sfairfield's blog

In Ethiopia, those who follow Woga traditions and those who follow Protestantism differ in respect to their view on the land both spiritually and in utilitarian ways. The Protestants believe God gave the land to people to be used as they see fit, while followers of the indigenous practices of Woga believe that the sacred forests should not be tampered with and the grazing fields for local cattle should not be opened up except for special occasions, such as their seasonal festival known as Masqala. Also, sometimes the elders decide to deny access to certain parts of the land and allow them to regrow, meaning people must leave that area of land and its resources alone until further notice. People must ask before they cut down the trees and offer tribute as recompense. In contrast, many of the younger farmers are Christian converts who engage in forest clearing to make room for their growing fields as well as to discourage the presence of monkeys who steal their crop.

          Due to the deterioration of coastal wetlands in the United States, efforts have been made to devise effective conservation strategies to halt their destruction and potentially aid in their recovery. Wetlands are not only among the most biodiverse habitats, but can also serve as natural speed bumps to approaching hurricanes by starving them of warm ocean water and creating physical barriers to surging flood waters. However, in the last hundred years, the combined forces of human development and increasingly extreme storms have turned thousands of square miles of wetlands in the U.S. into open water.  One strategy to address this issue is government regulation. By 1984, over half of all the wetlands in the U.S. had been drained or filled for development or agriculture. Congress responded to these figures by passing two wetland conservation and restoration programs administered by National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to slow or reverse these trends. These two programs are the Wetland Conservation Provisions which was authorized in the 1985 Farm Bill, and the Wetlands Reserve Program which was later authorized in the 1990 Farm Bill. These bills put into law restrictions on pollution, such as requiring more strict run-off protocols, which resulted in reduced agricultural impacts on wetlands. Through these two programs, NRCS works with farmers and ranchers to maintain or increase important wetland benefits, while ensuring the farmers' ability to continue to produce crops. Another strategy is to better communicate the economic benefit of healthy wetlands, in order to incentivize the private sector to take action. Using the latest modeling techniques, researchers from the conservation, engineering, and insurance sectors studied the impact of Hurricane Sandy in the northeast United States in 2012, when New York and New Jersey were badly hit by storm surges. The study determined that more than $625 million in property damages were prevented during this catastrophe due to wetlands along the Northeast coast. Promoting these advantages of wetlands may result in greater consideration in coastal development and habitat restoration decisions, and may provide greater incentives in the private sector to design their development projects in a sustainable way so as to conserve and restore these natural habitats.

This first chapter introduces the concept of virtual water, which we have already touched upon in class. Pearce defines it here as the water beyond standard household use, but instead the water that is needed during the manufacturing, growing, or feeding of a given product. He explains that food requires the most virtual water, do to the water needed to tend to crops as well as bathe or grow the grain to feed livestock, and then process and preserve their meat. I found Pearce’s enumeration of the amounts of water that go into common products was eye opening, especially that, when factoring in virtual water, the average westerner consumes 360,000 and 480,000 gallons a year. The fact provided in this chapter that I found the most surprising was that the United States was the world’s largest exporter of virtual water. I also found it interesting when Pearce presented a more nuanced view of the virtual water trade that while the current system is untenable, some virtual water trade will always be necessary for particular regions, like those of the Middle East or the Sahara.

I made eight observations about the left and right figures on page 14, and from these observations, I made three inferences. I observed the letter labels on the left figure were in the bottom right corner of each image, while the letter labels on the right figure were in the upper left corner of each image. I observed the letter labels were also in different fonts sizes and styles, with the left figure using a relatively larger and serif font while the right figure used a relatively smaller and sans-serif font. From these three observations, I inferred that the methods provided did not explicate how the original labels were created. I observed the space between the panels of each figure were different, with the left figure panels being relatively further apart than the right figure panels. From this observation, I inferred that the methods provided did not offer instructions on how to space the panels. I observed that panel A in the left figure frames the hedge at an angle, while panel C in the right figure frames the hedge parallel to the edge of the photo. I observed panel B in the left figure shows the full height of the subject tree, while panel B of the right figure cuts off the top of the tree. I observed panel C of the left figure has the subject tree centered, while panel C of the right figure has the tree on the far left. Despite these differences, the photos from both figures contained the same landmarks in the surrounding and background. From these four observations, I inferred that the methods provided did offer details of the position the photographer was standing in for each photo, but did not offer instructions on how to frame the subject of each photo. 

Due to the importance of coastal wetlands, efforts have been made to devise effective conservation strategies to halt their destruction and potentially aid in their recovery. One method is through government regulation. By 1984, over half of all the wetlands in the U.S. had been drained or filled for development or agriculture. Congress responded to these alarming figures by passing two critical wetland conservation and restoration programs administered by National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to slow or reverse these trends. These two programs are the Wetland Conservation Provisions which was authorized in the 1985 Farm Bill, and the Wetlands Reserve Program which was later authorized in the 1990 Farm Bill. Enactment of the 1985 Farm Bill dramatically reduced agricultural impacts when compared to pre-1985 wetland impacts. Through these two programs, NRCS works with farmers and ranchers to maintain or increase important wetland benefits, while ensuring their ability to continue to produce food and fiber (Barras). Another strategy is to better communicate the economic benefit of healthy wetlands, in order to incentivize the private sector to take action. Using the latest modeling techniques, researchers from the conservation, engineering, and insurance sectors studied the impact of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast United States in 2012, when New York and New Jersey were badly hit by storm surges. The study determined that more than $625 million in property damages were prevented during this catastrophe due to coastal wetlands along the Northeast coast. Promoting these advantages of wetlands may result in greater consideration in coastal development and habitat restoration decisions, and may provide greater incentives in the private sector to design their development projects in a sustainable way so as to conserve and restore these natural habitats.

