by side, it is appalling. Humans are going to have a frightening future if something is not done very soon about climate change. We are already past the window of completely avoiding the long term consequences of climate change, but we can control how bad the consequences are. These paintings only take on one of the harmful effects of human activities, and unfortunately, humans affect the environment in many more ways. There is a solution to this wicked problem, but people do not want to break away from fossil fuels. If we want a future for our planet, we need to make extreme changes right now, or we will end up like the left picture.

News Report

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People are Essential to Conserving Pollinators

People are necessary in order to protect agriculture, biodiversity, and habitat. Because some other cultures have higher beliefs about pollinators, they know how to protect the species and the species’ habitat. Researchers suggest biocultural conservation, which allows these indigenous groups of people to keep their land because they can also conserve it. If governments follow through with the biocultural conservation, it may make a huge difference in bee populations.

“People are Essential to Conserving Pollinators” shows how interconnected all wicked problems can be. This article proves how important the “triple bottom line” is because now cultures can save bee populations.

My question is how long until biocultural conservation can take action?  I fear that governments would be against this new idea based upon the way governments have treated indigenous peoples in the past. Hopefully due to the conservational benefits, these new policies will become active sooner rather than later.

This article was posted on Science Daily on March 11, 2019 by James Cook University.

James Cook University “People Are Essential to Conserving Pollinators.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 11 Mar. 2019, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190311125136.htm.

Citizen Science

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A couple weeks ago, a College of Charleston alumna and I went to the Daniel Island sandbar. We did not intend of spending the day cleaning the beach and marsh, but after we arrived, we realized that we would be spending our day cleaning the beach. Because we did not plan for this beach sweep, we did not have gloves or proper shoes, so by the end of the day, we smelled very bad and had many oyster cuts. Fortunately, our friend who took us on the boat had many bags, so we put the litter in the bags we had on the boat. We spent about 2 hours cleaning up the beach, and as soon as we thought the area was clean, we would find more and more trash. We would have stayed longer, but the rising tide forced us to leave. The trash ranged from a wide variety of things. Most of it was plastics that people use daily, consisting of chip bags, beer cans, and lots of to go boxes of food. The worst litter was the styrofoam because it would easily break apart and crumble as we unburied from the mud. Some of the litter we picked up had been there for so long that plants were growing through the litter. The smelliest thing I unfortunately picked up was an old bait bucket. I did not realize that some shrimp had died a very long time ago in the bottom of the bucket, and I accidentally spilled some water that was in the bucket on me. It ruined my day. When we returned to the marina, we all properly disposed of the litter we picked up. Elena, the College of Charleston alumna, and I were both familiar with the aquarium’s website the “Litter Free Digital Journal” because we had worked at the aquarium. We both came to the decision we would clean up that beach every time we went out there because that sandbar is known for having parties on it.

 

I think the most surprising thing to me about the litter was how similar all the trash was. When I usually do beach sweeps, I find a large diversity of litter, ranging from single use plastics to things I had never seen before. I guess based off of the litter on the sand bar, it shows that it is just ignorant teenagers leaving their beer cans on the beach, so if they get pulled by DNR, they do not get in trouble. This is one of the many frustrating things about teenagers in boats in Charleston. They throw their beer cans into the water to make an “artificial reef” just so they do not in get in trouble for underage drinking. I wish there was some way to stop them from doing this. Hopefully the Litter Free Digital Journal data can be used to show people what kind of effects they are having on our environment and will stop. It is just unfortunate that many people have to spend time picking up after other people. The costa hat and sunglasses are not a part of the litter.