0 Comments
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a report which states, “limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” (International Panel on Climate Change, 2018). The report featured “6,000 scientific references” and authors or editors from “40 different countries.” The name of the entire report is called “Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.” In the report, it is expected that if current rates of emissions and consumption remain, there is only a little over a decade before a possible humanitarian crisis, (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2018)
This new information, coupled with President Donald Trump’s support for the coal industry, is unsettling, to say the least. According to an article by The New York Times, “the E.P.A.’s newest rollback could help a small number of those endangered coal plants stave off retirement for a bit longer,” (Plumer, 2018). This support for fossil fuels by a nation as influential and powerful as the United States is alarming, specifically with the United States retraction from the Paris Climate Agreement, which was formulated to cut carbon emissions and limit the effects of global warming, (Erickson, 2018). However, this light-hearted approach to climate change is not exclusive to the United States. In an article in the Washington Post, it is reported that only two signers of the agreement, Morocco and The Gamibia, are currently meeting the standards set in place, (Erickson, 2018). With a global rejection of meeting the standards that were set and place and possible standards that might be implemented following the IPCC report, the current threat of global warming appears as one with minimal chance of improving. However, the New York Times reported that “utilities had already been shifting away from coal anyway, finding cleaner gas, wind and solar to be more attractive investments,” (Plumer, 2018). If this movement continues and occurs more rapidly, the use of more sustainable sources of energy may lead to a brighter perspective on climate change. In fact, even if Trump’s current proposal for coal consumption is approved, it is expected that “America’s coal plants would decline about 23 percent below today’s levels by 2030 without any climate regulations at all, (Plumer, 2018). Ultimately, the reported trends display a reduced interest and usage of coal as an energy source. Unfortunately, the IPCC report calls for much more than reduced interest with the situation presented in such a grave manner. I find it difficult to believe that a complete shift in all aspects of human interactions could occur rapidly enough to reverse the expected effects detailed in the IPCC report. Though concern about the effects of climate change appear to be increasing, I find it is necessary for the governing leaders of the world to reevaluate the extent of human impact and make large cultural, societal, and economic reforms for the heavily researched expectations for the future to change. Erickson, Amanda. "Analysis | Few Countries Are Meeting the Paris Climate Goals. Here Are the Ones That Are." The Washington Post. October 11, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/11/few-countries-are-meeting-paris-climate-goals-here-are-ones-that-are/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.838110c9730e. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "Ummary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Approved by Governments." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. October 8, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. http://ipcc.ch/news_and_events/pr_181008_P48_spm.shtml. Plumer, Brad. "Trump's New Pollution Rules Still Won't Save the Coal Industry." The New York Times. August 22, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/climate/trump-coal-industry.html. Land use/ Cover Change Lab I
In this lab, we began our research into land use and cover change in and around the Lewis & Clark College and Collins view area. Teams of three students were sent out into plot locations in Collins View, River View Natural Area (RVNA), and Lewis & Clark College. Once a centroid was established at each plot location, a kestrel drop was tied to the North side of a tree to collect humidity and temperature data over a twenty-four hour period. Following these twenty-four hours, the kestrel drops were collected and the data was examined. Land use/ Cover Change Lab II In the second lab, groups returned to their plot locations and began by measuring the tallest object in the area. After establishing the land cover classification code using the MUC field guide, each lab team used a GPS to measure 21.2 meters in each of the cardinal directions. Canopy and ground cover data was then collected by observing the presence/non-presence of photosynthesizing organisms every two paces within the 21.2 meter parameters. Land use/ Cover Change Lab III The third lab of our research in land use and cover change consisted of aggregating the pre-collected data and comparing the observed sites. We used Google Sheets to form an excel sheet to display the differences and similarities in humidity, temperature, tallest object, ground cover, and canopy cover of each of the sites and of Collins View, RVNA, and Lewis & Clark College collectively. Following, we looked at the possible implications of the data in the larger scope of differences between microclimates very close to one another. Land use/ Cover Change Lab IV The purpose of this lab was to create a map of the area we studied with our data integrated into it. We used ArcGIS and uploaded layered satellite images of the observed areas from 1939, 1961, 1982, and 2018. Continuing, we uploaded the data we aggregated in the previous lab to visualize it spatially and temporally through the ArcGIS mapping system. In our report, we discuss the possible implications of our research both spatially and temporally. Land use/ Cover Change Lab V Our fifth lab consisted of creating a story map on ArcGIS to better display the data and observations we collected. By using a story map, our group is better able to display the spatial and temporal changes in land cover and usage as the map portrays our collected data alongside our analysis and satellite images of the surrounding area. For this lab, we used the quantitative data collected by lab groups in conjunction with qualitative data provided during a panel of experts in the area. The Anthropocene is defined as the “Earth’s most recent geologic time period,” marked by the fact that “atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other Earth system processes are now altered by humans,” (The Anthropocene). With such a vast expanse of influence, humans have essentially become able to modify the Earth intentionally and unintentionally. As regarded by many as the current epoch of Earth, the Anthropocene and the effects of it are a subject greatly touched upon by scientists, historians, and academics globally. Though, it does not go undisputed.
