Jared Diamond: Why Societies Collapse- Blog Assignment

Assignment: Watch the following Ted Talk and write a one-page summary (Front side of a of piece of loose-leaf paper only). On the top-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the top-left corner write the name of this assignment "Jared Diamond: Why Societies Collapse- Blog Assignment".
Due Friday Sept. 11th

Tragedy of the Commons

In December 1968, a scientist by the name of Dr. Garrett Harden coined the concept called the “Tragedy of the Commons” in his article of the same name published by Science Magazine. “The Tragedy of the Commons” is a problem that occurs when a resource –such as the ocean, water, and air- is open to everyone. The following video clips will help you apply your experience from today's "Happy Fishing" activity to the concept of “Tragedy of the Commons”. The goal of this blog assignment is to help you understand the difficulties associated with managing shared resources.

Assignment: Watch the following video clips and write a one-paragraph (minimum) summary for each clip (Chalk Talk 1 & 2 count as one clip; so, three paragraphs total). On the top-right corner of a piece of looseleaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the top-left corner write the name of this assignment "Tragedy of the Commons- Blog Assignment". Due Friday Sept. 4th



This video sometimes takes a while to load, but it works.


Bonus- 4th Video Clip & One-Paragraph Summary- 10 points XC- This video suggests an interesting viewpoint.

Using Camera Traps to Protect Big Cats and Their Habitat

Biological conservation researchers have increasingly found camera traps to be a useful tool in collecting data on elusive species of interest.  A camera trap is not a physical trap; rather it is a camera set up, usually on a tree in a remote area where a species of interest is believed to exist.  Animal body heat activates an infrared sensor that triggers the camera to take a picture of the animal when it is near (WWF Camera Traps, 2015).   Members of Felidae, the cat family, are a particularly troublesome group of animals on which to collect data.  This is due to an interplay of factors such as large home range, mysterious behavior, and low population density to name a few (Silver et al., 2004).  The World Wildlife fund reports that camera traps have been used in Indonesia to gain a greater understanding of tigers; their behavior and specific threats to their survival as a species (WWF Camera Traps, 2015).   Watch the embedded YouTube-World Wildlife Fund video clips below to get an idea of the type of footage that camera traps have captured.

In 2013 biological researchers Maputla, Chimimba, & Ferreira used camera traps to conduct a mark recapture population survey of the leopard population in Kruger National Park, South Africa.  These researchers cited that camera traps were appropriate for surveying leopards because of their mysterious and independent behaviors, which make them hard to find (Maputla, Chimimba, & Ferreira, 2013).  Using camera traps, the team estimated that there were nineteen leopards within a 150 km²  area of Kruger National Park (Maputla, Chimimba, & Ferreira, 2013).  Maputla, Chimimba, Ferreira (2013) discussed several challenges to the precision of their population estimates using camera traps; resulting in “unequal catchability”.  Some of these challenges were: the cameras were too far apart and the camera placements were biased to preferred paths of male leopards Park (Maputla, Chimimba, & Ferreira, 2013).  Finally, Maputla, Chimimba, Ferreira (2013) stated that similar research on tigers suggest that they had the inclination to avoid the camera locations. 

Another team of researchers, Silver, Ostro, Marsh, Maffei, Noss, Kelly, & Ayala (2004) used camera traps to conduct a mark recapture abundance estimation of populations of jaguars in the forest of Belize and Bolivia.  Using camera traps, the Silver et al research team (2004) was able to estimate population densities of jaguars in these areas to be between 2.4 and 8.8 per 100 km².   Silver et al explain that using camera traps for estimating population density provides precious data that conservation managers can use to make decisions pertaining to minimum viable population sizes and habitat/range estimates that can be used to support and justify conservation arguments in efforts to allot more protected areas for Jaguars (Silver et al., 2004). 

Jaguar roves near Rosemont mine site; Arizona Daily Star (Davis, 2013) 

A topic of interest to me is environmental degradation due to mining for sulfide oar.  Camera traps are being used to provide justification for protecting wilderness in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson, Arizona.  This is the location of a proposed Rosemont Copper Mine site.  In 2013 Tony Davis of the Arizona Daily Star reported that camera traps, set up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, took five photos of a Jaguar roaming in an that has been federally proposed as critical habitat for the endangered jaguar (Davis, 2013).  The photos provide evidence of the existence of this endangered species and help to propel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s argument that the Rosemont Copper Mine site is “likely to adversely affect the jaguar” (Davis, 2013). Camera Traps have great potential to provide invaluable data and indisputable evidence to justify protection of big cats and their habitat.  

References

WWF Camera Traps. (2015). Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/camera_traps/

Maputla, N. W., Chimimba, C. T., & Ferreira, S. M. (2013). Calibrating a camera trap-based biased mark-recapture sampling design to survey the leopard population in the N'wanetsi concession, Kruger National Park, South Africa. African Journal Of Ecology, 51(3), 422-430. doi:10.1111/aje.12047

Silver, S., Ostro, L., Marsh, L., Maffei, L., Noss, A., Kelly, M., & ... Ayala, G. (2004). The use of camera traps for estimating jaguar Panthera onca abundance and density using capture/recapture analysis. Oryx, 38(2), 148-154.

