basic concepts of ecology

Environmental Ethics and Land Managementhttp://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Timothy C. Weiskel

Harvard Extension SchoolFall Semester 2012

Basic Concepts of Ecology

12 September 2012


Timothy C. Weiskel



12 September 2012

In this course we will need to ground all moral propositions in the context of ...


Timothy C. Weiskel




The Moral Implications of “The Subversive, Conservative Science”

12 September 2012

…you may recall from last week…

…don’t get me wrong. Some of my best friends are…

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… then we went on to discuss the the “tyranny of text” and the moral order, etc., etc.


Timothy C. Weiskel



12 September 2012


Timothy C. Weiskel





12 September 2012

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http://icb.oxfordjournals.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/25/2/469.full.pdf+html

Tim Weiskel - 10

http://icb.oxfordjournals.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/25/2/469.full.pdf+html

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"Civilizations exist by geological consent, subject to change without notice."

Will Durant

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Checking our the neighborhood…

Checking our the neighborhood…

Where did our nearest space ‘neighbor’ come from?

The moon was “thrown” into orbit as debris from a major meteor impact with the earth -- a major celestial collision.

Although “big events” like the cosmic encounter that produced the moon are very rare, other earth collisions with space debris are quite frequent, especially in the ‘asteroid belt.’

Encounters are ‘inevitable’...

The role of comets in the history of the earth is still being discovered.

Some suggest that life itself is extraterrestrial in origin….

What are the ethical implications, if any, of this?

Some cosmic events have had a big impact

Even if it turns out that life originated endogenously on Earth and only on Earth, we know that the history of life-forms has been dramatically altered by cosmic events in the past.

The “Asteroid Hypothesis” is currently the leading explanation offered for the “extinction event” represented by the KT Boundary in the geological record. http://paleobiology.si.edu/blastPast/

http://paleobiology.si.edu/blastPast/

http://paleobiology.si.edu/blastPast/

“Extinction events” are dramatic cases on cosmic intrusions into the history of life-forms on Earth, but smaller “events have occurred as well...

How might cosmic events have shaped life’s more recent history on Earth?

Some scientists are suggesting that cosmic events may well have directly affected the evolution of the human species. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1272000/1272368.stm

What if “we” (modern humans) emerged as a result of a cosmic event?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1272000/1272368.stm



Whatever their role in Earth’s past, asteroids and meteors appear to be an ongoing “fact of life” on Earth. There is no “escaping” them. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_600000/600172.stm

In fact there is a call for new defenses to cope with them. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_930000/930564.stm







This is not just a “theoretical” problem.

This is not just a “theoretical” problem.

Consider what happened in June 1908….

In 1908 Earth experienced the largest explosion in “recorded history”…

In 1908 Earth experienced the largest explosion in “recorded history”…

…. The trouble was that it wasn’t recorded by many people at all.

Tunguska, Russia on 30 June 1908 -- (an artist’s impression).

There are now recent scientific expeditions to investigate what happened on June 30, 1908. *http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1628806.stm

Recent Events

The Don Quixote Mission.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1628806.stm




… and check out the neighborhood.So, we should have a look around…

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.html

See what we’ve learned already….


Will Durant(with ENVR E-120 amendments)




& cosmic



on short& cosmic




on short

Species

& cosmic




& cosmic on short

SpeciesLocal and global ecosystems


A general truth…

Throughout the observable universe, the whole system is run on just 2 fundamental sources of energy:

1) “cosmic” power (“left-over” from the Big Bang and super nova explosions – geothermal, nuclear, cosmic/kinetic force); and

1a) current solar throughput power.

What could the human role be in the cosmic order?

Environmental Ethics must cope withVastly Different Scales of Time & Space

Cosmic time scales - the present to 109 - 1010 BP

To understand this we must remember that...



• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?



• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?



• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?• What -- if anything -- is the human significance of

events that occur at cosmic time and spatial scales?



• What kinds of events occur in this time frame?• Over what spatial ranges do these conditions apply?• What -- if anything -- is the human significance of

events that occur at cosmic time and spatial scales?• Do humans have any importance beyond very short

temporal scales?

We have other cosmic “issues”

But what of other cosmic “issues,” closer to home in both time and space?

We have other cosmic “issues”

But what of other cosmic “issues,” closer to home in both time and space?

What about our nearest neighbors -- beyond the moon -- upon which all life on Earth’s surface depends?

What are “sun eruptions”? Why should we care? *

rtsp://rm.bbc.net.uk/news/olmedia/290000/video/_293638_sun_eruption_vi.rm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/290000/video/_293638_sun_eruption_vi.ram




The sun most certainly affects climate -- in ways we do not fully understand.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3251481.stm



**




**http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5371162.stm



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http://wp.me/p2iDSG-lV

The sun’s “weather” also affects us quite directly in terms of how we communicate and “protect” ourselves on earth.

Cosmic time scales - 109 - 1010 BP

Geologic time scales - present - 109 BP

Vastly Different Scales of Time & Space

As with “cosmic” time scales and events, so too, we must consider “geological time” scales and events in developing an effective environmental ethic.

What are “geological events?”

On Earth, stuff happens.



