LSP Environmental Studies Community Event Reports

     Well, this past Wednesday, (October 15th) I decided to go to the Bronx Zoo. Not only do I love the zoo, it is suggested donation on Wednesdays and who can say no to a $1 zoo trip? Not me, that’s for sure. So anyway, I got there at about 2 PM after a riveting trip aboard the 5 train. The tone of this event I guess would be nature appreciation but really, it was just a trip to the zoo.
     I set out camera in hand, actually, in bag, but whatever the case the zoo was my oyster for the day. After giving my generous donation to the ticket office I strolled into the zoo to plot a route, a journey, through the expanse that is the Bronx Zoo. And what did I see immediately after examining the zoo’s map? Wildlife!

Here we have a common pigeon walking around a heavily pine-coned area just outside the “Wild Asia/Camel Riding” section. A true marvel of the natural world, this specimen seemed to have escaped its designated location and repopulated all over the park – odd.
     I went from section to section with assorted groups of middle-schoolers trying my best to not take pictures of them and escape the wrath of the omnipresent chaperones. My first stop after the giant Indiana Jones gate thing

was an oddly quarantined bird exhibit of the Waldrapp. The Waldrapp almost went extinct and now has a population of a little more than 400 within the world’s zoos and even less than that in the wild. These creatures, apparently ½ turkey, ½ vulture, and all ugly, were in a prohibitively small space, which seemed to be a recurring theme throughout my trip to the zoo. I am all for interanimal interaction, more death at the zoo would undoubtedly bring in the crowds, or at least shift the average age from around four to maybe, I don’t know… seven?
     “JungleWorld” and some monorail followed the exhibit of the ugliest bird that humans haven’t seemed to kill yet. “JungleWorld” although enticing with its ever-present Malarial odor, was an indoor exhibit so that station was skipped and the monorail you had to pay for so you can probably guess what happened there.
     Onwards and upwards.
     My journey through the oasis that is the Bronx Zoo next took me to the “Africa Trail” – a panoply of fantastically fatal, but still charmingly cute animals:

Here we have the Indian Peafowl, and according to the sign, Peacocks do not mind the New York winter, which is good to know because this very bird above was thrown into my bag immediately after this picture was taken and made into a winter coat for yours truly. JUST KIDDING, I look terrible in blue.
     There were multiple animals in with the Indian Peafowl, namely the Nyala (a deer-like animal) so seeing them interact made this exhibit much more interesting. After almost getting pecked to death by another Peafowl while taking pictures of this lovely dame I decided to make my way to a tamer and more civilized animal, the lion. It turns out that lions are pretty boring in the zoo – lots of yawning and rolling around little roaring and mauling. But, here are some facts I learned: Male lions leave the pride at age three while females tend to stay with their “natal pride” their entire lives, females have anywhere between one and nine cubs, and the average lifespan is fifteen to twenty years. Yay lions!
     After the lions failed to do much of anything for ten minutes despite my jeers and continued offerings of preschoolers I decided to move on to the baboons. The baboons were also up to literally, no good, so I was forced to read a sign about them. I read a really enlightening sign about the rare animals in Ethiopia; it turns out that the topography creates “isolated pockets of habitat” so the animals have evolved and changed within these microcosms – pretty cool. The zoo had also posted the requisite facts and bits of information below the viewing window but to my surprise, and disgust, they had also created a fairly large sign about tracking the signs of baboon pregnancy, urine samples and all; that was about enough baboon information for me so I trekked onwards.
     After almost vomiting while reading about baboon pregnancy I decided it was time for a change of scenery and what better than … THE WORLD OF DARKNESS!!! AHHHH!!

     This place was really cool. I learned that most of the action on earth occurs at night. That came out wrong. I mean most of the creatures on earth are nocturnal. This exhibit was jam-packed with deadly animals and facts like this: all scorpions glow in ultraviolet light. Yup, true. You just learned, deadly. So yeah, there were a fair share of unmoving and therefore unexciting things like frogs but there was also a bat cave that was verging on scary, bats cannot seem to make up their mind as to their purpose so they just fly all over the place, kind of like my writing. After my eyes had adjusted and I stopped walking into and knocking over little kids I decided the fun was over and went outside. The next stop: bears!
     Bears, like most big animals at this zoo, are boring.
     Next.
     Next, was the turtle pond. This was actually the most moving part of the trip for me. The pond was full of trash.

I could not help but be disappointed in this, at a zoo of all places. Pitiful.
     I walked around a bit more at the zoo and I’d love to describe the remainder in person to you but I’ve already gone way too long with my description of the event so I must move on.
     This event was both familiar and new to me because, although I had been to many zoos in my life I had never been to the Bronx Zoo. I learned lots of interesting facts about animals that I had no real knowledge of before. The community might benefit from my visit to the zoo because I am now even more conscious of how fragile the environment is. As for further interest, I don’t really see myself feeding monkeys although it did look fun, so I’m not sure that my visit had any direct effects on me aside bolstering my opinions and ideologies about the environment with more information. This event might have been more beneficial had I had a tour guide who could have walked me through the zoo and given me a deeper understanding of each species in the ecosystem as opposed to the basic information stated on the placards. The image of the trash floating in the turtle pond will remain the poignant memory of the trip for me because that trash is something tangible that I can change right now and those changes with definite solutions are nice to have every now and then.
     Overall I thought the experience was fantastic. I loved walking around the zoo with all the younguns and just going where the breeze took me. I learned a bit and thought about the environment for a solid three hours so I’d say that it was a worthwhile and successful trip.

On Wednesday, October 1, I attended a lecture about environmental law run by the New York University Environmental Studies department, in the department’s headquarters on Mercer Street. The lecture was given by Katrina Wyman, a professor at NYU Law School. The lecture centered on discussion of environmental law and its purpose and benefits. It also served as an information session about law school, providing useful information for those who have an interest in eventually going to law school. The format was fairly informal, as Dr. Wyman lectured about the basics of environmental law, and about one third of the time was devoted to answering questions.
Dr. Wyman began by introducing herself as an associate professor of law at NYU’s School of Law, which is ranked in the top 10 nationally among law schools. She stated that NYU has a strong environmental law program, which many schools do not have. Dr. Wyman’s background is in law, and she became involved in the environmental aspects of law only after becoming a professor. First, we discussed law school and law as a profession, as many of the attendees were interested. Although this didn’t relate to the environment directly, we soon learned that law was a very important means in affecting positive change in the environment.
A person entering the field of environmental law will most likely be employed in one of a few places. They may work for a government organization, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or for a non-government organization such as the Sierra Club. Both of these would be very involved in politics. Working for the government, an environmental lawyer would be involved in drafting new legislation, perhaps working with Congressmen on environmental issues. Environmental lawyers were involved in drafting the numerous building codes, statutes, and regulations that all companies in the United States must abide by. Working for an NGO, lawyers would be involved in lobbying Congress to enact laws more eco-friendly, and encouraging techniques that conserve our resources and contribute to the sustainability of our natural resources. They could also be employed as counsel for a private sector company, in the event that an environmental lawyer is needed. This is actually fairly common, as any new building or land acquisition is likely to require the advice of someone with knowledge of the environment. Though Dr. Wyman stressed that there were many ways to be a lawyer and never actually go to court, she did provide examples where an environmental lawyer may become involved in litigation. One party may deem another’s building plans or waste management techniques harmful to the environment, and a lawsuit could ensue.
I don’t go to too many lectures but this felt like a familiar experience but the tone was informal. While the subject was law, which is a field I may work in one day, it was also very relevant to environmental studies. I thought it was helpful to the community because it educated younger individuals on the path to which they could one day become leaders in environmental reform.
Lawyers in general are often ridiculed as representing everything that is wrong with our society: the greed, dishonesty, etc. But environmental law is one field in which a lot of good can be done. There is always politics involved, as Dr. Wyman said, but there is much that can be done in the way of conservation and sustainability, and lawyers play an important role. Even private companies employ lawyers with specific environmental expertise, because the environment must be taken into account very often. Even when designing commercial parking lots, for instance, the law and the environment must be taken into account, as local statues might stipulate that there must be a certain amount of foliage per square foot of parking lot. This convergence of disciplines is something I find very fascinating.
At the lecture, we briefly brushed on the subject of international environmental law. However, as I walked out, I began to wonder if that wasn’t the most important aspect of environmental law and had been largely overlooked at the lecture. After all, our current relationship with nature could be called Global Environmental Citizenship. Humans are finally beginning to realize that our fate is intertwined with our ecosystems, and our actions have great consequences on the environment. Experts in the field of international environmental law were undoubtedly involved in the success of the Montreal Protocol, which helped reduce CFC emissions that were damaging the ozone layer. They were also involved in the failure of the Kyoto Accords, which failed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. International law and diplomacy will be needed to convince the entire world, including the United States, to agree to a plan that will help preserve our environment.
This lecture was very useful to anyone considering a career in law, or interested in the environment. I enjoyed it because it was particularly relevant to me. I want to do something to help the preservation of the environment and our natural resources, and I’m interested in law. I believe it was a wholly worthwhile event and I am glad I attended.

--Nick Carey

Sha Ni
Sep 16th 2008
Environmental Studies
C.E #1
Improving Our Environment and Economy
On Monday September 15th, there was a speech called “Solving Global Warming, Improving Our Economy” at 6:00 pm in the Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge. The speaker who is from University of Texas at Austin dedicates himself to solving global warming through industrial productions. His lecture shows that how to solve global warming through economy. It is an appeal and education for the general public.
In the speech, it presents that industry has technical limit. We have 80 percent productions which is technical production, but there are only 60 percent productions actually need using technology. Therefore, this causes the waste of energy. There are so many gases which cause global warming is produced by hi-tech, such as the burning of fossil fuel and the gasoline etc. So how to solve global warming is to make small difference between “use” and “actually use”; it means we should reduce the waste of energy.
Then how solving global warming relates to improving our economy? There is an example provided: the rising price of Carbon Tax. Since the Carbon Tax cost too much and it is rising, the use is declining. Therefore, as the use decreases, the more money we can save. In the 40 percent of productions we use are the productions of technology; however, there are only 25 percent of productions we need are the productions of technology. In this speech, it appeals that everyone should save the energy; don’t use hi-tech. Here is the speech’s purpose: not only solving the global warming through reduction of use of energy, but also improving our economy through saving money. Here is a smart method to save energy: an idea called “Drive less, pay less insurance”. It calculates that driving costs 12 cents per mile, if people drive less, they can save their money. This idea uses economic way smartly to save gases in order to reduce the pollution from cars. In New York, it is very difficult to park, it encourages people to walk more or take subway. This way also reduces the pollution and saving the cost of driving which is more expensive than taking subway. There is also a method to solve the problem that the electricity costs too much; some local governments try to give benefits back if reducing the amount of use. All these methods declare the opinion of the speaker: solving global warming by reducing the waste of use and technical productions; it improves our economy that decreases our cost as well. “If we can solve the global warming smartly, we can solve any problems”.
In my opinion, the world we live in is becoming more and more intolerable because of environmental destruction. Bird flu and SARS are two typical examples that environmental destruction may threaten our life. Besides, forest destruction, water and air pollution result in decrease of planting land and unpleasant weather. This lecture main focuses on the waste of energy. I am impressed by the very smart way that using the economic idea to achieve the “both benefits” between environment and economy. Nowadays, people always believe the contradiction between environment and economy. Many of us believe that only by sacrificing environment, we can achieve the development in economy; or only by ceasing the development in economy, we can solve the environmental problems. This lecture totally changes this idea. Environment and economy can be balanced. “Solving Global Warming, Improving Our Economy”, this idea becomes more and more popular all over the world.
As we know, the Olympic game was held in Beijing, China in 2008. China is well-known as its very serious pollution, especially the huge amount of gases which cause the global warming more seriously. Chinese government realized that the Olympic game which would bring more people and activities here must cause the pollution more seriously. Therefore, the government implements a new idea called “Odd and Even”. It means that if your car number is odd, you should drive on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only; if your car number is even, you should drive on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday only. The government will pay back some of your road tax as benefit. It encourages people to walk more and take shuttle or subway. Improving the environment and solving the global warming; at the same time, people save their money by the reduction of drive cost and get benefit from the decreasing of tax as well. This implement presents that the balance between the environment and economy. In response to the implement, the quality of weather becomes better obviously and it is the best quality in the past 10 yeas. Moreover, most importantly, this method decreases the amount of SOx, NOx and COx which are the main harmful gases cause the global warming.
Here is another example. In China, when you go shopping in supermarket or shops, you will have to pay for bags if you want some. This method reduces people’s request by using economic way. It efficiently decreases the pollution of “white trash” which is usually burned. The reduction of “white trash” prevents from producing noxious gases. Both two examples show that China, as a seriously polluted country, is trying to improve its environment; most importantly, these two examples show that “Solving Global warming, Improving Our Economy”, this idea is meaningful for both environment and economy. It is the best way to keep balance between improvement of environment and development of economy.
In modern society, we tend to become more and more aware of our living environment or physical environment, because our environment is not clean as before. So many people now choose their house as to its environment but not its location and expenses to afford it. As we all know, the environment pollution is more and more serious during these years, especially the global warming which is threatening us most. What we could do is to make great efforts in protecting environment gradually. As the government has taken measure in pollution, common people, we also try to protect it and make it remain clean. We have already started to reduce our waste of energy. Although we have managed to protect the environment to a certain extent, such as some methods are presented in this lecture to get the “both benefits” between environment and economy”, it is still a very long way to go.

