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English composition 2
Professor Davis
12 June 2016

Essay 4

Environmental Protection in a rapidly changing Earth

The world we live in has changed so much in the past one hundred years, technological
development booming and moving us into a technological age. With this great boom in
technology there has however been a backlash in the form of pollution, resource depletion and
crop scarcity due to the growth in industry. For all the benefits we have received from
technological development there has been just as many problems that have arisen especially
regarding the earth in which we live on. Sustainability in my opinion is the most important issue
which we need to address as it is the way in which the future can be preserved and protected.

With the advancement in technology, man has walked on the moon and has gained access
to the mysterious and wonderful environment which is space. While the exploration of space has
been revolutionary for the world of science and mankind there has been the pollution of this vast
environment with the technologies of man leaving large amounts of space debris in the
atmosphere. The first near earth atmospheric exploration began in 1954, since then thousands of
incidents have happened that have left junk in that environment mostly through satellite
dumping. NASA estimates that more than 100 million man-made objects the size of a grain of
salt are orbiting the planet. About 500,000 objects roughly the size of marbles are also believed
to be out there, as well as 23, 000 objects the size of a softball or larger(Fraser, par 6). Our
upper atmosphere is riddled with space debris which is stuck floating around the orbit, seemingly

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forever building up which can have a very negative impact on space exploration as well as the
environment in our atmosphere.

The collection of space junk which circulates our planet has considerably grown due to
the use of modern technology and the growing need for more satellites in space for broadcasting
as well as scientific and practical use in many other areas. Most of this debris will eventually reenter the earths atmosphere and either disintegrate into the air or fall towards earth mostly
ending up in the ocean.. The more, we populate our atmosphere with these satellites, the more we
need to take care within our upper atmospheric environment. Manned space launches happen
more often now, and we now have a habituated International Space Station (ISS). Due to space
debris mission controllers now have to scan our skies to prevent collisions before launching,
sometimes having to delay or postpone these launches because of space junk. This build-up of
debris has not only caused unwanted pollution but also inhibits our space exploration and
discovery making this a concern not only on an environmental level but is a societal and
scientific issue as well. This debris just ends up pilling up until it falls down to earth as pollution
adding to the waste which we already cause on earth.

Cleaning space has major challenges but is an issue in which we need to pay more
attention as well as find more ways to relieve this problem. Scientist are now working on
retrieval methods for large object, and laser technology to disintegrate these pieces into smaller
ones so they do not pose a threat falling out of orbit as well as hindering space exploration. This
is not only a problem for developed countries, but one that affect the world especially in the
forms of global communication, as well as navigation which both need the use of satellites.

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Satellites help us predict our weather and help us avoid natural disasters, also warning us about
long term damages to the environment such as deforestation. The use of satellites is boundless
and essential to the workings of modern society, but as we launch more satellites we also have
the responsibility to clean up the debris which is left from these satellites not only for
environmental issues but for the general good of mankind and society.

The other area of pollution quiet remote from our immediate environment is the oceans
which for many decades have been used as mans dumping ground. Earth is colloquially called
the blue planet because earths surface area is mostly made of water. After mankind had traversed
the land our next frontier was the high seas which with this exploration came environmental
impact concerns such as using the sea as our junkyards. Human and chemical waste has
accumulated in our ocean over centuries but now there has been an exponential increase in
shipping routes moving different cargo and waste which has added to the dumping. Organised
dumping of waste at sea was common practice around the world, including Europe until the
1970s. An instructional clip from Swedish Television produced in the early 1960s and aimed at
leisure boat owners provides the advice to attach a stone to on-broad waste parcels before
sinking them into the sea(Anderson, 3). If this dumping took place on land, the world would be
neck-deep in junk and the world would be uninhabitable with the amount of trash, which begs
the question as to how polluted our oceans actually are. With the rise in sea exploration so in turn
there is with sea dumping adding to the millions of tons of waste already circulating our oceans.
We now have at least 5 categories of vessels sailing our oceans, namely containers ships, bulk
carriers, tankers ferries and Cruise ships. There are nearly 70000 registered ships in the world

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with some carrying (cruise ships) about 3000 persons at any moment. All of these vessels
contribute to sea dumping when getting rid of waste materials on board.

Pollutions of our oceans is a huge issue which can have devastating

environmental impacts of our earth. The ocean has been critical for humankind for centuries, it
providing us with exploration, food, air, global weather control as well as recreational use. A
diverse and healthy environment is important to human well-being, and protecting the
ecosystems and the services they provide is necessary for life. Three different types of ecosystem
services are generally acknowledged: (1) pro- visioning (which includes food and bio-energy),
(2) regulating (which includes the regulation of waste and pollution or of the physical
environment), and (3) cultural services (which can be symbolic or intellectual/experiencebased) (Anderson, 12). All of these functions are critical in human society and the oceans play
such a large ecological role for other species as well as humans that it is almost demoralizing to
consider the amount of everyday constant pollution which occurs in our oceans. To ensure a
sustainable environment we need to be resilient in our thinking with the environment and spend
time and energy to maintain what we have and what the ocean provides us. Ensuring resilient
systems can contribute to a more sustainable earth in which we use our resources more scarcely
and are aware of the impact of our technologies to ensure that we do not deplete our natural
resources.

Scientist have now concluded that fewer crop species are feeding the world than 50 years
ago-raising concerns about the resilience of the global food system, this global diet composing
of big, major crops such as wheat, rice, potatoes and sugar (American Educational Films).

