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Josh Kraght 11.15.13 Sustainability Perkins

Dr.

Research Project: Defining Sustainability

Science and technology are growing at rapid speeds and the reality of the world is becoming clearer, ultimately creating more problems for humans to solve. Some of the largest problems that the human race is facing is how to create a sustainable environment. Jane Lubchenco has a similar thought when she states, The advances that have emerged from space, defense, and medical research, among many other areasall of which have depended on basic research across all disciplineshave been astounding. (Lubchenco 1998). Through this advancement of technology and understanding of our environment, researchers have realized that what the human race has been doing for years is not going to last or create a sustainable future. There is something wrong with our system. A. J. McMichael has a great definition of what a sustainable environment looks like, For human populations, sustainability means transforming our ways of living to maximize the chances that environmental and social conditions will indefinitely support human security, well-being, and health. (McMichael 2003). With the massive amounts and quality of research that is being done every year by scientist and researches, the overwhelming question is, how do we has as humans change our habits in how we treat our environment? The solutions are abundant and there have been endless amount of research done on how we fix this issue. One large issue is how we use non-renewable resources. Non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and minerals are being used up which mean that they are considered not sustainable. The only permissible way to use these resources are to make sure that there are renewable substitutes that can be identified. (Huesemann 2003). Another way of sustaining the environment is brought up by Huesemann, The second

sustainable condition assures the long-term stability of the environment that ultimately receives all outputs from industrial economics. There are endless amounts of ideas and solutions to these problems but I am going to point out a few main topics that can help create a sustainable environment for you, me, our children, and our childrens children. The obstruction of ecosystems have had a major impact on the ability to sustain our environment and our humanity. Ecological systemsfrom wetlands, forests, coral reefs, and tundra, to grasslands, kelp beds, estuaries, and the open oceanprovide a broad range of essential goods and services to humanity. (Lubchenco 1998). These ecosystems are the lifesupport of every system on this planet. Ecological goods and services provide us with the understanding of everything that changes on this earth. The overall well-being of our humanity is dependent on how diverse and functional our ecological systems are (Lubchenco 1998). One of the most significant ecological systems that is affecting the sustainability of our future is running water ecosystems. Water directly affects the health and quality of the way we live. Fortunately, where I have grown up and most of my classmates, we have never had to worry about water quality. 3.4 million People die each year from a water related disease and 780 million people lack access to clean water (Water.org). These statistics are staggering numbers and it directly relates to the water ecosystems that surround us. The quality of this water run-off is affected by siltation rates in our rivers, the oil pollution in our oceans, sewage and waste water. The misuse of water has always been an issue according to Jill Boberg who wrote Humans have always discovered, diverted, accumulated, regulated, hoarded, and misused water. (Boberg 2005) This statement gives a pretty clear understanding of the past and future behavior of humans and how we are going to use our water. In order to create better sustained water we must understand that changing these habits will be the only way to create cleaner water for this earth.

Ways that have been developed to create sustainable clean water have been researched by M. Haasnoot. Haasnoot who explains two ways of creating clean water for the future. One system is the environmental pressures such as climate change and land use changes, which influence the water availability. The second factor that can help water quality is socio-economic pressures determining the water demand and spatial claims. These factors influence the system state, including the water state (quantity and quality) and land use state (such as land use and infrastructure). (Haasnoot 2011). To sustain the water quality around the world we must look upstream to solve this problem. If we can fix the quality of water at its origin point, consequently the overall water quality will improve. People need to understand what they are putting into the ground and understand that what they put into the soil can have an effect on the quality of their drinking water. If humans do not have quality water to drink their lives will be shortened significantly. With high quality of water around the world, the lifespan of humans should be sustained. The next topic that I would like to focus on is that of creating sustainable healthy foods for generations to come. Similar to water quality, the quality of food that we put into our body has a significant effect on how humans live their lives and how long they live. The science of combining the ecological process and agriculture is defined by the word agroecology. The agriculture community is still producing the amount of food that is needed, but that does not mean it is doing it the correct way. Stephen R. Gliessman explains, Although the worlds agriculture lands continue to produce at least as much food as they have in the past, here are abundant signs that the foundations of their productivity are in danger. (Gliessman 2000). Agriculture has been very successful in supplying the amount of food needed for the increasing population during the latter half of the twentieth century. The advancements in food production

