Introduction
The Earth is composed of various environmental resources. Often times, these natural resources can be used extensively by groups of people (Wang, Du, Su, Chen, 2012). This was portrayed in the movie DamNation (2014), in which dams were built to utilize the environmental resource of water, as a way to benefit humans. However, if individuals continuously overuse these natural resources for their self-interest, without its protection, the resources will eventually become damaged or depleted (Hardin, 1968). This situation can be described by Garrett Hardin (1968) as a tragedy of the commons. In this paper, it will be argued that humans exploiting the aquatic ecosystem through the operation of dams, as portrayed in DamNation (2014), is an example of a tragedy of the commons for the following two reasons: first, as evidenced by the destruction of the quality of water and second, by the collapse of the Chinook salmon population.
The Tragedy of the Commons Hardin (1968) states that for an environmental resource to be considered a commons it must have the two key characteristics of …show more content…
As well, it is difficult for individuals to imagine how their minor utilization of environmental resources could lead to worldwide issues. For instance, when individuals are using a commons, they may think that it is acceptable to abuse a resource as long as no one else is doing it. However, when everyone starts thinking this way, it can lead to the overconsumption of the environmental resource (Hardin, 1968). This is evident in the movie DamNation (2014) when all throughout the United States individuals continuously installed dams without any regards to the potential consequences. Despite the evidence demonstrating how dams caused the quality of water and Chinook salmon population to decline, individuals still continued to create dams (DamNation,
The Earth is composed of various environmental resources. Often times, these natural resources can be used extensively by groups of people (Wang, Du, Su, Chen, 2012). This was portrayed in the movie DamNation (2014), in which dams were built to utilize the environmental resource of water, as a way to benefit humans. However, if individuals continuously overuse these natural resources for their self-interest, without its protection, the resources will eventually become damaged or depleted (Hardin, 1968). This situation can be described by Garrett Hardin (1968) as a tragedy of the commons. In this paper, it will be argued that humans exploiting the aquatic ecosystem through the operation of dams, as portrayed in DamNation (2014), is an example of a tragedy of the commons for the following two reasons: first, as evidenced by the destruction of the quality of water and second, by the collapse of the Chinook salmon population.
The Tragedy of the Commons Hardin (1968) states that for an environmental resource to be considered a commons it must have the two key characteristics of …show more content…
As well, it is difficult for individuals to imagine how their minor utilization of environmental resources could lead to worldwide issues. For instance, when individuals are using a commons, they may think that it is acceptable to abuse a resource as long as no one else is doing it. However, when everyone starts thinking this way, it can lead to the overconsumption of the environmental resource (Hardin, 1968). This is evident in the movie DamNation (2014) when all throughout the United States individuals continuously installed dams without any regards to the potential consequences. Despite the evidence demonstrating how dams caused the quality of water and Chinook salmon population to decline, individuals still continued to create dams (DamNation,