Dan Bravato
Environmental Studies Open House

www.environment.as.nyu.edu

I attended the Environmental Studies program open house on Wednesday October 8th at 285 Mercer Street on the 9th floor. This address is the home of NYU’s Environmental Studies Program. The program was hosted by Christoper Schlottmann, the program coordinator, and was an open academic event for anyone interested in potentially coming into this field/major. I spoke with Dale Jamieson who is a member of the core faculty. Professor Jamieson teaches environment studies, philosophy, and law. He specializes in ethics and the environment and climate change. I spoke mostly about climate change and the 2008 presidential election with Professor Jamieson. He gave me insight into how the two perspective presidents feel about climate change in the United States and across the globe. The event was not a set up debate or conversation it was more of a chance to mingle and converse with the professors and other perspective students.
The event began with everyone enjoying some pizza and talking amongst themselves. Then Professor Jamieson started by introducing himself and then everyone in the room introduced themselves. This gave insight as to who was a professor, their specialty, and who the students were. After listening to everybody’s introductions I knew that I was interested in what Professor Jamieson had to say about climate change. I approached him and asked him if he could speak to me about climate change in comparison to the 2008 presidential election. He said that both candidates were educated and were interested in putting plans in to action to help it. He also mentioned that McCain was a supporter of the 1st ever bill on climate change but over the course of time Obama has begun to support it much more strongly than McCain. He said that McCain had somewhat backed off the subject and has moved on to other things. Professor Jamieson then went on to talk about how former US Presidents such as George W. Bush made promises in the realm of climate change but never followed through. More specifically Bush claimed he would work on the clean air act yet he never did anything with it. Jamieson continued to talk about current times and our candidates by alerting me that Palin, the GOP vice-presidential candidate, was a skeptic of climate change. He spoke more about how she has voted against it and has done nothing to better understand climate change. I then asked him about more specific issues such as global warming and the greenhouse effect. Professor Jamieson told me that climate change is the major problem and if nothing is done about it, that it will merely enhance all of the other problems. He went on to mention that climate change is a very pivotal issue and something must be done by our future President. After speaking with Professor Jamieson it seemed that I had the most knowledgeable source on climate change in the room. I then spoke briefly with some of the other people in the room but not on the subject of climate change and the 2008 election.

Professor Jamieson

I had never been to an event such as the Environmental Studies Program open house before. I have never been too interested in science, any field, for the majority of my life. I only took science classes when they were required throughout high school and the beginning of college. However, the more I learn about environmental studies, the more I believe everyone should be educated on the subject. It is a science that is going on right now that no one has an answer to. Anyone can study the elements, animals, biology and so on, but environmental studies are an unsolved problem that is effecting our generation. I think this event was a good way to get people to be more interested in environmental science, however it was on such a tiny scale. I think they need a very large event that gives students a chance to speak one on one with some of the top people in the environmental studies field. This was a good start, but there were only about 25 people at this event. I think there needs to be an event advertised to the whole university on a much larger scale. Our environmental problems are very vast and are a major problem for future generations, therefore those future generations need to be educated and aware of the problems, in order to potentially solve them. This event was so interesting to me because of how it was compared to a major issue that is going on right now, the election. It puts our environment into perspective and who is doing what to fix it right now. I also enjoyed that we as students were able to walk right up to any professor and initiate a conversation based on what we wanted to learn, rather than what the professor had to tell us based on curriculum. The ability for students to learn what they want to learn is crucial in figuring out what one is actually interested in. All and all, I think this event was a good start. However, it needs to be broadened and needs to reach the entire university. I think this also needs to be at every university, this is a problem that will affect our generation and future generations, therefore we need to be educated on it in order to fix it.
I enjoyed this experience because it forced me to do something that I would have never done otherwise. I ended up enjoying my experience and was educated on climate change and how to vote for a new president if that is one of my pivotal issues. I liked that I would never have had this experience if it was not for this assignment. It was a great experience to speak with Professor Jamieson and the other professors in the program. In the end, I think this was a very good experience and I look forward to my next current event.

On October 4th, there was a national open house of buildings and public areas that are environmentally friendly. The 6BC Botanical Garden in Manhattan, located on 6th street in between Avenues B and C, took part in this American Solar Energy Society’s Green Buildings Tour. The open house showcased the garden’s use of solar energy. At the event, there were information sheets available for the public to explain the garden’s solar installation. Tracy Fitz, who founded City Solar, is one of the main designers and contributors to the solar installations. City Solar is an organization that encourages sustainable, renewable, alternative energy in public and private spaces. The event was low-key and casual, and visitors could help themselves to the information packets available and walk around the garden to see the solar-energy efforts. It was really interesting just to go to the garden because it is surrounded by buildings, and seeing nature in New York City can be rare.

At the 6BC Botanical Garden, visitors could walk around and look at the garden and the shed with the second-story library and then ask Tracy Fitz about the solar installations. A history of the project was provided that began in 1994, when some of the members of the 6BC Botanical Garden wanted to design a solar electric powered waterfall. They designed a solar electric system that powered the waterfall when the sun was out. Volunteers wanted to create a solar electric design that could power the waterfall and a small library as well. Tracy Fitz later created a battery installation with a charge controller and a timer for the pump for the waterfall. Eventually, a second story was added to a small tool shed in the garden to create a library, which is also solar powered, and volunteers placed two solar modules on top of the library’s roof. Additional solar modules were placed elsewhere in the garden. Although there was a setback to the design when a fire in 2002 damaged the batteries and the shed, they were soon restored. The specific batteries and methods of powering the library and pump were also described. For example there is a DC charging station for the weed-wacker, and DC lighting for the tool shed and library, as well as DC outlets in the library. Direct Current energy (DC) is produced by solar cells. At the garden I also noticed that in the corner, there is a community compost area, where the public can bring decomposable materials such as vegetable waste, coffee grounds, leaves, tea leaves, egg and peanut shells, worms, and even horse manure. This seems like a great way for the community to get involved in some of the efforts of the garden to improve the environment.

(picture taken from http://herls.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/2-story.jpg)

This event was a new experience for me. I had never visited the garden before, and it was really pretty inside. There are benches and little swings that you can sit on, and a pathway that goes through the garden. There is also a section where you can sit at a table, which is made out of a giant rock. It is peaceful and quiet, and completely unexpected in the busy and chaotic atmosphere of New York City. At the event, I learned about how solar energy was being used in this particular space, which was interesting because it showed me that it is possible to obtain energy and use it in a way that doesn’t damage the environment with pollutants. At the open house, there were sheets that visitors could take that told how we could “go solar” at home. Although this is unrealistic for me to do right now, it showed me that it is possible to use solar energy for electricity and also for water systems. It made me interested in learning more about solar energy and how it can be implemented on a large scale, or on a small scale, like in the 6BC garden. The open house seemed to have a positive effect on the community, because it encouraged people to come to the garden and look at the projects being done there. It also positively impacts the environment, but not only on the day of the event, but instead on an every day basis. Because the public was able to visit the garden and receive information on solar power, the event seemed to achieve its goal of educating the public on solar energy. I think that the event could have been advertised more to reach a broader group of people.

My experience at the Green Buildings Open House at the 6BC garden on October 4 was overall positive. I was happy to discover a new spot in New York that isn’t widely known about. It is easy to miss nature while living in the city, and it is nice to know that I can visit this garden. It was also really interesting to see the solar efforts that have been undertaken at the garden, and it taught me more about the importance of solar energy.

Jeffrey Biel
Current Event 1
Enviro Studies

On Wednesday, October 8, 2008, I attended the Environmental Studies Program open house event at 295 Mercer at 5:00 PM. This event was held for prospective majors, as well as, anyone who might have an interest in pursuing a career in the field of Environmental Studies. When I first arrived at the open house, many of the professors from the program were walking around and introducing themselves to the guests. At first, the event was very informal which led to tremendous conversation between the guests and faculty. The core faculty from the program, Professors Dale Jamieson, Anne Rademacher and Tyler Volk, were all open to any questions and conversations that arose. After brief introductions, the professors allowed for a question and answer portion and then another opportunity to talk to any of the professors individually.

Although all the professors who attended were extremely interesting and knowledgeable, Professor Dale Jamieson proved to be the most conversant. Professor Jamieson is teaching Ethics and in the Environment this semester, but after learning that his specialty is the study of climate-change, I became particularly intrigued. We began to discuss climate-change and global warming and how each presidential candidate intends to deal with the issues. I believe that because of the economic turmoil, the war in Iraq, and the race and gender issues that have existed during this election period, many people have stopped being concerned with where the candidates stand on environmental issues, even though it is an enormous issue.

When asked which candidate would support the environment more, Professor Jamieson noted that either candidate would be better than the last eight years under George W. Bush. Between Obama and McCain, Obama appears to have a better plan to help the environment and reduce global warming, but as Professor Jamieson warned, it is unclear what a candidate will do once in the white house. Professor Jamieson reminded us that it was George Bush who ran for president supporting the Clear Air Act and then immediately renounced it once in office. Professor Jamieson also told us of the confusion that exists throughout the environmental studies field concerning where exactly Senator McCain stands on the environment. After looking at the websites of both candidates, Senator Obama has over nine pages dedicated to climate-change and the environment, while Senator McCain has one paragraph outlining his plan. Senator McCain’s lack of information on how he hopes to help the environment is particularly startling because of his past support for bettering the environment. Senator McCain was always a strong advocate for environmental needs as evident when he introduced the first ever climate-change legislation to congress in 2003 (although it was voted down by congress on two separate occasions).

Professor Jamieson also discussed the views of the vice presidential candidates. Joe Biden appears to support Obama’s views on the importance of reducing greenhouse gases and using government spending to improve the environment, while Sarah Palin is a known climate skeptic and could potentially hurt the McCain campaign as a result. Clearly the issue of the environment has not been on the forefront during this election, but any plans to help the environment, regardless of size or structure, would be an improvement from the Bush administration.

The professors and faculty of the program also discussed potential job opportunities that one could get with an Environmental Studies degree. Initially I thought that all Environmental Studies majors would have to continue to pursue a graduate degree in the field. Graduate programs are necessary if one hopes to pursue a career in an environmentally related field, such as biology, climate-change or programs in environmental policies. Although most undergraduates do continue to graduate school, it is not entirely necessary. I was even more surprised to learn that an Environmental Studies undergraduate degree can be used towards becoming a physician. Most pre-med majors I know will receive an undergraduate degree in biology or chemistry, but that is not completely necessary. Another career choice with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies could be environmental law. As Professor Jamieson discussed, there is an enormous demand right now for lawyers that have a concentration in Environmental Studies.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed attending the Environmental Studies open house. Initially, I though that the open house was going to be boring and monotonous because I do not intend on majoring in Environmental Studies, but it actually turned into great discussion of topics that affect everyone, regardless of major. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation with the professors, I would have liked the program to be a little more structured. Many people were having extremely interesting conversations throughout the room and it was impossible to hear everyone’s individual conversations. Attending the open house was definitely beneficial and it opened my eyes to many new views and ideas concerning both the environment and the field of Environmental Studies.

The speech I went to was about how we as a global community are overusing water. Most of the available water is being used for crops. The speaker was Fred Pearce who authored the book "When the Rivers Run Dry" which is about the global water crisis. One of his main points was that in order to keep supplying the world with food we must change our habits.

calitreview.com/images/int_pearce.jpg

The biggest thing is going to be catching more of the available water. The easiest way to do this is to catch the rain water that falls on the roofs of houses. Also we must accept that people are going to have to start drinking sewage water that has been cleaned. The world is set up to allow for about 1,500 gallons per year through food, clothing, and personal consumption. Based on what he uses the average person in the US used 2,000. 500 more gallons than that is available. At the current rate by 2025 grain production will go down by one loaf of bread per week for every person on the planet, in the US this will not be a big deal but for people in other parts of the world this may be the only grains they get.

He said we need to have a blue revolution. Much like the green revolution that yielded more crops on the same amount of land we need to find a way to grow the same amount of crops with less water. Although the high yield crops feed the world they use more water than the supposed inefficient crops they replaced. So in order to keep feeding the world we must create more water efficient crops. One way he suggested was drip irrigation instead of the popular flooding irrigation used in many parts of the world. It is a big problem but unaddressed it could lead to harmful consequences as unlike the oil crisis we can not survive without water.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2145/1572659781_20e970ecfd.jpg

The Bronx zoo is one of the few places that I remember fondly since childhood. Any school that was remotely close to the New York Metropolitan area was probably given the opportunity to visit this spectacular natural preserve. So given the chance to do an event blog on this amazing zoo, I jumped at the prospect. On Saturday October 4th, I took the 5 train to East 180th Street and then walked 15 minutes to the zoo itself. The admission itself was inexpensive, priced at thirteen dollars; however I should’ve went on a Wednesday when admission is free. Upon entering the zoo, the scenery was simply breathtaking. The wooded walkways ranged from paths to large roads carrying hefty traffic.

The zoo is separated into multitude of main attractions including the African Plains, Congo Gorilla Forest, JungleWorld, Madagascar, and Tiger Mountain, Baboon Reserve, and the Himalayan Highlands.

The Congo is a 6.5 acre recreation of the heart of Africa rainforest. This area is home to hogs, monkeys, gorillas, and numerous other species ranging from amphibian life to different types of birds. However, in order to get in, fee is charged on entry. But the I was given the opportunity to select a conservation project to which that money will be donated to. In addition to attempting to conserve nature’s wildlife, educational videos are also shown to warn the visitors about the damage to the environment.

