Reflections on an article in the Economist: "Hang On". Sept. 14th-20th Issue

At first, the premise of this article seems a little counterintuitive. Economic growth preventing extinctions? What the hell have you guys been smoking? A closer look however reveals that this is merely viewing the same issue through a different lens, and the connection is so obvious that I slapped myself for not noticing it. 

Essentially, the article states that richer and more stable countries have an easier time protecting the environment than poorer countries do. At a basic level, one can make the connection that more funds leads to well-paid rangers and parks that actually do a good job of protecting animals, but that's not the only point. The other point is stability. As wars around the world have proved, the victims of human conflict aren't always human. Weaker governments also have a hard time enforcing environmental laws, assuming that they have any in the first place. Strong governments are also more likely to respond to the demands made of them by their populace, instead of falling prey to rampant corruption. This, I suppose, is a connection I made in my unconscious mind but never fully appreciated until now. South Korea, for example, has mostly stable forest cover and is also one of the fastest growing countries in the world. China, even with its growth rate “slowing” to 8 or 9% a year, has set aside three times as much land for national parks as the US has.

Compare this to North Korea, or countries in Africa. While the fighting may have died down, North Korea’s isolationism and Africa’s questionable stability have made both countries lose vast amounts of their precious ecological resources. Even as the people grow more and more aware of the negative impact of humanity on the Earth their government is crippled by corruption. This is not to say that there is no hope for developing countries.  I was quite surprised to learn that deforestation in Brazil had dropped by 23,000 sq. km. in nine years. This makes sense. The world, on average, is getting richer, and poverty is being slowly defeated. The chief cause of this change is the accessibility of education, and this in turn lets people think for themselves when it comes to protecting the planet’s wildlife.

I think that this change can only be good. With young countries growing faster and faster more people, and by extension their governments will come to realize that protecting wildlife is a priority. With new growth, countries will have the money they need, and the developed part of the world should to all they can to encourage this. Food production will also need to be improved and the negative stigma of GM foods should be eradicated. I believe that with further growth that many countries are already on their way to achieving we can slow and finally stop the extinction of many of our planet’s species.

The article makes mention of the fact that global warming may be stabilizing, as their has been a hiatus in the trend of rising temperatures. There will be no hope for any animals on the planet if the temperature reaches the high end of the scale. New technologies and alternative energy sources get cheaper by the day. With fuel as expensive as it is now, people opt for electrical cars, bikes, or pedestrianism. Simple common sense is what is driving a revolution in people’s attitudes. There is still a long way to go. Governments in conflict-wracked zones must be stabilized. There is hope for the future, but only if the richer countries of the world extend a helping hand to those who are less fortunate. This crisis, the “sixth great extinction”, cannot be averted unless we are willing to work together. 

My Summer 2013

My personal philosophy when it comes to learning is that sitting in a classroom can only teach you so much. Eventually, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty. Reams of information have little meaning if you weren’t involved in collecting it. The human element is lost, and with it a chance to expand the scope of one’s learning from the theoretical into the practical.

The Sea Education Association appears to be in agreement with me. Since 1971, they have been running high school and undergraduate programs from their campus in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. I took part in the Science at Sea (SAS) program that is run for people in high school. The ten day on shore component is the theory, teaching you the skills and information that will be important to you on the sea component-eight days of sailing on a brigantine deploying instruments and hauling away on lines.

When I first arrived on campus, my nerves were lessened by the fact that the place was not actually a prison and looked quite pleasant. After checking in, I was directed to the cottage (C house) I would be staying in. My roommates would be two other boys named (according to the name tags on the door) Luke and Jared. The roster for the girl’s rooms was also posted on the bulletin board, and to my amusement I found that twelve girls would have to share one bathroom. Seeing as how there were only three boys, that wasn’t a problem for us, but the people upstairs would have a hard time of it. The mad rush to schedule shower times was a lively topic of dinner table discussion for most of the camp.