An article published by The New York Times states “95 percent of the vertebrate biomass on land consists of ourselves, our pets and livestock bred to our specifications and raised mostly in enormous industrialized monocultures,” (Yang, 2017). This alarming statistic highlights the extent of human influence as the perceived “natural world,” or species other than humans, heavily consist of vertebrates for human use. Additionally, the article illustrates various technologies and possible future advances that display the extent of humanity’s ability to alter the world and the genome: the sixth great extinction, efforts of de-extinction, gene manipulation, and changes in the ice core, fossils, and sediment, (Yang, 2017). The mere acceptance of the term itself has been heavily debated in recent years. An article published by The Atlantic reveals that the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) announced that the current stretch of geological time, the Holocene Epoch, [the term used to describe the last 12,000 years until now,] would be split into three subdivisions.” (Meyer, 2018). The most recent of these three divisions is regarded by many as the Meghalayan Age and dates back 4,250 years ago. The decision to officially regard it as the time period following the Holocene occurred in 2015. However, the ICS has yet to establish “a boundary in the sedimentary rock record where the Anthropocene clearly begins;” This means that “Officially, the Holocene is still running today.” Currently, “the Anthropocene working group’s members strongly imply that they will propose starting the new epoch in the mid-20th century.” (Meyer, 2018). The very presence of this debate illustrates the varying perspectives of the effect of humans on the planet and the severity of that effect in the geologic time-scale in creating an entire new epoch. The labs conducted in my Environmental Analysis class (ENVS-220), focus on the effects of the Anthropocene on the areas surrounding Lewis & Clark College, River View Natural Area, and Collins View, in Portland Oregon. We expect that many changes have occured over time, specifically over the last century with the rapid industrialization of the United States and the increase of the national population. The aim of these labs is to look at these changes spatially and temporally, assessing the effects of human influence overtime. Though the Anthropocene stretches across a much larger time-scale, our approach focuses on the time between 1939 and 2018. SOURCES: Meyer, Robinson. "Geology's Timekeepers Are Feuding." The Atlantic. July 22, 2018. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/anthropocene-holocene-geology-drama/565628/. Stromberg, Joseph. "What Is the Anthropocene and Are We in It?" Smithsonian.com. January 01, 2013. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-the-anthropocene-and-are-we-in-it-164801414/#3Kt5eOluZusBs8MM.99. "The Anthropocene | Welcome." Welcome to the Anthropocene. Accessed October 16, 2018. http://anthropocene.info/. Yang, Wesley. "Is the 'Anthropocene' Epoch a Condemnation of Human Interference - or a Call for More?" The New York Times. February 14, 2017. Accessed October 16, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/magazine/is-the-anthropocene-era-a-condemnation-of-human-interference-or-a-call-for-more.html. Western Literary Perspectives on Environmental Conservation and Consumption The study of “literature and environment” became popular in the 1990’s with the founding of organizations such as “The Association For the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE)” and the “ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment,” (Hart & Slovic, Pg. 1). Louise Westling and John Parham describe this approach as “distinctive and instructive ways we see how these ancient cultures continued to express preliterate traditions of interactions with the natural world, while at the same time responding to historical challenges such as the expansion of cities and agricultural systems,” (Parham & Westling, Introduction). However, this generally new field of study for scholars has been a subject of discourse for many authors throughout history. According to Laurence Mazzeno and Ronald Morrison, , “several scholars have linked the roots of ecocriticism to ancient Greece,”(Mazzeno & Morrison, Introduction). This interest in mankind’s relationship with nature continued through the Victorian era with authors such as Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, and Charles Dickens, and up into the modern and contemporary eras when environmentalism