A World in Need of Change

   

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft's vantage point in orbit around the moon. Photo by NASA.

Summer sunset at Sanibel beach. Photo by D Martinez.

"As in all living systems, particular individual contributions add up to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each of us has pieces of solutions that we apply in our particular part of the world and taken together. Each of us has pieces of solutions that we apply in our particular part of the world and taken together, these pieces are beginning to assemble into a potential picture of a sustainable world" (Robertson, 2014, p. 7). 

 To begin with, I am extremely glad this is a required course for all FGCU students. I've always had a passionate stance on environmental studies and I can only hope that with the implementation of this course, many students will become more aware of how delicate our world currently is. The numerous ways we can contribute and aid with bettering our world is bountiful. But it's beginning with being further educated about the foundation of what contributes to the issues being faced that will spark the match on what can be done in years to come. One day the impact will hopefully have a ripple effect in ultimately giving coming generations the opportunity to be the change for our future we so desperately need. From the second I read this particular quote I felt driven. Driven in the sense that I felt faith in humanity. We have the power to bring about a change for the better. Our world gives so much to us, yet we take it all for granted because of our insatiable greed for more. Small contributions from one person alone can add up to something incredibly powerful. If we all contribute our share to better the world who knows the wonders we could be able to transform?



"In spite of these efforts economic gaps continue to widen, global average temperatures continue to increase, and the environment continues to deteriorate"(Robertson, 2014, p. 18)

Vince Ambrosia of NASA’s Ames Research Center, gives a presentation about “NASA and Wildfires: Science and Technology Supporting the Nation” at the NASA booth at the fall 2015 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Photo by NASA.

    Looking back at how far we've come with the environmental movement shows how long these prevalent issues have been in our presence from numerous years. Unfortunately, of the many voices declaring the stark realities of our environment, a significant change has yet to occur. Countries far and wide have come together to help resolve one of the biggest problems currently being faced, more specifically to that of climate change such as in the first series of reports called the Millenium Ecosystem Asssessments by the United Nations. But, "the changes in policy and practice required are substantial and not currently underway" (Robertson 2014, 18), and this in of itself can be further a building block to the increasing temperatures and deterioration in the economy and environment as has been previously stated. 
   I've been fortunate enough to grown up in an environment in which I was taught to not let things go to waste- be it water, placing plastics in the recycling bin or shopping with a cloth bag. And although yes, I would agree with the quote stated prior, although there are various policies and practices that have been established to aid sustainability I still feel as though education on the matter is not being extensively taught and enforced about the current dire state our world is in. If anything, I believe it i terribly undermined. Policies will have more of a chance to succeed if we as community come together and start teaching new generations about the crisis our world is facing. As Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said in his speech, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" (1963).

The rusty patched bumblebee is the first bumblebee to be designated as an endangered species in the U.S. Photo by Alamy.

"In recent decades, scientists and planners began to realize that we as a planet have many problems that are connected, including poverty, health, overpopulation, resource depletion, food and water scarcity political instability, and the destruction of the life support systems we all depend on. We cannot fix one problem in isolation because they are all connected"(Robertson, 2014, p. 5)

The "triple bottom line", otherwise known as the "three E's", are what I believe to be the key to one day hopefully reaching some stability. The "three E's" consists of environment, economics, and equity. I can almost guarantee that if the preservation of our environment (or ecology) is kept, our resources are distributed justly, and there is social equality, then maybe, just maybe we reach balance and make our world shine brighter in the near future.

This blog's author at "Las Tres Olas" in Santa Marta, Colombia. Photo D.Martinez 

Sources
Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability principles and practice. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream. Speech presented in Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D. C. .