Earth on Edge

        In class today we watched three clips from a movie called “Earth on Edge.” This movie was about how people’s demands of the Earth’s resources are pushing it to its limit. I’m going to talk about one of the three clips we watched, as this one fascinated me the most. The first segment we watched took place in Kansas here in the United States. This clip talked about farming and the methods that some farmers use and should use. This particular man was a farmer on a huge lot. The Dust Bowl ruined his prairie, spreading soil all over to the Atlantic and onto ships’ decks. Because of this, the farmer lost one third of his top soil and fifty percent of the nutrients. To this day, the land is not one hundred percent fixed. It takes years and years for the Earth to grow the nutrients needed to have the soil in shape from what it was before. The farmer talked about a variety of things. He mentioned his cattle and how most farmers keep up to one hundred cattle in a pen, whereas he kept his cattle out. This allowed not only freedom for the cattle, but exercise as well to help with the risks and incline of diseases. This could affect the food we eat. The ecosystems we live in are pushed to the limit because of the demand. With the population increasing so rapidly, the resources are being used up faster than it can produce them. Eventually, maybe a long time away, the Earth’s resources will be depleted. Pollution is another big factor that does and will affect everyone and the environment surrounding us. According to a woman who is doing a study regarding the resources, we can turn this around rapidly to save the resources, which is a good thing to keep in mind for future generations. Also, there is a dead zone in the Mississippi River where much of the wildlife is dead. This is because of the pollution coming from farms and industries which filtered down to the water.
       The farmer, in addition, talked about how he does not use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers, making a healthier and safer environment for him and his crops. We talked in class about where the rewards come from for those farmers who choose the same type of method and what type of reward is involved. The rewards come from saving money otherwise spent on all of the pesticides, herbicides, chemicals, and fertilizers which would absolutely add up, and quickly. Farmers, however, use these chemicals and such because they get bonuses for doing so. This helps keep up good business for the chemical companies.
        In one case, a farmer was turned down from a loan from the bank because of the fact that he was an organic farmer and wasn’t going to use any of those listed above. Turns out that the bank had a huge account with a local chemical company and the company clearly stated to the bank that if any farmer wants a loan, they must use these chemicals otherwise they would take their account elsewhere. This puts the bank in a predicament, but losing a huge account isn’t worth it.
        All of these situations can affect Southwest Florida. First of all, things that happen in the Midwest can get into the Mississippi River which then runs into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting wildlife and us at the same time. Prices on food may increase because of the increase in cost of producing these foods. More so, if there is pollution in the underground aquifers then this can affect the water used for drinking, cooking, etc.
        I want to leave this with a riddle from one of our books: “A lily pond, so the riddle goes, contains a single leaf. Each day the number of leaves doubles- two leaves the second day, four the third, eight the fourth, and so on. If the pond is full on the thirtieth day, at what point is it half full? The answer is on the twenty-ninth day.” I enjoyed that riddle because at first I didn’t understand it, but after my professor explained it, it makes sense. Since each day doubles, the twenty-ninth day is half of what day thirty is. It also makes you realize how quickly these resources can run out and shows us that sustaining and maintaining our environment is necessary for not only ourselves, but future generations as well.

                                                                          Dust Bowl
 

 

"There are more people living inside this circle than outside of it."