The Earth Charter

“Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life.” The Earth is where humans live and prosper, so to see us destroy what we have been so blessed with is a shame. The Earth supplies us with oxygen, food, shelter, and everything we need to survive. Without the Earth, we are nothing and this is why we must stand up and take an oath to protect our environment to make it a better place. The world is heading for destruction and it's time to make a change.

“The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species." In our world, it is estimated that we burn 82.4 million barrels of gasoline per day. This pattern cannot keep up because it is eliminating our species of animals and killing us slowly but surely. We are destroying our ozone layer and maybe it won't be a threat to this generation of humans but down the line we are going to pay for polluting this planet. It is heartbreaking to see this occur and this is why we must standup and even though its too late to repair what we have done we can slow down the destruction of our planet.

“The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life." When he says the choice is ours, it really is a true statement. It is up to you to pick that car that runs on half electricity rather than that huge truck that burns fifty gallons of gas just to get from point A to point B. The world is being destroyed and we have learned from this class that there must be change in order for us to survive.

“To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities." Our societies have an obligation to protect our Earth. We all share this planet and to destroy our world is just not right. We must stand up for what is right and, instead of buying that fancy sports car, go for that Prius which saves gas. Just because something isn't fashionable does not mean it isn’t doing a good thing for this planet.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Plan B 4.0 Preface-Ch. 3, Ch. 10

 

“Countless global climate models show that as temperature rises, some parts of the world will become more vulnerable to drought” (Brown 71)

Throughout time global warming has been discussed in my life and something I strongly believe it is affecting our world greatly. The release of all these fossil fuels and other pollutants into our atmosphere cannot be good and it is taking a toll on the world we call home. The human race is destroying the earth that we are so blessed to be able to live on in such comfort and it needs to be stopped. This quote explains the basis of what global warming is and describing the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth due too loss of our atmosphere. I agree that the world will become vulnerable to great change starting with the loss of the North and South Pole.

“The most vulnerable part of a plants life cycle is the pollination period”(Brown 70)

The pollination stage of a plant to me seems like it would be the least vulnerable part of its life. When a plant is pollinated it is spreading its plant sperm basically to the female plant. The proper name for this plant sperm is called anther and the female part is called stigma. The spread of anther to stigma is basically creating the male plant to fertilize the female for them to start reproduction. In my eyes this is not the most vulnerable part of there yet the most exciting time of their lifespan.

“Climate change poses a threat to our civilization that has no precedent”(Brown 71)

Over the last one hundred years the temperature of the world has increased greatly causing huge threats to our world and the species living on it. For example the melting of ice in Antarctica can be seen and without the ice animals such as the polar bear and snow fox cannot live and will become extinct. As this ice begins to melt the ocean then rises posing a threat to islands such as my hometown of Key West. Its s predicted that in ten thousand years my hometown will be completely underwater, as the ocean will rise significantly. Due to us destroying our world we will then not be able to live like we used to live because of our ignorance to earths natural balance.

Shiva Biodiversity

"Biodiversity means the diversity of life—the rich diversity of life forms on our beautiful planet"(Shiva 38)

Life as we know it exists in all kinds of different forms and arrangements.  When I wake up every morning I try to go out in the world and see something new that I’ve never seen before. The main place I try and do this is in the ocean where the diversity of life fascinates me beyond measure. The roles that every specie plays whether its just a coral polyp or a shark they all are key in the diversity of life. It is remarkable to learn more about the different kinds of life nature has to offer.

"Seeing other life forms as biological and genetic raw material is fraught with ecological risk"    (Shiva 41)

When I see this quote I think about the problems it would cause if genetic materials got too involved. The key components of life are already set in place and the world is already in motion. We don’t need genetic makeups to create new species when our planet already has its key species. Yes, it is interesting but I don’t think its is a good idea to see other life forms as raw materials.

 

"Mass extinction have taken place during geological time, but the erosion of biodiversity has become a systemic product of industrialization" (Shiva 41)

  Mass extinction is a scary thing to think about and who knows if it could reoccur on planet earth. If there was to be a mass extinction I bet there would be some kind of life form still able to survive and reproduce. The biodiversity system has indeed become part of development and who knows if mass extinction is just part of the Earths way of life.When i think about how bad us humans treat the earth and the toll we are taking on the environment it really shows why we should or shouldn't belong.

Carson silent spring

"The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings" (Carson 153)

All living things in this world have a balance with the natural surroundings there in. The natural surroundings are called their environment and its plays a huge key in survival. Throughout time all living things have had to evolve due to changes in their surroundings. This knowledge is called evolution and hundreds of species can be observed practicing evolution. Whether the specie is trying to improve hunting methods or improve there camouflage its all evolution in action.

"The environment, rigorously shaping and directing the life it supported, contained elements that were hostile as well as supporting certain rocks gave out radiation, even within light of the sun, from which all life draws its energy, there were short-wave radiations with power to injure." (Carson 154)

When I read this quote it made me thing of all the hostile plants and animals that the environment holds. I thought about the antagonistic lionfish that has no natural predators in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, which makes it a huge threat. Wrecks all over are being flooded with these fish and since there’s nothing that can swallow these venomous fish there population has exploded. This shows that even though there are hostile species out there that effect the environments in a bad way they still exist.

 

 "Much of the accessory knowledge is now available but we do not use it"(Carson 159)

People today have so much knowledge out there at their fingertips but don’t take advantage of it. Luckily I’m a person that moves taking in new information because knowledge is power. The more you know about something the better you will be in that field and it can come in handy in the professional world. The people I look up to are the old and the wise because they can actually teach me something important because they have either been through it or learned it through time. A perfect example of this is on our last field trip our tour guide of the history of Fort Myers beach lived there since she was a small girl and could tell you the ins and outs of the place since she lived through it.