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Challenges in protecting the environment
Origin and evolution of humans over time
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Recommended: Challenges in protecting the environment
A Green History of the World by Clive Pointing
A Green History of the World has been very educational reading and has given me a new prospective on the environment. While I do disagree with some of Clive Pointing’s views I have learned a lot from his work. A Green History of the World was a very in-depth look at the past and the future of our environment. Pointing raised my consciousness regarding the trials we face as inhabitants of this great planet and left me with some food for thought.
After reading Chapter One I found myself entranced by the mystery of Easter Island and excited about the information A Green History of the World had to offer. I had virtually no understanding of Easter Island nor could I remember every being exposed to it in school or any extracurricular reading. This chapter allowed me to become more open-minded to Pointing's writings without giving up my own personal ideology and gave me an understanding of Pointing’s ideas about the environment. I was also able to explore Easter Island in further detail.
Many thoughts ran through my mind speculating about the people of Easter Island, and this left me with several unanswered questions. What really happened there? What factual discoveries do we have to support the theories surrounding Easter Island? What other Easter Island theories exist? Do people still live there? Have they been able to reclaim any environmental nourishment for the land? Are plants and animals able to survive there today? What happened to the statues built by the native Easter Islanders? Where is Easter Island geographically located? How difficult is it to visit the island to day? I likely came up with more questions than answers, but I craved any knowledge I could...
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... the Collapse of Great Civilizations, I had many preconceived notions regarding its contents. The thought of being forced to read what I prejudged as the typical environmentalist’s argument regarding the state of the world, angered me. After I finished the book I found that I agreed with Pointing more than I ever would have expected. He make some very strong arguments and creates a vivid image of what might become of the world if we do not do something to prevent its destruction. I hope that as a society we can step back and take a look at these ongoing processes, and determine if we are doing everything within our power to leave earth with as few scars as possible.
Bibliography:
Easter Island Home Page @ www.netaxs.com (This Internet site contains the research of several authors regarding Easter Island along with other connections to Easter Island.
As soon as the novel begins, we are introduced to the concept of saving the environment. The book begins with the narrator explaining his life-long dream of helping the world. He says that the cultural revolution of the 1960’s contributed to his ambition. However, as time went on he
The island is about 4 square miles and is today a place for tourism in the great lakes. Many thousands of years ago though this was a little piece of land with bluffs reaching high above its surroundings and was a merely a small piece of land surrounded by water. It was because of these bluffs the appearance of the island resembled a turtle and led to it being named “The Great Turtle” (Piljac, 1998). Currently the island reaches several hundred feet above the lake and it’s because of this geography that many nations saw this as a perfect military post and would be used over and over again throughout its history as such.
In order for the reader to understand how colonization affected Ocean Island, the reader needs to understand the history of the Island. In Pearl Binder’s book, Treasure Islands: The Trials of the Banabans, she tells of what Ocean Island first looked like. Ocean Island, or Banaba, is one of the many islands in the Pacific. It is situated almost exactly on the equator. The whole island is three miles long and two and a half miles wide. The highest point of Banaba is 270 feet. The island was rocky but had quite a bit of land for growing crops. After living peacefully by themselves for a long time, the Banabans allowed travelers to enter their land, which changed their lives forever. Blackbirders, who are labor recruiters, came to Banaba in 1862 as a result of the Civil War happening in the U.S. (Binder). The need for cotton was in high demand so they needed workers to harvest it all. The blackbirders came and kidnapped strong young men from the villages to use them for working in Fiji, Honolulu, South America, and Queensland where enterprising planters had started cotton plantations. While slavery was ending in the U.S., it was just starting in the Pacific (Binder). At the end of the nineteenth century...
The book is often cited as an environmental classic - of which there can be little doubt - but it is also said by some to have largely triggered the modern environmental movement. Its warning about the dangers of
While Topsail is now plagued by torrents of tourists and vastly spiking in development, in its early history, the island had many uses ranging from a Native Indian hunting ground, a hideout for pirates, and the home to a secret missile project, showing that even in its earliest history the island was not used for human inhabitance. Although frequently visited in the 1700s and 1800s by Tuscarora Indians and roaming pirates in the coastal waters, no bridge existed between the mainland and the island until the United States created Camp Davis during World War II and seized the island for military maneuvers and anti-aircraft exercises. Between...
Between the years 300BC-400BC, a group of inhabitants landed ashore the island of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Once ashore, these settlers began collecting resources and learned to survive with no help from the outside, stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific. They created methods to hunt, fish, make clothing, and cook food properly. In addition, the people of Rapa Nui also separated into different groups or tribes. These tribes coexisted on the island for some time – until civil wars broke out across the island. The inhabitants of Rapa Nui disappeared from the island without a trace. The cause of their disappearance is unknown although experts believe the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were irresponsible with their resources.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
In recent years, ancient burial grounds have been frequently disturbed due to increasing surveillance by anthropologists and constructed on by state-of-the-art technology and are more critically protected than ever before. Understanding the importance of burial grounds gives an insight on the rich history of ancient Hawaii. They have influenced the burials performed, ancestors and their modern inhabitants, and how they have impacted modern Hawaii. Burial methods will range from the tallest peaks on land to burying those in the ocean. Ancestors influence these methods depending on their rank and actions, having their modern descendants have a choice to inherit these arrangements and protect their ancestors. By educating people about past burials, procedures performed by ancestors, and the impact today, it should provide a clear background of its importance in Hawaiian society.
The Polynesian peoples have a lifestyle quite different than that of any other culture, as living on an island requires a level of flexible adaptability in order to cope with such a different, sometimes difficult environment. We see the way diverse cultures build their lives around their circumstances and how they respect them in their cultural myths and stories. The Polynesian legends emphasize the physical environment that they live in. They are quite different than any other region in the world, but the beauty and individuality of the Polynesian culture is prominent as seen in their mythology.
One of the most important aspects of anthropology is the understanding of how a culture relates to their environment. Thus, Synge’s imagery of the islands is instrumental in the reader’s grasp of the people and the culture which Synge is trying to describe. Synge develops the landscape in two different wa...
Temple, Andrea and June F. Tyler. Ellis Island A historical Perspective. 2007. 5 July 2010.
The islands of Kiribati have a rich history. It is believed that the islands of Kiribati were first inhabited by the Samoans somewhere around 1000-1300 AD. However, there is also evidence that the I-Kiribati were there before then (World Book Student). In 1886, Britain and Germany signed the Treaty of the Unclaimed Pacific, each country taking responsibility for islands no power claimed. Britain took the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. In 1916, Britain and Germany joined to form the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands became part of this territory as well. However, Europe has not always been in control of these islands. During World War II, Japan occupied the territory until the USA invaded i...
STATE THESIS & MAIN POINTS: I’m going to persuade you that going green is one solution you could do to help improve the environment by first explaining the problem, then by explaining the factors responsible for pollution, and lastly by listing ways that can help solve this problem.