Time passed and everybody began to trickle in and get settled down. The two cottages that the students of SAS occupied were Bellatrix and Capella, or B and C house. Faculty and college students on a different program occupied the three others. The time then came for a big group orientation, which took place in the lecture hall cum study area in a building called the Madden center. There, we each introduced ourselves and our hobbies, and also our reasons for coming here. Most of the people who were there looked like they belonged. About half claimed an interest in a career in science, and of those about a third (including yours truly) said they were interested in marine sciences. There were no classes that day; instead we spent our time at the cottages mingling with each other. Me being the classic introvert, I chose to sit alone and think for some time about what I was getting into. My resident advisor, Mary, came up to me and said that she was going to let me off the hook for the first day, but by tomorrow I had to be more social. I agreed and returned to my ponderings.

Dinner was served, with vegetarian options for the three vegetarians there (myself included). A strict lights out of 2230 was enforced, the reason being that we would all be very tired at the end of the day from all our work, and that sleep was essential. The next day classes started. To call our workload for the shore component “heavy” would’ve been an understatement. “Thrown in the deep end with no life jacket” was a close approximation.

There were three main classes at the camp. Oceanography, which focused mainly of physical and chemical oceanography, Maritime Studies, which taught about the history of the oceans and the events tied to it, and Nautical Sciences, which was a course that taught us everything we would need to know onboard the ship. As the camp progressed we learnt about the history of Cape Cod and the surrounding area, the chemistry of seawater and proper safety procedures onboard the ship, among other things. Each course was meant to give us a historic, scientific, and practical context for what we would be seeing once we were sailing. The work was hard, but during our free time we were allowed to work together with our friends, and our combined efforts meant that there were very few people who didn’t possess a basic understanding of the particular topic we were studying.

The topics we covered were varied and interesting. In oceanography our primary topics were ocean currents and nutrient circulation, but we also covered tectonic activity and ocean geology. Maritime Studies’ focus was the varied environmental policies that countries had passed and their impact on the oceans, as well as the South China Sea disputes and Somali piracy. In Nautical Science, we learned how to tie various knots, take weather observations, and properly plot our positions on a chart. Additionally, the various duties we would have onboard we explained to us.  It amazed me to see the gusto with which people took to the classes. The curiosity and drive to learn that characterizes our generation was readily apparent as we worked.  Everybody brought something to the table, and our combined talents made anything possible.

After ten days, the shore component was over, and after a thorough cleaning of our houses we made our way to Dryer’s Dock, where the SSV Corwith Cramer waited. SSV stands for Sailing School Vessel, and it allows SEA to crew its ships with fewer professional crew than would be required. This is because the students are legally recognized as part of the crew, and have real responsibilities. This also meant that we, as students, had to be more aware of what we were doing and generally be more careful.  We had been introduced to the captain, Virginia Land, two days before we left during our “Life at Sea” orientation. Now we had the chance to meet the rest of the crew. We were divided into watches, A Watch, B Watch, and C Watch. Each watch would rotate through various shifts, being assigned to either the deck or the lab. Deck work involved cleaning the ship, performing boat checks, noting position and weather in the log, and assisting with sail handling. The lab would entail you helping in the deployment of scientific instruments, processing data, and looking at plankton catches through a microscope. I will go into more detail later.

Our duties on the boat were numerous and varied. Most important were boat checks, hourly sweeps of every inch of the vessel and the engine room to see if anything was on fire. They were a way of keeping everyone safe and reminded us that we needed to be constantly vigilant. Out here, we had only ourselves to depend on if a fire broke out of if the ship was flooding. Our captain made mention of the fact that of a half-dozen small fires the crew has had to battle in the Cramer’s lifetime, all were spotted by people on boat checks.

Next was the filling out of the log. The log we had to be careful with, as it was a legal document and therefore needed to be treated well. Mistakes are not crossed out; a straight line is put through them so the text is still visible. Cross something out completely, and you run the risk that the Coast Guard will think you’re trying to hid something. Our position was plotted hourly on the chart and was assisted by GPS. Constant monitoring of the weather was also vital, and we kept a separate weather log.

