Part I: (More than 300 words with at least 2 citations ) Answer one of the following: Identify the major threats to biodiversity that result from ecological changes related to Industrialization. After...

Answer one of the following:

1. Identify the major threats to biodiversity that result from ecological changes related to Industrialization.


2. After watching the Australian Broadcasting Company's film on the Anthropocene, discuss why Australia can serve as "ground zero" for understanding the effects of this new epoch
   
   


3. Using Dalby'sessay, discuss what is meant by the "Thanatocene."


4. Compare the role of Nature in the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) versus those of the Indian subcontinent (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) and indigenous/reconstructionist/New Age faiths (Wicca, Asatru, Dream time, traditional Native American beliefs, etc.), focusing on the impact of doctrine on environmentalism.
   
   


5. Interrogate the centrality of 1968 to contemporary understandings of the Earth, ecosystems, etc., focusing on "Spaceship Earth," "The Big Blue Marble," and other popular geographical understandings.


6. Interrogate the so-called Gaia hypothesis and how this relates to emergent ideas about the role globalization, human activity, and transborder pollution/Greenhouse Effect.


7. Investigate the Barents Sea as "ground zero" in the climate change debate.
   
   


8. Argue whether or not global change is bringing about the end of human diversity. What aspects of what makes our species unique is most under threat.


9. Research the environmental status of the State of New Jersey (the U.S.'s most densely-populated state), and assess the most pressing threats faced by its residents.


10. Reflect the methods and outcomes of the "daily life of the enviro-organism" essay by Adams, contextualizing your own existence within this scalar framework.


11. Contextualize the recent decision of the Trump administration to abandon the Paris Accords and the resulting reaction of the environmental campaigner, Al Gore.


12. Critically assess Moore's notion of the "Anthropocene idea."


13. CompareThe Windup Girlto another popular cultural artifact that deal with the long-term effects of the Anthropocene (e.g.,The Day After Tomorrow, Wall-E, The Lorax, The Road, The Drowned World, Mad Max,Oryx and Crake/The Year of the Flood/MaddAddam, etc.).

Topic Question

“Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we have… Its diminishment is to be prevented at all costs.” -Thomas Eisner, German-American ecologist

Major threats to biodiversity that result from ecological changes related to industrialization include transboundary pollution, animal and plant agriculture, overharvesting of fish, habitat loss, and climate change. According to Manfred B. Steger’s “Globalization: A Very Short Introduction”, transboundary pollution is a huge threat not only to biodiversity but to our survival as a population (96). Steger ties usage of air pollutants such as CFCs, to ozone depletion which had lead to more extreme weather patterns. These weather conditions include storms, droughts, and flooding which make areas of the globe to be inhabitable to species that have resided there previously. Steger also mentions acid rain that pollutes water systems and damages trees and soils (97). The second human lifestyle choice that emerged after industrialization is the exploitation of land and resources for the mass production of crops and animal agriculture. This is a cultural problem that has extended to all populations on Earth. Sandi Schwartz’s explains that animal agriculture causes one-fifth of the greenhouse gases emitted. The overexploitation of species, especially the overharvesting of fish, have negatively affected our marine life (Kirsten). These populations now have difficulty reproducing with, as well as have a smaller diversification. Kirsten explains that the probability of compete species being wiped out when a natural disaster hits become exponentially high. Habitat loss may come from agriculture, human populations building cities in that areas, or just natural disasters that come with climate change. Climate change is the result of industrialization, the overexploitation of resources and animals, and creation of cities. According to Steger, global climate change has “been expanded and intensified by the process of globalization” (102). Climate change increases the temperature on the planet which causes tons of natural disasters included earthquakes, melting of ice caps, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and other severe weather conditions (Steger 99-104). To conclude, industrialization has affected biodiversity in a negative way through species decline, loss of diversification and loss of their habitats. To combat loss of biodiversity, humans can adopt a culture more conscious of our lifestyles- incorporating choice of local produce, reducing (or eliminating) consumption of animal production, and decreasing overall consumption of manufactured goods.

Works Cited

Steger, Manfred B.Globalization: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Schwartz, Sandi. “5 Facts About Animal Agriculture and Air Pollution That You Just Can't Argue With.” One Green Planet. One Green Planet, October 29, 2018.https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/facts-about-animal-agriculture-and-air-pollution/.

BioExplorer. “Threats to Biodiversity: 6 Major Loss of Biodiversity: Biology Explorer.” Bio Explorer, November 13, 2018.https://www.bioexplorer.net/threats-to-biodiversity.html/.

Part III (more than 300 words with at least 2 citations ):

“Humans have wandered the Earth for thousands of years but never has our capacity to alter the Earth’s ecosystem at a larger scale been more prominent than it is today.” ~ Kat Lahr

MAIN ASSIGNMENT:

Focusing on a single country, identify the major environmental impacts of industrialization and human habitation (i.e., the effects of the Anthropocene), connecting these to environmental degradation and/or ecological crises (e.g., droughts, rising sea levels, extreme weather, species extinction, etc.). Superlative essays will interrogate 3-5 discrete problems or events and how such issues are contextualized within the socio-politico-economic framework of the concerned polity.