Guest Speaker: Laird Thompson

Today in class, Laird Thomspon came to talk to us about Oil- A History and a Future. It was really interesting because he presented us with facts that the common person doesn't know or ever think about oil. He had a good overall point in his lecture, since we as a society are so disconnected from oil, since 2/3 of our oil is imported from other countries, we don't think about how wasteful using this resource as our main source for fuel is. At the very best, 60-70 percent of oil is recovered from an oil well; however, most cases are only as good as 10-15 percent. As expensive and extensive the damage is when oiling, 10-15 percent is a small percentage to actually get from what is there. If we think about it, it has become such a limited resource, that we are extremely dependent upon, and we can only extract 50 percent, at best, of the oil thats actually there. There are alot of dangers and accidents associated with oil and extracting it but we aren't as aware because it doesnt occur in our country as much. Blowouts cause fires and can create lakes of oil that are extremely damaging to the surrounding environment. Laird Thompson talked about how in the '70's we imported only one third of our oil, and now we import two thirds forty years later. We are definitely an overconsuming and heavily dependent society on oil... in the U.S. in 2005, we used 21,930,000 barrels of oil a day. Laird talked about ways that we can reduce some of our oil consumption though... by using synthetic oil in our cars, it lasts longer by almost 10 times that of normal oil! Which is an incentive for people to use because you save money. Overall, it was really interesting to learn about something i use everyday but rarely think about. Its eye opening, I worry about the limited resource and the rate at which we consume it, but i think nothing about where it comes from. That isnt the way to bring about change. If oil runs out, what is our future?

Guest Speaker: Joe Medeiros

Joe Medeiros came to class to talk to us about sustainable careers. Starting off by giving us facts about the world and sustainability. These facts were alarming, if we dont start practicing sustainability, we will continue on this crash course of destruction. Joe told us that each day, 250,000 people are added to the world, 116 square miles of rainforest is destroyed, 15 million T of carbon is added to the atmosphere through excessive burning of fossil fuels, and 50 to 100 species will go extinct! This is not okay! The reason for all of this destruction is due to anthropogenic influence on the world and through us not practicing sustainability. We consume more than can be reproduced. Joe talked about how we not only need to practice sustainability in our environment, but also in our society and our economy [the three p's: people, planet, profit]. Our environment provides us with numerous ecosystem services that we need in order to survive on this planet. So not only are we destroying our planet, but we are also destroying the future of our species. Earth Day was first practiced on April 22, 1970, however even 40 years later with all the knowledge we have about our negative affects on our planet, we do not treat every day like it is Earth Day, as we should. With all of the processes we have begun that cannot be reversed, there are even more processes that can be stopped before they get worse. We need to practice sustainability globally to stop the overconsumption of our planet's resources and to stop global warming. With all of this work that is required to reverse the affects of our ignorance, the future lies in sustainable careers. Green energy/alternative power, such as windmills, water, and possibly nuclear power are our future. Also, changing company's practices to be more ecologically friendly by reducing their wastes involved in production. Our future is in sustainable careers, and it is necessary to try to save our planet.

Guest Speaker: Frank DeCoulter

Frank DeCoulter came to class today to talk to us about Global Warmings Impact on California and the world in general. It was really interesting to see the predictions thatwere modeled for the earth's temperatures in just the next 100 years. Although it was interesting, it was extremely alarming because some of these models showed a potential ten degrees farenheit rise in california's average temperature in the next short period of time. This is crazy in comparison to the degree celcius on average that the Earth has rised in temperature overall in the last couple centuries. With only one degree celcius in change, we are seeing drastic repercussions, i can't imagine the repercussions of even five to ten degrees. People don't pay any mind to this... 1 degree, big whoop, right? But its one degree overall average temperature. With this one degree, we are losing 3 times as much ice in the summer as we're gaining in the winter in Greenland, which is just an example of the overall effects. Now water is flowing 8 months out of the year instead of for a short period in the short arctic spring and summer. It was interesting to find out that the warming is unevenly distributed. The Northern Hemisphere warms faster because the north pole is all ocean, no land, and when it is unfrozen, the dark ocean absorbs heat versus the white antarctic ice reflecting light. Also, in the northern hemisphere, theres permafrost that when it melts, releases methane, accelerating warming. This warming is scary. We need to take action, starting with the simple things. We cannot keep up what we're doing... we're releasing fossil fuels into our environment at a rate thats 60,000 times greater than the rate of formation!!! No wonder our environment is warming! As Amory Lovins says, "...humanity has exactly enough time, starting now." We have warning, we've seen the signs, now we need to act to keep our future from reaching or exceeding the scary predictions.

