ECOLOGICAL PREDICAMENT

ECOLOGICAL PREDICAMENT

STUDENT NAME

INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION

This essay develops the issues of ecological predicaments that is an issue facing the human species in contemporary society. Many human activities have been linked to the destruction of the environment that is the basic core reason for our survival. This essay seeks to enhance through the use of interdisciplinary systems and enhanced understanding through research to help solve the environmental crisis issue with an effort to see how we can live and co-exist with the environment without undermining the planet’s fabric life that is core to our existence. The focus of this paper is based on analysis of historical events and making connections between natural processes, biological diversity, migrations, economic and political activities in an environmental concept. The paper shows an environment history in relation to nature and culture, indigenous immigrants and the economy among others. It views the environment degradation, environmental conservation with a view of John Muir with his contributions to the conservation of the environment, their historical context, environmental restoration and environmental sciences and their ethics. The essay shows how the mission and strategy of the CSUMB improve education and create awareness on the sustainability-related issues. With a sense of place discussed and analyzed in the final part.

With the enlightenment of the role climate and plays in the influence of human activities and behaviour, and vice versa, the environment history was developed to study this relationship and their interactions. With history occurrence in the world, environmental history and its study have seen a particular tendancy that follows certain time scales, some key themes and the difference in geographical areas and location. The main components that were developed in the environment history were the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and the biosphere. The historical analysis of the environment was broadened to involve activities that were influenced by humans such as economic, political, social and even cultural analysis that helped in developing conventional history (Burke & Pomeranz,2009). The study helped in the acceleration of technological advancements into the prediction of the weather patterns helping in the acceleration of economic growth.

Depletion of resources and pollution that causes lack of growth of natural environment amounts to the high rates of degradation in the environment. The ecosystem, habitat and extinction of wildlife show how the human species play a big role in degrading the environments that are also supported by the high levels of pollution. Destruction of the earth through excessive consumption and killing of wildlife has seen the human species account for the ecological predicament that threatens our existence (Burke & Pomeranz,2009). The depletion poses safety issues with the existence of effects like acidic rain that reduces the quality and safety of the food we consume thus the address of environment degradation is vital.to prevent environmental degradation we ought to understand how it comes about thus helping the information of how we can develop policies to curb this contemporary issue.

Also known as John of the mountains and at times father of national parks, John Muir was an environmental philosopher renowned for his efforts in advocating for the conservation of wildlife in the united states. The environment conservation the renowned philosopher and author Munir advocated for including the practice that was set to balance the natural order of species that are interdependent for survival. As the father of national parks Muir was considered to be a most influential conservationist and an important figure in California and the administration of President Theodore whereby his legacy in shaping and inspiring conservational policies resulted in the establishing of the Sequoia and Yosemite National park. To the world, his legacy brought about enlightenment that often-glorified individualism hence the establishment of the national park system across the world (Starr,2005).

From the film High Sierra: A Journey on the John Muir Trail, Muir is recognized as an influential figure whose writings and ideology helped shape the view of environment conservation through establishment of the national parks that became an icon across several countries in the world. With a completed trail of 228 miles across the mountains in Sierra Nevada mountain range, John Muir trail was described as the American’s most famous trail that explores the evolution basin that was constructed by the sierra club in which Muir was the president until death. The trail was constructed as an idea that was originated from Theodore Simons. He was born in 1838 in the United Kingdom, Dunbar and died in 1914 in California Los Angeles after having attended University of Wisconsin, Madison.

As chronicled in the film Journey to the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck’s newspaper articles included in the harvest Gypsies that the human activities in the 1930s to 1940s an age of enlightenment when humankind became aware of existing climate and how it played a role in the influence of human behavior (Wagner-Martin,2017). With the founding of the journal, Annales contemporary society is able to relate the global influences involved in the environment and human society. Many people in the 1930s in California engaged in small scale farming as an economic activity. The people here majorly relied on agriculture as the society was made up of diverse people from across the globe who include the Japanese, Asians and a few African Americans. This era saw a huge migration from the plains whereby the environment conditions that majorly was the weather had contributed to destroying crops of the small farmers (Steinbeck,1936). These individuals migrated to California big farms with the hope of securing jobs in large plantations as laborers. Due to this migration, the new population in California was built out of orange groves, oil, tourism and real estate and with the availability of railroads access to outside market was quite easy. With the population growing appetite for leisure, tourism was promoted.

Money bay was considered a case study for “good environmental news” as it suggests how hard it is to come across good environmental news in the contemporary society whereby pollution is a crisis that has not been managed well. The levels of pollutions in the contemporary society amount to the effects of climate with high levels of global warming that has been caused by emissions from industries and other factories being a major concern. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay is a Story of Revival whose goal was aimed at saving the environment and ensuring one saves him money too saving the co-existence of nature and environment as a whole (Palumbi & Sotka,2011).

According to Merchant (1988), a renewal and synthesis as nature and culture come together in new visions and appreciation for a potentially green and golden state that contributes into the future through an interdisciplinary approach. Through the application of the sociological theory by the able that perceives man to be the nature’s way of developing culture and through the modernistic approach theory that highlights impacts of man activities affecting nature and the environment. The most appropriate approach to review the future of renewable energy considers education as a form of enlightenment that constitutes a state system. Thus, the interdisciplinary approach would seek to engage local and universal principles so as to sustain a manageable future world heritage and environmental stability with controlled pollution. The education system would involve teachings across various sections to help in understanding the complex issues surrounding the environment and make connections among the contents of natural sciences and humanities. This interdisciplinary approach through education would help in development of skills through research, critical thinking, peer collaborations, mapping, analysis and even proper communication creating an approach that provides for a life long learning and application of these skills in an effort to conserve the environment for a cleaner and safer future (Merchant,1988).