After a quick set of introductions and watch meetings, we ate dinner and were allowed to sleep a full eight hours, a luxury that we would not be getting for the next few days. Morning arrived and after breakfast, my watch (A) took the 0700-1300 watch. I was assigned to the lab, and we deployed a phytoplankton net and while waiting, familiarized ourselves with the layout of the lab and some of the equipment there.  The scientific instruments were pretty much the same ones that scientists use, and the samples and data they collected was interesting to study.  The whole process of deployment, collection and processing took place across multiple watches, so nobody got to see the full thing from start to finish. It was gratifying to know, however, that somebody on the next watch would appreciate your work, and in return complete another task for you.

Being assigned to deck meant you mostly used your brawn instead of your brains, hauling on lines, scrubbing the deck and steering the vessel. Deck watches were oftentimes filled with periods of inactivity; sails did not need to be constantly adjusted and only one person was at the helm. The flexibility of the watch schedule allowed those who weren’t really doing anything to help out in the lab, or perhaps take over at the helm. Everybody was eager to help and there was always something that needed to be done, even if that something was not your official duty for the day. Kids will be kids and while adults can claim (with a certain degree of accuracy) that teenagers don’t take anything seriously, the maturity of everyone on board was a major help to the smooth running of the ship. The importance of not acting like an idiot was not lost on anyone.

There were, of course, various adjustments that people needed to make to their attitudes in order to maintain their sanity. Learning how to deal with seasickness was one of these. People “donated” to the ocean’s stock of organic matter on a fairly regular basis for the first couple of days. I myself never “donated” but the queasiness was there. Additionally, the tables in the main salon were gimbled, meaning that the tables moved with the motion of the sea rather than with the motion of the boat, and thus kept food on the tables and not on the floor. Still, I never really did get use to the fact that suddenly the table might tip and place my plate of macaroni in a very precarious position (nothing ever fell off though). Elbows on the table were a big no-no, as interrupting the motion of the tables would send stuff flying everywhere. The constant threat of sunburn was another major adjustment, and the crew was very, very serious about the liberal application of sunscreen. There is no mother, living or dead, that can even match the amount of nagging the crew put out on this issue, and for good reason. Sunburn, even mild sunburn, would incapacitate you, which was much more serious in the middle of the North Atlantic than it was on shore.

Hard work might be all the fun that some people need, but there were always times to just unwind a bit and relax. A lot of people could play a guitar or ukulele, and sing-alongs on deck were popular. There were many talented singers present in our group, so it wasn’t torture to listen to us either. Part of our “homework” was to keep journals, and while initially it just started out as an assignment, for me at least it became a way of preserving in a permanent way everything I had experienced on board. There were so many new things to see and new experiences to have that it was impossible for me to remember everything, so the journal offered a place to put it down in writing. It was also quite relaxing at the end of a long day (although due to the crazy schedules, the definition of “day” varies) to have nothing to do but write.

Many people have said that human beings, when put into stressful situations, develop bonds that are stronger than they should be, especially if the people in question haven’t spent very much time together. Eighteen days is not a long time, but getting to know each other developed a real esprit de corps amongst all of us, living on that small ship, a little island of civilization in the middle of a vast and often unforgiving ocean. We trusted each other with our lives, and lookout duty was taken very seriously. Living together, working together, learning together, and never being more than 100 feet from someone else made us into a team, a tight-knit community that functioned smoothly and efficiently. We all had to look out for each other, and we slept better at night knowing there was someone watching over us too.

           

The SAS program is probably the best academic course I have ever done. This has affirmed my lifelong dream of being a marine biologist; I know now with utter certainty that this is the career for me. Nothing bad that happened to me, not seasickness, not sleeplessness, not feeling gross after six days without a shower, could compare to the amount of fun I had and the amount that I learned. It was a fantastic experience, and I made some great friends too.  I am both eager and willing to try their undergraduate programs when I’m old enough, and perhaps do another of their high school ones next year. Without a doubt, this was the best summer I’ve ever had.

And yes, we did sing pirate songs.  

