Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

new relationship with the earth that keeps us all aliveand supports our economies. The transition to a moresustainable world will not be easy but it can be done ifenough of us care.Envision the earth’s life-sustaining processes as abeautiful and diverse web of interrelationships—akaleidoscope of patterns, rhythms, and connectionswhose very complexity and multitude of possibilitiesremind us that cooperation, sharing, honesty, humility,and love should be the guidelines for our behavior towardone another and the earth.When there is no dream, the people perish.PROVERBS 29:18CRITICAL THINKING1. Some analysts argue that the problems with Biosphere2 resulted mostly from inadequate design and that a betterteam of scientists and engineers could make it work.Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.2. This chapter has summarized a number of differentenvironmental worldviews. Analyze them and find thebeliefs you agree with, as a description your own environmentalworldview. Which of your beliefs were addedor modified as a result of taking this course? Compareyour answer with those of your classmates.3. Explain why you agree or disagree with the followingideas: (a) Everyone has the right to have as many childrenas he or she wants. (b) Each member of the humanspecies has a right to use as many resources as he or shewants. (c) Individuals should have the right to do anythingthey want with land they own. (d) Nature shouldbe used, not preserved. (e) Species exist to be used byhumans. (f) All forms of life have an intrinsic value andtherefore have a right to exist. (g) All organisms are interconnectedand interdependent. (h) We have no right toharm and kill animals by using them for furs and to testfor toxic chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, or cosmetics.Are your answers consistent with the beliefs of your environmentalworldview that you described in question 2?4. Theologian Thomas Berry calls the industrial consumersociety built on the human-centered, planetarymanagement environmental worldview the “supremepathology of all history.” He says, “We can break themountains apart; we can drain the rivers and flood thevalleys. We can turn the most luxuriant forests intothrowaway paper products. We can tear apart the greatgrass cover of the western plains, and pour toxic chemicalsinto the soil and pesticides onto the fields, until thesoil is dead and blows away in the wind. We can pollutethe air with acids, the rivers with sewage, the seas withoil. ... We can invent computers capable of processingten million calculations per second. And why? To increasethe volume and speed with which we move naturalresources through the consumer economy to thejunk pile or the waste heap. ... If, in these activities, thetopography of the planet is damaged, if the environmentis made inhospitable for a multitude of living species,then so be it. We are, supposedly, creating a technologicalwonderworld. ... But our supposed progress ...isbringing us to a wasteworld instead of a wonderworld.”Explain why you agree or disagree with this assessment.5. Some analysts believe learning environmental wisdomby experiencing the earth and forming an emotionalbond with its life-forms and processes is unscientific,mystical nonsense based on a romanticized view of nature.They believe better scientific understanding of howthe earth works and improved technology are the bestways to achieve sustainability. Do you agree or disagree?Explain.6. Try to answer the following fundamental ecologicalquestions about the corner of the world you inhabit:Where does your water come from? Where does the energyyou use come from? What kinds of soils are underyour feet? What types of wildlife are your neighbors?Where does your food come from? Where does yourwaste go?7. How do you feel about (a) carving huge faces of peoplein mountains, (b) driving an off-road motorized vehiclein a desert, grassland, or forest, (c) using throwawaypaper towels, tissues, napkins, and plates, (d) wearingfurs, and (e) having tropical fish, birds, snakes, or otherwild animals as pets? Are your answers consistent withthe beliefs of your environmental worldview that youdescribed in question 2?8. Review your experience with the mental traps describedon p. 639. Which of these traps have you falleninto? Were you aware you had been ensnared by any ofthem? Do you plan to free yourself from these traps?How?PROJECTS1. Use a combination of the major existing societal, economic,and environmental trends, possible new trends,and your imagination to construct three different scenariosof what the world might be like in 2060. Identify thescenario you favor, and outline a strategy for achievingthis alternative future. Compare your scenarios andstrategies with those of your classmates.2. Make an environmental audit of your school. Rateeach of the following items on a scale of 1 through 10,with 10 being the highest rating. What proportion of eachof the major types of matter resources used are recycled,reused, or composted? What priority does your schoolgive to buying recycled materials? How much does yourschool emphasize energy efficiency, use of renewableforms of solar energy, and environmental design in developingnew buildings and renovating existing ones?Does it use ecologically sound planning in deciding howits grounds and buildings are managed and used? Doesyour school limit the use of toxic chemicals in its buildingsand on its grounds? What proportion of its food purchasescomes from nearby farmers? What proportion ofthe food it purchases is grown by sustainable or organichttp://biology.brookscole.com/miller14641