Local Instead of Global

Throughout the United States, there are multiple types of soil and not many two places have the same kind.  Due to the different types of soil, farming and crop production differs from place to place.  This difference causes farming to be more complicated than a person would think.  There are many strategies and different procedures to successfully grow crops.  McKibben elaborates on this fact and connects the theory that the world cannot succeed with global industries, but should instead be run locally.  Farmers should not try to use a strategy for farming that is used in a completely different bioregion, because most likely, the crops will not produce the same outcome in a different soil.  Farmers should instead research the local soil and then determine the best ways to farm in that particular bioregion.  By doing this, farming would become more of a local industry, which Mckibben thinks will be more effective and cause less damage to the earth.  Farmers would learn how to grow more crops on the local soil and perhaps cause less crops to be flown in from distant farms. 

This same theory can be used for many other industries in the United States.  An example would be large companies.  Large companies are often thought of as being unable to fail and many times provide services to large populations.  However being able to serve many people may be good in the sense that less money is spent and the cost of a product is cheaper, but the product may not be ideal for an entire country.  A smaller company which is located closer to the customers would be able to provide better products and would stimulate the local economy, instead of giving money to a large corporation which is not ideal for everyone, but reins because of the money and power held.

Island Civilization to Decrease Air Pollution

            Air pollution is a prominent environmental issue in many areas of the world today.  Its impact is currently affecting our planet in a drastic manner and has been a problem for many decades.  Years ago, air pollution slowly began destroying the atmosphere, but recently the rate of destruction has increased by a great amount.  Different factories and forms of technology output harmful gasses into the air, like nitrogen dioxide, which is a factor in the destruction of the atmosphere.  In addition, these gasses not only harm the ozone layer, but also ruin the air quality of our planet, making it harder for people with conditions like asthma to breathe.  One specific region which is affected by this environmental issue is London.  London currently has large amounts of pollution in the air, and also has had large scale problems with the issue before.  Back in the 1950’s, London had a severe air pollution event called the Great Smog.  A thick layer of smog covered the city for five whole days which caused severe problems due to low visibility and also caused problems with thousands of peoples respiratory systems.  London’s current air pollution issues are not as drastic today, but they still exist.  In a recent article by Krisha Desai, it was found that the air quality at the London Olympics was not healthy and that it could affect the performance of athletes with asthma or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction.  Four years ago, when the Olympics were held in Beijing, the air quality was substantially better due to the fact Beijing banned the use of many cars prior to the games.  Before this ban, the nitrogen dioxide levels in Beijing were similar to those at the London Olympics.  This proves that small and reasonable steps can be taken which can improve our environment.  If the “island civilization” did occur, everyone would be in small cities on these little islands, causing cars to no longer be necessary.  Instead, people would be so close to everything they could walk instead of drive, greatly decreasing the amount of air pollution they produce.  An “island civilization” with less air pollution would be a great improvement for both the atmosphere and for the health of humans.

Link to Air Pollution at London Olympics Article

Summary/Responce “Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium”

            In the article “Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium”, Roderick Frazier Nash describes the human species’ destruction of earth and gives his thoughts on a solution that will help return earth closer to its pristine and natural state it began in.  Nash goes into detail of multiple existing propositions and also suggests his own, called “island civilization”.  Nash introduces the article by explaining how he believes that the human species is the cause of the decline of many attributes of earth.  When earth was first created billions of years ago, it was filled with wilderness and was unharmed by humans.  Throughout the years, he suggests that humans have destroyed this wilderness and created cities and roads in its place.  After pointing out that it was the humans that have caused so many changes to the planet, he proposes to attempt to reverse the earth back to its original state as much as possible.  His idea is to remove humans from freely roaming earth and place them onto densely populated and secluded islands where they would be unable to harm the rest of the environment.  This would allow all other animals and nature to grow and live freely without human interference.  Nash describes his idea in much detail and also points out the possible disadvantages of it and the backlash that could uproar due to the change in civilization.    

            Throughout his writing, Nash builds credibility by using different techniques of writing to cause the reader to build trust in him.  One example is his use of quotes from other authors and experts to support his ideas.  He uses their statements to show that both recent and late philosophers share his viewpoints and to prove he is speaking of a probable and realistic problem.  In addition, Nash also includes many quick facts that can help the reader understand his logic more, making his point easier to understand, even if the reader has little or no knowledge of the subject.  Referencing these facts shows his expertise in his study and its relating subjects.

I believe Nash has a great idea in that instead of protecting wildlife and having animals live in captivity, the humans should be separated from the rest of the environment.  It isn’t the animals who are causing harm to themselves and they really have no means of defense.  Therefore, it would be smarter to separate the humans from the rest of the innocent living organisms.  On paper this idea sounds successful, however, when thought about realistically, it would take hundreds or thousands of years to wean all humans off of technology and place them back into what many would refer to as prehistoric times.  In addition, many humans would refuse to change because they are naturally stubborn and also incredibly materialistic.  Another possible opposition to “island civilization” is people demanding freedom, especially those from countries who are more accustomed to it like the United States.  Many would argue that the government does not have the right to take away their belongings, like technology, and move them to completely new surroundings.  I realize that Nash did point out that people who were not inclined to move to these islands could stay on their land and take only what they needed, but I believe that so many people would choose to stay on their current land that the move of the other people would not have all that large of an impact.  The humans still living on the land would still be destroying the wilderness.  On another note, I believe the people who did move onto the islands would start off living peacefully, but eventually they would begin to become selfish and stop sharing.  People would keep as much food and water for themselves as they could causing  wars between the new residents of the islands.  Essentials for living would become the new materialistic items that everyone would be obsessed over having the most of as they could.

Although Roderick Frazier Nash presents an intriguing idea of how to save the world’s wilderness that has not been thought of before, it has many setbacks that need to be worked out before attempting to switch the world over to this new “island civilization”.