Charles Darwin was born on this day in 1809 . . . can you hear the majestic music in the background? No one can deny that Darwin was a great man, and apparently a pretty nice guy. His work, revolutionary for its sweeping general theories developed from studying minutiae, is the basis for modern-day biology. Evolutionist or creationist – no one can deny Darwin’s indelible mark on our belief systems.
So, in honor of Darwin’s 200 year anniversary, let’s take up the subject of evolution and creation. Personally, I subscribe to what would be termed Theistic evolution. There is actually an organization that delves into the interpretation of the biblical writings in light of scientific findings: http://www.theisticevolution.org/ . The articles available on this site provide excellent food for thought in the evolution versus creation debate.
In my opinion, it is much more amazing to think of God having set up this self-perpetuating system of biological evolution than to imagine him plopping man in the middle of Eden. Theistic evolution views the creation story as allegory, rather than attempting a literal interpretation that doesn’t coincide with the hard evidence that supports the evolution theory.
It is important to remember that the bible was written by humans – flawed, with imperfect knowledge, they wrote what they understood. Perhaps God inspired them, but He could not explain the intricacies of the evolutionary engine He designed – that's something that we had to learn over time. Maybe that is why He gave us these big brains!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A History Lesson & Change
Welcome to the maiden voyage of the Environmental Realist. I’m Kenna Coltman, and aside from being a wife and mother of five (I know, how unsustainable of me), I am an Environmental Management Consultant; have been for fifteen years. My views on the environment reflect my upbringing in the rust belt. I’m a typical midwesterner: practical and just a tad jaded.
First, let’s talk about the history of the environmental movement. I know, many credit Rachel Carson with starting the modern environmental movement, but in my opinion it began over 100 years before she wrote her novel Silent Spring. Henry David Thoreau was a well-known environmentalist, and his Walden was utopia to many. He was also one of the first to speak out for the establishment of national nature preserves, though his entreaty, in The Maine Woods wasn’t published until after his death.
However, pre-dating even Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh was one of the first prominent citizens to recognize and acknowledge the destructive effect that humans have on their environment, in a speech to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Virginia. His book, Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action could be considered the first environmentalist publication, and was reprinted several times. Others followed Thoreau and Marsh: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, Robert Sterling Yard, Aldo Leopold, Ansel Adams . . . just to name a few. All called for stewardship to halt the decline of our environment (see http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/timeline.html ).
But it wasn’t until 1948, when an atmospheric inversion occurred in Donora, Pennsylvania, that our legislature finally recognized the debilitating effect we were having on the world we live in. Let’s talk about this event, which is rarely discussed, but was, in my view, the true beginning of the environmental regulatory era in the US.
An inversion is when the usual air temperature gradient from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere, inverts or flips. Normally, air is warm near the earth and cools as you move higher in the atmosphere. In an inversion, a layer of cool air becomes trapped at the earth’s surface (often in a valley, where it is hemmed in from moving sideways) under a layer of warmer air. In Donora, when this happened, pollutants emitted from the local Donora Zinc Works became trapped as well. The inversion lasted 4 days, and the accumulation of pollution from DZW resulted in the death of at least 20 people, and left many others severely ill. This event led to the first actual environmental legislation, the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, a precursor to the ‘modern’ Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970.
So Rachel Carson was really just jumping on a band wagon that started before she was born. I’m not trying to belittle her contribution. Silent Spring, as well as her other books, have provided impetus to the environmental movement – allowing the layperson to understand the problems that our actions, as a species, were having on other species that share this world with us. As a result, our environment, now, is much cleaner than it was 100, or even 50 years ago. We continue to make improvements, and are ever more aware of our impact on the world around us.
In my opinion, our biggest failure in the current environmental debates is an inability to view ourselves as a natural, yes natural, and integral part of the wonderful, living, breathing, and ever-changing world in which we live. As a glaring example, let’s take the hot topic of global warming.
I’m not going to debate whether global warming is occurring – as with all statistical evaluations, that of the earth’s median temperature can be manipulated to support whatever the person doing the manipulation wants to support. I’m a firm believer in the old adage that there are lies, darn lies, and statistics. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the world is warming. The ice caps are melting. The sea levels are rising.
Hmmm, hasn’t this happened before? Perhaps not in the tiny, limited span of our existence on this planet, but it has happened. What did the species alive at the time of this terrible change do?
I'll tell you what they did - they either adapted, or they died, simple as that. I’m a true Darwinist – and please don’t drag me into a religious debate over the theory of Darwin right now (we’ll leave that to another time – as I love to debate organized religion).
