At the beginning of this class, I would have said I was that the US was doing good producing renewable energy and that my footprint was pretty low. After using the footprint calculator and reading the assigned chapters I am not sure either of these are true. I knew this was a science class when I signed up for it, but I didn’t know that it would encompass the renewable and nonrenewable energies chapters and the ones about population and how we are encroaching on animal habitats at the rate that we are with the population booming. This paper is on my overall worldview. This is not the view out of my kitchen window as write this paper but more of a philosophical view encompassing personal perspective on things that matter to me. There are things that we have either read or went over in class that makes me think about how we are not being good stewards of the world that we are in charge of. This paper will discuss my worldview.
The first part of my worldview is on a topic that we discussed in this class, evolution. I don’t think by any means did we come from apes, but I do believe that humans have adapted and evolved over the years. This is where I would disagree with the book. I know many people have different opinions on this subject, but ‘Genesis’ tells me everything I need to know on evolution and how we got on this earth. I do however agree that people have adapted to different climates in different ways and in that way evolved and adapted. A great example of that is the way humans drink milk after being weaned from their mother. We have developed a gene that allows us to digest lactose and therefore we can drink milk from cows, goats and sheep that have been domesticated.
The next part of my worldview is on the population. Before this class I would have thought that the only nations with a population issue would have been China and India. The textbook made a great point that helped to really open my eyes on the population boom. “Does it matter that there are now 7.3 billion people on the earth—almost 3 times as many as there were in 1950? Does it matter that each day, 241,000 more people show up for dinner and many of them will go hungry?”. What can you say to that number other than we need to do something to slow this number down because the earth can only provide for so many people. I know that the way we are growing agriculture has greatly improved over the last three decades but many of the poor nations haven’t had the luxury of the genetically altered seeds that help them be drought and pesticide resistant like the US has. “The US Census Bureau projects that between 2015 and 2050, the US population will likely grow from 321 million to 398 million—an increase of 77 million people”. In this number is the retiring baby boomer generation that is living longer and will put a strain on the healthcare system. The biggest jump is coming from poor countries where the women aren’t educated so I think the key to controlling the boom is education. I think family planning is a great beginning, but it won’t solve everything. I think educating and empowering women is one of the best ideas from this book.
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My worldview also includes helping to maintain wild species of animals that are in danger of becoming extinct. “20-50% Percentage of the earth’s known species that could disappear this century primarily because of human activities”. With the population growing as rapidly as it is, we are encroaching on their environment and need to find a way to stop and give them the room they need before they are gone. Not only are we pushing them out of their homes, but we also have a poaching issue. This is absolutely unacceptable to me and even though there are laws in place to stop it, it keeps happening. The price of rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks have skyrocketed because of laws like this and I think that is what draws people to do it. Greed is very powerful and if the price is high enough then they will risk getting caught to reap the reward. On the other hand, you have bushmeat. If these animals are being hunted to feed villages like they have for hundreds of years, then it is easier to understand. I don’t feel that restaurants should have the right to sell this meat as a rare delicacy. There are people trying to help set up alternate sources of protein that is safer and not as destructive to the species such as farmed fish and cane rats.
My worldview on energy was completely incorrect before this class. I thought the US was a leader in renewable energies, but we definitely are not. We us fracking to get the natural gas from the ground. In some cases, it has caused natural gas to mix in with the ground water and actually be able to light the water on fire. We use coal the most, but it is the dirtiest fossil fuel and is dangerous to mine. I thought nuclear was the best because it has a very low impact on the environment but then you figure in the nuclear waste and it is not as bright and shiny as before. The spent fuel rods are not easy to dispose of and stay radioactive for a very long time. The spent fuel rods aren’t the only issue with nuclear power either. You must take into consideration that an accident could occur, and harmful radiation will contaminate the community the plant is in. We need to focus more on the renewable energy from solar and wind turbines to have less impact and be more efficient. Germany is a clear leader renewable energy and in 2014 they were at 28% and by 2050 they want to be at 60% renewable energy. The US is much bigger and more spread out but if we can update our power grid, then I think we can use more renewable energy forms.
This has been a great class to remind me that we are all to be good stewards of the earth. I looked at the footprint calculator and was a little surprised by the outcome. My carbon footprint was 49% of my ecological footprint. I really think l a huge part of this is because I have to drive about fifty miles a day to get to work and back. The highest is in the food consumption area. This is higher because both adults in my household work, and it is harder to prepare meals from scratch but that is no excuse. I am going to try harder to carpool to work and eat less meat and more fresh fruits and vegetables. Electric cars have come along way as of late, but they are still expensive but when the range goes up and the price is affordable, I plan on making the switch to help reduce this carbon footprint. My house is an older one and I have done a lot to upgrade the insulation but there is more that can be done, and I will start looking into that to stop wasting as much energy. We all need to start paying attention and reducing our carbon footprint.
Reference
- Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. (2018). Living in the Environment. Boston, MA: National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning.
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