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Wheat is now a key food source in more than 97% of countries in the world, leading wheat crop
failure to be disastrous. Presently these food crops are important in dealing with global hunger,
(which is as a result of shrinking diversity), but their effectiveness are limited because we cannot
supplement them with other varieties. Crops nowadays are rather grown for commercial instead
of subsistence use resulting in the growing of less diverse crops and focusing solely on cash
crops. This use of cash crops has resulted in a lack of diversity within the farming industry as
there is a lack of interest in growing crops which are not commercially profitable.

Due to the lack of diversity, more people are dependent on key crops. The variety of
crops have declined by 75% during the 20th century and a third of todays diversity could
disappear by 2050(Porett, Science and Environment). These smaller variety of crops are prone to
harvest failures leading the supply of food relative to the quality of the harvest as well as
dependant on mother natures will for that specific crop. The lack of diversity in crops and seeds
results in a crop base which is generic leading to an overall weaker crop as well as a reliance on
one set of crops. As seen by Goldsmith :
Traditional farmers when planting large numbers of different crops, did not just plant
them at random. Particular combinations of crops were desirable for different reasons. In a wellplanned intercropping system, early established plants will reduce soil temperature and produce
the appropriate micro-climate for other plants (Goldsmith, 1).

Higher consumption of energy- dense crops could also contribute to a global rise in heart
disease and diabetes. Scientist have coined a new word for this shrinking of the diversity of crops
in the world called the globalized diet. This homogenous food basket makes agriculture more

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vulnerable to major threats like drought, insect /pests and disease. Due to this urgent need to
reverse this shrinking of crop diversity, the Svalbard global seed vault was designed to protect
the genetic diversity of the worlds food crops. This vault is a fail-safe seed storage building in
the arctic circle, which will withstand all natural and man-made disasters. It houses the largest
collection of crop diversity on the planet. There are now more than 1700 gene banks in the
world. The European Parliament adopted a resolution that called on EU nations to adopt
measures to preserve crops, biological and genetic diversity, so that plant breeders provide
adaptable varieties able to cope with projected climate changes and the need to increase
yields(Science and Environment). It is due to this variety which plays such an important role in
the providing of sustainable food supplies through the means of crops as well as ensures fertile
soils to grow. In many places around the world there has been no such action which has resulted
in the mass growing of cash crops which increase crop risk , pests, disease and soil desolation.

Our planets ability to maintain a stable environment in the face of all these threats is
probably now more vulnerable than ever in its history. There is a tipping point and I think that we
are on the edge of that tipping point. We can reverse it with simple resilient thinking if
everybody on the planet, and every country contributed to this philosophy and goal. This ideal to
strive for is possible, but only through unity as a species and the combined effort of everyone to a
common goal. Sustainability is key to ensure that we benefit most from our resources and use
them wisely and conservatively. We need to respect this earth and its precious resources so that
sustainable living can be achieved for everyone through the use of moderation and sustainable
progress,

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Bibliography

Andersson, Karin, Francesco Baldi, Selma Brynolf, J. Fredrik Lindgren,

Lena Granhag, and Erik Svensson. "Shipping and the Environment."
Shipping and the Environment (2016): 3-27. Web.Journal Article
This article was written by a variety of authors in which they talk about the effects of
shipping and its impact on the environment. The book also gives possible solutions in ensuring
sustainable use of the oceans. This book was valuable as it provided many perspectives and
possible solutions for the problem.

Dryer, John. "Space Junk Orbiting Our Planet Has Become a Huge
Mess." VICE News, 14 May 2016. Web. 10 June 2016.
<https://news.vice.com/article/space-junk-orbiting-our-planet-hasbecome-a-big-mess>.
This article is written by John Dryer a reporter for VICE news who discusses the impact
of space junk and the general problem with this build-up of debris circulating our planet. This
source was valuable as the arguments on why this is an actual issue were very factual based,
using information directly from NASA.

Goldsmith, Edward. "Why Crop Diversity Is so Important." The Estate

of Edward Goldsmith, 1 Jan. 1991. Web. 10 June 2016.
<http://www.edwardgoldsmith.org/847/why-crop-diversity-is-soimportant/>.
This is an article written by the late Edward Goldsmith an environmentalist, author and
philosopher who writes a very well written and informing article on the importance of crop
diversity While the article is outdated as it was written some years ago it is still applicable to
modern day commercial farming and sustainability.

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Red, Nola. "Space Junk Tracking & Removing Orbital Debris." N.p.,
8 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 June 2016.
This article was written by Nola Red about the issue with space debris and its harmful
and potentially dangerous causes. This was a good article to use as it had a large supply of
information and facts as well as videos to further explain its point and arguments. It was very
factually based and had a variety of possible solutions.

Porett, Jonathan "Science & Environment - BBC News." BBC

News. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2016.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment>.Website
This is a podcast by Jonathan Porett on the issue of the lack of seed diversity and its
devastating effects it can have on food supply as well as farming. He talks about its impact
globally and how over the years the progression of cash crops has immersed within farming. I
found this a good perspective source as there are discussions over this topic and possible
solutions are given to address the issue.

Nutrition the Inner Environment. American Educational Films, 1973.

DVD. Film / Online Video
This is an educational video which talks about the impact a lack of seeds has on the
producing of food and the possible risks which are associated with this. This video is very
educational and informing as it shows the end impact if something is not done.