My point is this – the earth has changed immensely over the course of its existence, and it will continue to change, regardless of what we puny little humans do or do not do to minimize our impact on it. I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea to curb our fossil fuel appetite, or to reduce the emissions of VOCs (though the whole carbon footprint thing has me a bit flummoxed – another topic for another time), or look for renewable energy sources. All of these are responsible activities; and should continue to be pursued.
But, we need to start thinking about the inevitability of change in our environment, and how we, as a species, are going to adapt to that change. Are we going to continue to rail against nature; rebuild our cities below current sea level; grow lush, green lawns in the middle of the desert; build homes in flood plains . . . Just because we have the brains to allow us to do something, doesn’t mean we should.
In fact, we should use these big, old brains of ours to figure out what the earth is trying to tell us: that she’s a change artist, and we had better prepare ourselves for the inevitability of that change, rather than trying to maintain the status quo.
First, let’s talk about the history of the environmental movement. I know, many credit Rachel Carson with starting the modern environmental movement, but in my opinion it began over 100 years before she wrote her novel Silent Spring. Henry David Thoreau was a well-known environmentalist, and his Walden was utopia to many. He was also one of the first to speak out for the establishment of national nature preserves, though his entreaty, in The Maine Woods wasn’t published until after his death.
However, pre-dating even Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh was one of the first prominent citizens to recognize and acknowledge the destructive effect that humans have on their environment, in a speech to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Virginia. His book, Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action could be considered the first environmentalist publication, and was reprinted several times. Others followed Thoreau and Marsh: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, Robert Sterling Yard, Aldo Leopold, Ansel Adams . . . just to name a few. All called for stewardship to halt the decline of our environment (see http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/timeline.html ).
But it wasn’t until 1948, when an atmospheric inversion occurred in Donora, Pennsylvania, that our legislature finally recognized the debilitating effect we were having on the world we live in. Let’s talk about this event, which is rarely discussed, but was, in my view, the true beginning of the environmental regulatory era in the US.
An inversion is when the usual air temperature gradient from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere, inverts or flips. Normally, air is warm near the earth and cools as you move higher in the atmosphere. In an inversion, a layer of cool air becomes trapped at the earth’s surface (often in a valley, where it is hemmed in from moving sideways) under a layer of warmer air. In Donora, when this happened, pollutants emitted from the local Donora Zinc Works became trapped as well. The inversion lasted 4 days, and the accumulation of pollution from DZW resulted in the death of at least 20 people, and left many others severely ill. This event led to the first actual environmental legislation, the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, a precursor to the ‘modern’ Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970.
So Rachel Carson was really just jumping on a band wagon that started before she was born. I’m not trying to belittle her contribution. Silent Spring, as well as her other books, have provided impetus to the environmental movement – allowing the layperson to understand the problems that our actions, as a species, were having on other species that share this world with us. As a result, our environment, now, is much cleaner than it was 100, or even 50 years ago. We continue to make improvements, and are ever more aware of our impact on the world around us.
In my opinion, our biggest failure in the current environmental debates is an inability to view ourselves as a natural, yes natural, and integral part of the wonderful, living, breathing, and ever-changing world in which we live. As a glaring example, let’s take the hot topic of global warming.
I’m not going to debate whether global warming is occurring – as with all statistical evaluations, that of the earth’s median temperature can be manipulated to support whatever the person doing the manipulation wants to support. I’m a firm believer in the old adage that there are lies, darn lies, and statistics. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the world is warming. The ice caps are melting. The sea levels are rising.
Hmmm, hasn’t this happened before? Perhaps not in the tiny, limited span of our existence on this planet, but it has happened. What did the species alive at the time of this terrible change do?
I'll tell you what they did - they either adapted, or they died, simple as that. I’m a true Darwinist – and please don’t drag me into a religious debate over the theory of Darwin right now (we’ll leave that to another time – as I love to debate organized religion).
My point is this – the earth has changed immensely over the course of its existence, and it will continue to change, regardless of what we puny little humans do or do not do to minimize our impact on it. I’m not saying that it’s a bad idea to curb our fossil fuel appetite, or to reduce the emissions of VOCs (though the whole carbon footprint thing has me a bit flummoxed – another topic for another time), or look for renewable energy sources. All of these are responsible activities; and should continue to be pursued.
But, we need to start thinking about the inevitability of change in our environment, and how we, as a species, are going to adapt to that change. Are we going to continue to rail against nature; rebuild our cities below current sea level; grow lush, green lawns in the middle of the desert; build homes in flood plains . . . Just because we have the brains to allow us to do something, doesn’t mean we should.
In fact, we should use these big, old brains of ours to figure out what the earth is trying to tell us: that she’s a change artist, and we had better prepare ourselves for the inevitability of that change, rather than trying to maintain the status quo.
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