http://www.ctpost.com/news/medical/article/Beijing-issues-1st-smog-red-alert-urging-schools-6680760.php

A very interesting thing happened in Beijing this morning: They issues a red alert due to smog, and urged schools to close down so people could remain out of the congested air. Does this mean that there will be some sort of change in the future, especially on the heels of Cop21?

Watching this film in class was, for me, a tale of intertwined contrasts. There were numerous themes that were dancing back and forth across the screen as the film progresses, and how they compared to one another, and which was preferable, was up to the viewer to see whether or not humanity was making the right decisions in our relationship with the Earth.

Some of these contrasts included: light vs. dark, wet vs. dry, windy vs. still, colorful vs. dull, human creation vs. nature, finished products vs. the dirty processes that created them, civilian vs. military, booming vs. desolation, creation vs. destruction, amusement vs. necessity, and most importantly, slow vs. fast.

I believe everyone who watched the film in class left with a feeling of anxiety or nausea after the movie became incredibly quick towards the conclusion, and this was no doubt the desired goal for the makers of the film. The problem with nature and humans for the filmmakers is spiraling out of control; it is exponential, growing, and manifesting itself throughout our society and more importantly our earth. It was hard to watch as the screen danced from image to image, sometimes sprinted from one to another, as my eyes hurt and my head begged me to look away from the ever changing projector screen.

There is a common notion throughout the film that man is capable of destroying itself. Culminating in the mushroom cloud from the nuclear bomb, but also the slow motion films of fighter jets, there is the ever present underlying tone that the base that our society is founded upon is in essence always at risk of collapsing away if we are too lenient with our respect for the natural world.

I do not know if Koyaanitsqatsi is, for me, a motivational call to arms in order to protect the environment and our relationship with the natural world. What gets through to me in terms of documentaries and pieces that are made to influence their audience towards action is at least some form of hope, a plan of action, a way forward out of an issue. There must be a tangible goal that can be met after watching an influential piece for me personally to feel inspired to take action myself. For me, because Koyaanitsqatsi was so depressing, so fast paced, covering practically all aspects of human life, it made the problem seem too large to conquer, or to even address, which unfortunately is coming closer and closer to truth. It made me too depressed (and sick) to be able to derive what action the filmmakers wanted to see out of their audience; while it was obvious they wanted to see more respect for the environment and a transition away from current practices, the movie was so large in scope that after that, it was hard for me to find the next step.

Is it impious to weigh goose music and art in the same scales? I think not, because the true hunter is merely a noncreative artist. Who painted the first picture on a bone in the caves of France? A hunter. Who alone in our modern life so thrills to the sight of living beauty that he will endure hunger and thirst and cold to feed his eye upon it? The hunter” (230).

All about perspectives! Reminded me of Cabela’s in a sense, and also how all of us can appreciate nature in very, very different ways.

The trip to Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s over the weekend was certainly an enlightening experience, as well as for me, my first time bird watching. From walking into the main center at Hawk Mountain, you see that there is an appreciation for nature as well as efforts from staff to try and sustain their effort through merchandise and charging to walk the trails. Nature there is both depicted as honest but also as fragile, needing assistance for preservation, and this is why you can see the staff of Hawk Mountain trying to fundraise to support their efforts.

When I walked the trail and began to speak to our host and even fellow birdwatchers, I got the sensation that there was an “us against the world” mentality, and I would believe this to be true. This small sanctuary, where vital work is being done to try and understand migration patterns and the strength of bird populations, is trying to exist in a nation and a world that is still mostly tone-deaf when it comes to issues of the environment and supporting sustainability efforts. I felt out of place at Hawk Mountain; I felt as if the fellow birdwatchers on the North Lookout were scoffing at my presence there, as if it were just another college tour, and not someone who could possibly appreciate nature as much as they could. When Erik and I tried to strike up a conversation with a fellow taking pictures of passing birds, I quickly got the feeling that he did not want to talk to us, distract him from his task at hand, and that we were taking away from his experience. This “crossroads of naturalists” was seen nearly everywhere at Hawk Mountain: the gift shop more for the casual tourist, as they tried to raise funds, versus the museums, which were more for the avid bird watcher, the raptor show, where some people could understand that the bird was in duress, but others thought it was cool how an eagle was being controlled by a human. I always loved an approach to nature that was similar to Walt Whitman’s “Learn’d Astronomer”, and one that Professor Brandes discussed at his conference in California, where everyone regardless of experience was given a seat at the table. I did not get this feeling at Hawk Mountain.

