One of the key starting points for understanding environmental movements of the past, present, and future is making sense of how we think and talk about nature.
1) In the topic of your post, name an environmental issue you are interested in.
2) Then, post a paragraph (~200 words):
– why this issue is interesting to you, and how you are involved in it (can range from simply learning/reading about it to organizing protests about it)
– connect it to the readings with citations (Author, Date)
3) respond to at least 2 of your classmates, drawing connections to other issues you see posted, relevant readings, current events, etc. (i.e. don’t just say “that’s interesting!,” bring something to the conversation)
This is the classmate discussion post which I want you to respond:
Fires in Southern California
Living in Southern California has exposed me to multiple fires throughout my lifetime that have threatened my, along with countless others, safety and sense of security. For many, the frequency of these wildfires is alarming and is cause for concern, and rightly so. The issue of the increase in impact of wildfires in Southern California is interesting and pertinent to me, not only because it is one that is close to home, but also because it is an indicator of a much larger problem that we face today: climate change. According to the US Forest Service, the chaparral ecosystem is well-equipped and adapted to recover from fires, and fire can actually be an integral component in the regeneration of the species residing there. However, the increased frequency and intensity that has been observed in recent years is counterproductive to growth, which makes it a topic of interest among scientists. My involvement in this issue has been limited to reading about it in the news and in papers. In addition, while taking a class in Conservation Biology, Dr. Jon Keeley delivered a lecture about the ecological impacts of wildfires in different regions of California. I was reminded of this lecture after reading the introduction of Uncommon Ground, in which the author writes about the prominent wildfires that could be seen from Irvine as scientists convened to discuss the manipulation of ecosystems and the definition of nature (Cronon, 1996). This essay caused me to think about how these issues extend through time, and although scientists have been privy to human degradation of the environment and its implications, it continues to persist today.