U-sustain week 10!

 

    Sandstorm in Beijing caused from desertification in region, winds picked up sand in Mongolia and moved them south, caused worst air quality in four years. China is thinking about building a buffer out of trees: a green great wall to protect Beijing from future storms. These buffers are mostly monocrop plantations. A quarter of the world's reforestation is by China, but only a few types of trees are planted. My history professor for my History of Sustainability course is based in Beijing and showed us the air and visibility outside where he lives. To put it in perspective, the air quality index in Schenectady of that day was 35 compared with 500 in Beijing. 

    More economic value in conserving habitats rather than development or extracting resources. Studies conducted by University of Vermont, it's interesting that this is a new academic field. 

If reducing climate change is so important to our futures then it is important we act now and show support in anyway possible. One new thing you can do this week is to try attending one or two more events per term. This may be a lot, but showing support for climate action goes further to making real change happen- especially on campus. Returning to the idea of climate literature next week, there are some book recommendations and a new documentary. 

Thanks so much for reading!

U-sustain 3/9/21!

 

    February WWF world wide fund for nature report on freshwater fish species. Found that 16 species went extinct. Freshwater fish are biological indicators of ecosystem health and the decline in population could be a problem for the 200 million whose livelihood and food rely on healthy freshwater fish populations. Overfishing is the greatest threat to populations and makes it difficult for them to recover; sand mining and invasive species also hurt aquatic ecosystems and are detrimental to population health. 

    We would like a New Deal for freshwater ecosystems at the UN convention on biological diversity conference on May 17th. This is a COP 15 meeting and will create the final biodiversity framework for the 2020 decade. A lot rides on this conference, it is crucial we protect the river ecosystems to prevent species collapse. Simple solutions are possible and success depends on the politics of the convention. 

    Disha Ravi is one of the founders of a Fridays4Future chapter in India and was arrested for creating a toolkit on effective protest strategies to support farmers during the farmers strike. The tool kit was a document on effective social justice campaigns and an outline for better decision making during a protest. The document also had links to other websites where more information could be found on effective strike procedures. Imprisoned for five days from February 19th-23rd- judge released her after finding no reason for arrest. Although some violence at the protests, this was not linked with her toolkit. 

    Ravi's arrest was heavily criticized. Also earlier the FFF website was blocked when it supported a block against and impact assessment document by the Indian government. This shows a continuing trend against democratic ideas and freedom of speech. Here is a powerful quote, Ravi said: "the threat to democracy and environmental action shows the power of government and their motive to suppress dissent." The arrest of Disha Ravi was completely unwarranted. 

How do you think about the idea of a growing threat to democracy and what experiences have you had and how do you discuss this topic? 

Notes: can lead through actions and words, materialistic belongings should not be held against you or discount your environmental actions. If doing environment so much as they are, to some extent have the right to mansions and private jets.- not sure how much I agree with discussion takeaways. 

Please signup for the conference! It should be a lot of fun and we have a great speaker. 

Environmental news 3/2/31

A $400k purchase of land around Cottonwood Lake in British Colombia for conservation and old growth forest development. What is so cool about this preservation project was how the funding was crowd sourced by over 1000 people. Now the area is under management by a land trust. Forest protected by logging and preserved as a crucial wildlife corridor for grizzly bears. Old growth forests are excellent at carbon sequestration and clear cutting releases greenhouse gas emissions. 

The monarch biosphere reserve in Michoacán Mexico is down 26% of its population this year. While the overall monarch population is still doing well, this is a dramatic drop. Each year has seen small drops in numbers but none so large. If this continues it could be a problem for the species. Population decrease is from: loss of trees in the preserve from logging and drought, wild weather decreased amount of wild milkweed the monarchs need for laying eggs, and changing weather patterns from climate change are difficult for monarchs to handle. 

Good news: there is so much good that we also hear about: green cities, agriculture, renewable energy. 

White house summit on April 22nd on climate change.

Picture is of the Union college co-gen plant. Plant dramatically reduces campus emissions. 

Speaking about climate change if we ask countries to reduce their emissions by 20% each year, we too as individuals must also make this decision to match the UN targets. After you've joined Ozone house you can decide to actually make a change in lifestyle choices. 

From discussion:

• many people too busy or not in financial position to think about climate
• if in position then you should feel the power and responsibility to take action
• not sure what actions to take
• useful contact points in reducing waste or GHG emissions
• climate denial still raises questions in people's minds 

Some ideas of how to go further in learning about climate:

• attend U-sustain meetings and become more involved through running for eboard positions and attending events
• research topics of personal interest- discover new aspects of environmentalism and deeply explore these intellectually
• examples include
• ecomusicology
• foraging
• climate literature and book reviews
• work on environmental projects at home either in your neighborhood and family or for a local organization
• become more ambitious and passionate about the environment and plan your own projects and events. We are here to help you! 

Thank you so much