Brady Terry
Debra Reece
English 2010
Oct. 13 2014
Synthesis
Tom
Arrandale and Reed Karaim both address the issue of the loss of biodiversity,
or loss of diversity in nature. Karaim
addresses agricultures while Arrandale addresses the broader more worldwide
issue of coastal wetlands, rainforests, and our lack of using nature to help us
prevent this deterioration of earth’s ecosystems. Both authors address the issue of time and
specifically the lack thereof.
I would like to discuss some of the main points addressed
in these two articles. These points are;
the effects and possible effects that come from a loss of biodiversity, things
being done to preserve biodiversity, and what needs to be done to further the
preservation of biodiversity. I would
then like to address the issue of time which is talked about in both articles. I feel like these are things that both
authors discussed well, and that they both have similar arguments concerning
the issues.
There are many adverse effects that come from a loss of
biodiversity. This is the first thing
that I would like to address. In the
article written by Reed Karaim he talks about how we have taken away so many different
varieties of our food bearing plants as we have genetically altered them to our
desire. We have done this for several
reasons. Some of which are heavier, quicker crop yields. He claims that even
the seed bank in different parts of the world that store hundreds of thousands
of different varieties of seeds won’t be able to help us in a worldwide
catastrophe, because we have lost so much diversity and the gestation time for these
plants is too long to rely upon for our safety. (Karaim) Tom Arrandale talks in
his article about the effects of hurricanes and tsunamis and how they have
worsened over time. He says that research has found that this is because of the
destruction of coastal wetlands for housing and shrimp farming. The destruction and removal of these critical
ecosystems has taken away the buffer zone from these storms. (Arrandale)
Both authors feel like our impact on the environment has been negative.
Although both authors address these negitave issues that
arise from the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, they
also address some of the things being done to preserve the biodiversity that
remains. Karaim talks about farmers and
how some are starting to plant more diversified crops in order to prevent total
destruction of the world’s crop supply due to disease or pestilence. He also talks about the seed banks as being a
good start to biological preservation.
(Karaim) Arrandale talks about
some of the different organizations and how they are both funding and
protecting earth’s natural habitats by creating hydro-electric energy from hydro-electric
plants and preserving sections of forest and mountain areas around the
world. (Arrandale)
Both authors however, feel that more needs to be done to
ensure a thriving environment for the future.
Karaim states, “Farmers have been the custodians of biodiversity, and
they need support.” (Karaim) He also
explains that without our support, through funding and active help, what the farmers
are doing won’t be enough. (Karaim)
Arrandale addresses another similar issue. He begins his article by talking about the
need for more government funding, but shifts his focus to us not using the
resources nature has given us. He
believes that costs of preservation can be cut back by using things nature has
given us such as honey bees. He gives an
example from Costa Rica’s coffee plantations that once covered the country
side. He states, “Scientists calculated
that native bees provided 60,000 dollars a year in pollination services to a
Costa Rican coffee plantation.” ( Arrandale)
He then goes on to tell how those plantations now grow products that
don’t require pollination. Therefore,
that resource that nature has given us of the honey bees is now going unused or
essentially wasted. (Arrandale) Both authors are very passionate about the need
for change, especially the need for added help in making a change in our
actions.
The last connection made between the articles which I
would like to address is summed up by Tom Arrandale when he states, “I worry
that we’re not going to have enough time.”
Both Karaim and Arrandale end their articles with similar
statements. They fear that at the rate
the ecosystems are declining, we won’t be able to work fast enough without the
help from people other than conservationists. However, I feel that Tom Arrandale
better addresses this particular issue.
Even though both authors feel strongly about the need for change Reed
Karaim doesn’t make as much of an effort to urge readers to do more and do it
quickly. This leads me to ask. How much time is left? What happens when this time runs out? Have we destroyed biodiversity to the point
of irreversability?
Arrandale, Tom. "Calculating the Value of Ecosystem
'Services'" CQ Researcher. 30 Nov. 2007.
Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/>.
Karaim, Reed. “Inside
the ‘Doomsday Vault’ Hope for Survival.” (2012). Print.
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