C/D Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - So, we looked at Gyres and briefly touched on plastics. With Young we'll finish up the worksheet "A Study of the Central North Pacific Gyre" and after we'll focus on what the Tragedy of the Commons is.
Now the man who wrote the "Tragedy of the Commons" in the journal Science (in 1968) was University of California professor Garret Hardin. Hardin was a biologist, but above all an advocate of neo-Malthusianism. His paper was primarily intended to condemn the urge that causes people to reproduce indiscriminately, to the point of depleting their natural resources. The conclusion to his argument is clear: communal ownership of a resource is harmful to its sustainability. To avoid its destruction, Hardin insists, there are only two solutions: either divide it into individually owned lots or turn its management over to a higher authority. The only options are private property or the State.
There are many who would argue Hardin's ideas are outdated and wrong
The Tragedy of the Tragedy of the Commons
Debunking the Tragedy of the Commons
So lets take a moment and consider Hardin's idea with pollution (plastic) in the commons (the ocean). Hardin would argue that since the oceans are a commons then people will over tax its resources and pollute it unless one of two things happens...it is owned individually (private property so perhaps countries) or it is controlled by a higher authority (the United Nations). So who owns the ocean?
Oceans are technically viewed as international zones, meaning no one country has jurisdiction over it all, there are regulations in place to help keep the peace and to essentially divide responsibility for the world’s oceans to various entities or countries around the world.
A "territorial sea" is defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas as 12 nautical miles, or 22 kilometers, away from a coastal baseline point. The nation in question can regulate use of this space as they deem fit. The contiguous zone is considered to be 12 kilometers beyond the territorial sea and is used to enforce a nation’s laws regarding customs and immigration, pollution, and for taxation purpose. The EEZ, or exclusive economic zone, is 200 nautical miles from a host nation’s coastline that allows them access to all natural resources within that zone. The "high seas" or "international waters" refer to anything outside of the 200 nautical mile radius of any sovereign nation.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, created in 1982 and ratified in 1994, is the higher authority for policing of international waters, creating nautical policies, and more. Part XII deals with the protection and preservation of the marine environment and specifically section 5, Article 207, that states:
Pollution from land-based sources
1. States shall adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from land-based sources, including rivers, estuaries, pipelines and outfall structures, taking into account internationally agreed rules, standards and recommended practices and procedures.
2. States shall take other measures as may be necessary to prevent, reduce and control such pollution.
So...technically the United Nations regulates the use of the high seas but from the ICUN
However, because they are beyond the remit of any single government to protect, they are subject to over exploitation, pollution and habitat degradation, which together are undermining vital Earth support systems. Known also as Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), these areas are notoriously difficult to manage with few laws to promote their protection. The laws that are in place are often weak and poorly enforced.AND
These remote areas of the ocean are, however, rich in biodiversity and resources and play a critical role in ecosystem services such as oxygen production and carbon storage. Since ABNJ make up nearly two thirds of the global ocean (that’s 45% of the Earth’s surface), this is of particular significance to the health of the planet.
Legal efforts have been made at the international and national levels to address marine pollution. The most important are the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (or the London Convention), the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention (the London Protocol), and the 1978 Protocol to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). However, compliance with these laws is still poor, partly due to limited financial resources to enforce them.
So...long story short. The high seas, open ocean, international waters, areas beyond national jurisdiction whatever you want to call them are not individually owned. There are regulations and laws in place to stop their degradation. The enforcement of those laws and regulations is at best weak.
So if we take Hardin's hypothesis as valid, then we see that using the United Nations as a higher authority to control the pollution (plastic) of the commons (the oceans) hasn't worked. Sigh...
So what can we do? Let's brainstorm some ideas together
“In order to reduce our plastic use, always consider an alternative to a plastic item offered. You can do this with The 4-Rs to Rethinking Plastic:
Refuse: single use plastics end up in our oceans, so ask for alternatives that can be used again.
Reduce: Is it possible to reduce your plastic footprint by eliminating the amount of plastic products used?
Re-use: if you can’t use an alternative to plastic, make sure you re-use it where possible and dispose of responsibly.
Recycle: If you must purchase plastic, opt for items that are recyclable to reduce additional material ending up in landfills. From a sustainability perspective, recycling remains one of our key solutions. Recycling reduces our requirement on virgin plastics (thereby reducing our consumption of oil, as plastic is made from oil) and also prevents used plastic from ending up in the environment.
You should finish up the last few questions from yesterday's worksheet:
Debris that avoids being pulled into the gyre and continues to circulate around the Pacific Ocean ends up on to the shores of beaches. Which of the two collections of plastic (in the gyre verses on the shore) do you feel should have a greater priority in terms of public policy and why?
- Researchers estimate 80% of trash comes from land and 20% comes from marine sources. What are the main sources of land-based trash? In your opinion what should be done about the plastic accumulating in the Pacific Ocean, and other gyres? How can you prevent additional marine debris?
Do you know what a Nurdle is?
10-20 million Tons of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, according to a report released by the Worldwatch Institute in 2015. The estimated number of plastic particles currently floating around in world’s oceans is 5.25 trillion. According to Greenpeace’s report Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans: “At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales, and fish. The scale of contamination of the marine environment by plastic debris is vast. It is found floating in all the world’s oceans, everywhere from polar regions to the equator.”
Please take some time to look through the videos below to help.