One of the most interesting features of the Bronx Zoo is the Wild Asia Monorail. This guide tour/ride let you easily spot animals. In addition, the monorail would slow down when a herd roaming animals come into view. Some of the animals spotted were deer, antelope, and different types of cattle.

One of my favorite exhibits is probably the African plains. This area is home to zebras lions, cheetahs, giraffes, and African dingo’s. However, some of the animals were disappointing to watch. Lions were inactive for long periods of time before even twitching in its sleeps. The visitor may feel like the animals are living in the same exhibit, but they are actually separated by rivers that they cannot cross in this African Plains exhibit. Along this trail, there are so many opportunities to capture pictures of many dangerous and harmless mammals appearing in a safe distance. African Plains is not open all year round; it is one of the seasonal exhibits in Bronx Zoo. I was lucky that they didn’t close it in October.

The three acre Tiger Mountain is a enclosed habitat with six Siberian tigers who are kept behind a thick glass cage. Inside is a large pool where the tiger can bath or play or even drink. Inside the cage is also a scratching post and balls on a chain for the tiger's enjoyment. One negative aspect regarding Tiger Mountain is the fact that there is a smell coming from the mountain. This may be artificial stench that is sprayed to make the tigers not feel alienated. Tiger Mountain is created to be exactly like the environment of Asia where the tigers can feel at home. If I didn't know that the tigers were captive, I would've believed that I'm actually in Asia!

Overall the trip to the Bronx Zoo was a very interest and exciting one. It was well worth the $15 admission and my four hours spent there. This trip taught me much about nature and how it’s important to conserve nature’s treasures while we still have it. In addition, it offered me the opportunity to upload photos onto facebook.

The event I went to was a lecture by Fred Pearce about how the earth’s water supply is going dry and many of the earth’s rivers are drying up. There are many reasons for this that Mr. Pearce went into. One example is that while the green revolution helped in terms of the amount of land being used for agriculture, many of today’s mass agricultural activities such as the production of beef and cotton use up large amounts of water. Another reason is climate change and there is less rainfall coming down is many areas, but the largest reason is the huge amounts of water that we use in our production of every day materials.
According to Mr. Pearce, the countries in the world are going to have to change some of their ways in order to conserve water. This could mean cutting down the amount of exporting in countries like the US, where water is being used to produce products that are then being exported and not even being used in the US. While little things like this can help, in order for real progress to be made people must start looking at water as a resource that must be conserved. Some ways to do this is to fix leaks in the water storage system, come up with more advance ways to catch rainwater, and create more water efficient system of irrigation and farming.

Jess Donovan
Environmental Studies
Community Event 1

On October 1, I attended a lecture on Environmental Law at 285 Mercer Street at six o’clock. It was hosted by an NYU law professor, Katrina Wyman. This event’s purpose was to inform NYU undergrads about all aspects of environmental law. There was about twenty students there. Many were already in the Environmental Studies program. The majority were juniors or seniors, with a few sophomores and freshman. This was a relaxed, informative lecture with a question and answer session at the end.

Professor Wyman first gave us background information on environmental law before she answered questions. I learned about what environmental lawyers actually do. Environmental lawyers work for four main purposes. First, environmental lawyers support or petition against the development of land. If an area is under debate to be developed, environmental law is involved. Second, environmental lawyers can work in the Senate, Department of Justice, or other government agencies to regulate laws concerning nature and the environment. Working for the government is the “do good” aspect of environmental law. Government agencies use environmental law to protect the environment (whereas lawyers working for private firms may be working against existing regulations and actually damaging the environment). An example would be amending the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act. Environmental lawyers also work for environmental defense and work for NGOs, non-government organizations. An example of a NGO is Earth Justice. Lastly, a main component of environmental law is drafting policies on political environmental issues.
In addition to working for NGOs and the government, environmental lawyers can also work in private law firms and private companies or manufacturers. Lawyers that work for private law firms are hired to help large companies comply with the land use laws and minimize environmental impacts. For example, lawyers may work for a company to make sure its factories do not exceed the legal limit of chemical emissions. In private companies and manufacturers, lawyers are permanently on staff to help that specific company to abide by environmental laws and regulations. A lawyer working for a private company may also lobby government policies for the benefit of the company.
Next Wyman gave background information about law school. Law is conforming to the existing system. Law school, I learned, is not specialized. For example, a law student isn’t studying environmental law at law school – everyone graduates with the same law degree, then law grads can get a job concerning environmental issues. Lawyers who attain positions in agencies or practices where environmental law is the focus then name themselves environmental lawyers.
As for law schools, Wyman said that there are two well known schools for environmental law – Lewis and Clark College and Pace University. However, Wyman said that NYU offers an equally respectable law school, and a degree from NYU law looks much better than a degree from Lewis and Clark or Pace. NYU has four professors dedicated to environmental law and is listed among the top ten law schools in the country.
Wyman also suggested taking time off between undergrad and law school. Finding an internship or working in a law firm as a paralegal, and gaining experience, will help you decide if you want to commit to law school. Working around environmental lawyers is important to decide if it is what you want to do – before you make the time and monetary commitment to law school. Wyman is a strong advocate of gaining experience and saving money before committing to law school.
A common misconception about environmental lawyers is that they are not commonly litigating in court. Even though they have a degree in law, this type of lawyer does not spend much time practicing law in a courtroom. Instead, environmental lawyers spend more of their time drafting documents, policies, or regulations and negotiating with other companies. Therefore, environmental law students do not necessarily need to be argumentative and loud. Environmental law is a different kind of law that is “document intensive” and does not require much litigation. Important characteristics for an environmental law student to have, according to Wyman, are hardworking, highly motivated, and meticulous. A law student must also be willing to give up a lot of time to studying.
Becoming an environmental lawyer is an attainable goal after a lot of work, but Wyman said that getting a high position is very difficult. A successful career doesn’t come easily. Wyman said becoming a partner is as difficult as becoming a law professor.

I found this lecture extremely relevant because I am interested in both environmental studies and law. I knew nothing before about the specifics of environmental law, but now I have a general idea. I learned what sets environmental lawyers apart from the rest – they very rarely appear to litigate in courtrooms. Now that I have some information from Professor Wyman, I can start considering it as an option for my future. I think the other participants would agree that it was a helpful question and answer session. Wyman answered everyone’s questions and gave us helpful advice, such as finding a job as a paralegal to try out the work environment before spending thousands and thousands of dollars on law school.
I think if more students attended this event it would be even better because more participants would bring more questions and insight into the discussion. However, Wyman held a successful, educational lecture and answered all the questions with concise, honest answers. Her honesty was most important – telling us that realistically, law school is an extremely big time commitment for a student and his time has to be entirely dedicated to it for a successful outcome.
Since I am interested in possibly one day pursuing a major in environmental science or going to law school, Wyman’s information session was very helpful. She also welcomed everyone to approach her with any further questions. This event was an overall success and I enjoyed hearing what Wyman had to say. It was a worthwhile use of my time and I’m glad I picked it for my first community event.

http://www.abovethelaw.com/images/entries/New%20York%20University%20Law%20School%20NYU%20Law%20School%20Above%20the%20Law.JPG

http://communities.justicetalking.org/Themes/Default/Images/Affiliates/EarthJustice_logo.jpg

Sidra Farooqi
Community Event 1
Environmental Studies

On Tuesday, September 30th I attended a lecture on “Equitable Solutions of the Climate and Carbon Problem”, held in the Welcome Center on Gould Plaza. The event was a formal academic lecture and was open to the public, although for whatever reason, the majority of the audience was comprised of what appeared to be faculty and not students. The speaker for the event was Stephen W. Pacala, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, and Director of the Princeton Environmental Institute, which is Princeton University’s center for environmental education and research.

http://web.princeton.edu/sites/pei/index.html
Overall, the event was academic and informative; Dr. Pacala lectured on climate change and various methods to combat it and reduce carbon emissions, although he was frequently interrupted by an unidentified scientist in the front row who could not resist the urge to repeatedly jump up and correct Dr. Pacala on excruciatingly minor details, such as the particular month of the year when a survey was released, or the pronunciation of a fellow scientist’s surname. Despite these obnoxious interruptions, Dr. Pacala managed to deliver a lecture which I was pleasantly surprised to find was both educational and amusing – he made dull (or what I consider dull, I’m sure others find them highly exciting) topics interesting and related examples to our everyday lives.

Dr. Pacala began by listing the four excuses government officials, politicians, and the public have used in the past to justify lack of action to combat climate change – the first excuse is that climate change doesn’t exist, the second is that there is no technology available to prevent it, the third is that it is too expensive to combat climate change, and the fourth excuse is that there is no point in taking serious action until the biggest global carbon emitters are on board. He then went through the four excuses, explaining why each was unjustified.

First, he explained why there is ample reason to believe that global warming is a real threat and that climate change will negatively affect us; much of what Dr. Pacala spoke about was similar to what we learned in class, as he discussed greenhouse gases, and the rise in average temperature over the past few centuries, and why it was not a typical cyclical pattern, as many cynics believe. Then he explained how it is possible to use technology, such as solar panels, wind power, and solar electricity to fight global warming. Dr. Pacala did not deny that sometimes these technologies can be expensive; instead, he stressed that despite costs, they are necessary. He explained that because climate change becomes more threatening every year, the cost to prevent it grows more expensive every year – and so, it is best to act as soon as possible.

The last excuse he addressed was that no action should be taken until everyone, especially the largest carbon emitters, is on board; this excuse has been used recently by several government officials, including, I’m shocked to say, our very own President. Dr. Pacala explained that while it is true that nations such as China are larger emitters, it does not mean immediate action should not be taken. He explained that since nations such as China and India are developing countries, it is not fair to hinder their possible economic growth and thus endanger their people by forcing them to contribute money they may not be able to. His overall point was that radical decarbonization of emissions in wealthy nations is mandatory in the next half century, to both the planets’ well-being and the well-being of humanity.

His other main point was that conservation is simply not enough – if it were the only method used, and humans had a limit on their carbon emissions per capita, it would greatly hinder our lifestyle, because we would be forced to travel less and engage in minimal activities. Dr. Pacala also stated that he believed there is little difference between the energy policies of presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain, although Obama’s policies are slightly more environmentally beneficial. Also, McCain’s vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, is certainly not opposed to on-shore drilling, although Dr. Pacala pointed out that the oil in Alaska will last us a mere ten years. Therefore, serious government legislation is needed to outline a plan in the near future to combat climate change, in addition to research and development of alternative fuels.

Photo of a melting glacier: http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/meltingglaciers.jpg

Possible solutions: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/jcwinni/TARGET-GLOBAL-WARMING-3.jpg

While this was my first time attending an environmental lecture outside of class, it was not very different from the lectures I attend on a weekly basis; the professor lectured about the topic and gave us an opportunity to ask questions and respond to his statements. Although I initially
expected that the event would be tedious, Dr. Pacala managed to be both informative and entertaining, as he was knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. I was surprised by how much I learned and the information I still remember, although I didn’t write it all in my notes. What I found most interesting is that unlike many people who are highly concerned about the environment, Dr. Pacala didn’t lecture us on our personal behavior – not once did he talk about trading in our SUV’s for hybrids, or reducing our carbon footprints with far less travel. In fact, he stated that he dislikes environmental extremists who discourage humans from living very active lives, and insisted that while it is important to conserve, the time has come for us to turn our focus to the research and creation of new technologies.

What I learned about most is the new emerging technology of wind and solar power; although I’ve seen dozens of commercials depicting wind turbines and wind power plants, and have heard about the benefits of solar energy, Dr. Pacala detailed how wind and solar power is harnessed into energy and how it can be used as an alternative to other fuels which increase carbon emissions. Also, while I was previously familiar with consequences of climate change such as drought and the warming of the planet, I learned that the rise in sea level due to melting glaciers is now causing instable ocean circulation, leading to a rising intensity in tropical hurricanes. While I think the event was highly informative and successful, I think it would have been of greater value to the community had Dr. Pacala been able to lecture to a broader audience. The limited seating prevented more people from attending and I saw many people simply leave after being denied seats, although others stood in the back to attend the event.

