Environmental Issues:

The root of environmental destruction

Misty Sanchez

San Felipe Pueblo

Sharing one skin; Okanagan Community.

According to what I read, this article is about how a community is related to its long-standing communal activities. By using the phrase "Sharing One skin," the Okanagans have a particular sense of community and interactions with others. The Okanagan people view themselves as full individuals who are divided into four separate parts: the emotional self, the physical self, the thinking-intellectual self, and the spiritual self. They refer to themselves as distinct creatures housed inside their bodies. When you are born, you are welcomed into a family and community and accepted for who you are. We are united by the people who brought us here, donated blood, and offered us refuge. This shows that we are more than just places; we have a personality.

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

How place names impact the way we see landscape

What I read in this article is that there are sacred settings in your community, near your community or far from it. And most times there are stories being passed down from generations and elders. But colonizers will try to pollute that setting into a whiteman place. There are reasons as to understand h\why it is a sacred place and to understand the stories being it. Talk to it in a good way to keep the stories for as long as possible. People will often tell different stories but do we know that's the true side of it? Respecting is all that needs to be done and you'll get something in return.

Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape. Accessed 27 August 2022.

How Climate Change caused the world's first ever empire to collapse

What I read in the article was the effects of the dust storms and the absence of rain would have resulted in serious agricultural issues that may have produced hunger and societal unrest. The Akkadian Empire was weakened internally, making it an easy target for several sly tribes residing nearby. The fossil evidence shows that a long winter shamal season with frequent shamal days existed between 4,500 and 4,100 years ago, coinciding with the fall of the Akkadian empire, which happened 4,400 years earlier.

Bressan, David. “Climate Change Caused the World's First Empire to Collapse.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Oct. 2019,

Wildfires reshape forests and change the behavior of animals that live there.

What I read was that some of the worst wildfires in recorded history have occurred in recent years. The danger of larger, hotter, and more frequent wildfires is rising as a result of climate change, the extinction of Indigenous burning practices, and a generation of fire suppression. Mule deer are a common species in many Western regions, but their populations have been declining over much of their original range due to habitat loss and other factors. Flames can even reach treetops in more serious fires, destroying the forest's upper branches. After a fire, the forest floor receives more light, and plants that are adapted to fire repopulate. Burned forests can be dense with shrubs and other greenery that deer prefer as summer feed after a fire. For roughly 20 years after the fire, which is how long it takes the forest to go past the initial stage of regeneration, deer in our study generally favored burned regions. Wintertime deer activity is also impacted by fires. In unburned evergreen forests, upper tree branches catch a large portion of the snowfall before it collects on the forest floor. Snow is usually deeper than in unburned forests where fires have destroyed these higher branches.

Ganz, Taylor. “Wildfires Reshape Forests and Change the Behavior of Animals That Live There.” The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2022, https://theconversation.com/wildfires-reshape-forests-and-change-the-behavior-of-animals-that-live-there-191230.

Causes and Effects on Climate Change

What I watched in the video is that the earth's temperature and elements are changing the world around us. Greenhouse gasses are the main reasons like water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. Climate change is a big problem because the earth's average temperature rises at a fast speed as it is known as global warming. Caused by the greenhouse emissions from human activities. Burning fossil fuels, agriculture, deforestation, and the decomposition of waste in landfills has increased the amount of greenhouse gasses dramatically. Greenhouse effects have caused the earth's temperature to have the right temperature for life beings to thrive right.

Bressan, David. “Climate Change Caused the World's First Empire to Collapse.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Oct. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2019/10/30/climate-change-caused-the-worlds-first-empire-to-collapse/?sh=2feb862244e1.

Low levels of air pollution deadlier than previous thought

What I read in this article is that over 4.2 million people die from outside air pollution. This is due to the fact that the researchers discovered that the higher risk was elevated even at extremely low levels of outdoor pollution, ones that had not previously been identified as potentially harmful and were responsible for up to 1.5 million additional deaths worldwide each year.

University, McGill. “Low Levels of Air Pollution Deadlier than Previously Thought.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 9 Nov. 2022, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221109184917.htm.