Chapter 3 Summary: Bio Textbook

Chapter 3-1: What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and other organisms and the interaction between organisms and their environment. The study of ecology focuses on the different ways in which life on Earth is organized, from the smallest cell to the entire planet (or biosphere). The interactions that take place within the biosphere have over the eons woven a web of interdependence; put simply, each organism on Earth, in some way is connected with every other organism on Earth. This is why the extinction of even one species has such a devastating effect on wildlife all around the world. Due to the fact that life on Earth is constantly evolving, adapting and changing, the biosphere is far from static, and it is one of the most dynamic subjects in science.

One key aspect of ecology is “levels of organization”. This term refers to the different levels of complexity that an ecologist may study. The ecologist may study a single individual animal, or the entire biosphere. As the complexity increases, different factors are taken into account, such as the environment and the other species present in the area. Obviously, the most complex level is the biosphere itself. The levels are as follows:

• ·      Individual: an individual organism, which can be a plant, animal, or microorganism.
• ·      Species: A group of that same animal, plant or microorganism, similar enough that they can breed and produce fertile offspring.
• ·      Population: A group of the same species, residing in the same general area.
• ·      Community: Multiple populations and species residing in the same general area and forming a food chain.
• ·      Ecosystem: A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, as well as their physical environment, and external factors such as weather.
• ·      Biome: A group of ecosystems that have the same general climate conditions and the same dominant communities.

• ·      Biosphere: The entire planet.

Ecologists use many methods and tools to study the living  (and nonliving) world. For those that study the bigger organisms, binoculars, field guides and radio tracking tags might be their tools of the trade. The ecologists that study the microscopic world may do so with microscopes and Petri dishes. Despite the differences in tools or methods, all ecologists use three basic scientific approaches: observing, experimenting and modeling.

•       Observing: Observations are usually questions that ecologists ask, and form the first step towards ecological study. Some of these questions are simple, such as “How many species live here”? Others are more complex, such as “Why is one community more susceptible to climate change than another”? Observations are the first step to designing experiments and models.
•        Experimenting: This is fairly self-explanatory; it involves an ecologist designing and setting up an experiment to test out hypotheses. Ecologists can perform experiments in artificially created environments or conduct them within the natural world.
•      Modeling: Many ecological phenomena occur over such a large period of time or across so vast a distance that it would be highly impractical and difficult to study. Therefore, models are made to study the effects of ecological phenomena on the natural world, such as the effect of global warming on an ecosystem. With the advent of complex simulation programs and powerful supercomputers, ecologists have been able to make more complex and more accurate models. However, such predictions are still (to the best of the ecologist’s ability) confirmed by experiments and observations.

Chapter 3-2: Energy Flow

Every organism in the world needs energy to power the complex chemical reactions that take place within its body. Where does the energy that allows ants to carry objects many times their size or the energy that allows birds to migrate thousands of miles come from? The flow of energy through an ecosystem is a key factor in determining the system’s ability and capacity to sustain life.

The main source of energy for life on Earth is sunlight. Without this precious resource, an organism cannot function. Interestingly, only 1% of all the sunlight that hits the Earth is used by living organisms, but this is enough to produce as much as 3.5 kilograms of living tissue per square meter a year in some tropical forests. The reasoning behind the fact that many religions worship the sun as the giver of life is not hard to understand. Most ecosystems are divided into 3 classes, the producers, the consumers, and the decomposers. In most cases, the producers will be plants. Producers are autotrophs, that is, organisms that can produce their own food within their bodies. Plants do this via photosynthesis. Most organisms, like herbivores, carnivores and decomposers depend on energy stored in inorganic molecules. Usually, this comes in the form of glucose, which plants synthesize through photosynthesis. When herbivores eat plants, in receives the glucose within the plant, and the energy within the glucose. Carnivores eat the herbivores, thereby receiving a portion of that energy. Lastly, the decomposers break down organic molecules and deceased organisms. In this way, energy is recycled and continually replenished in a never-ending cycle. The theme of predators eating prey, that themselves eat plants is also referred to as the food chain.