Overall, I benefitted from the lecture and based on the fact that many stayed afterwards to ask questions and speak to Dr. Pacala, most of the audience did as well. Although I’m not an Environmental Studies major and don’t have a passion for science, I found myself genuinely interested. I’m involved in the Earth Matters club at NYU and while I regularly go to club meetings, I never attended any of the lectures or debates because I assumed they would be boring, but this event has given me a different perspective.

by: Katherine Snedden
On October 15th, I attended the lecture, “Saving Lives: Changing Horizons in Humanitarian Response” at 5 Washington Place. At the reception, which began at 6:30, I found myself surprised at the mix of people at the event. There were a few who looked to be students, but most were older folks- the sort that could actually donate to an organization like Oxfam. Others were participants or employees in other humanitarian organizations, who I assumed was interested in looking at Oxfam’s methods to improve their own. After our fill of cheese and grapes, we went down around 7:30 for the power-point presentation by Dr. Miriam Aschkenasy, a bubbly and talkative woman who was obviously very passionate about Oxfam and her field work in numerous countries around the world. The lecture in particular focused on Moyale, Ethiopia and the efforts to not only aid, but prevent, disasters such as famine and drought.
The lecture was in the format of power-point and began stating the overall purpose of Oxfam and their plans for the future of humanitarian aid. Oxfam is well-known for their aid in helping people with water and sanitation, decreasing the prevalence of disease and other disasters. However, Oxfam is now interested in the possibilities of evidence based programming to incorporate into emergency response. What this essentially means is that in order to prevent famine, drought, or disease, data must be collected from individuals living in the community. Over time, Oxfam will actually be able to predict when disaster will occur and help prevent it. Though this method is incredibly time-consuming and still in the pilot stage, graphs from over the past couple of years revealed that aid was more effective when Oxfam was able to track Moyale so closely. Oxfam employees would go from village to village and ask questions to the few women responsible for giving data. Only women were asked to be data collectors because in that culture women do most of the work, including retrieving water, taking care of the household, and keeping track of food. So they would ask the women like on a scale of one to ten how much cleaner or dirtier the water was. The trick to this system is also to be respectful of the African culture. For example, one cannot simply ask about food because it would be rude, so the Oxfam people would have to figure out other ways to find out food supply without offending the villagers. After all the data was collected, it was put into a graph to show, for example, the number of meals per day a family ate over the months. From the graph, it was clear that after January there was a sharp drop in the number of meals eaten, so Oxfam was immediately able to respond and give aid as soon as possible. After the lecture, there was a Q&A session in which members from the audience asked questions. One was “how do you keep the women honest?”, which I found to be a very good question. The response was the villages were so far apart that it would be impossible for the women to get together and come up with a certain answer that would work to their advantage. If even one village was lying, the other villages’ data would point it out.
Not having much knowledge on humanitarian organizations, I truly enjoyed the Oxfam lecture and would absolutely like to learn more about the organization. I liked the idea of evidence based programming and I have a lot of respect for the people involved who painstakingly collect data and travel hours upon hours to help these communities. Now that I’ve had a brief introduction to humanitarian work, I’d like to know more about it and how I can get involved. This event has great value to the community in that it looks outside of the NYU bubble I live in to bring light to global issues and the different possibilities to mitigate them. I wouldn’t say the people at Oxfam are doing a service to the environment, but rather the people living in it. The lecture definitely achieved its aims because I came away feeling more knowledgeable about Oxfam and its future plans for delivering aid to countries all over the world, including the United States. To improve the event, I would have liked more background information about what Oxfam has done in the past. Most people there already knew about the organization, but I, being clueless, did not and would have liked a little more context. Other than that, I would say the only way to broaden its impact would be to get more people involved. Oxfam relies on donations and volunteers for support.
Overall, I found the event to be worth my time and in the future I would consider going to more Oxfam events. I already plan to do my own research and look further into what the organization accomplishes. I chose this event because it looked like it could be educational and would relate to our studies on human population and food. I was impressed with the presenter and the lecture as a whole, as it made me want to learn more.

Link:
http://www.oxfam.org/

On Wednesday October 15th at 6:30 pm in NYU’s 5 Washington Place building, I was fortunate enough to attend an informative discussion given by Dr. Miriam Aschkenasy, an enthusiastic specialist in emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center as well as, if not even more impressive, Oxfam America’s Public Health Specialist, a vital and passionate driving force behind the formation of Oxfam’s innovative, and hopefully successful, initiative approach to disaster risk reduction, known as “early warning system.” This discussion, given to a rather small audience of what appeared to be most entirely made up of current participating donators or potential donators, aimed to prove to their supporters that the funds given to this non governmental organization were actually going towards the promised attempt of achieving the goals set forth by the Oxfam company. The evening started with drinks and appetizers to initiate the friendly ambience that was consistent throughout the entire experience even as the subject became more difficult to understand and much more saddening, to say the least (but thanks to their continued and hard efforts, a dark cloud with what appears to be, the hint of a silver lining).

Dr. Aschkenasy, who spoke to advocate the continued need for funding of the NGO Oxfam, an international relief and development organization whose mission is to create long term solutions to the devastating and ongoing global crises of “poverty, hunger, and injustice,” through its development of relationships in over 120 countries, combined with local partners, and most importantly through the incorporation and involvement of the actual crisis stricken community members.

I've never been to any sort of environmental fair, so I felt like going to one would be interesting- especially if free food and animal exhibits were included ( as shown in the brochure). The fair took place Tuesday, September 23, 2008 around 7:30pm, on a cool nice evening with a hint of a small sweeping breeze. I went with a couple of friends to where the fair was on Pier 66 Maritime inside the Frying Pan cafe/ bar. As we entered the pier the scenery was beautiful! Right on the shore with a couple of old boats floating on the water, the fair seemed like the optimal place to have a community event. At the front of the fair there was a check- in table that bordered the many people within the fair. There were about 50 different tables set up for all different types of environmental organizations. All the people at the fair were extremely helpful and passionate about their cause. You couldn't pass a table without having someone try to grasp your attention about their cause. At the very back of the fair was the food stand that offered different sandwiches, chips, and an assortment of different dips. However, skimming through all the stands with their captivating demonstrations of different animals and what I even saw as costumed jellyfish, I completely forgot about the free food.
I knew this was a teacher's fair before I attended, so almost every table i encountered seem to be advertising workshops and activities that teachers should use to improve their student's knowledge about the community, and indeed this fair did a very good job to promote environmental awareness. However, even still, despite all the coloring books and all the kids' magazines, I felt like this fair was also a wonderful way to promote awareness in others besides children. All the different environmental issues were broken down into very basic terminology when the different people at the fair explained them to me- and we all know that this is usually the best approach for the average American. Issues ranging from endangered species, water quality and soils were all brought up in this fair- and of course climate change was not neglected.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was also their- I mingled with the lady their for a little, Sarah was her name, and she explained to me how I can also fight climate change as an individual. For instance turning off the TV, lights, computer if I wasn't using it- and not just turning it off but unplugging my electronics. She also talked to me about driving and techniques to help the issue of climate change by the way I brake and the way I speed. She even provided me all sorts of brochures to help inform and explain all the things I, as an individual, could do to help stop all the methane and CO2 rising up in the air- she made it very clear that fighting climate change is a group effort and that i should help spread the word and take some more brochures for my friends.
I also took some time at the Free Community Rowing stand. The representatives at the stand told me that building boats and rowing them on the bronx river help promote environmental awareness because it helps people appreciate nature and its wonders a little bit more. Immediately I understood the emotional appeal that they were trying to promote. It was a more modern way of advocating environmental issues- not the original pragmatic approach. Their idea was that by building boats and rowing the boats on the river, people are directly interacting with the beauty and fruits of nature- therefore they will appreciate nature more and want to conserve it.
Another very exciting stand was the Earth Celebrations stand- well maybe if it wasn't for the shiny pink and blue human jellyfish it wouldn't have been so exciting. They were promoting the different events where people go and celebrate the beauty of the planet- which I guess kind of matched their costumes, at least if they could say so. At these celebrations they endorse, there is poetry reading, art displaying and costume workshops- a perfect combination of kid and adult fun.
It's good to know that there are these types of fairs that promote environmental awareness to children. Children are our future- and if students are taught today to conserve the environment and to treasure it, this way of thinking will profoundly change the way they interact with it in the future. There is almost nothing I can say that was negative about this fair, except that I wish more of these environmental workshops and activities were free and endorsed by the public instead of so many private agencies. The environment is a public thing, everyone in New York- in the world- are part of it, and if the workshops and activities offered in the fair were more accessible then there would be more awareness.

Amanda Sakuma

I had managed to pick up a spare in the last round, but with only two pins down and one frame left, prospects were not looking good. My opponent was already ahead and she could plow down the field with a wicked curve that came out of nowhere. Sadly, that opponent was a 6 year-old girl who stood no taller than my waist. She was absolutely schooling me in pumpkin bowling. I watched as she lobbed the stemless pumpkin down the lane at the rows of butternut squash serving as pins. Each “pin” keeled over in defeat. It was no surprise when the little girl won the prize of a mini painted pumpkin for conquering the match. Her parents offered me warm, thankful smiles as a consolation. As if I had lost on purpose.

Instead of living in up at school in New York City, I was spending my first Saturday of October in farm country. After taking a 5-hour flight to my hometown of Burlington, Washington for a completely unrelated event, I found myself at the Festival of Family Farms. An annual event of the community, the festival was originated by Washington State University’s Department of Agriculture. Composed of 12 local farms in the area, the event was established to educate the community on understanding where their food comes from. Now a non-profit organization, the Festival of Family Farms combines learning with fun family oriented activities under the slogan of “Acres of Fun for Everyone!”

My family’s berry farm (yes, berry farm) was one of those featured in the festival. My parents had bribed me to attend with prospects of free food. So, with a steamy, hot and fresh corn on the cob in hand, I sat squished in between two little kids on a trailer of hay bails for a tractor-ride tour of the farm that I had worked on all summer. My mom, the tour guide of the hour, sat at the head of the trailer with what looked like a mini karaoke machine that projected her voice over the roar of the engine.

I munched on my snack with kernels lodged in my teeth as my mom explained the progression of how our food is grown and harvested. Though I had worked on “the farm” since I could remember, it was almost embarrassing how little I knew about it. I did not know that our plants were propagated, or reproduced, through a process called plant tissue culture. This process essentially replicates plants without ever having a seed. It still sounds crazy to me.

After the tour, I headed towards the information tent to get out of the cold and to grab more free food samples. Tables were set up along the perimeter of the tent, some offering tutorials on pruning; others were giving free samples of caramel apples. The table that drew in the largest crowd was the one dedicated entirely to information on organic food. “Charlie the Organic Guy” was already in a deep conversation with some young families by the time I had joined. The question of the day asked by many parents was why buy local organic food instead of what is available at the grocery stores?

Charlie had an interesting response. He told the crowd that though conventional produce at grocery stores offered lower prices, customers are unable to know where it came from, how it was grown, and what pesticides were used. An advocate of buying fresh local produce, Charlie explained the importance of knowing that what you buy is fresh and suitable for consumption. He had an interesting point that though there are organic certifications on food, they are only applied to how they are grown. According to Charlie, there are no government regulations concerning the transportation of organic produce. The verdict, he said, was to buy fresh and local whenever available. His talk made me appreciate the Union Square market that came in front of my dorm 4 times a week.

Overall, to me, the event seemed to be a success. This was the first year of the festival that I was able to be a bystander rather than the hired help. Washington is notoriously dreary during this time of year, and this day was no different. The gentle drizzle was a testament to the family’s dedication and stability against the weather. I was told later that the festival of all 12 farms drew in roughly 15,000-20,000 visitors throughout the two-day event.

I am an advocate of the festival and what it stands for. My rural community is expanding faster than ever, but it still seems as though community members still believe in farmland preservation. Kids were able to physically see where their food came from, and how it was harvested and brought to their table. Parents were able to learn about the difference between organic and non-organic products to determine what they want to offer their family. It really was “Acres of Fun for Everyone!”

On Wednesday, September 24th, I attended a forum on solar energy held in the Kimmel Center. The forum was hosted by NYLCVEF, or the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. NYLCVEF is presenting a series of three such forums called ‘Powering the Future.’ They will all address different forms of alternative energy that could be utilized by New York in the near future. The two forums to come will be addressing wind power and nuclear power.
The forum opened with remarks and a quick presentation on the basics of solar energy. Then we were introduced to the panel. There were six panel members. Paul DeCotis is the deputy secretary for energy in the office of governor David Paterson. Jody Durst is the co-president of the Durst Organization, a real estate company that has been working on “building green.” The director of the air and energy program of the natural resources defense council, Ashok Gupta, was another panel member. Then there was the CEO of altPOWER (a renewable energy developing firm), Anthony Pereira, and Randolph Price, the vice president of environment, health, and safety of ConEdison, the electric service source in New York City as well as some areas nearby. Last but not least there was Gil Quiniones, the executive vice president of the New York Power Authority. The forum mostly consisted of the host, Matthew Sollars, who is a politics and government reporter for Crain’s New York Business, addressing the panel with questions that would address different aspects of solar energy.
All renewable energy is expensive, and solar energy is no exception. Creating the means to access solar energy are not cheap. Installing solar panels would be an investment, and it is not one the government can fund alone. Taxpayers would need to be willing to invest as well. Solar energy, like most renewable energy, is expensive now, but we must put the money into it to be able to reap the benefits. According t o Paul DeCotis, the government has considered its possibilities, such as incentive packages for those who are interested in using renewable energy but find the price to be a bit steep. Another option is regulation action, forcing the people of New York to cut down on the amount of electricity and energy we currently use. Mandates on utilizing a certain amount of renewable energy by a certain date is another suggestion. But there are issues with all of these options. Even incentive packages cannot cover the costs of installing solar panels, and many families simply can’t afford to invest so much money where they won’t see any benefits for some time. Regulation action is hard to enforce, especially when New Yorkers have not been living with any form of energy restraints thus far. Mandates on utilizing specific amounts of renewable energy are the most likely, when applied to an entire city. New York is currently hoping to add one thousand megawatts of solar energy into the New York power grid by 2015, but currently there are not enough funds to create the sources to provide solar energy. Other forms of alternative energy are more affordable and more practical with the funds we have. Many of our funds are currently being directed towards utilizing wind power, and that is part of the reason we have not invested as much in solar power. The money that was directed towards photovoltaic power ran out, as there was more interest than had been anticipated. The ideal situation for a city like New York would be to use as much of every kind of alternative energy as possible. The government is trying to encourage alternative energy, and they are hoping that using it will become trend, similar to the way organic food has become popular. The money is earmarked for where it can do the most good, and currently, solar energy doesn’t seem to be the most productive way to spend it. Attending a forum such as this one was a new experience for me. I have never attended a panel on the environment before, nor did I know very much about solar energy before I attended this event. I was aware that it was an effective form of renewable energy, but beyond that I didn’t have much information on it. The panel was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, especially because it was not focused on just the environmental aspect of using solar energy, but also the way it could affect the city and how the government plays a very important role. It is easy to think that everyone should just be ‘green,’ and take advantage of things such as renewable energy, but it is not always as simple as that. The impression I got from most of the panel was that they would all like to make solar energy a part of our everyday lives; however, it will take more than just hoping for that to happen. The people in this city need to feel invested in this cause for them to invest more of their tax money to create the sources of solar energy. It was also interesting to view New York in comparison to New Jersey, or other more rural areas. Part of the reason that alternative energy is so difficult here is because the city is such a dense place. Installing solar panels on the roof of a building would barely provide enough energy for one or two apartments, let alone an entire building. Looking at renewable energy from several different angles made it a much more educational experience, because it reminds me that it is not simply about the environment, but also about what we can manage.
I did enjoy this event, and I feel pretty knowledgeable about solar energy now. I am interested in seeing what happens in the next couple of years in New York, and whether we can succeed in adding solar energy to the power grid here. I think it could be a great way to start making New York a little bit more green.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Mafate_Marla_solar_panel_dsc00633.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Gleisdorf.Solarbaum.jpg

By: Melissa Aragon

While I was at home over break, I ventured down from Albuquerque to Carlsbad, New Mexico to see Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This was something I had done a few times before, once with my parents when we also visited White Sands National Park and the Atomic Museum in Alamogordo. This time I went to southern New Mexico with one purpose, and one purpose only, to see caves and bats.

