What An Impact!

After this week I can't help but reflect on the fact that as humans we have a HUGE impact on our environment.  Thoughts of the discussion in Dave's class keep running through my mind as to why we should protect all that is around us as I grapple with the new information I have come across in this class.  As environmentalists I feel as though we are more aware than others might be about the actions we take and what this can potentially mean.  At the least we can at least claim that we are concerned about the environment as we make our choices, even if we do not know all the information out there.  That in itself is a vital first step.  When speaking of environmental education we often stress the fact that we must first provide people the opportunity to forge connections with nature so that they will care about its future.  I feel as though I can speak for all of us in saying that we are all at that point.

Overwhelming may become my word for this course.  Once we know that protecting the environment is important we then start to seek out ways that we are negatively impacting the Earth so as to strive to remedy these actions.  It is astounding how much of an effect humans have on their surroundings from the devastating biodiversity rates, to completely decimating the fish populations in a lake, to changing the course of a river for our waste water, and much more.  So often we use technology in ways that prove to be disastrous for the natural world.  Its crazy to think of things like birth control and the potential bearing this may be having on our fish populations.  I can't recall in what context it was mentioned, but it is a sentiment I strive to always remember, that although there are things that may cause harm or seem like a bad idea in retrospect, the people who supported these decisions are only doing what we are currently pushing for.  They made the choices they did because they wanted a better world.  I think its incredibly important to realize that most people are not trying to make things worse.  In their own way they too are fighting for the greater good.

For a little hope this week I decided to check out what we are doing on the flip side of the coin for biodiversity.  Obviously there are many ways that we are making it difficult for certain species to have a go at it, but we are also trying our best to protect species as well.  Check this out to see an amazing way we are trying to continue the legacy of the Giant Panda.