Guest Speaker: Jane Haproff

Today in class, our guest speaker Jane Haproff discussed with us the ties between religion and our environment. She highlighted several of the main religions roots and views of the environment. Some religions, such as Hinduism, revere life in any form. In these religions, they feel that all life is ensouled with the "gods". Thus, people who practice this religion have a very sacred view of nature, and live more as equals with nature than trying to dominate it. Christianity on the other hand views the material world as a place of suffering to be escaped from, Heaven being our true home. In this religion, humans are greater in hierarchy than other organisms in nature. These differing roots of religion help us define how we look at and treat the environment. Different religions view our roles as humans in the world differently. Some religions view our role to be dominate over the environment. Whereas others view our purpose to be stewards of the land, needing to cultivate and care for it. Although all of the religions differ in one way or another, the way we treat our environment and view its meaning can be found in a society's religious roots.

Guest Speaker: Lynn Medeiros

Lynn Medeiros spoke to us about constructing arguments. She discussed the criteria that are needed to make an argument of value: truth, relevance, and support. We need these components because the purpose of an argument is to make people think and see evidence that supports your argument, to persuade them. She discussed the importance of a relevant argument, based on factual evidence rather than emotion. Just as we've discussed in class, an argument to stop global warming by showing the cute polar bears that are sad cuz they're losing their home is not a good argument, it is an emotional plea. By including factual evidence into our arguments, it gives an argument backing. It helps to gain support by those who do not necessarily have the same background beliefs and views about the world, but when they see and think about the evidence for your argument, they draw their own conclusion. The conclusion that they draw is not because it appeals to their emotions, but because the facts lean or don't lean in support of the point they draw. Lynn Medeiros really had good points about factual arguments versus emotional arguments, and staying consistent in your beliefs.

Environmental History

My view of the environment has transformed from when i was a kid. Growing up, I would go camping or hiking on occasion, but i was always outside. I would play in the backyard or just throughout the neighborhood, I loved it. But as a kid i didn't truly realize why i loved it. I was playing and having fun but i didn't recognize it as just a pure appreciation for nature. My parents had a garden and some fruit trees that we were always tending to, and a compost pile that stunk in the summer. Although it was nature in my very backyard, it was a chore for me. As i grew up, i took interest in more environmental classes and learning about the environment. The more i learned, the more it became special to me. I would spend hours in front of the t.v. and sometimes still do, watching shows about different animals, or different places in nature. It is so exciting to me. I can't get the same feeling i do when i'm standing in a place of nature thinking about how its so big and how it all works together in this grand way anywhere else. Taking environmental science classes would leave me mad, thinking about how we don't take care of where we live and we try to work against it, rather than live in harmony with nature. I don't believe that humans are superior to any other species, and that nature has a greater purpose than to serve one minute species out of the millions that exist. At heart, i'd like to be a preservationist, i don't like messing with nature the way that we do; however, in actuality, i'm a conservationist. We need to use resources from the Earth for our survival, but in return we should use sustainably. I'm content with my viewpoint as a conservationist, i have developed these views throughout my life and my experiences, but i would like to change to act more in sync with my beliefs. I want to do more of the little things, the "green" things, to help make a difference in the health and continued existance of nature and the Earth.