The Drive from Albuquerque to Carlsbad is about a three and a half to four hour drive, depending on traffic (it was about five hours on the way back because of traffic in Albuquerque). The drive from Carlsbad to the park is another hour and a half. The actual time I spent in the cave was about four hours, from 9:00am-1:00pm.

The Park itself is situated on a very tall hill, or a very small mountain depending on how one looks at it. Upon entering the actual park, it’s about a half an hour drive from the base to the top, where the welcome center and all attractions are located. Right before the park entrance, I saw laid out alongside the road a few buildings, basically an overpriced gas station and a plaza with a gift shop. I drove through the gates welcoming me to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I thought to myself how excited I was that we were finally there, but little did I know about the long drive up to the top. We winded up this mountain, yes, I would call it a mountain, until we reached our destination.

I went with the intention of seeing the bat flight the evening before I went into the cave, but it was rained out, and I did not get to make it to the amphitheater. Those raindrops were huge- and not by New Mexico standards, either. The drive up the mountain into the greeting center and the path towards the amphitheater to see the bat flight had the densest fog I had ever driven in. Come to think of it, it was the only fog I had driven in. With visibility at what seemed of only five feet ahead, I left the greeting center, which never officially canceled the viewing- I mean, they could never tell the bats “NO,” but as I talked to people in my tour group the next day, the rain only got worse and it made for a less than enjoyable bat flight- with the park ranger less than enthused about speaking to a small group of huddled umbrellas.

I started out early the next morning, and with a long drive ahead of me, and a less than optimistic view of what the Carlsbad Caverns were, overrated and not worth the drive. Day two was definitely a much more productive day. I arrived at the Caverns around 9:00am and was in the depths of the cavern by half after. I had the option of taking the ‘original route,’ in which one enters the way the first group of explorers did, through a steep and narrow path about a mile and a half long. I chose instead to take the path more traveled- the approximately two minute elevator ride. We descended over 700 feet, and were still far above sea level, even at the lowest part of the cave.

I first took a self-guided tour around the Big Room, where there were placards spaced out, describing possible theories as to cave formation, information of preservation, chemical makeup and descriptions of stalagmites and stalactites. The one and a half mile path of the Big Room took about an hour, and after wandering through the cave in as near authentic silence that I could get in a National Park, it was time for the guided tour I bought earlier that morning to start.

I left the Big room and met my tour guide, along with about 30 other people of my tour. While the tour guide was waiting for everyone to show up, he asked us all where we were from, and in our tour alone we had people who had traveled from as far as Taiwan and Germany. I would never had thought of New Mexico, let alone the small town of Carlsbad, which takes about fifteen minutes to drive through, and is surrounded by desert, would be a place worth traveling 7000 miles or more for, but this was one of those times when I was proven wrong.

Before taking us through the guided section of the cave, our park ranger gave us two explanations as to how this cavern was formed millions of years ago. One explanation was that sulfuric acid, which came from below slowly rose to where we were, dissolving large pieces of rock, and leaving the large cavern we see today. Our tour guide described how he had tried an experiment in which he dropped either sulfuric acid, or hydrochloric acid (I can’t recall now) on a rock, and that within a week, signs of erosion and breakdown of the rock had occurred. He even had the rock with us, and showed us a dent in the rock, and he explained that that’s where he had been putting his chemical. Though the validity of his individual “experiment” may be doubted, the theory behind it seemed to be a credible one. Another theory was that the cavern was formed by dripping water. Slightly acidic water that trickles down onto rocks such as limestone has the power to erode it over time, and many geologists believe this, along with the prevalence of sulfuric acid is what formed the cavern we can see today.

We proceeded through the tour, and at one point we were shown a large room in which, during a time when cave preservation was not as an important issue is it is now, senate meetings were held, and even the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth was filmed, and a wedding and reception that took place, completely flattening and sanding out the part of the cave the size of about two the size of Coles gym floor. The park ranger explained that the process to restore the effects will take thousands of years to recover, if it ever recovers at all.

The park ranger talked about all the ways the National Park Service tried to help preserve the cave, and in some instances ended up degrading some of it instead. He explained how the parking lot and welcome center were situated right over the cave, and how though this road allows visitors into park, the asphalt has completely stopped the ability for water to drip down into the cave from that area. Usually, he explained, ground water will trickle down into the cave, but because a large piece of asphalt does not let the water be absorbed, water cannot flow down and continue to create formations.

The tour ended with one last speech by the park ranger, one that I distinctly remember from my last trip to Carlsbad. He discussed problems that the park was having with the preservation of the cavern. There are new parts of the Cavern that are still being discovered and explored for the first time, and they are finding that the cave may extend past the park’s boarder. Recently, certain companies, as the ranger explained, have been building closer and closer to the parks boarders. One of these companies in particular have become very interested in drilling very close to the boarder, near where this cave lies, and Cavern preservationists are concerned that drilling could either disturb the rock around the cave, or actually puncture part of a cave that has not been mapped out yet, completely disturbing and even destroying the cave’s ecosystem. He ended the tour saying something along the lines of, “during this election, make sure you vote wisely, or else you may elect someone who will let this cave be destroyed.”

I took more from this trip than any other, as I actually paid attention to what the park ranger had to say. Taking this last trip made me realize that I come from a place where even a hole in the ground is something pretty special.

Conscious Capitalism: John Mackey Chairman and CEO Whole Foods Market

There is nothing like grocery shopping- the colors, the smells, but most importantly the food. Grocery shopping is so much more than buying those delicious treats for the table- it is an experience. At least that is Whole Food’s CEO John Mackey believes.
We all know Whole Foods, its green sign has become a symbol for natural and organic grocery around the United States. Whole Foods Market has snuck its way into our consciousness and has become the symbol for the green movement in organic produce. However, unknown to most is the man behind these whole foods, the 25 yr-old who had a dream in 1980 to open a natural foods market in Austin, Texas. With 10,000 feet to work with and a goal to sell only foods from local growers- John Mackey and his girlfriend Renee Lawson began what we know as one of the top 12 supermarket companies in America. Some thirty years later, Mackey has built a $5.6 billion Fortune 500 company and as started initiatives that deal with sustainable food in the global marketplace.
On Wednesday, October 8th John Mackey gave a speech at NYU for the “Social Entrepreneurship in the 21st century,” and although he did talk a great deal about food, his lecture based itself upon the concept of “conscious capitalism.” He started out by stating, “Happiness is a bi-product of other things, like food. Profit is also a bi-product of other things: higher business, customer satisfaction, and social/environmental sustainability.” A market for him needed to be a more humanized and holistic experience where the biggest stakeholders were the customers. He started with core values (which are printed on each bag):
1. Selling the highest quality natural & organic products available
2. Satisfying & delighting our customers
3. Supporting team member happiness and excellence
4. Creating wealth through profits and growth
5. Caring about our communities and environments
Mackey’s mission is simple: Whole Foods, Whole People, and Whole Environment. In order to do that however he created a different business paradigm: conscious capitalism.
What is conscious capitalism? It is a business with a deeper purpose beyond maximizing profit; although, Mackey did mention repeatedly, “we still want to do that to!” Conscious capitalism is the move to optimize value. Enough with industrious capitalism- no more running a business like a machine that doesn’t care about its parts. The goal is to run efficiently and productively while taking care of the people that matter most, the customers.
To run a business based on purpose and empowerment is different in our age. It is the way of the future. As developed nations are technologically advancing and progress is nipping at our heels: John Mackey has found a way to bring together peace and love through food. It was a good time to attend the lecture, because in a midst of such an economic crisis as these September/October bailout months have been, it is comforting to know that there are capital markets and business paradigms that are looking out for other people, rather than just themselves. In fact that is the art of conscious capitalism, to create love- love of self and others.
Whole Foods Market really has acted upon these initiatives. “The Whole Planet Foundation’s mission is to create economic partnerships with the poor in those developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. Through innovative assistance for entrepreneurship- including direct micro-credit loans and tangible support for other community partnership projects- we seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human beings we work with in order to create wealth and prosperity in emerging countries.” Whole Foods holds community-giving days where five percent of net sales are donated to local nonprofits and educational organizations in the communities. Their “Whole Planet Foundation” is following Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus’ micro-credit initiatives that lend money to women in third world countries in order for them to create and build self-employment projects. The range of global communities that Whole Foods Market helps is from Africa, to South-East Asia to Central America and North America. Nowhere is untouched by their good deeds.
As, I sat in back I wondered what I could do for my community. First of all, I knew that I would be heading to a Whole Foods Market as fast as possible. But there is something to be said of conscious capitalism in our day and age. With population at 6 billion people, it is time to start caring about feeding our world. Mackey’s speech if anything, taught that conscious capitalism starts with the individual.

http://wholefoodsmarket.com

Hoping to continue learning about the global water concern outside of the classroom, I attended a lecture at the NYU Kimmel Center at 6:20pm on Thursday, October 16th. Fred Pearce, the author of When the Rivers Run Dry: Water – The defining Crisis of he Twenty-First Century, was the speaker for the lecture and he gave a honest and direct address that began with topics in his book and expanded on to his other experiences and ideas. The event was held in a small room with chairs placed in a few rows for people to sit in, which contributed to an informal and relaxed atmosphere. There were about forty or so people in attendance and of that forty, it appeared that most were NYU students from a specific class related to the topic of the lecture. I sat in between two other attendees and, like myself, they were avidly taking notes on the multitude of information Pearce presented. The technological equipment in the room suffered some mishaps so Pearce had no choice but to give the lecture sans the guidance of his prepared PowerPoint presentation, which seemed like it was no sweat off his back since he knows the subject matter inside out. The lecture began with an academic and educational tone but by the end of it, Pearce transitioned into an activist tone that called for change around the world.

Before Pearce dove into the details and facts within his book, he began his lecture by saying, “I go and see first, and then I write. I write with heart and do not flinch at the moral questions that arise form the issues I research.” This quote immediately focused all of my attention on him and everything that he was about to discuss. Giving us a little background on his book, he said that it started out as journalistic footnotes when he continued to notice items in the media about different rivers around the world that are drying up. With a little motivation and research, he soon realized that these anecdotes about rivers drying up were not just local issues because, when combined, they signified a global change in rivers. Pearce then moved on to clarify that the amount of water we use in a day for bathing or around the house is not what is causing a human “footprint” on the world’s water resources, it is the amount of water we use to feed ourselves that is source of the water issue. To give us a better idea of how much water we use to grow and make certain foods he explained that to grow enough feed for enough cows to make a ¼ lb hamburger requires 3,000 gallons of water or 40 gallons of water to make enough bread for one sandwich or 65 gallons to make one glass of wine. Then he put himself up on the chopping board and told us that he had done the math and figured that he requires 100 gallons x his own bodyweight in water to feed and clothe himself every month. As he moved on from statistics, he introduced the simple fact that the human “water footprint” deserves to be a serious issue for western consumers because it is damaging the ability for drier countries to feed themselves. This led the lecture to the “virtual water” trade, which is the trade in “thirsty crops” (rice, wheat). The United States, the largest exporter of “virtual water,” exports 30 cubic-miles of “virtual water” for beef each year. Most countries in Europe, Japan, Egypt, Algeria and Jordan must import large amounts of “virtual water” because those countries cannot grow their own crops. If the “virtual water” trade did not exist, those countries would have wars over water. Moving on to look at the future, Pearce explained that although the Green Revolution was successful in making efficient use of land to grow more crops, its success is on borrowed time because it is highly inefficient with its use of water and the water supply will not last. So he posed the question, “What will we do?” He offers a few different possible solutions. For communities near a coastline, desalinization has become a feasible option but it does not help agriculture or poor countries. Building more damns is an option for poor countries but that also comes with environmental problems and the fact that a quarter of the world population now lives near river basins where all the water is already allocated; communities that can pay for water, get it and therefore, damns could become a source of conflict. Pearce is confident that, no matter what, there are two things that must happen: we must improve at catching rain where it falls and there must be a massive revolution in the way that we use water. We must eliminate the large amounts of water that is lost due to leaks in water systems in cities, we must refine ways to reduce water losses from evaporation in reservoirs and we must recycle wastewater. Pearce believes in the need for a “Blue Revolution” that changes the way that all people view and use water. More specifically, he believes that farmers, who are used to an abundance of water at their disposal to use to flood their crops, must stop wasting water with inefficient farming methods and need to utilize alternative ways to irrigate crops. He ends his lecture with the fact that a simple change in our attitude is the main fundamental change that is necessary and that working towards solving the water crisis is possible. We have the technology; we just need to take action. “We could manage without oil if we had to, but we cannot manage without water,” Pearce concludes with heart and resolve.