Davis, T (2013) Jaguar roves near Rosemont mine site. (2013, June 28). Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://m.tucson.com/news/science/environment/jaguar-roves-near-rosemont-mine-site/article_e8573513-b55b-553e-934c-e8951555f14e.html?mobile_touch=true

Example Blog Post with MLA In-Text Citations- Electronic Sources (Web Publications)

Global Warming's Canary in the Coal Mine 

In the early days of deep coal mining, miners would take a caged bird, often a Canary, into the tunnels with them.  Wiktionary explains the reasoning behind this:  "If dangerous gases such as methane or carbon monoxide leaked into the mine, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels immediately." Furthermore, when people use the phrase "the canary in the coal mine" they are suggesting "something which warns of the coming of greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health or welfare".  ("canary in a coal mine ")  When it comes to global climate change, glaciers serve as a “canary in the coal mine” or in other words an indicator that global climate change is occurring.  

Figure 1 (Kirby).  The graph above shows the direct correlation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and the increase in global average temperature.   It is widely accepted that the increase in carbon dioxide emissions due to human activity is causing the global average temperature increase.

Glaciers, the world’s frozen reservoirs of water, are shrinking.  The basic concept is that as the Earth’s temperature continues to increase, due increased human produced greenhouse gas emissions (see Figure 1), the glaciers melt faster than they can accumulate water, ice, and snow.  The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) contends that: “The volume of ice in a glacier and correspondingly its surface area, thickness, and length is determined by the balance between inputs (accumulation of snow and ice) and outputs (melting and calving)” (“Early Warning Signs”).  How much are the world’s glaciers shrinking?  The UCS's online article provides this example: “Since 1850 the glaciers of the European Alps have lost about 30 to 40% of their surface area and about half of their volume.” (“Early Warning Signs”). 

Photo: High in the Andes Mountains of South America lies the glacier filled mountain Taulliraju in Huascarán National Park in Peru. (Ederer)

--> Authors Stella Joy and Tara Joy state in their online article “Protecting and Sustaining the Global Fresh Water Cycle” of all the surface water on Earth “only 3% of it is fresh water”.   The article continues of the “3% (of Earth’s fresh water) 2% is found in ice caps and glaciers and 1% in underground sources, rivers, streams, lakes and the atmosphere.  (Joy, and Joy)  Glacial melt water, turns into surface run off which feeds the streams and rivers that flow downslope through mountain valleys and eventually to lakes and reservoirs that provide freshwater sources for large populations.  Glaciers in mountain ranges around the world serve as sources of fresh water for millions of people in their respective geographic regions.  Authors Joy and Joy summarize: 

“Mountain regions cover approximately 25% of the Earths’ land surface and source between 60% and 80% of Earths’ fresh water. All of Earths rivers have their headwaters and origins in them. They are also known as the ‘Water Towers’ of the world. They provide critical storage of fresh water in the form of glaciers, ice and snow. Many streams and rivers would cease to flow entirely if their headwaters and watersheds were not fed by the seasonal melting of these snows. Such valuable storage of fresh water is vital for all life on Earth. However nowadays glaciers and mountain snows are retreating, shrinking and thinning rapidly in all regions of world, threatening the fresh water and food supply for all.”  (Joy, and Joy)  

The fact that the Earth's glaciers are shrinking surely "warns of the coming of greater danger or trouble".  ("canary in a coal mine ")  That trouble or danger is the threat of losing the source of 60% of the Earth's fresh water supply.  Currently, there are a handful of organizations that are dedicated to research, conservation, and awareness of the condition of the remaining mountain glaciers.  One such organization is the American Climber Science Program (ACSP).  Because mountainous regions, particularly glaciers, can be treacherous, the ACSP combines groups of experienced mountain climbers with climate scientists for a series of annual research expeditions.  As it is stated on the American Climber Science Program webpage, “The ACSP works to link scientists and climbers to help provide the knowledge necessary to preserve the alpine environment.”  ("Empowering Climber Scientists")  More information on the American Climber Science Program (ACSP) can be accessed on their webpage:

https://americanalpineclub.org/p/climber-scientists

or 

http://climberscience.wordpress.com/ 

American Climber Science Program (ACSP)
("Empowering Climber Scientists")

References

"canary in a coal mine ." http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canary_in_a_coal_mine. Wiktionary, 31 Mar 2013. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/canary_in_a_coal_mine>. 

Kirby, Alex, and . Is Global Warming Cooler than Expected? . 2013. Photograph. Scientific AmericanWeb. 28 May 2013. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-global-warming-cooler-than-expected>. 

Joy, Stella, and Tara Joy. "Fresh Water & Forest Report- Protecting and Sustaining the Global Fresh Water Cycle." Active Remedy. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://activeremedy.org.uk/pages/?s=watercycle_paper>.

“Early Warning Signs of Global Warming: Glaciers Melting.” Union of Concerned Scientists: Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions.  Union of Concerned Scientists, 10 Nov 2003.  Web.  23 May 2013. 

Ederer, Florian. Taulliraju. 2006. Photograph. wikimedia.orgWeb. 23 May 2013. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taulliraju.JPG>. 
 

"Empowering Climber Scientists- Conservation and Advocacy." American Alpine Club. American Alpine Club. Web. 28 May 2013. <https://americanalpineclub.org/p/climber-scientists>.

 

Use the following resources:

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics 

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/

Son of Citation

http://citationmachine.net/index2.php?reqstyleid=1&mode=form&rsid=6&reqsrcid=MLAWebDocument&more=yes&nameCnt=1