However, nothing in nature is ever so linear and streamlined as a simple food chain. Many consumers are omnivores, eating both plants and animals. Others are detritivores that eat organic detritus produced by decomposers. When people try to illustrate this using something as simple as a food chain things start getting very complex. To help them better understand the feeding relationships within an ecosystem ecologists produce food webs. Put simply, food webs show what eats what in a given ecosystem. They also display what level each organism is at, from producers to third-level consumers. These are called trophic levels. Since only 10% of the energy from one trophic level makes it to the next, each trophic level can only support 10% of the organisms. This is why there are usually only 1 or 2 apex predators at the top of the food chain; that is all that the apex trophic level can support.

Chapter 3-3: Cycles of Matter

In most organisms, more than 95% of the body is made up of just four elements: oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. Fortunately, these elements are readily available on Earth, but the cell of living creatures cannot use them unless they are in some suitable form. Energy and matter move through ecosystems in different ways. Energy flow is a one-way cycle, while matter is constantly recycled within the system. Matter passes from one part of the biosphere in the form of biogeochemical cycles. As the word suggests, matter is transformed from organic to inorganic many times throughout its journey. The word transformation is key: Systems never actually use up matter completely; they just transform it from one form into another. In keeping with the law of conservation of mass and energy, no matter or energy is ever created or destroyed; it is only transformed. This means that there will always bee a fixed amount of matter and energy cycling through an ecosystem. There are many different types of cycles (of matter) that take place within the natural world. The most important ones are the water cycle, the nutrient cycle, the carbon cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.

The water cycle is the simplest. The heat of the sun evaporates water. This water, which was once part of the ocean, forms into clouds. Water can also evaporate from the leaves of plants. This is called transpiration. The clouds will then condense into liquid water, which is then released in the form of precipitation. Precipitation is not just rain; it can be snow, hail or sleet. When precipitation hits the ground, much of it runs off into rivers, lakes and streams, which carry the water back to the sea. Some water seeps into the soil, going as far down as to become groundwater. Water in soil enters plants through roots, and the water cycle begins anew. Scientists estimate that it may take a single molecule of water 4000 years to complete the water cycle. This means that the water in a reservoir could have been there for hundreds of years. Similarly, the clouds we see in the sky are probably ancient.

The nutrient cycle is the path that various nutrients take in their journey through a system. Nutrients are the chemical building blocks of your body, and carry out the essential life functions and chemical reactions that allow an organism to live. Without nutrients, an organism cannot function. Primary producers usually obtain their nutrients in simple inorganic forms from the surrounding environment. First level consumers gain their nutrients by eating the plants; second level consumers gain their nutrients by eating first level consumers, and so on.

The carbon cycle is especially important, as the life forms we know of are all carbon based.  Carbon is a key ingredient in living tissue, and can take many forms, all of which are used in the natural world.  Calcium carbonate is a key component of animal skeletons. Carbon dioxide is a major part of the atmosphere. Plants also use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. There are four main types of processes that move carbon through its cycle.

• ·      Biological processes, such as photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition take up and release carbon and oxygen.
• ·      Geochemical processes, such as erosion and volcanic activity, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and oceans.
• ·      Mixed biogeochemical processes, such and the decomposition of buried organisms into coal and fossil fuel stores carbon underground
• ·      Human impact, such as mining, cutting and burning forests, and burning fossil fuels, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The nitrogen cycle is important because all organisms require nitrogen to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Human activity adds nitrogen to the biosphere in the form of nitrate, a major component of chemical fertilizers. Nitrogen gas is the most common form of nitrogen on Earth, but only a small percentage of bacteria can use it in this form. These bacteria convert nitrogen to ammonia through a process called “nitrogen fixing”. Ammonia is a form of nitrogen that many organisms can readily use; therefore the nitrogen cycle is dependent on these bacteria. When organisms die, they are broken down by decomposers and return nitrogen to the soil in the form of ammonia.  Some bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas via a process called denitrification. This replenishes atmospheric nitrogen and allows to cycle to begin again.