The California State University Monterey Bay through quality education that it envisions would help in providing enriching information’s useful to the future of renewal and synthesis by providing understanding to nature and culture. To ensure sustainability through the mission of CSUMB that based on academic excellence would build a multi learning community that would be prepared to be productive, responsible to the state of California and the global community at large (Jacob et al,2015). To ensure sustainability the values of the institution derived from its vision would help the society ethical reflect on their activities, collaborate with others to survive without having to degrade other lives that are basic for our survival which is the environment.

The conditions for our own survival are in the natural environment in which our own doing is undermining its ability to sustain life. The interdisciplinarity, project-based global perspectives and service-learning would help develop a basis of common focus in which the education would provide a solution for addressing our ecological predicament. The teaching programs and the academic goals of the institutions that focus on scientific sophistication and value of the earth and earth systems help create a sense of responsibility to the environment and through effective and ethical communication the common goal of enhancing sustainability would be achieved.

The strategic plan of the institution that was developed in 2008 and revised in 2013, on providing stewardship and community engagement would help the school lead in enhancing the economic and environmental sustainability providing a framework for the students to develop and reflect on the contemporary issues and how they can be managed(Jacob et al,2015). The school has to adopt hands-on activities such as community service to help in cleaning of the state at least each month in an effort to enhance sustainability through such form of steward it could set an example for other institutions across the world. The school could also develop a community education forum in the town halls to help educate the community in regard to our ecological predicament.

Pacific Grove, Monterey is a place I spent most of my time growing up with the beautiful coastal scenery it was a perfect place for my upbringing. Part of the lithosphere here is covered by a large body of water, the pacific which makes up the hydrosphere. The grove has a granite coastline with a mild climate throughout the year. The area has a population of slightly above 15,000 people according to census with a quite average cost of living that is in proportion with employment rates. Tourism is a major source of income with many visitors visiting the town due to its serene unobstructed beach views. The marine life consists of various water animals such as white sharks.

This region before European contact was inhabited by the Rumsen who basically were dependent on fishing, hunting and gathering making the region rich biologically (Jorgensen et al, 2009). The Spanish empire had invaded and incorporated the coastal city of the Americans under the royal authority. The empire expanded across the south to the Caribbean islands with the Spain golden age being in the 16th century. The Catholics monarchs led by Isabella of Castile and her husband followed a policy that saw them merge and create a single Spanish monarchy. The Spanish settled in America before others migrated to the region over a period of time that was mostly in the 18th century. The Spaniards developed the ranch-style buildings that had details to their chimneys tops and square towers with intricate stone and tile works. The government in an effort of conquest and assimilation had found a way to ask the natives to sign treaties that allowed them to live on reservations that were set aside for each tribe. The assimilation in CA was seen by a series of Indian wars between the Indian natives and whites who were set to protect railroad employees. (Jorgensen et al, 2009)

Marina Dunes State Beach is site provides a setting to consider natural processes associated with geologic forces, wind and ocean currents, climate patterns and weather conditions, wildlife habitat in marine and terrestrial habitats, human resource use and settlement patterns, and projected climate change impacts in the Monterey Bay region.

Carmel River State Beach and Carmel Mission are two sites combine the setting of ocean, river and estuary in the context of the Carmel Valley watershed and provide an opportunity to contemplate a variety of cultural landscapes and changes over geologic and human time scales. Monterey State Historic Park, Downtown Monterey, and Fisherman’s Wharf, these sites provide the physical setting associated with the establishment of Spanish rule in Alta California and its connection with maritime trade in the Pacific Basin in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cannery Row manifests the changes that occurred in the town of Monterey and the bay itself over the past century as a destination of diverse immigrants and as a setting for extractive and degrading resource uses that set the conditions for contemporary resource protection, scientific research and education, tourism and hospitality industries, and sustainability initiatives. CSUMB Sustainability Commons his field trip provides an opportunity for students to understand and appreciate the environmental, social and political events associated with the closure of Fort Ord and the creation of CSUMB in 1994.

The five California’s are socio-economically classified into Silicon Valley Shangri-La with educated people with high tech fliers, metro coastal that is an enclave California that enjoys financial comfort and security, Main street California that sees a higher development levels with education, security and longer lives for people here, struggling California is often across the suburbs state that has the low-income individuals and low levels of security as the forsaken five percent that is bypassed by the evolving world of tech and left in impoverished life in the state.

References

Jorgensen, S. J., Reeb, C. A., Chapple, T. K., Anderson, S., Perle, C., Van Sommeran, S. R., … & Block, B. A. (2009). Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1682), 679-688.

Jacob, W. J., Sutin, S. E., Weidman, J. C., & Yeager, J. L. (Eds.). (2015). Community engagement in higher education: Policy reforms and practice. Springer.

Biography of John Muir (2 parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOolPB8yO8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpgx-LkvHGE

High Sierra: A Journey on the John Muir Trail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcwLOGFNvFs

Merchant, C. (1998). Green Versus Gold. Washington DC: Island Press. (see index for specific page numbers)

Palumbi, S. R., & Sotka, C. (2011). The death and life of Monterey Bay: A story of revival. Island Press.

Starr, K. (2005). California: A History. New York: The Modern Library. (see index for specific page numbers)

Steinbeck, J. (1936). The harvest gypsies. San Francisco News.

Wagner-Martin, L. (2017). The Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research. In John Steinbeck (pp. 65-74). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Burke, E., & Pomeranz, K. (Eds.). (2009). The environment and world history (Vol. 9). Univ of California Press.