became a growing academic study. One of the prevalent ideals of Western philosophy surrounding the environment is best illustrated in a sociological study conducted by Christine J. Walley. In chapter four, titled “Where There is No Nature,” from her book Rough Waters: Nature and Development in East African Marine Park, Walley describes her attempts to determine “whether a concept of nature similar to that found within Euro-American traditions can also be found on Chole.” What she found was that the closest word associated with the English ‘environment’ was “mazingira,” which carries none of the connotations of nature in English,” (Walley, Pg. 140). The idea of being separate from nature appears to be a prevalent aspect of western attitudes towards the environment, despite not being a philosophy practiced in globally. This western perception of humans being separate from non-human nature is part of what lead me to pick this topic as my concentration. I am interested in learning more about whether this has influenced growing industrialization and the increase of resource consumption following the industrial revolution. If this sense of separation from the non-human world is prevalent throughout Western Literary tradition, I suspect that it is a contributor to the consumption culture prevalent in Western society today. There is a vast amount of literature that displays Western perspectives on consumption and conservation. For my concentration, I intend to read and analyze many authors from various time periods such as Henry David Thoreau, Cotton Mather,William Bartram, John Keats, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Darwin, Pliny the Elder, John Muir, Rachel Carson, and others. My goal is to use poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and essays to gain a greater understanding of Western philosophy surrounding nature and how it relates to changing attitudes of conservation and consumption throughout history. I also plan to read many contemporary essays and writings which synthesize major time periods, authors, and their views on conservation and consumption. Because these authors and others are highly regarded in the academic world, I believe their ideas may have influenced or may reflect patterns of attitudes towards resource use and the non-human world formulate many ideas of contemporary environmentalism. I am also interested in studying how the rhetoric being used changes over time and how that rhetoric might indicate underlying ideologies that are problematic or prevalent today.
Courses
By Andrew Hayes, Match Kay, and Treasure McMahanIn my previous posts, I describe the labs conducted by my lab group and I, measuring land use and cover change in and around Lewis & Clark College. My lab group and I created a story map on ArcGIS to visualize the work we have done in the past several weeks. By creating a story map, we succinctly summarize and display the results and larger implications of these labs as a microcosm of the effects of the anthropocene. We began by uploading the map of our data we had made in a previous lab to illustrate the quantitative data we collected. The aim of our project can be summarized with the four framing questions: How has Anthropocentric land usage affected the area in and around Lewis & Clark College, Collins View, and River View Natural Area over time? What spatial changes have occured in and around these observed areas? How has land use changed over time to better suit human use? And how can ground-truthing satellite data show the details of the anthropocene? The story map begins with background information on our observed areas and on conducting ground-truthing to measure land use and cover change. The story map then moves to the quantitative data displayed on the ArcGIS map. After discussing the micro-climate data and spatial sampling, the story map continues into the procedure of data analysis and the results of our analysis. The following section describes the representation of our spatial data and includes four images of the observed area from 1939, 1961, 1982, and 2018. Continuing, we discuss a panel with four experts in the area that provided the qualitative data for our research. The final section of the story map includes the larger implications of the study in observing spatial patterns and temporal change, limitations of and possible improvements to our lab, and ties our framing questions back to our research.
https://lewisandclark.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ac983e1e42a04ce5bdf3eaf4020128a0
|
Andrew HayesArchives
December 2018
Categories |