Parker Lutz

     Sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship, the responsible management of resource use. In the beginning of the year the issue of the world's ever so quickly rising population sparked my interest. When we eventually covered the topic, my initial speculations about the population were confirmed. I learned that the population is growing at an exponential rate, and that measures need to be taken in learning how we can live sustainably with such a large population.  The world population is expected to reach approximately 9 billion by 2050. What are we going to do with 2 billion more people? Some of the many problems that come with such a large population are the global food supply and the scarcity of natural resources. Also population growth calls for expansion of public services, such as education, transportation, and the evolution of the welfare system. During the beginning of the year I thought living sustainable only pertained to the small things that one individual can do, throughout the year I learned that it is also going to take some very big ideas to keep the world living in a sustainable fashion.






    I chose this image because Global Warming is a very real problem that will no doubt play a role in our future. Global warming is the rising average temperature of the world since in the past 100 or so years. We covered this topic extensively and class and I learned that without change the polar ice caps could potentially melt, and raise the earth's sea levels and alter life for human forever. Luckily, I also learned that there are ways to slow the process and even reverse it. Some ways that humans can prevent and even reverse global warming is by driving cars that get better gas mileage, replant forests after clear cutting, and by investing in renewable energy rather than burning more fossil fuels.

   http://world.edu/polar-bear-scientist-thin-ice-arctic-imbroglio/



     World population growth has always been a topic of interest to me and was even the main point of my first blog last summer.  I find myself wondering how the earth will adapt to accommodate the many new members of the Earth's population. As I mentioned earlier in this blog post this topic was the most interesting to me and my personal favorite. Solving the future crisis I believe we will have on our hands will be done by the work of many strong willed individuals dedicated to prolonging our time on this planet. This topic affected me so much because it is so puzzling, no one truly knows how fast and how much the population will grow by or how we can solve the problem.
http://technickconsulting.com/technicktips/the-turning-point-patience-is-the-name-of-the-game/world-population-graph/




     When I first heard about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch my mind was completely blown. I could not believe that the ocean's currents lead majority of the plastic waste that hits the Pacific to an area where the oceans's currents converge, some reports say that it is roughly the size of texas. The mass of plastic tangles many sea creatures often times resulting in their death.
http://lovetomorrowtoday.com/2009/05/18/update-on-great-pacific-garbage-patch/