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Michael Weinstein (Edison): An Ecological Backfire
I recently read an article about an Australian island (Macquarie) located between Australia and Antarctica. I’m studying Marine Biology and Environmental Protection, so these types of stories are very interesting to me. I also believe that too often people try to make a difference in nature and don’t think things all the way through to the possible consequences of thier actions.
The populations of penguins on this island were decreasing and local ecologists thought they had a good solution to increase the population. There were a large number of feral cats on the island, which were thought to be killing the penguins and destroying the population. The feral cats were removed and the problem should have been solved, right? Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. As a result of the removal of the cats, the rabbit and rat population exploded. These rabbits and rats have consumed 40% of the islands native plants along shorelines causing severe erosion. The penguins on the island used these plants and rocky shoreline for cover and now don’t have the protection and nesting grounds, causing a decline in the penguin population. In addition, it’s said that to cost to authorities to fix this is approximately 24 million dollars.
In conclusion, many people have great ideas for the protection of our environment, sometimes these ideas aren’t thought through far enough. There are many situations where peoples efforts have worked wonderfully, unfortunately this is not one of those situations.
20. January 2009 at 16:14
It can be informed by sociology. You have to look at the holistic environment and not just one variable. In dynamic systems such as a penguin environment…or a society…each individual phenom is influenced by multiple dynamic and interrelated variables.
22. January 2009 at 00:26
Similarly, this situation applies to society as well. Take the issue of poverty in America for example. Some claim that if we increase the opportunity for those in poverty to succeed we can alleviate this problem or at least decrease it. While this is possibly true, how will this in turn affect how our society functions? No one really knows for certain.
One outcome can be considered if we, for example, increase pay for those making minimum wage. Their employers will most likely lay people off and/or raise the cost of their product/services to make up for profit loss knowing that they will not assume the financial burden. If this were to happen, the poor who lost their jobs would simply get poorer. Not to mention the cost our economy and tax payers will endure due to the increase in cost for goods/services and unemployment taxes.
22. January 2009 at 02:55
The world in which we live in is a wondrous place; in spite of all that mankind can do to destroy her, she perseveres, adapts, and continually heals herself. Yet, from time to time, man commits such an atrocious act that the Earth’s self preservation can not withstand the on-slot. Such is the case here. Man’s intervention has caused a crisis, and only man’s intervention can spare this colony of penguins from utter ruin and/or extinction.
How did we come to this? When did our arrogance usurp wisdom? Knowledge has somehow been mistaken for wisdom. While we may learn the ways of the world and become knowledgeable in natural cycles of life, it would be completely un-wise to even think that we could manipulate the environment or a species life cycle and expect a positive outcome. While I am all for research that could improve the quality of life for all life on this planet, including our own, extreme caution must be exercised when we begin to delve into the unnatural unknown.
30. January 2009 at 04:46
I too must agree and add with the last comment.
With every social problem I ever thought about or briefed over this is pretty much the consensus I came to: Its all do to greed, hastey unwise knowledge, and covenience. (which I see greed and convenience just about the same.)
I may not elaborate much on this due to I may make an actual blog about it too.
I would say it is in most cases true that knowledge is mistaken for wisdom. And when did this begin? Well, when we first began. Since we existed the majority of us have been looking for ways to make things easier for ourselves giving us to much convenience, and this is a big part of our downfall. And depressingly most were and are born greedy. When you put “knowledge” in the hands of these people IT DOES NOT MAKE THEM SMART NOR DOES IT MAKE THEIR IDEAS GOOD ONES. Is this something that is really that hard to understand?
One way of looking at it could be as this: Since man existed he has been climbing up a never ending ladder with a candybar at every step. As time went on so did his greed to have more and he grew and grew and got so far up the ladder that he was above any clouds and couldn’t see the bottom. At this point he was so heavy that the ladder bent and is now falling over until it comes to a fatal end.- you should be able to see that I am sort of also relating man, right now, to our population size right now.
We have mostly all been greedy, and with knowledge got even more greedy, not thinking of what we can really do for ourselves and what matters. Now we are paying a price for it that people ” cant seem to understand how it came about.” really?