HOT, FLAT, & CROWDED

 

After reading Hot, Flat, & Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman, I was left thinking about how large the issues of over population, an even global economic playing field, and global warming are at a point that if we don’t act now, then we’ve acted too late.  One thing that I guess I really haven’t thought about is that the projected population is expected to be more than 9 billion people by 2053. If we don’t start getting involved and educating people right now, by 2050 we will be in a lot of trouble.  More and more countries are growing and advancing much like we did as Americans.  With all this growth there has to be some form of world-wide unity to correct the mistakes of our past.  If not, our over-crowded planet will be fighting for whatever remaining resources are available.

 All of this fighting and misuse of resources will surely doom the human race.  We have a chance right now to avoid all of that, but it seems like not too many are concerned.  Friedman also writes about how the internet has created an even global economic playing field.  People from all over the world can use the internet to create work and money from their own homes.  He also tells about how this has allowed many poor people to rise out of poverty and better their lives.  However, the more and more people we have on the planet using up more of the advanced resources we are currently using as Americans, is actually hurting our planet.  The fact is we are going to continue to grow as a population. It’s what we do with our resources, and how we renew these resources that is what is going to matter into the future.  A third and very important topic covered in the reading by Friedman, was how global warming is affecting and will affect the planet into the future.  It’s kind of sad, but many people think that global warming isn’t real, or that it’s something the government makes up.  That kind of thinking is what helped get us all to this point and is something that must be changed right now.  Deforestation, agriculture, and industrialization is vastly increasing the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, yet most of us turn our heads and act like these issues don’t matter.  If scientific data isn’t enough to get everyday people and governments to take charge of this issue, then I don’t know what will be good enough.  I do know this though, we better starting caring, we better start acting, and we better start coming together as a planet and stop trying to outdo one another.  Because if we don’t, there is only one thing that we will have done as a human race on our planet it. DESTROY IT!     

CORKSCREW SWAMP SANCTUARY

Our class field trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was a lot of fun and relaxing.  It has been quite awhile since I last spent any amount of time in the woods.  Growing up in southwest Florida, that is all I ever seemed to do, whether to just hike and explore, or to go camping in the middle of nowhere and spend two or three days.  Walking throughout the boardwalk left me reminiscing about those times and at the same time showed me how out of touch with nature I have become over time. 

Over the years I have become so consumed with making money, taking care of children, and whenever I get a chance, trying to find some me time.  Every now and then I set out to go fishing and that’s about as close to nature as it gets for me.  After the fieldtrip I came home and planned a family trip down to the Sanctuary.  We haven’t made the trip yet, but in the near future we will. One of the things I enjoyed most about the walk was how I could easily see the distinction between each of the habitats.  My favorite place was where the Pine Flatwoods met the Wet Prairie and then met the Pond Cypress.  The distinction between the Pine Flatwoods and the Pond Cypress was very evident in this area.  I also like that along the boardwalk there were several spots to sit and just enjoy the view.  Although we didn’t see a large amount of animal life, I’m sure if you took the time to just sit in one of these areas for a little while, you would probably be amazed at what you might see.  My second favorite stop on the boardwalk was at the Lettuce Lakes.  I was really hoping we would get a chance to see an alligator in this area.

There wasn’t a lot going on when we were there, but we also had a larger group and perhaps that played a role in how much activity we saw. Nonetheless, this area is also a place I want to spend a little more time at next time I go.  I also saw on the Corkscrew Sanctuary website that from late December through early June that if the conditions are right, wood storks come to nest.  I would definitely like to plan a second family visit to see this as well.     

MY ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Over the last few years I have become more aware of the environmental issues in our society, and have become to have my own personal environmental philosophy.  I believe that each and every one of us has a responsibility to not only one another, but to our future generations to take care of the place we call home.  Currently, I believe that we are consuming the earth’s materials at a rate that most of us don’t even understand.  At the same time, some of these same materials we are consuming for our own conveniences are destroying our surrounding environment.  At what point will people say enough is enough?  I believe it will be when it’s too late.  Most people will look back and say we should have done this and we should have done that.  The problem with that is it is us Americans who will more than likely be the one’s saying that.  We as a country are mostly responsible for the situation we are in.  We are so willing to do whatever it takes to advance in society without looking into the future to see where this hastiness will lead us.  And now that there are other countries out there working feverishly to advance and grow much like the way America did.  If all of these countries continue to grow and we do as well, at some point we are going to begin to run out of the materials and a world-wide power struggle is almost certain to ensue.

I hate to admit it, but much of the time it feels like we are already too late to fix things now. Not because I don’t want to, but because I feel like our society just doesn’t care much about anything except for what is happening personally in their lives.  If more people understood how severe the issue was, maybe they would care.  However, because they aren’t currently affected by the issue, they just brush it off and figure it’s not their problem.  The funny thing is, at the current rate, it could possible become issue before many of us even think.  I would like to believe that as a planet, that we could all come together to do what’s best for our survival and our planet.  To think that we are the smartest creatures on the planet, and we are willing to overlook a problem that could potentially wipe out our species by our own doing is an unbelievable thought.