On Monday we'll watch the movie "A Plastic Ocean" and answer some questions. With Benton, Your job in the second part of the class (in the Learning Commons) and tomorrow is to design, create, and execute a social media campaign to help further your knowledge, raise awareness, and create possible solutions to the value of and risks to coral reefs with possible solutions. This will be done through an online digital Infographic. An Infographic is a visual digital poster that conveys multiple segments of information typically using words and numbers to represent data. Infographics generally use iconic-type graphic elements for visual design appeal and are typically vertical in orientation, like a wall poster. They are meant to be read, usually from top to bottom. They are created to collect a variety of data about a topic in one place and to communicate it in an interesting and easy-to-read format.
- Choose a specific at-risk reef somewhere in the world to research. (Maps)
- Consider the following questions:
- Why are coral reefs important and how do the actions of Canadians impact reefs?
- What are the factors that are contributing to the degradation of this particular reef (the one you choose).
- How many species require this reef as habitat? (Hint get pictures of some of the cute ones!)
- How does the human population of the area depend on the reef?
- Is there any local or international action being taken to reverse the reef damage?
- Why should we be concerned about coral reefs?
3) You can use any of the following websites to complete the info-graphic
All Infographics are telling a story and your story is that Coral Reefs are frickin' amazing and we should do something to help them. However...avoid some common infographic problems like:
Improper layout
Too much Text/Information (it's cluttered)
Misleading Data
Poor Colour Choices
Too Many different fonts
Lacking Flow (visual hierarchy) - remember you are telling a story
Check this one out...It has a title but can you follow the story?
Again it's longer but check out the colour, the flow, the organization, the simplicity and the data in this one
1. Describe the problem...see the points above
2. Develop the social media plan. Remember to consider:
• Shocking, interesting, or horrifying facts you want to share
• Videos and pictures you want to share
• Creating a call to action
3. Please use Coral Reef hashtags and handles to spread the word:
#underwaterlife #coral #saveourseas #coralreef #ocean #underwaterworld #oceanforever #glowinggone #coralon #natureisspeaking
2. Develop the social media plan. Remember to consider:
• Shocking, interesting, or horrifying facts you want to share
• Videos and pictures you want to share
• Creating a call to action
3. Please use Coral Reef hashtags and handles to spread the word:
#underwaterlife #coral #saveourseas #coralreef #ocean #underwaterworld #oceanforever #glowinggone #coralon #natureisspeaking
The Pantone Color Institute announced that the colour of 2019 was “Living Coral.” This launched the start of an interactive campaign dedicated to raising awareness on the destruction of coral reefs due to climate change. This social media campaign paired Pantone and Adobe and used #GlowingGone as the campaign hashtag. But it went further than that. The campaign involved creating a whole website, social media channels and a challenge for designers and individuals to get involved. Check out the campaign at Glowing Gone
Some websites to start you with
A Block Legal Studies - Monday your criminal law memo project is due, so today is the last day in the Learning Commons / Library to get your project finished. Next week sees us look at Criminal Law defences and then sentencing. The last week before Christmas we'll wrap that up with a collaborative test and then the movie Just Mercy. Ask for help if you need it & good luck!
B Block Human Geography - Today we'll start with time to work on yesterday's questions:
- How are the differences between universalizing and ethnic religions similar to the differences between folk and popular culture? List several similarities.
- Refer to the small pie charts in Figure 6-3 (it's the one above). Which regions have enough adherents of each of the three universalizing religions that all three appear on the pie charts?
- What are some similarities and differences between Buddhism and Chinese ethnic religions?
Look at yesterday's blog for links to help. Next we move on to our next key question, "Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?" Universalizing religions have diffused from specific places of origin (or hearths) to other regions of the world, while most ethnic religions have generally remained clustered in a defined area. Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism all originated in Asia and diffused the world over from there. So we'll try to find out how and why religions spread the way they do. To help:
Don't forget the three major universalizing religions of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism diffused from specific places of origin, or hearths, to other regions of the world, while most ethnic religions have generally remained clustered in a defined area. Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism all originated in Asia and diffused the world over from there. You'll have a chart to fill in and then some questions to answer about about the diffusion of Christianity and Islam...From Bridging World History (Annenberg Media)
Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam alike were proselytized by their followers, adapted to different cultural settings, and used to provide religious sanctions for rulers. Unlike Buddhism, however, both Christianity and Islam used military power to conquer and convert peoples and created their own governments.
From its origins in sixth-century B.C.E. India, Buddhism was transmitted through central to east Asia by the beginning of the first millennium C.E. to become one of the great proselytizing, universal religions of world history. Emerging from the Sumerian and Judaic traditions of early West Asia, both Christianity and Islam were, by the close of the first millennium C.E., institutionalized universal religions with large populations of adherents in lands that stretched from northern Europe to North Africa and from the Mediterranean to East Africa and the Himalayas. As all three of these religions were introduced into different cultures and societies, they underwent significant adaptations to indigenous belief systems at the same time that they dramatically altered the religious ideals and values of peoples around the globe.
All three early universal religions—Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam—were further expanded by those who held the reins of power in the areas where they took root. Although Buddhism interacted with political authority in various cultural settings, lending its sanction to some rulers, it did not become the engine of empire that Christianity, and especially Islam, did. Just as political forces shaped the growth and spread of these religions, so Christianity and Islam both played powerful roles in legitimizing political authority.
Your questions are:
- How was Hinduism's origin different than universalizing religions? When did it originate? Where did it originate? What two ancient peoples’ beliefs blended to form Hinduism?
- Complete the chart describing the origins and branches of the major universalizing religions (Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism)
- Give three explanations for the diffusion of Christianity. Identify the type of diffusion of each explanation.
- Give three ways in which Islam spread.
- What does the term diaspora mean in the context of the migration patterns of Jews?
You'll have the block on Monday to continue this work.
Today's Fit...
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