BP Oil Spill

On the 20th of April 2010, a British Petroleum (BP) oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. 11 people working on the rig died. 115 people escaped, 17 of them injured. Millions of litres of oil were spilled into the ocean and into the surrounding habitat. Most of the oil spread to the coast of Florida, harming much of the wildlife, making it difficult for people in Florida to catch their main source of food.

The flow of oil was finally stopped on the 15th of July, after almost 600 million litres of oil had been released. It has been described as “worse than 10 [hurricane] Katrinas”.

There are many possible reasons as to why the rig exploded. Many of those involved in the incident attempted to blame someone else. Some of the possible causes include, the ‘Blow Out Preventer’ failing, the control pod losing some functions, and human error and accidents.

Some have argued that an upside to this disaster is that at least we can fix these problems in the future; however, a very similar disaster happened in 1979. It was in the Gulf of Mexico with almost 400 million litres of oil being released. The consequences of this tragedy are still affecting the wildlife today. This year’s oil spill will be affecting us and the environment for years to come, but, based on previous situations, this huge disaster is unlikely change anything we currently do.

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Australia's Economy

The primary sector is the basics of the economy. It is gathering the raw materials of the earth, such as natural gas, meat, mineral ores or cereal grains. It includes jobs such as mining or farming. 5% of Australia’s population work in the Primary Sector.

The secondary sector of the economy is the manufacturing stage of product making. The secondary sector includes manufacturing, processing and constructing. Possible activities can be metal working, utilities, shipbuilding, breweries and bottlers. 19% of Australia’s population work in the Secondary Sector.

The tertiary sector of the economy is the service part of production. This sector is about getting the product to the general public and business. This can include transportation, entertainment, restaurants, media, tourism, banking, healthcare and law. The “Quaternary Sector” can also fit into tertiary. This includes mainly “intellectual” activities such as government, culture, scientific research and education. 76% of Australia’s population work in the tertiary sector.

Although over three quarters of Australia’s population work in the tertiary sector, 79% of our imports and exports are in the Primary and Secondary Sectors. This probably because when you are deciding what to do when you get older you chose a job like doctor, teacher or a lawyer, not many children would wish to be a farmer or a miner. Because of the way the world works, “intellectual” jobs are more appealing.

Currently we are very close to trading partners to the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and have very similar countries. However, the U.S.A. and U.K. are becoming more separated from Australia, and countries including China and Japan are becoming closer. Because societies in our world are built around money and the economy, the Australian government would want to strengthen our relationships with China and Japan to improve our country’s economy. I am sure that if our countries became close friends we would start to adopt some of their ways, like their technology, food and governing systems.

The ‘Commodities Boom’ is an increase in prices resulting from a rise in demand. The ‘Commodities Boom’ continues to affect greatly on Australia’s economy. Through our resources - coal, gold, natural gas, crude petroleum, iron ore and concentrates - we have become significant trading partners with China, and are becoming closer with other Asian economies. This has kept Australia rich, keeping Australia’s economy healthy and allowing other Asian trading partners to continue growing.

The Australian economy relies on people to consume goods and services, for example housing, food, clothing and power. The more we consume the stronger the economy. However, this is unsustainable because although our consumption is currently keeping the economy healthy, in the long run this love-affair with stuff will harm the lifestyles we choose to lead. Eventually our resources will run out.

This week, I was surprised by everything we learnt. I knew nothing about our economy and products we produce. But what surprised me most were the pie graphs about Australia’s imports and exports. Our trading partners have changed so much since1901 and I am gobsmacked at how the United Kingdom has lost its place as our biggest trading partner.

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Water

Virtual water is the less obvious water that is used to produce a certain product. For example 1 kilogram of beef takes around 15,000 litres of water to produce. This includes not only the water used to produce the meat, but also all of the water to keep the cow healthy, its food and other essential parts for healthy stock. I had no idea it used so much water to produce our foods. I can see how Australia is in such a bad drought.

I think there definitely will be battles fought over water. Many wars have already been fought over oil, which is only used to support our lifestyles. Water, however, we cannot live without, so it will provoke many more battles.

Desalination plants just seem to be delaying the problem, not actually solving it. Desalination plants are the easy option. They also encourage people to keep on wasting water if they can just say “It’s alright, we’ve got a big ocean to drink”, which is not a sustainable attitude. If we actually want a long term solution to our lack of water we should think ahead. If we start to rely on desalination plants, at some point the resources used will run out. A better solution would be to reduce our water use, and try to solve the cause of the problem: global warming.