This was not the first lecture I have attended, but it was the first one with that sort of a close environment and small audience. It was also a new experience for me because of the activist tone of a primarily educational lecture. I tend to shy away from rallies, gatherings and speeches that prompt action or change so this lecture employed a nice bridge between looking at a subject academically and with a distinct call for change. Although I had a little background information on the topic of the global water crisis, I learned many new facts about places around the world that are suffering and coping with the demand for water. The Palestinians that live in the West Bank live in grave demand for more water because the Israelis will not allow them to sink more pumps into the ground to retrieve water that the Israelis want to keep for their own communities. The Israeli compounds in the West Bank look Western with swimming pools and sprinkler systems while Palestinian farmers do not have enough water for their crops. The conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians have deep roots and go far beyond the dispute over water, but maybe a more equal distribution of water resources in that area between the two groups could help lead to a more peaceful existence for those in the West Bank. Another place with the need for water resulting in dire consequences is Uzbekistan in Central Asia but Americans do not hear much about it because they have been our ally in “The War on Terror.” Uzbekistan was converted into a country that consists of large cotton fields and cotton is a crop that requires enormous amounts of water to grow. The Aral Sea, which the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya used to flow into before the Soviet Union diverted them for irrigation purposes, began to dry up and now you must walk 60 miles to see any sea. This lead to a climate change in the surrounding areas and huge dust storms began to take place. The leftover salt made its way into the environment and caused many people to develop anemia. In Bangladesh, they began to pump underground water to give people and it ended up killing them because of high levels of arsenic in the water. The largest network of irrigation canals, located in India and built by the British, now has many dry canals. In the past 10 years, more than 20 million Indian farmers are drilling to get water and although this is effective, the water is now hundreds of meters below ground instead of it being just a few meters below. Learning about all of these places around that world that are suffering because of water shortages in so many different ways has significantly increased my interest in the global water crisis. The lecture discussed important and grave issues that are ongoing and also what will happen in the future if nothing is done to aid our drying rivers. This shows the great value it has to our community because it outlines an issue and offers multiple solutions and some so simple that every person can use them to help the future of the global community. The lecture was based off of the book that Pearce had written and although the lecture was articulate and informative, I think that promoting more people to read the book will help reach larger audiences that can take the information and help to start working towards the changes necessary to support our world.
The brief description of the event is what initially caught my interest and prompted me to attend this lecture but I was skeptical about whether or not it would be an engaging experience. I am happy to say that Fred Pearce is an excellent public speaker and he made it a captivating and enjoyable experience and I am glad that I chose his lecture for my community event. Lasting only a little over an hour, the lecture was a valuable way to spend a short amount of time learning from a man with firsthand knowledge on a serious issue that affects all people.

Photo of the Aral Sea in 1989 and in 2003:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aral_sea_1989_2003.jpg

Photo of a dried up part of the Rio Grande River:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/swww/v8n1/Dry%20Rio%20Grande%20&%20bridge%201.jpg

The event that I attended was the Environmental Studies open house. The open house was hosted by the environmental studies program and was lead by Christopher Schlottmann, the event coordinator for the program. This open house took place on October 8 at five O’clock inside 295 Mercer Street. The event had an academic tone to it. Most of the faculty and students who attended the event were focused on talking about the future of students in environmental studies and what their careers may be after graduating from the program.

The open house began with every person who attended introducing themselves to the group. There was an even assortment of professors, environmental students, prospective transfer students, and just people interested in environmental studies in general. Something interesting that I noticed about the faculty that attended the event was that a good number of them were teachers in other programs that used their expertise to teach an environmental class. For example, Shafer Smith, a math teacher who taught calculus 1 last year, taught a class that used math to understand climate. The professors were more than happy to answer any questions that students had for them; even one of the teachers who helped run the program, Professor Dale Jamieson, sat down and answered all the questions Dan, Jeff and I had for him even though we were only there on assignment for a class.

The experience I got from going to the open house was new and familiar at the same time. It was familiar because I have been to many open houses for all sorts of programs and events; however, I had never been to one where I discussed the topic of environmental science. I found the information I obtained from attending this event to be, not only interesting, but extremely relevant and important to our class and to our current society. While sitting down with Professor Jamieson, Dan, Jeff, and I asked him two major questions that we were interested in.

With the presidential election just around the corner, the first question we asked was, “in [his] opinion which of the two major presidential candidates would be a better selection from an environmental standpoint.” According to the professor, he said both nominees would probably be environmentally sound presidents, however, Jamieson claimed that voting for Senator Obama would be a much safer choice. He explained that Barack Obama would be a better president from an environmental standpoint, not because he had better policies on environmental issues, but because John McCain and Sarah Palin seem to be losing focus of these issues. Professor Jamieson said that recently McCain seems to be less supportive of many environmental issues he once stood for and Palin has recently questioned her belief that global warming is a serious issue, or if it even exists at all. I found this discussion extremely enlightening; with all the environmental problems that we have been discussing in class, like our planet’s issue with global warming, I will have to consider many more factors when deciding on which candidate to vote for. However, Professor Jamieson warned us that we should not put too much weight on either nominee’s environmental plans because there is no guarantee either one will follow through with what they say. He explained that the current president, George W. Bush, was a strong proponent for the Clean Air Act during his campaign, however, once he got into office he quickly shied away from it.

The other question we decided to ask Dale Jamieson was, “of all the different environmental problems facing our world today, such as global warming, climate change, over population, over production of agriculture, etc. what is the one issue [he] sees as the biggest problem facing the world today?” He stated that the issue he feared most was climate change because it was somewhat of an umbrella for all the issues facing our environment currently and in the future. Professor Jamieson said that many of the issues we have talked about in class are made worse by climate change. For example, he told us that although we are having agricultural problems now, this issue will be much worse when climate change around agricultural land causes that land not to be farmable; farmers will have to somehow move their farms to more suitable farmland, something that seems practically impossible to do at the moment. He went on to say the fundamental problem behind climate change is how people treat their environment. We all have to pitch in and do our part in order to sustain the world we live in. I found this incredibly interesting because it made me realize that everything I do has an affect on our world and that maybe I should start becoming more involved with helping take care of our environment.

The event I attended, although it may have seemed useless to the community and environment, actually had somewhat of an indirect impact on them. It was able to answer students’ questions about the program and the field of study in general, making some of them even more enthusiastic about the subject. These enthusiastic students may now have the drive to help solve or at least lessen some of the many problems facing the earth today. Overall, I feel the event was successful in explaining the environmental program and creating a community within its members. The only suggestion I would give to make the event even better would be to give more of an explanation about some of the courses each teacher taught; I was only able to find out about what kind of classes were offered through the program by going up to different teachers and asking them what they taught and what it was about.

Although I did not think I would enjoy attending an environmental open house, I am actually glad I went to it. Especially after talking to professor Jamieson, I realized just how important peoples’ effect on the environment truly is. This event has even intrigued me to possible take another environmental class in the future.

I attended the community event of “Climate and Water Series”, delivered by Daniel Hillel, senior research scientist working at the Center for Climate Systems Research. It took place on Thursday, September 25, at the Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue between 6:20 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. When I entered the room, I found myself facing about 30 other attendees. There was a small table being set up on the corner with light snacks on it. People were engaging in light conversations with each other. A teacher from Wagner also brought her class to the meeting. Two big pictures of human body structures were being showed on the big screen. They showed how much percent of human body are being occupied by water. Daniel Hillel started his speech with an interesting fact. He claimed that new born babies are made up of 90% of water, while grown ups have about 65% of water in their body. A person’s brain is made of 75% of water. It shows how important water is to our survival, and therefore led to the topic of the speech; the perception of interactions between human and environment.
Immediately, Daniel Hillel put a picture of the futile crescent, present day Middle East, on the screen. He talked about how civilizations were developed in this area. As a result of uneven distribution of rainfall in this place, different environments were being created. Different tribes with different lifestyles and religions also emerged on this piece of land because of their necessities to adopt the amount of water available. Daniel spent a lot of time describing the three kinds of environments; rain fed, pasture, and desert domain. He talked about how people living in the rain fed areas worship the god of rain because of the constant thunder storms. The dense forestation in the area also encouraged people to develop agriculture. People who lived in pasture domain would depend mostly on animals. As a result, they worshiped animal gods. On the other hand, people who lived in the desert domain needed to manage water very carefully. They learned how to direct water into different places and therefore, invented irrigation systems. With some histories about the Fertile Crescent, Daniel went on talking about different river valleys. He greatly emphasized on Egypt because it was the only civilization that survived to present day. Other civilizations had fallen due to the failure in agriculture. They overused land and caused problems such as salinization and land poison. However, Egypt is a special case. The Nile visits it every year and drained out the raising water, preventing salk to pile up. With all of this information, Daniel was trying to tell the listeners that history can repeats itself. If the ancient countries could fall due to abusive use of land, it could happen again to the present day nations.
After some more histories about Egypt, Daniel finally went on with the problems we are facing today. He talked about many cases where water resources are scarcer. His examples included the Soviet Union’s Aral River. He talked about how much the river had shrunk ever since it was being used to grow cotton for the nation. Then, he shared information on some problems Australia is facing presently. Because Australia over cut the trees, it exposed the west and east coast to danger of salinization. He explained that, when the trees were abundant, they were able to hold of the salt from sea water which got mixed up in the rain. However, deforestation took place; the salt got washed directly into the fields and damages the crops. Even Egypt, the country once safe from salinization is now vulnerable because of the huge population it has to support.
This was the first time I attend something like this other than the speeches I listened to for classes. Before attending the event, I never expect the world would run out of water. Since I live in a country where water is very abundant and cheap, I never considered water as a limited resource. Even one of the teachers in my junior high asked us to take long showers because he claimed that New York has the best water resources, and we should not be worrying about running out soon. I used to see educational commercials, urging people to save water. However, they never left a mark in my brain. I continued with my careless actions since I never truly understood the pressure of water source. When Daniel first introduced himself as a hydrologist, I even smiled a little bit. I never expect that there are people who devote their lives to study water, the most common substance on earth. However, as Daniel presented fact after fact about all the dangers the world is now facing as water is literarily running out, I started to feel the tension. Starting with a statement about how much percent of human body is made up of water, he successfully emphasized the importance of water to our survival. As he proceeds on with the speech until he reached his conclusion about the danger of water shortages, the listeners were more and more aware of this serious problem. The speech totally directed my thinking to a different way. I started to notice the amount of water we are wasting in our everyday activities. I start to understand the importance of saving water as a very precious resource.
The speech also proved to be very interesting. Daniel gave much information about ancient tribes and their interactions with water. He talked about how people used to believe the sky was having sex with the land when there were thunder storms. These interesting facts brought the speech to life. Everyone enjoyed listening to shocking and surprising events while being informed about these ancient cultures.
In general, I walked out that room with a lot of new concepts in my mind. I think the speech was definitely effective in informing people about a current environmental crisis. However, I felt that Daniel could have focused more on the possible solutions. He was running out of time in the end. Therefore, the lecture kind of ended on the problems not the solutions. This only makes the listeners more uneasy and unconfident about the present day issues. In addition, he could have made the lecture a bit more alive with more comprehensible visuals. The maps should have bigger and simpler marks. It was, however, a brand new experience. I would definitely attend something like this again since it was so informative and eye opening.

