Environmentalism

Progress can be defined as the development of a more complete or contented form of living. For the Rapa Nui, or inhabitants of Easter Island; however, progress sounded so blissful that they advanced to the point of oblivion. Consequently, the upbringing of their success was the undoing of their very existence. Prior to any settlement, Easter Island was teeming with an abundance of trees, water, and fertile soil (Wright 121). Unfortunately, this period of vivaciousness ceased to carry on once the…

Many students do not have the opportunity to experience a class that influences their lives, but I was fortunate enough to have such an experience. The subject that has influenced me the most is AP Environmental Science (APES). The class focuses on the world we live in and explains how people’s actions can either harm or benefit the environment. With each chapter, the teacher provided real world examples,along with important analysis, to describe how humans affect their own ecosystems. Such an…

Tonight, we honour one of our nation’s youngest, yet extremely accomplished environmental activists. Severn Cullis-Suzuki has shown an interest in the environment and its preservation from an early age on, as she explored the nature surrounding Vancouver together with her father, famous environmentalist David Suzuki. She founded the Environmental Children’s organization at age 9, still in Elementary School. By age 12, she had become so invested in environmental activism that she was invited to…

The work of art I have chosen for this week’s discussion is Sun Mad by Ester Hernandez. When reviewing the work of art I start with the actual picture of the women in the bonnet and looking at the symbolism behind her body. The motif that I see running through the picture is that of frustration with the words “mad, unnaturally, insecticides, miticides, herbicides, and fungicides”. The maid is a skeletal image of what appears to be that of a migrant worker carrying grapes as is often seen in the…

For people who live in the Niagara Escarpment, it is crucial that they sustain their healthy living conditions. With the ongoing digging in the Niagara Escarpment, it is clear that the people in the area are unable to maintain good living conditions, and is why it should not be used to supply minerals. This is because it will pollute the air in the surrounding area, and the area will become excessively loud. To begin, pollution can worsen living conditions. For instance, according to…

Venezuela has many geographical features that make it the beautiful country it is. There is Mount Roraima, Isla Margarita, the Mochima National Park, the Medanos de Coro, Los Roques, and the Angel Falls. These places are some of the most popular hotspots for tourists visiting Venezuela (10 Top Tourist). Along with these attractions, there are the not so hot spots as well. These being Lago de Valencia, Lago de Maracaibo, the Andes Mountains, the Maracaibo Lowlands, the Guiana highlands and the…

As Achebe demonstrates through Things Fall Apart, relationships between cultures need to evolve from one of domination/dominated to one of cooperation. In order to preserve the planet, the destructive perspectives and beliefs that humans are perpetuating in ignorance and arrogance must be reversed or amended. Perspective precedes and precipitates action. Grove notes in his essay “Green Imperialism” that the awareness to preserve the environment on some scale is nothing new but that many attempts…

Mixed contamination of PAHs and metals occur ubiquitously in the environment, but their combined toxicity to humans and other organisms are not fully addressed. The data from epidemiological, animal and in vitro studies indicated the nature of interaction between PAHs and metals varies from synergism to additivity or antagonism. In this chapter, the combined toxicity of PAHs and metals on toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic endpoints, and possible mechanism of actions were discussed. In addition,…

The goals of this report are to explore how The Oregon BlueGreen Alliance can work to support the creation of quality green jobs as a co-benefit for low income communities in differing contexts and stages of local climate action planning. This section of the report outlines the research design and objectives. Interviews and climate plans were evaluated from several cities, three case studies were selected as the primary sites of inquiry to gain a detailed understanding of how climate plans are…

Masumoto, a Japanese peach farmer, brings up a point on page 30 of Epitaph for a Peach that when read and pondered upon makes absolute sense. What he states can be deduced by common sense alone; however, it is amazing how this wisdom is disregarded by many in modern agriculture. Paying to contaminate the very resources that mother nature so kindly provides to grow healthy, nutritious crops is against Masumoto’s “motto” when it comes to farming. He believes in using sustainable practices,…