Water is critical for success on climate action Article 2

Freshwater should be included in climate change mitigation strategies to prevent unanticipated effects and expensive economic errors. Positive actions like forest restoration and bioenergy can have a negative impact if they don't have the right supplies. Freshwater resources are necessary for climate mitigation efforts. Plans and actions for reducing emissions must take future freshwater supply into view. The management of water and wastewater helps cut back on greenhouse gas emissions. More effective sanitation and drinking waterways conserve valuable freshwater resources and cut emissions. Organization and reinforcement of combined water and climate management are required. Federated and open governance is necessary to integrate freshwater into all preparation and design for climate mitigation.

Nature is warning us

What I watched in this video is that ecosystems are changing very quickly at a fast phase. Humans are the main reason why things are going down so quickly. Agriculture and deforestation is one of the main sources to be affected by greenhouse emissions. Cattle are also being threatened by climate change. Wildlife is increasing at a fast rate as years go by. Being that wildlife is going downhill, ecosystems that produce many services are hard to survive due to these circumstances. Waste spills are affecting deer and elk in wildlife. Also humans that cause fires are also doing damage to natural habitat for wildlife so it can cause many downfalls like food for them and homings.

Rebel, Cyber, director. Nature Is Warning Us . YouTube, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah6BzZ5aCPY. Accessed 17 Nov. 2022.

Habitat Loss

Wildlife is one of the biggest communities being affected by environmental change because of human activity that is done daily. Not only are they struggling with homes but they are struggling with food, water, and to even keep their youngins alive because of toxic or destruction. Major type of habitat loss is Habitat Destruction which is a bulldozer tearing down trees. Filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees are further methods in which people destroy habitat. Another one is Habitat Fragmentation, that is roads and industrialization in the US have broken up wildlife habitat into small pieces. Dams and water diversions have broken up the habitats of marine organisms. These habitat areas might not be large or connected to support species that require a sizable territory where they can find companions and food. Tropical species struggle to find locations to rest and eat along their migration paths due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The last one is Habitat Degradation and that is ecosystems being pollution, invasive species and disruption of ecosystem processes.

Wildlife Resources, The National. “Habitat Loss.” National Wildlife Federation, 2023, https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Threats-to-Wildlife/Habitat-Loss.

Environmental Problems of Modern Cities

Almost 78% of carbon emissions in cities are caused by human activity. Global environmental issues include resource use, climate change, and the preservation of the environment. Urban areas have a significant negative impact on the environment that extends beyond their own borders. Cities are therefore hubs of pollution in the air and water, trash generation, and the consumption of greenhouse gasses. In cities where overpopulation is a bigger cause, environmental issues are much larger than urban cities because of the amount of human activity that is being produced everyday. The worst urban air pollution is seen in cities in growing economies, which is brought on by fast industrialization and a growth in major roadways. According to estimates, urban air pollution kills one million people prematurely each year and costs wealthy nations 2% of their Income and poor nations 5%. In Urban places what is being affected is water including water waste, water supply, solid waste and pollution of soil.

Galanis, Theodoros. “Environmental Problems of Modern cities20.” LinkedIn, 2017, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/environmental-problems-modern-cities-theodoros-galanis.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES

In this video what was talked about was climate change and global warming that is caused by an increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. More than 8.3 million metric tons or plastic has been reduced globally in the last 70 years. The Philippines is the third largest contributor of plastic waste in the world's ocean. Over 500 million children are living in countries that are prone to diseases which is why the Philippines is in the third most country in the world that suffer from disasters. Not only are humans put at risk there are multiple species that are soon to extinct in this condition if it doesn't get any better.

Plaza, Paul, director. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES. YouTube, YouTube, 26 Oct. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dru4tp-AmkE. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023.

Action Plan I: Understanding the concept of Environmental Issues

On November 10, 2022 I met with Ms.Sallah, a green team member to understand her feelings and what she thinks about what is going on within society and nature. We talked about what we can do to prevent these issues within our school here at Santa Fe Indian School.

Action Plan II: Making it reusable

On March 5 2023, I brought my immediate family together to do a little project on using reusable items into things we can use or put to use. Some of the things we were able to collect were plastic bottles/ containers to use them into Bird Feeders, Hummingbird Feeders and Plant holders. Some advice I got from one of my family members were to use chili containers since they are bigger and use them into plant holders as well.