Volcanoes happen…



Volcanoes happen…

Volcanoes often happen near inhabited areas, but have wide-spread and sometimes global impacts. * http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_697000/697264.stm




http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/world/video/117000/bb/117319_16x9_bb.asx



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/

Distant and Invisible Volcanoes...

Tsumanis - giant waves or “walls of water” -- can be triggered by submarine volcanoes or earth slides provoked by volcanoes.

Some of these have received recent attention. *

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5194316.stm





Bioevolutionary time scales - present - 109 BP






Hominid time scales - present - 106 BP

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In “homonid time scales” (millions of years), what has accounted for the evolution of various species ?






Cultural-Evolutionary time scales - 105







Civilization time scales - 104







Civilization time scales - 104

Historical time scales - 10 - 103

With all the shocks the earth system has experienced, what could a title like “Planetary Overload” possibly mean? Is the planet overloaded? In what sense?

We live in an open energy, closed material system, governed by the second law of thermodynamics.

What is our species role in this system?

Throughput Energy Flow Can Be Measured

Water Circulation Can be Measured

Carbon Circulation (and flow of other elements) Can Be Measured as well…

Both “stocks” and “flows” can be measured…

It turns out that life has been a “geological force” on Earth for far longer than humans have been part of the biosphere -- the full “committee of life forms.” By capturing and expending solar energy, millions of life-forms have influenced and “regulated” the “stocks” and “flows” of materials in Earth’s closed system.


We live in a highly improbable atmosphere made possible by everything from “farting ants” to anaerobic bacteria alive for eons before we emerged as a species.


We live in a highly improbable atmosphere made possible by everything from “farting ants” to anaerobic bacteria alive for eons before we emerged as a species.

In one respect, however, things are quite different now that humans have expanded to such massive numbers.

Things aren’t as they have always been. There is “something new under the sun” … Human population growth….

But there is broad range of alternatives in the future. Thus, the future is hard to predict in detail

Sometimes Humans behave as a “Geological Force”in obvious and immediate ways…

It is reasonable to talk about not just life, but human life as a geological force with dramatic immediate impact.

http://www.eumetsat.de/en/area5/special/fires_07041991.html



Certainly the impact of humans is visible now from space….




Certainly the impact of humans is visible now from space….

And even when our behavior generates emissions that are “invisible” (CO2), these emissions may yet change Earth’s delicate balances required for life as we know it.


For example, ecologists tell us that by oxidizing vast amounts of terrestrial carbon over the last 250 years, humans have changed the thermo-conductivity of the atmosphere. The resulting increase in surface temperature has lead to the wide scale melting of circum-polar permafrost, with the potential for triggering a run-away release of previously trapped methane. Thus, collectively, humankind may have pushed the Earth system beyond a “tipping point” toward accelerating instability.

We are still assessing the ecological impact of the Viet Nam war and the war in Kuwait over a decade ago, and the news is not encouraging.


The question is simply:Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?


The question is simply:Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?

Answer: No, not without a whole new understanding of our role in the changing ecosystem.


The question is simply: Can we survive our own skills of killing and destroying the life support systems we need to survive?

Answer: No, not without a whole new understanding of our role in the changing ecosystem.

Developing a new environmental ethic of sustainability is our last, best chance of survival...

Three Big Assumptions…. In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”

and stable place. It has evolved over 4.5 billion years and changes to it come gradually (soils erode, continents drift…. )

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Earth is generally a benign environment for humans. After all we evolved here. We belong here.

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The world is “supra-human” – way beyond human interference, too vast and too enormous for any humans to have an impact upon it. We live “on” Earth. It is out there and independent of us.

Tim Weiskel - 101

Three Big Assumptions….ALL Wrong? In the 19th century we learned that Earth is an “old”



The world is “supra-human” – way beyond human interference, too vast and too enormous for any humans to have an impact upon it. We live “on” Earth. It is out there and independent of us.

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http://wp.me/p2iDSG-s9

McGuire, Bill2012 "Climate change will shake the Earth," The Guardian - U.K., (26 February 2012 14.59 EST Sunday).

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http://wp.me/p2iDSG-Aq


McGuire, Bill2012 "Climate change will shake the Earth," The Guardian - U.K., (26 February 2012 14.59 EST Sunday).

Tim Weiskel - 105

http://wp.me/p2iDSG-Aq


Mozart’s Prayer

Soave sia il vento,tranquila sia l’onda,..

May the wind be gentle,may the wave be calm,…

Souave sia il vento,tranquila sia l’onda,ed ogni elementobenigno rispondaai nostri desir.

May the wind be gentle,may the wave be calm, and may every elementrespond benignlyto our wishes.

Mozart’s Prayer

May the wind be gentle,may the wave be calm,

May the wind be gentle,may the wave be calm, and may every elementrespond benignlyto our wishes.

We now know our place in this vast, cold and

expanding universe…



What should be our role?



What should be our role?

How should we behave here and now, if we want the human enterprise to survive?

Within consequentialist ethics it is understood that we are all -- individually and collectively -- responsible for the foreseeable consequences of our own actions.

Rules for how we ought to act are therefore understood to be derived from the foreseeable consequences of our behavioral choices.



Timothy C. Weiskel





12 September 2012

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