I believe that if I had to pick one lasting mental image of Hawk Mountain in my brain it would be the look on everyone face when the first eagle flew past us. Being in that space with everyone and sharing in the sense of awe and amazement was a special experience, because there is nothing better than experiencing something incredible for the first time, and a lot of our class were doing this together. None of us were that cold yet, some were wondering if we would even see a single bird, and having that Golden Eagle fly past was a truly special experience. The picture for me that i will hold onto in my head is not of the actual bird, or the scenic overlook, but rather the look of amazement that all of us had. “Oh cool!” and “wow” were popular phrases being shared amongst the class, and I am glad that I was able to be a part of this.

I enjoyed in my experience in Hawk Mountain greatly, so long as I was able to make it my own. On our first hike at Great Ledges, every group we walked past said hello, conversations were struck, and even one group took their picture with us. Unfortunately at Hawk Mountain, I felt no such camaraderie, but I was happy I was able to share the experience with the professors and the class.

Cabela’s was a fun contrast to Hawk Mountain, and I am glad that the two were paired with one another on Saturday. I believe that there is a respect for nature in Cabela’s that, though it may be different than our class’s respect for nature, is certainly still existent. If I had to sum up Cabela’s in a sentence this is my best shot: Cabela’s is a reflection of our American culture, rather than our American culture being a reflection of Cabela’s. It is a destination for such people to travel to, to shop in, to even see all the different animals and feed the fish because it is an institution in our society, as it is easy to forget that there are other places in the country besides the Northeast. The taxidermy and all of the different animal landscapes were fascinating; the attention they derived was hopefully a healthy appreciation for seeing new species and animals that a person is genuinely interested in, as I was. Most of the questions I heard kids asking their parents in these sections were anatomical questions, or just where these animals live; natural, exciting kid questions that reflected a genuine interest in the animals and nature, though they may be depicted in a much more dramatic scene than is the real world.

I almost found Cabela’s more welcoming than Hawk Mountain simply based on the people who were there. For me, there was a sense of elitism at Hawk Mountain, where some people could somehow enjoy the experience more so than I could because I was less knowledgeable about birds than they were, but there was none of this at Cabela’s. I agree with almost none of the political or social views of the people who tend to work at or frequent Cabela’s, but I felt as if it was a welcoming place that revolved around people’s love for the outdoors.

Cabela’s grew out of an appreciation for nature, for sportsmen, and although the type of person who goes there to shop has changed, the store has tried to remain true to its roots. There is no doubt that its business model has adapted to try and remain relevant with its customers, such as with the 2nd Amendment signage as well as the funny slogans, but there is certainly at its core a nod to nature in nearly every corner of the store. I would say that most of the store is designated to products that would help people out in nature, to get out into the wilderness, and experience the great outdoors. For me, Cabela’s is much better than a video game store such as Gamestop, because it promotes an active relationship with nature, even though that relationship may evolve around hunting or other activities that are frowned upon by the general naturalist community.

If I had to select a lasting image of Cabela’s it would be the welcoming man at the door. His job is to say hello to every group who walks through those doors, and to ask them if they have any questions regarding their experience at Cabela’s. I felt that at Cabela’s, there was something for everyone; it was almost a great equalizer, in the sense that everyone had their own space, and could take away from the experience whatever they wanted to. The welcoming man at the door was not only welcoming you to Cabela’s, but also welcoming you to experience nature, one product at a time.

