What was learned from Bill McKibben

Climate Change is drastically affecting the United States. When this statement is heard by most people, one would most likely just shrug it off.  Bill McKibben is trying to bring this issue to public realization. Evaporation rates change immensely when the temperature rises or lowers just a few notches. This is a big deal because recently in the passed few years there has been noticeable rises in temperature and water resources are running low because of this. Bill McKibben says humans might not have the resources and technology yet, to stop major catastrophes that are heading this way in the near future.

Bill McKibben

It's scary to hear somebody this intelligent say that we are basically doomed.  Bill says that he sees major catastrophic problems in the near future and he says that we probably wont be able to stop them.  Between Bill and Roderick we have two extremes.  Roderick is looking for solutions, he thinks in the future we will make this earth into a better place like it used be.  Roderick doesn't see any major catastrophe's coming along anytime soon that will completely wipe the human race out.  Bill on the other hand talks as if something big, some huge force is going to come along and doom us all and we have no way in stopping it because the damage we have caused upon the Earth is already done and we cannot go back and change anything.

Pollution:civilization

            Pollution in this day and age, as everyone predominately already knows, is a huge environmental factor.  For example, major factories that expert large amounts of pollution deeply affect many living things.  Plants degrade, the air gets harder and harder to breathe in, and it can also destroy your lungs!

            I believe that because of pollution, Island Civilizations would be a terrific idea. Creating these islands, and going green for the earth would cut down the amount of pollution we produce drastically.  Cutting down pollution could possibly increase human’s life span, increase plant life span, and make the overall food we eat a whole lot healthier than it is now.       

            The only downside to eliminating pollution is that it might cut an enormous amount of jobs.  What would people do if a major paper producing company were shut down? How would they obtain money for their families or even themselves? It is extremely hard to find work these days as it is, let alone finding work when all the major companies around the world are shut down! 

            This is such an easy topic to ramble about for myself because this has happened in two towns that I have lived in, in the passed two years.  In one town a major cabinet manufacturing company shut down which forced almost every family in town to leave and find work in a larger city.  The other town has a major paper company, which pollutes everything for miles around.  It was a terrible place to be a runner because it was often hard to breathe and the smell was awful.

Island civilization response

            The author of the article Island Civilization Roderick Frazier Nash is clearly trying to find alternatives to save the environmental side of our society. Throughout his article he briefly explains many possibilities as to how humans can take action and help save earth.  He also provides a few simulations of what could happen if nobody attempts these actions. 

            Roderick first begins to write about the histories of earth and how humans have been “letting the planet go” this passed millennium.  He explains how we have continuously tried to transform earth into something that it just cannot handle. Roderick claims that in the past, humans have vaguely “confused growth with progress.”  In saying this Roderick most likely means that in the past humans have continued to grow this earth into what it is today, to try and progress the earth into something better than it used to be. In doing this, early civilizations unknowingly ruined earth.

            In Roderick’s point of view, humans have taken more then they were entitled to on this earth and he wants to make things right.

The idea, Roderick’s idea, of Island civilization is an attempt to give back what we have taken from earth.  His idea just involves very gradually letting the earth rebuild itself as humans learn to adapt to living in smaller areas and greatly reducing the population. 

            This process, Roderick says, will bring the word wilderness to its true meaning, which describes something that has its own will.  Humans over the passed thousands of years have decreased the amount of wilderness left on this planet; therefore they are taking the earths free will.  Roderick says humans need to stand up and come up with a solution before they have nothing left on this planet.  Roderick’s solution, of course, is his idea of Island civilization.

            In todays society technology is crucial. It’s everything. Everywhere you look there’s some sort of new technology around you.  There is a huge flaw I see in Roderick’s Island Civilization.  Children in this day and age are very handy with technology.  If you try to lock them up in a city and basically completely cut them off onto a very small part of this earth then things may start to become a little unhealthy.  Children are already participating less and less in physical activity because of technology.  I’m afraid if you cut out the outside world and confine them into a huge technology trap then things might turn out even worse then our root problem. 

            People need to be connected with nature and although we’d be giving back to earth by creating these islands we would also be taking away a huge part of our own society.

            On another note the wilderness can be very dangerous.  Many people are able to live in the wilderness, but there are also large amounts of people who know absolutely nothing about it.  This becomes a major problem because if we let the earth grow naturally without anybody to trim its hedges then the wilderness may one day become to vast and overwhelm us completely.  It could grow to lengths that are uncontrollable to us humans.  The forests would grow to unbelievable lengths and dangerous animals would begin to outweigh us in number to a point where we are no longer able to control them. 

            Roderick’s idea is very unique and it’s a great thought that one day we may be able to save the wilderness, but only time will tell if Island Civilizations is it’s savior.