-Cheng Yu

images:

http://www.mideastweb.org/egypt.gif

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aral_sea_1989_2003.jpg

Aral Sea: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aral_sea_1989_2003.jpg

Map of egypt: http://www.mideastweb.org/egypt.gif

I attended the second lecture of a series called, Climate Change & Water. The lecture, entitled, “When the Rivers Run Dry”, was held in Kimmel at 6:20pm on Thursday, October 16th, and the speaker was Fred Pearce, author of When the Rivers Run Dry: Water—The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century. Pearce explained to the audience that his research is the result of extensive traveling and first-hand accounts of the effects of the water crisis. The tone of the lecture was academic, yet persuasive, in that Pearce spoke in an informative fashion, while still expressing a deep passion and concern for the issue at hand. The audience was made up mostly of eager students, with a few faculty members and older people. Whether or not he intended this, he seemed to appeal to an audience and a generation that would make the most difference in finding a solution to this enormous problem.
Pearce began by stating that the main problem with water consumption is not what we use in the house to clean and bathe, but rather what we use to feed ourselves. For example, it takes anywhere from 280 to 650 gallons of water to grow 1 pound of rice. On another level, the amount of water necessary to feel animals that we eat and rely on to produce other food products is overwhelming. A couple of poignant statistics Pearce shared was that it takes 3,000 gallons of water to feed enough cows to make a quarter pound hamburger, and that it takes 1,000 gallons of water to feed enough cows to produce one quart of milk. Considering the emphasis on these foods in American society, this proved to be eye opening. The production of cotton for clothing is another serious culprit Pearce commented on, and shared the fact that it takes 100 bathtubs full of water to produce enough cotton for one t-shirt. He concluded this section with the fact that the average (meat-eating) person uses 100 times his/her own body weight in water for one day’s requirements. (Vegetarians use about half of that.)
Moving on, Pearce emphasized the drying up of rivers as a result of extensive draining. He used the Nile and the Indus rivers as examples, and mentioned that the Nile no longer reaches the Mediterranean Sea. Uzbekistan is the first example Pearce used as a location that faces climate change as a direct consequence of water loss. As a result of the draining of the Aral Sea, the seasons have become more extreme, but more importantly, massive amounts of salt have led to widespread anemia in the surrounding area.
The speaker moved on to discus the sources of our water, reporting that only ten percent of the earth’s water is fresh, and only one third of that is usable. A percentage of this water is groundwater; the problem with it, however, is that 90 percent of groundwater is not replaced once it is “mined”. He addressed the fact that renewable water does exist, but the percentage of it that is usable is hardly significant. Pearce then described a series of “local crises” involving less rainfall and the depletion of resources facilitated by rivers. An intimidating statistic is that every generation takes four times more river water than the last. An immediate solution to these local crises is the “virtual water trade”. Without it, places like the Middle East and China would essentially become dead zones. A problem with the virtual water trade is that food prices shoot up when major virtual water exporters, like Australia, suffer droughts.
Pearce identified the route of the modern water crisis as the Green Revolution. The “super crops” now used have a yield twice as large, yet require three times more water than their natural predecessors. As a result, over 200 million farmers in the past decade have been forced to drill for groundwater. In their areas, the water tables have fell drastically.
The final topic discussed in the lecture was the social implications of this crisis, including some potential solutions. Unless we solve this problem soon, Pearce explained, we will see wars fought over water. Desalinization is one solution often discussed but seeing as it requires very large amounts of money and energy, it is unrealistic for many countries. Some potential solutions are the universal adoption of “drip irrigation”—which reduces water needs by eighty percent, the collection of rain, the recycling of wastewater, and the adoption of water-efficient plumbing in new houses. Pearce said that the reform that is absolutely paramount is that of attitude. We must realize, he stressed, that solving this crisis requires the effort of everyone. He left us with a comparison of water to oil. Water, he said, is the new oil of the twenty-first century. It is the precious resource of the world, and faces depletion. Unlike oil, which we could live without if we absolutely needed to, we could not survive a single day without water.
This was the first lecture on a specific environmental issue that I have ever been to. I expected it to be a much more official event, yet I was pleasantly surprised by the comfortably small size and informality of the lecture. In a way I think it helped to bring the issue home and personalize the effects that water depletion will have on all of us. Most of the factual information presented in the lecture I was already familiar with, excluding the statistics Pearce presented in the first section. Although I had already understood the exorbitant amount of water we use, I never put all the numbers together to determine exactly how much water I use. I think I may start a water log, which Pearce mentioned he did as well, after attending this lecture and being forced to think about my personal water using habits. The water crisis is something I have been mindful of for a long time, which contributed to my decision to take Environmental Studies, but I do feel that this lecture made me more concerned with my own use of water, rather than the problem as a whole. I would consider the lecture to be a success in that the audience seemed very engaged, and that personally it made me think about the issue from a new perspective. The only improvement I would make would be on the computer in the room, since Pearce had prepared a PowerPoint presentation, but couldn’t seem to get the computer to work. I would also like to see this series of lectures expanded, for the water crisis is an issue of the utmost importance.
I very much liked attending this lecture because, again, it forced me to consider the issue of water usage in a new, more productive light. For that reason, I found it extremely worthwhile and will probably attend “‘No Agua, No Vida’: The Colorado River—A Photo Exhibit”, which is the next event of the series, on November 11th.

A diagram of groundwater level changes in US.
http://academic.emporia.edu/schulmem/hydro/TERM%20PROJECTS/Musgrove/files/waterdrop.gif

A photo of the drying of the Aral Sea.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aral_sea_1989_2003.jpg

On Thursday, September 25th at 6:20 PM, I attended a 2-hour academic lecture that was part of the Climate and Water series at New York University’s Puck Building, with Daniel Hillel as the guest speaker. As the Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University, Hillel proved that he was a valid speaker on preserving water resources throughout the world. He stimulated the audience after introducing his lecture as one that involves “perceptions of our environment,” by explaining that in his perspective, we are all droplets of water. The audience members laughed nervously and shifted in their seats, unsure of what to expect from this fragile, elderly man who hinted at his ability to turn on his x-ray vision. I realized that Hillel’s interpretation of water was drastically different than all of our opinions, as he proceeded to analyze the fundamental concepts of the free flowing substance in a scientific matter.

The main focus of this lecture was the use of water throughout various areas of the world, specifically the Middle East. Tracing the origins of this essential substance to the Fertile Crescent, Hillel reiterated the fact that water stems from the Bible and Koran. Also, other ancient texts by the Sumerians and Babylonians indicated that it was one of the most divine symbols of life, as human bodies are composed of 65% water. He threw out more fascinating statistics to catch our attention, attributing water to be responsible for 75% of our brains, 83% of our blood, 22% of our bones, 83% of our kidneys, and 76% of our muscles. Furthermore, Hillel explained some plans that were currently being carried out by governments in the Middle East in order to distribute water to their citizens. His smooth transitions from speaking about ancient to modern times ultimately showed us that he was one of the most qualified scholars on this topic.

Since the beginning of time, people in the rainfed region of the Fertile Crescent worshipped Bael, the god of rain. Mother Earth was also depicted as a goddess, fructifying crops and carrying water from her own essence to her people. Her natural cycle was considered a sexual mating of the sky and earth gods coming together to form one being. On the other hand, people of the pastoral domain worshipped animal gods, mainly because the humans relied on them for food and guidance. Hillel stated that “the Middle East was a transitional zone between maritime and desert climates.” People from both the rainfed and pastoral regions realized that their rapid attempts at agriculture triggered desertification of their precious land through the forms of sheet, rill, and gully erosion. Reversing the harmful effects of erosion required the use of terraces in their uneven land. However, these hillside lands were hard to maintain and completely void of soil with dry rocks. Another method that they used incorporated the divergence of water from streams by allowing water to spread to earthen dikes, as it was a type of runoff management.

Terracing

The three major river valleys in the ancient Middle Eastern region were the Indus, Southern Mesopotamia, and Nile. Later, the Southern Mesopotamia River split into what is known today as the Euphrates and Tigris. Hillel mentioned several problems with these wild rivers, due to instances of river flooding and sedimentation that led to water logging and salination. The Nile seemed to be one of the most consistent rivers, overflooding Egyptian land each year and irrigating the land naturally. As the water subsided, it drained the land and prevented water logging from occurring while infusing silt to fertilize the arid region. Thus, the Egyptian civilization rose to its prime and remained a stable society for 5000 to 6000 years. Since the climate has changed a bit over the course of a couple thousand of years, the Egyptians had to install a high dam to create an artificial, perennial irrigation system to sustain its population of 80 million people.

Presently, the Middle East is having trouble with water distribution, as Turkey has taken control of a significant portion of the supply in the region. The nation is in the process of creating thirteen hydroelectric irrigation systems in the upper basins of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, along with the Ataturk Dam that is being constructed on the Euphrates. However, Turkey’s water extraction techniques in the upstream area will affect countries like Iraq and Syria, as they surround the downstream region. Iraq’s water supply from the Euphrates is expected to decrease by 80%, while Syria’s groundwater resources will limit its agricultural industry.

Ataturk Dam in Turkey

Attending this lecture was a completely new experience for me, as I usually participate in events that incorporate a more hands-on approach to the topic. Daniel Hillel’s vast amount of knowledge encouraged me to do some more research of water supply on the Internet. I recently read an article in The Economist about China’s struggle concerning the acquisition of clean drinking water for the nation’s citizens. Water is something that Americans take for granted, but we must all reconsider our positions in this world by conserving our resources. Hillel also mentioned that the two most important considerations of our generation today concerning water are the economic means and the rapid human population growth. I related his lecture to our second lab assignment, where we had to analyze population graphs. Numbers on a piece of paper are insignificant, but hearing him speak about this heavy topic opened up my eyes to what we need to change in order to sustain our world.

After listening to Hillel analyze the importance of water, I realized that everything that we are learning in this class is extremely applicable in all of our everyday lives. Reading about water in a book may be dry at times, but Hillel truly glorified the concept of water conservation and distribution, ultimately crafting a more lively experience for the NYU students in his audience. There were a lot of questions for him at the end about the future of our generation, both in the United States and in the Middle East. Solutions are hard to form, but he mentioned desalinization on a small-scale since it is an expensive process that requires time and effort.

I believe that this community event was beneficial to members of the NYU community, as I saw faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students come together to listen to something that will impact all of our lives sooner than we all think. Before coming to NYU, I knew that there would be a few lectures, but I assumed that they were mostly related to politics or economics. This lecture that was part of the Climate and Water series seemed like an integral part of the project, as water is the main component of the Earth that we inhabit today. I was pleasantly surprised that there were about fifty people in the audience! I look forward to attending more lectures with speakers who focus on specific regions of the world.

Hillel stated that he wanted us to understand different people’s perspectives of water throughout the entire world. While we may easily drink and access tap water, people of developing nations may treasure a few droplets for their farms. He achieved his goal in educating the general public about this substantial matter, as I saw a massive group of people huddled around him after he answered a few questions. For future reference, NYU should promote these events through flyers and emails because I was not aware of this event before I visited the Environmental Studies Blackboard.

Overall, I enjoyed the lecture thoroughly because of Hillel’s focus on the Middle East. Also, his lecturing style was admirable because he traced the Middle East’s history from the beginning of time to the modern era. The transformation of our world today is mind-blowing, and we must all reconsider the way we see water, a limited resource in our expanding society.

Robb LoCurto
Leah Schwartz
Environmental Studies
10/15/08
Community Event…The Bronx Zoo

Going to the Bronx Zoo was not only an extremely exciting event for me to partake in, but it also fulfilled something that I needed to do for school. It was the perfect trip to just enjoy the surroundings, all of the animals and the company. One of the first exhibits that we saw had the gorillas, and it was shocking to see them interact with one another, and with the people watching. It said on one of the plaques giving information about the gorillas that they share just over 97% of the same DNA as us humans. That to me was incredible to read and almost didn't believe it, until I saw the way they acted. It was surreal how human-like they were, the way they looked at each other, the way they looked at us, the way they horsed around with each other, it was truly a sight to see. However, one of the exhibits that we stopped at towards the end of the trip was the polar bear exhibit. This was an eye opening time for me as I saw one lonely polar bear, laying limp, looking dehydrated and rundown. Its coat was browning, it looked lethargic and the display was horrific as there was barely any water for the bear to swim in as polar bears do. Obviously this polar bear is not being affected in the same way as most polar bears are at the polar ice caps, but to see this polar bear the way it was made me realize how threatening global warming is to polar bears at both ends of the spectrum of the earth.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/299130795_72d8e07cf8.jpg?v=0 

Scientists and anyone with half of a brain now know that CFC's is one of the main causes of the ongoing problem known as global warming. The Ozone layer is being depleted right in front of our eyes and only few people among the midst of the entire world's population seem to want to do anything about it. Polar bears are dying off by the masses simply due to the temperature increasing a few degrees. The more ice that melts, the more the polar bears need to swim from one destination to another and polar bears simply aren't designed to swim for long periods of time. The harsh truth is that many polar bears are drowning because they have nowhere to go. Ice that was once in a spot that they remembered is gone by the time they return and they are left stranded to find land and quick before their bodies give out on them, leading to their eventual demise. What the CFC's ultimately do is they travel up into the sky and pierce through the levels of atmospheres, creating large, gaping, growing holes that allows ultraviolet rays to pass through down to the earth's surface easier than it ever has before. Polar bears aren't the only species that are directly affected by this newfound occurrence, humans too are in danger. It may not be immediate, but the horizon is closer than many people think, that by the time our children have children, or even when we have children, these generations are going to have quite a mess on their hands. Rapidly growing rates of skin cancer will begin to occur as the ultraviolet rays will have nothing preventing them from searing down straight from the sun, with no layer to prevent damage to the human body. We are already seeing effects of global warming in Australia, as skin cancer rates have spiked in the past few years.
I hadn't really thought about global warming too much before I saw this poor polar bear lying out by his lonesome. Of course I knew what was touched upon in class and just general knowledge of how the climate is changing (from An Inconvenient Truth and things of that nature), but it never really hit me that the world we live in is changing very quickly, and not for the better. I think it is very important that not only as a nation, but the world take a good, hard look at what they take for granted every day…the very air we breathe is in jeopardy and to go one step further, ourselves and our future families are in jeopardy as well unless we take action. Now I'm not sitting here saying that I'm going to go out and be the number one advocator of stopping global warming, that's just ridiculous to think. But what I will do is make more of a conscious effort to be more eco-friendly and if everyone does that simple task, just be more aware of what they do, I believe eventually we could aid in leveling global warming off to normal climates around the world and especially at the polar ice caps.
All in all the trip to the zoo was a fun, eventful day and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to partake in such an event. Yes, the polar bear exhibit put a damper on my day, but on the bright side it gave me something to write about for this event blog. The thing that I will take most out of the day at the Bronx Zoo is definitely the gorilla exhibit. Just seeing how they reacted to the way people were reacting to them was really a sight to see, and it proved that we really do share 97% of the same DNA because it was almost scary how human-like their behavior was. The babies would wrestle each other, then stop and realize that people were staring at them and watching their every move. They would run up to the glass and start pounding on it as if they knew that they were entertaining us, and they probably did know. I don't know how much I directly learned from this experience, but it absolutely opened my eyes to what I need to learn more about to help maintain the prosperity of the earth, humans and polar bears alike.