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Ecological Footprint

Everyone has a different ecological footprint. It analyses our lifestyle choices, so no two will be the same. Our ecological footprints reflect our choices in food, electricity, gas, heating and cooling, recycling habits, housing and transport. For example, if your diet contains a lot of locally grown, fresh food, it has to travel a smaller distance, giving you a smaller ecological footprint. A large ecological footprint would show use of a lot of the Earth’s resources.

Ecological footprints differ depending on whether you are vegetarian, what clothing you buy, what appliances you use and how you get around. The Pygmy people of Africa have no electricity, personally hunt their food and work together as a group. They are one of the most sustainable groups of people on the planet, but even if everyone lived like that we would still use 0.9 Earths. I consider myself fairly ecological, but if everyone lived the way I did we’d need more 2 Earths. The Pygmy people live so differently to the way we do and it shows how off track of a sustainable future we really are.

To reduce your ecological footprint you can do many things. You can turn down the heating in winter. Eat less meat during the week, or even start off with a ‘No meat Tuesday’. You can try to travel in a car with someone else rather than by yourself. You can go to farmer’s markets rather than big brand supermarkets. There are endless options, ranging from simple things like changing a light bulb, to much larger things like running for council. Everything makes a difference, you just need to get involved.

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An Inconvenient Truth

Part 1: Personal Impact
The most memorable part of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, for me, is the way the red lines bounced off the edge of the ozone layer. I think I remembered this because it helps me to understand global warming.

The most compelling part of the film for me would probably be the images of the ice on the glaciers receding. To actually be faced with images of the destruction of the environment terrifies me.

For any kind of sustainable future, all humans need to realise the potential of global warming. Governments need to place the climate crisis as high as the economy on the political agenda. We need to work together as a community to change not just our ways, but the way our society works. Our focus on the economy blinds us to the reality.

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Part 2: Deepening the Learning
This film gave me much more evidence, mainly in the form of statistics, that global warming is real and humans are the cause. I have always been aware of global warming and believed it, but this film helped me understand the roots of the problem.

I would really like to see celebrities joining the battle against global warming. I think that by showing their support for beating global warming, it could really get a lot of people to listen to the issues and join to fight.

As I am not an expert on climate change, it is hard for me to know who to trust. I believe there is enough scientific evidence to prove global warming is real.

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Part 3: Moral and Future Considerations
I have grown up with an awareness of global warming. These issues are regularly discussed in my household. I, along with the rest of my family, believe that global warming is terrible and humans are the cause.

Our economic system lacks any recognition of global warming. Sure there’s an Emissions Trading Scheme, or a meeting every now and then, but we are currently making no difference to the systems that are the cause of global warming. Humans are very arrogant and it would take a great cause to change the way we think about things. In the society we currently live in there is really no chance of changing our ways. Our society is very focused on money, but what use is money if there is no world to use it on? This is one fact our politicians seem to be missing.

I would happily commit to all suggestions mentioned in the film. Currently I am already doing most of them. As I am a student, and am living with my parents, I have very little choice in some decisions such as where we shop and the food we buy.

Every little thing makes a difference but it would take a huge leap to defeat global warming. ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is a good way to get started. If complicated topics are put into easily accessed formats they are more likely to be listened to. Even if the audience isn’t paying attention, the idea will be pushed into their sub-conscious, and possibly make a difference.

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Total Words: 500 (That's so cool!)

The Lorax

'The Lorax’ is fable written by Dr. Seuss in 1971. Although this story uses words like 'Swommee–Swans' and 'Bar-ba-loot fruits', many themes and issues discussed in this fable are very serious and slightly frightening matters. It tackles many serious problems, including deforestation, near-sighted humans, extinction of species and global warming. In this story, ‘The Once-ler’ – the antagonist - is a greedy, lonely, selfish businessman, and although a ‘Once-ler’ is a made up creature, he relates very closely to the selfish and short sighted human beings.

The ‘Once-ler’ takes everything he wants and ignores everything he believes is unimportant, such as the Lorax’s (pictured) important message of hope. The Lorax pledges for the Once-ler to slow down his business of knitting ‘Thneeds’ to save the environment. The Once-ler ignores the Lorax’s words of wisdom, and just keeps on expanding his business. By the end of the story the ‘Once-ler’ has run out of resources, and is left old and remorseful for the short-term rush of power. Dr. Seuss was most likely trying to emphasise the way humans find it hard to see the long term consequences of their actions.

The most depressing part of this story is that almost 40 years ago Dr. Seuss knew that there was horror to come if humans continued their ways. But in general, humans have not made a difference. And now we are facing the terrifying consequences.

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