          The shift from hunter/gatherers to farmers to larger urban settlements falls under the first epidemiological transition. Hunter/gatherers experienced “heirloom diseases” which followed them from their primate ancestry, such as lice, insect bites, parasites, and other zoonoses (animal borne). Infectious diseases were not very common due to low population density. The transition to farmers led to larger groups, more waste, contaminated water, and closer animal contact, and diseases included scrub typhus from grasses. Anthrax and TB from animals, schistosomiasis from snails in irrigation canals, malaria from mosquitoes, etc. Larger urban settlements developed into cities of 50,000 people by 5,000 years ago and 200,000 people by 3000 years ago. This accelerated all the problems from farms, with increased population density, waste, and water contamination, and more infectious diseases like smallpox, measles, flu, mumps, cholera, and plague from rodents with fleas. The plague came to Europe from China and wiped out 30-60% (25-50 million) of the european population, leading to social disruption/violence, decline in farming due to labor shortages (created famine), change in feudal relations, and eventually, higher salaries and innovations in technology, which sped up socioeconomic change. The colonization of the Americas led to the spread of disease between colonizers and indigenous populations, with smallpox, measles, and influenza having a particularly devastating impact on natives by eliminating 60-90% of their population. This accelerated the conquest and contributed to the transition of forced labor away from natives and towards enslaved Africans.

As a result of the more strenuous birth process humans often require assistance from others during childbirth to avoid complications, while most non-human primates give birth alone with relatively little difficulty. The assistance is necessary because the physically painful and exhausting process of overcoming the passing of a relatively large infant through the narrow birth canal can result in medical issues for both the mother and child. In addition, the fact that babies rotate to pass through the canal means they exit face down, thus making it difficult for the mother alone to remove the child without risking spine injury. Because the task of childbirth can be so physically intense or even dangerous, it can also be emotionally daunting, which also gives rise to the desire for support from others. In addition, because childbirth is often viewed as an momentous event, many cultures view the presence of close relatives or other community members as necessary to help guide the mother and properly welcome the new child.

          The documentary emphasized the importance of water to both human society and natural ecosystems, outlined the normal water cycle, absent human interference, and went on to describe the ways governments and private companies try to control water, as well as the ways grassroots activists organize in defense of water rights. All of these components of the video offered context for the overarching theme, which was water scarcity. I found the ecology of overcompensation interesting, as the video explained that overpumping of groundwater supplies leads to desertification of the surrounding area, and that when the land can no longer absorb moisture, precipitation runs off into the ocean, contributing to more severe storms. In regards to water management policy, I was somewhat surprised to learn that international organizations like the UN defined water as a commodity, not a right. The example offered of the World Bank refusing to finance a water co-op in Bolivia, and subsequently trying to force Bolivia to privatize their national water system, leading to an actual civil war, was shocking. Furthermore, the way the private sector unsustainably exploits water supplies elsewhere around the world for short-term profits, even going so far as to bribe government officials, was frustrating to hear about.

          The article “A Complete Skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the Evolution of Early Homo” describes archaeological finds from a site in central Asia, detailing their relevance to early hominin evolution and potentially challenging prior assumptions about human migration and species distinctions. Excavation began on the Dmanisi site in 1999, with researchers first finding assorted fauna fossils, then stone tools, and finally hominid remains. These hominid fossils have been linked to H. habilis and H. erectus in Africa and H. erectus in East Asia. The hominid remains in Dmanisi are especially important because they have been dated to 1.8 million years ago, and thus represent the earliest hominid finds outside of Africa, casting doubt on previous knowledge as to when human ancestors first traveled to other continents. One of the main focuses of the article is a particular fossil known as skull 5, which is the first and only completely preserved adult hominid skull found from the early Pleistocene. This fossil is important because it provides evidence of the orientation of the face relative to the brain case, and serves as an intact sample of fully developed adult cranial morphology, which was previously unavailable due to earlier finds being either incomplete, damaged, or juvenile skulls. Skull 5 is described as having a small brain case, a large, prognathic face, and very robust features. Skull 5 in the context of the 4 other sets of remains, also shows distinct morphologic variations, despite almost certainly being of the same species, since they were all found in the same general location and dated to approximately the same time. The notable anatomical differences in the shape of the skulls led researchers to measure the morphological variation between the Dmanisi finds and compare it to the variation found in extant ape species, like chimpanzees and bonobos. This analysis led them to conclude that the variation in the Dmanisi fossils is well within the range of normal variation within a species population. The article went on to say that such a conclusion raises questions about whether previous finds from elsewhere in Asia and Africa, which were categorized as separate and distinct species, are in fact merely part of a single widespread Homo lineage.

Altruism is the principle or practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others. The paper The Evolution of Eusociality argues that the kin selection theory, which refers to the evolutionary strategy that favors the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction, is an unnecessary explanation for the evolution of altruistic behavior, or “eusociality”, and proposes alternative hypotheses based on a two-part mathematical analysis. Kin selection is based on inclusive fitness, which states that organisms can accrue reproductive benefits by helping their relatives. In doing so, they help shared genes to survive and be inherited by the next generation. Thus eusociality can evolve. However, the authors of this paper argue that inclusive fitness is unnecessary to explain eusociality. They observed ants to calculate which of two behaviours, defection or cooperation, would become more prevalent in a population through standard natural selection. They determined that inclusive fitness delivers the same result only in a limited, unrealistic solutions. When the inclusive fitness theory worked, it had no greater success than that derived from standard natural selection. The second mathematical analysis, investigated the manner in which eusociality could evolve through standard natural selection. The authors observed that whether or not eusociality evolves is dependent on the size of the ant colony and how this affects the mortality and fertility of the queen. The authors concluded that eusociality could evolve with some difficulty but is “very stable once established.”