Journal 20

The hardest thing I found was changing my mind on climate change. I knew it was there and that it happened, but I always thought it was on its own, and that what happened was normal. Now after the class I am seeing we have a large effect on the change in the environment, and our actions are having negative effects. I always assumed that global warming was just leading to global cooling, so it was a joke to me, now I see it is a serious matter that may or may not end life as we know it. It took a while for this to sink in but when I realized the top scientists in the world are scared, I realized this is not just a joke or conspiracy. We all need to start taking this seriously, like was said in class is it cheaper now to do something about it and be wrong, or not do anything and be wrong. It is a gamble that we shouldn’t take, money can be made back the environment wont be as easy, nor will the lives that could be lost. It is serious and I think we all need to start taking steps to slow down, or steps may not be able to be taken and all this talk will be nothing, because being correct on this and having it happen isn’t a I told you so moment, but more of a what do we do to survive moment.

Journal 19

After taking this class my decisions will be thought about more when coming to the environment. I was one who respected the land before, and cared for it, but now I realize it is about more than the land. It is about the air, what we put in the ground, the big picture, sometimes the surface looks good but under the surface a storm is brewing. I will base decisions around being as sustainable as I can, so instead of buying the one thing at the store or going to get food whenever I am hungry I will begin planning ahead more to reduce trips and save pollution. In the business world I will try to only work companies which are “green” or pull from sustainable resources, try and help those companies because they will help the environment. I think all the little things add up now, before I thought it really didn’t, but if I save water and electricity it will begin to save me money and hopefully catch on to other people. If that happens a big change can be seen, especially if I can do that in my business, if people do that at work, save water and electricity, they will most likely do it at home, so it will have a catalyst effect.

Journal Entry 18

Douglas describes the how the people of the everglades came about. How this question is answered has to go into a lot of detail. As he says man was not created here, but has been here for a very long time. It was amazing to hear the travels that man had to make to get here. That no mammal had ever made that long of a trip, showed it took a lot of intelligence far greater and a quick adaptation ability that animals do not have. A question posed was that it was not understood how these animals had gone extinct in this area, and the only answer is that man must have been a leading cause, developing skills to hunt and eat these massive beasts. As the man began to develop they started wearing jewelry and designing their bodies to attract women. Which is like today how we were fashions to attract women, we took these simple ideas. The glades people developed excellent woodworking skills which allowed canoes to allow them to live in the areas they did. Reading this amazed me how these people developed these skills and lived in this environment for so long. Even today people struggle to live there with the technologies we have, they lived simple and developed skills that made it easy for them to survive that harsh terrain. These were the people called Indians and even today the ones who live there do amazing things, to read how they developed with new materials throughout the time is something that amazes me.

Journal 17

Douglas describes the Everglades so well that one could picture them if they understood the shape of Florida. I like how he goes into detail about how up until just recently it was not studied, people have been at awe with how weird it is and how it exists nowhere else in the world. The way the Okeechobee Lake feeds into the Everglades and how no person has ever traveled the entire river running down. Even today parts of the Everglades are unmapped and unknown hidden from mans touching. The water will overflow its boundaries in the lake and flow south towards the glades feeding the clean fresh water over the land and flowing into the glades. The way the rock has been carved by this massive force of water is amazing, they say that if you took out the saw grass it would be the weirdest country ever seen, with just open rock areas, carved, holes, it would be an amazing sight. All from traveling water. It is amazing what this has done for Florida, our climate, animals, and plant life, all feed and survive off the benefits it provides. We have destroyed parts of it, and now are beginning a restoration project for it, but I like how Douglas describes the beauty of this weird phenomenon instead of talking so much about the usage, people fall in love with beauty then fall in love with the usage of something, and to draw people in, he did the correct method

Journal 16

For my service learning I went to habitat for humanity. I painted and tore apart walls, I was glad to see that people were helping people get better lives and get a roof over their head. What bothered me though was the waste. The walls we took apart had been put together for houses never built; things were wasted that did not need to be. Especially in today’s world the wood that was thrown away, served no purpose, all the nails lost, it was a large waste. It was all made with one thing in mind, but instead plans backfired. The people there tried to salvage as much as they could but there is only so much you can do if the wood is filled with cracks and holes. I wish they would save the wood and build as needed only; this would reduce waste, and allow for more efficient money spent. People donate that wood, and some of it goes to waste. The idea is great and what they are doing for people is one of the best things I have seen, to allow someone to build their own house for very cheap and teach them how to fix home problems along the way is the greatest tool anyone could have. It teaches them a skill set to save money and help better themselves. It is also affordable and relies mostly on volunteer help, so the people volunteering are doing something for someone that not only changes a life, but will help future generations down the road.

Journal 15

When I first started class I thought climate change was a made up idea trying to scare people. I now think it is something that is going on, yes I believe climate change will happen with or without us, but at a slow natural rate, not at the rate it is. The fuels we burn and the things we do the environment are causing it to offset the natural order of things. Can we go back, no, but we can figure out ways to live better. If we don’t do it soon, it will be too late, as of now we already see things that are startling, but will people change their lives for things they aren’t sure how bad it will be, just educated assumptions. Society needs more than just America to change, the whole world must change, the way we live, yes great and fun cannot keep going on. We can still have great lives and have fun, but we need to remove our pollution, recycle, plant trees to help rebuild forests, start protecting our seas and animals within it. If we all cut back some we can make a large difference over time, but if we don’t I feel that the outcome will be worse than what we would have if we made changes now. If a doctor told me to stop smoking because my lungs were looking bad and I had the ability now to stop from getting cancer, then I would stop immediately. What I don’t understand if climatologists who study the climate are saying change now or see consequences why don’t we change.

Journal 14

After reading that we have a large portion of untouched oil left in the ground due to the fact we don’t have the technology to acquire was a nice relief. I’m glad to know we still have oil that can still be used once recovered; it allows us to have a little bit more leeway in developing a better, cleaner, and more sustainable energy source. What worries me though is that people will see we have so many barrels left in the ground and will want to continue pushing off on developing new technologies. Companies will keep pushing off and using if not more oil, since they think there will be plenty left. It is like a catch 22 now. It’s great we have a large amount left, but when will we wake up and realize that if we have to work so hard to get it, that we should discover better ways to use energy and harness it. The other problem is we have to create technology to get this oil, this will not be easy to stay dependent on it would be a very stupid thing, we have the ability to move away from oil now, before it’s too late, and possibly have harnessed a technology that will work very close to the time we run out of oil