NAture Wars

Feeding wild birds is, in essence, a form of wildlife management- some say use– in which participants manipulate the natural world to create outcomes they want- in this case, using food to lure birds into viewing range” (234).

It all depends on how you see it. Feeding birds can have the effect of introducing massively more amounts of seed into an environment than was ever intended, or natural, and there are averse impacts that your average outdoor enthusiast could never have seen coming.

Walden

“Why level downward to our dullest perception always, and praise that as common sense?… While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will any not endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?” (353).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/science/exxon-mobil-under-investigation-in-new-york-over-climate-statements.html

News out of New York: State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has issued a subpoena to Exxon Mobil in regards to an investigation as to whether or not the energy giant lied to both investors and the public at large regarding climate change.

This signals a massive shift in public policy towards the energy giants, as in the recent past, favorable outcomes for fossil fuel oriented businesses have been rendered in lawsuits, criminal proceedings, and even with politicians at large. Just recently, in my home state of New Jersey, Governor Christie has used a settlement met with Exxon (roughly around 225$ million dollars) as a boasting point on the campaign trail; but, as many scientific and environmental scholars can attest to, this was actually a concession to Exxon, and not nearly the win that it has made it out to be by the Christie camp.

These small steps, a subpoena and court proceedings, are the first steps towards changing the public perception of climate change. It is no advertised fact that many of the companies who rely heavily on fossil fuels saw their research and development numbers equate to 90% of funding towards fossil fuels, and 10% towards investment in new renewable energy methods. A step in the right direction for the government indeed.

Modern science and technology have given us the engineering techniques to maesure, analyze, and take apart the immediate neighborhood, including the neighbors. but this knwoledge adds not much to our understanding of thigns. ‘Knowledge is power,’ said Francis Bacon, reat great-grandfather of the nuclear age. Power, exactly- hat’s been the point of the game all along. But power does not lead to wisdom, even less to understanding. Sympathy, love, phsycal contact-touching- are better means to so fine an end. -51

This passage reminded me of our Whitman reading from the first day of class. Regardless of who is an “expert”, or how much we know of something scientifically, there is still a sense of awe that cannot be replaced by facts, data sets, experiments within a lab. Wisdom can be sent to you in numerous capacities, from sources that may not be accepted as those that usually gant people knowledge and understanding. Sometimes we need to look within to connect with something or to best grasp a concept, rather than look to the greater scientific communit for something that has been agreed upon and tested using variables and hypothesis.

To each their own.

Stumbled across this article earlier today, and I saw the similarities to the Nature Wars book regarding how in America many species saw strong comebacks until recent history, when we as humans have once again had a strong negative impact in the health of species we share our land with. What I found particularly of note is that while in Nature Wars Sterba seems to have many reasons for why populations have struggled to find an easy balancing point, in this article from The Guardian, it is made clear that scientists mostly do not know why this antelope population died so quickly.

I also found it a sad reminder of our potential impact on nature. All the pictures from the article show antelopes in fields for miles with absolutely no sign of human life: houses, roads, power lines, even wells and farms. Yet, as the scientists hypothesized what could have been responsible for the die off, they believed that a bacteria was rampant and only could ravage the antelope at higher atmospheric temperatures, certainly through human intervention with the earth’s climate. An interesting read.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/03/half-of-worlds-rare-antelope-population-died-within-weeks

“However, Maine had a lot of hunters, trappers, and fishermen who did a lot of things that people not engaged in these activities might consider unfair. In his weekly column, one outdoor writer asked: Was putting out decoys and using calls to lure in ducks and turkeys fair? What about planting clover or using sexual attractants to bring in deer? Was treeing raccoons with hounds different from treeing bears? Was baiting, trapping, and then boiling alive a Maine lobster fair? All were common practices. What was the difference between putting out food for bears and baiting a hook with a worm to get a fish to bite?” (175). 

Nature as a picture, Hunting as we talked about in class, Up Close and Personal, Conservation Biology and what species are seen as the most important by humans regardless of ecological impact, Social perspectives