http://fc64.deviantart.com/fs31/f/2008/229/2/e/Melting_Ice_by_jimmy_tm.jpg

http://buddydon.blogspot.com/Polar_Bear_Bronx_Zoo.jpg

http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0060-0808-0119-2429_Sad_Baby_Holding_a_Melting_Ice_Cream_Cone_clipart_image.jpg

height="297"/>
This past Wednesday I took a trip to the Bronx zoo, Wednesdays at the zoo are called “Donation Days” which are days when a suggested donation takes the place of the cost of admission. This is essentially a day for everyone to have a chance to experience the zoo free of charge. As I walked around the zoo I saw a handful of school groups but for the most part there nowhere near as many people as I had grown used to seeing over years of zoo visits. There where several factors that could have been resulting in the low attendance; it was a Wednesday afternoon, so the majority of adults and children are either working or at school, also it was the second week of October, directly in the middle of the transitional phase between fall and winter, which would be the beginning of what I would guess to be a very slow period for the zoo. While trying to think of different causes that could attribute to the low number of patrons, I wondered how much, if any the troublesome economy was effecting zoo attendance.
I did some research and came across an article on proposed budget cuts that would diminish programs at the Bronx zoo and completely close both the Prospect Park and Queens zoos. This proposal will provide the zoos with 50 percent less funding than they currently receive. The deal would ultimate cost 211 people there jobs, and would leave thousands of animals displaced. The animal displacement is a much bigger deal than it may seem because the “easy” answer would be to move these animals into the Bronx facility which as the largest of the zoos is already home to over 4,000 animals but with all around budget cuts there is no money to expand facilities and no space for more than possibly a few hundred of the animals.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is in charge of the 4 city zoos (Queens, Bronx, Central Park, and Prospect Park) and the New York City Aquarium, the WCS has already started a campaign that encourages people to write to their local and state representatives, as well as sign petitions and most importantly going out to the zoos to show support. With the WCS knowing that it’s budget cuts are a result of a greater economic crises they have already started looking into different streams of revenue in hopes to continue to be provide these facilities for the public.
The Bronx zoo has already taken steps to create more revenue streams for itself, while there I noticed that the zoo charges extra to see certain high profile exhibits, such as the Congo Gorilla Forest, the Children’s Zoo, Butterfly Garden and the Wild Asia Monorail. They also charge for all transportation around the zoo, which consists of the Skyfari, and two lines of Shuttle Buses, as well as seven generously priced eateries and a bug themed Carousel.
It would cost a family of 4 one hundred and four dollars just in admission costs (assuming they would pay for the 4 exhibits that cost extra to see). With the economy the way it is today families have less and less expendable wealth, also with the rising gas prices people are taking the distant of their trips into account more than ever. These two reasons alone could significantly bring down yearly attendance numbers at the zoo, families and schools that used to commute from New Jersey or upstate New York to visit the Bronx zoo may not make the trip anymore because the cost of travel is just too high for a practical field trip or family outing.
The Bronx Zoo has been around for over one hundred years and barring a complete economic meltdown it will not be closing anytime soon. In the worst case scenario if the zoo was forced to downsize by even twenty percent that would leave almost a thousand animals that would be displaced and would have to be shipped all over the country (assuming they could find zoos in a stable enough state to take them in). One of the major problems with zoos is that they have raised many of the animals that reside there in captivity their entire lives so although it would be an easy solution to release some of these animals in the wild (and most experts say animals revert back to their natural instincts when faced with starvation or danger) it may be harmful and cruel to these animals to release them into the wild.
It’s difficult to see how an animal raised under these conditions would be able to survive in the wild, not only are all of the animals delivered food on a schedule but they are confined to a glass box with a few trees for props and a painted landscaped as a background. The animals have grown accustomed to human interaction (which could also be harmful in the wild) and have essentially become domesticated. It is still a very strange and cruel concept to me that we have been allowed to take animals out of their natural environments and confined them to glass cages that are more often than not too small for them to even run around, for example the giraffe exhibit had a statistic stating that giraffes can run at a top speed of 40 miles per hour with a ten foot stride, but the giraffes where confined to an area that wasn’t large enough for the animal to even take four full strides. Another disturbing thought is the fact that they are removing these animals from the climate of their natural habitats for example the Polar Bear exhibit was outdoors and when we arrived at the location the sun was beaming down on us in an area with no shade and just a small amount of cold running water also the zoo is open all year round, and I cant imagine that the animals of the African plains have adjusted well to living through the New York winter (whether that means living at some sort of indoor facility or braving the cold) and brings into question the handling and care of these animals.

Going to the zoo as an adult was a very fun experience, that I could appreciate a lot more than when I was younger and also raised the questions on issues above as well as many others. I would highly recommend making the trip up (especially on a “Donation Day”)

Works Cited:
www.zoosandaquarium.com
New Yorkers Asked to "Save Our Zoos and Aquarium" From Closings, Crippling Funding Cuts
http://nyzoosandaquarium.com/cpz_news/190222
By: Benjamin Ruiz

For my community event trip, I attended the opening of the American Museum of Natural History’s new exhibition, “Climate Change: The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future.” The even took place on Saturday, October 18th. In accordance with the museum’s mission, the exhibition was aimed at educating the general public about climate change and its affects. Entry to the exhibition cost $18.00 for student admission.
Similar to the overall feel of the AMNH, The Climate Change exhibition is like a textbook come to life. Upon entry, the visitor is immersed into a colorful yet somber space. An educational journey through all aspects of climate change is guided by a series of glowing, interactive stations. The visitor is greeted with an introduction to the history of fossil fuels; the history of coal is accompanied by a glowing red line that traces the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere since the year 1660. The line jumps from the knees to far above the head around the year 1950. This luminescent timeline accurately forebodes what’s to come for the exhibition’s visitor: the ominous depiction of an Earth in crisis, suffocated by greenhouse gasses, rising temperature, and looming disaster.
If the goal of the exhibition was the inspire people to change their ways, it was certainly effective for me. Although much of the scientific information was not new to me, the format it was presented in made me think even more critically about the Earth’s climate crisis. One way that the exhibition was effective at inspiring critical thinking regarding the climate crisis was allowing visitors to interact with the information. For instance, one of the first things you could do was examine a board listing things people can do to reduce their impact on climate change, such as riding their bike and using less paper. After you saw something that you could plausibly do, you pushed a button, adding a number to the LCD display of how many other people had pledged to do the same thing. This was particularly encouraging and clever on the part of the museum because the interactive format provoked many children to shout out things they could do – eat more vegetables, unplug their cable boxes. The child-friendly atmosphere of the exhibit was great because I got to see the Earth’s future generations learning about how their actions really do impact the world they live in.
One of the most interesting parts of the exhibition was the section devoted to draughts. Out of all the effects of climate change, the museum really stressed how draughts pose an immediate threat to humanity. Upon entering the drought section, the lighting became warm. Images of burning trees and starving people lined the walls. The exhibition chronicled how because of draught, the threat of wildfires is increased, as well as the spread of disease and destruction of ecosystems. What made draught so scary was that there are no easy solutions. We could recycle water, harvest water from sand, and produce draught resistant seeds. The exhibition stressed that although these “solutions” exist, they are incredibly expensive, and will not benefit the major population to be affected by drought: the poor.
The journey ends with the future of energy. Comprehensive information is provided about solar, hydropower, nuclear, geothermal, and wind energies. However, the main thesis of the exhibition seemed to be that while these alternative, cleaner energies to exist, humans still have to do their part in reducing consumption and making the Earth a cleaner, cooler place. The exhibition was informative and fun, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about climate change.

http://community.webshots.com/album/568151383Cakcgq

During the first weekend in October, I took my seven-year old cousin to the Bronx Zoo. Although it was not my first time visiting, it was my cousin’s first experience at the renowned zoo. Therefore, a trip that may have been unexciting became very exhilarating as I watched my cousins anxiousness and anticipation grow. When we first arrived, however, I unfortunately had to pay $48 for the two of us to enter the zoo. I could have chosen the regular admission, which would have only been $26 but the passes I bought allowed us access to seven special attractions. I figured it was a smarter idea to just pay a little extra initially because knowing my cousin, she would beg to see all the special attractions, and she did. As we began to venture through the zoo, it was very exciting. There was a fair amount of people there, which did not surprise me, given that it was the weekend and the weather was beautiful. This created a lively atmosphere that was conducive to younger children, such as my cousin, Victoria.
Throughout the day, the two of us visited nearly ever exhibit that was opened. From reptiles, to polar bears, monkeys, to butterflies, we basically saw it all. However, one attraction really sparked my interest. It was the butterfly exhibit, which we luckily saw, as it was the last weekend it was opened for the season. For my whole life, I have had an infatuation with Monarch butterflies and have wanted to visit this exhibit ever since I was in first grade. Finally, 13 years later, I made it there. Initially, when you enter the Butterfly Zone, you participate in a maze. The purpose is to enlighten its participants on the life cycle of the butterfly. This was a fun and informative way for my cousin and I to learn about these creatures. Although my attraction to butterflies was relatively superficial, as I was and still am simply amazed by their delicacy and elusiveness, this site piqued my interest with respect to these creatures’ abilities to survive. In the Butterfly Zone, the viewers are informed of and can look at which types of plants butterflies are attracted to. This is important because as it enlightens people about what types of plants butterflies can live in, these people can actually grow their own garden to provide a home for these creatures. My mom actually has certain plants growing in our yard to draw butterflies in. Not only are the plants and presence of the butterflies beautiful, especially during a summer afternoon, such an act assists in the conservation of these endangered species’ lives. (Mikula)

After leaving the butterfly exhibit, I could not stop thinking about the various causes and effects of the endangerment of butterflies. As a result, I conducted a little research into the matter. I was already aware that the main reason for their endangerment is habitat loss. However, after reading further, I became aware of the severity of the situation. Not only are butterfly habitats being destroyed in northern regions, such as the United States and Canada, but the butterflies’ “winter” homes in California and Mexico are also being tampered with. In the north, the transformation of land from its natural state into highways, communities, and agricultural or industrial centers causes a butterfly to lose its natural habitat. In addition, butterfly larvae’s main food source, milkweed, is decreasing as well. Such a decline in this food source is a direct result of ozone depletion and human beings killing the species of plant, as many classify it as a weed (Monarch Watch).
Not only are the butterflies’ homes in the north being tampered with, their winter homes are experiencing the same destruction. This is even more disheartening because these dainty little creatures are forced to travel thousands of miles from Canada and certain parts of the U.S. to California and Mexico, only to have their homes there ruined too. This happens in California because the lush forests that the butterflies call home are also highly desired locations for people to build homes. Therefore, a great deal of this land is cleared and developed, forcing the butterflies from their winter sanctuary. The situation in Mexico is even more severe. The trees that butterflies live on, the oyamel tree are an important source of income for many Mexicans. As a result, these trees are cut down in bulk and sold for revenue. Not only does that diminish the actual homes of the butterflies, but it also makes the forests open to feel the bitterness of cold rain and snow. This often causes the butterflies to freeze. Clearly, butterfly habitats are in danger and although butterflies seem to be plentiful in number, they are quite endangered as a result of this decline in shelter and food (Monarch Watch).
In addition to discovering why butterfly habitats are being destroyed, I also read of an attempt to conserve them. In California, the Monarch Project was established in 1984. Such an act mandated that a certain portion of land be set aside for butterfly inhabitance. This land cannot be altered or developed (Monarch Watch). Such a project is definitely beneficial because it demands that by law a certain amount of land must be allotted to butterflies. This act should be extended to states and countries outside of California so that in Canada and Mexico, butterflies will be guaranteed a certain portion of land to permanently have as a place of inhabitance.
(Boone)
After researching more deeply into the endangerment of these creatures, I really appreciated the Butterfly Zone at the Bronx Zoo. Such an exhibit not only enlightens people about butterflies in general, it also informs them about the trials and tribulations these tiny creatures have to endure in order to survive, if they can at all. Although butterflies are small, they are important to ecosystems as they serve as pollinators. Without them, bees would be relied on even more to fulfill that task. Therefore, the conservation of these organisms is important for the maintenance of our ecosystems. Fortunately the Butterfly Zone at the Bronx Zoo exists, for it provides these organisms with a safe and lush place to live, while also informing people about what they can do to provide more habitats for these living beings.

Works Cited:
Monarch Watch Conservation. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from Monarch Watch Web site: www.monarchwatch.org/conserve/index.html
For image of the exterior of the Butterfly Zone:
Mikula, Pam The Bronx Zoo's Butterfly Zone. Retrieved October 10, 2008, Web site: butterflywebsite.com/zoo/zoo.html
For image of the Monarch:
Boone, Daniel. "The Daniel Boone Butterfly Palace." 10 Oct 2008 .