have been very significant due to science and technology. Although agriculture has been able to keep up, this creates a lot of problems (Gliessman 2000). Stephen R. Gliessman explains in an intelligent way of how the new innovations of our agriculture are negatively affecting the sustainability of them. He writes, Despite its success, however, our system of global food production is in the process of undercutting the very foundation upon which it has been built. The techniques, innovations, practices, and policies that have allowed increases in productivity have also undermined the basis for that productivity. (Gliessman 2000). Agriculture has overdrawn and degraded the natural resources that it depends on which include soil, water, and the natural genetic diversity (Gliessman 2000). The farmers of mass production agriculture have started new habits that are not sustaining the environment. The ways that are being practiced today are creating agriculture to be unsustainable. The conventional way of agriculture was developed on two related goals: maximizing production and maximizing profit. As farmers pursued these goals, practices were developed without regard for the long-term consequences that would damage the ecological systems and agroecosystems (Gliessman 2000). Gliessman explains that there are six basic practices, intensive tillage, monoculture, and irrigation, application of inorganic fertilizer, chemical pest control, and genetic manipulation. All of these practices have negatively affected the opportunity for our agriculture to be sustainable. Agriculture is something that will always be an issue for as long as humans walk this earth. Agriculture is a tremendous thing and has been beneficial to humans in many ways. Although, in the recent decades the way agriculture has been utilized has had a harmful impact on nourishing the environment. Agriculture is critical to the future of humans and always will be. Humans will always have to eat food in order to survive and if we cannot figure out ways to correct these habits then humans will not be able to survive for very much longer.

Sustainability is a topic that should not be taken lightly. The future of humans depends on how serious we take this thought of sustaining our environment. As the population grows people are going to have to realize that the habits that they have been creating for hundreds of years are old and simply not affective anymore. In Geoffrey Heals article titled Valuing the Future he explains the situation on the future and how humans need to change their habit, Can existing patterns of human activity safely and sensibly continue unaltered over the long term, or will such continuation lead to unacceptable consequences? This is the central issue underlying current discussions of sustainability. (Heal 1998). In my opinion, Geoffrey Heal hits the nail on the head with this quote. There are endless amounts of reason as to why this world is not currently sustainable, but until people realize that the habits that they developed are going to eventually create this world into a place where people dont want to live. Changing the paradigm of how people view the world is something that is not easy to do. I mentioned only two topics that can help create a sustainable environment. Creating high quality water and fixing our issues in agriculture are only two of thousands of problems that our society and universe face. This issue will not be fixed in a day, year or even ten years, but as time goes on people are going to have to change the way they think. After doing hours of research I have come to realize that only one thing will help create a sustainable culture, and that is creating new ways of showing people the problems that we are creating and how they are going to affect the future generations. I think if you talked to any person who has kids they would tell you that they want whats best for their children. Unfortunately, if humans continue these patterns of unhealthy habits then the quality of life for the future generations will be negatively affected. I think if you can prove to people that their children will be negatively impacted then that will get them thinking about sustainability.

REFERENCES
Boberg, Jill. "Google Books." Google Books. RAND Corporation, 2005. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Gliessman, Stephen R. "Google Books." Google Books. CRC Press LLC, 2000. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Haasnoot, M., H. Middelkoop, E. VanBeek, and W. Van Deursen. "A Method to Develop Sustainable Water Management Strategies for an Uncertain Future." - Haasnoot. N.p., 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Heal, Geoffrey. "Google Books." Google Books. Columbia University Press, 1998. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. Huesemann, Michael H. "The Limits of Technological Solutions to Sustainable Development Springer." N.p., 01 Mar. 2003. Lubchenco, Jane. "Entering the Century of the Environment: A New Social Contract for Science." N.p., Jan. 1998. McMichael, A.J. "Go to Science." Science Magazine: Sign In. N.p., Dec. 2003. "Water.org." Waterorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.