Ecology_Essay

Sha Mohr BIOZ 201 November 25, 2012 1) What are the implications for energy resources extracted from the environment from the perspective of your group’s lifestyle' The Hunter-Gatherers were the first, of the three groups, to live completely off of the land with a diet of mostly plants and some lean animal meats. The Horticulturists only grew one crop at a time, which they farmed. The Industrialists rely on machines to do their work for them. 2) Summarize the female reproduction pattern of your group. The Hunter-Gatherer’s females typically had 4.7 children (I guessed an average of 4 children per woman). They breast fed continuously for an average of 4 years before giving birth to another child. The Horticulturists’ females had an average of 6 children and only breast fed for approximately 2 years before giving birth to another child. The Industrialists’ female’s average around 2 children and lactation vary. What are the implications for population growth' Fewer people were around before industry exploded. Before machines people lived off the land and worked their own fields. The more people, the more food needed and the less space that is available. What are implications for women’s health' Women in both the Hunter-gatherer and Horticulturist societies succumbed to infectious diseases or death from childbirth but women in the industrialized societies are more likely to survive because of better health care and medicines/hospitals that are available. 3) What are the dietary features of your group' Hunter-Gatherers ate more plants, and some lean animal meat, and therefore had more of a variety of healthy choices. Horticulturists only farmed one crop per season along with eating animal meat so they had less of a variety. Industrialists have more of a variety of foods but they are more processed and manufactured foods, therefore, not as healthy. How would this diet influence the health of the people' Variety of plants and lean meats meant better diet. 4) What is the major cause of death in your group, and how does it relate to lifestyle' Both the Hunter-Gatherers and the Horticulturists had deaths that were caused by accidents, infectious diseases and/or childbirth. Industrialist’s lifestyles cause death (e.g., smoking, drugs and alcohol use). 5) How does the lifestyle of your group impact upon its specific environment' Industrialists have the worst impact on their environment because they demolish forests to build factories and houses. Because of factories and vehicles pollution has gotten worse. 1) How have changes in human lifestyle contributed to the environmental challenges that we currently face' Forests and wooded areas removed to build. More people mean more trash and pollution. Most food is processed and filled with additives and not organic or fresh. 2) What are some of the ecological problems faced by people as we enter the 21st century' Fewer forests, less fresh food, more pollution, overcrowding. 3) What can we learn from people with non-industrialized ways of life that may offer solutions for some of our problems' We can learn that living off the land is a lot better/healthier for us, which in turn makes for less waste because more things would be recycled. Fresh foods mean healthier people which mean longer lifespan. What suggestions do you have about driving, food preparation, and the use of the latest gadget (e.g., the cell phone)' Make electric cars more affordable and more available. Try not to be so wasteful. Chose organic, fresh foods from local farmers over massed produced foods. As far as cell phones or computers, I would give them up if I had to but I really don’t want to. From reading the text, what are some of the environmental changes that contributed to this population explosion' Industry-machines and manufacturing coupled with medicines and better health care which allowed for longer lifespans. Speculate on the earth’s carrying capacity for humans. Not sure but sometimes I think we might out- grow the Earth and end up having to find other planets to live on or live in space. Speculate on the effects of the human population from a major disaster such as the icebergs melting during global warming. I really believe that a lot of the human population would survive through a major disaster like the icebergs melting, especially since now there are many people who are preparing for such a disaster to occur. 1) From the graph, approximately when did the growth curve increase the most' Over the last 62 years. 2) From the graph, if there was a major food problem in the years 1000, 1500, or 1900, which would have been the most devastating' Why' 1900, because there were so many more people living then compared to the years 1000 and 1500. 3) What are the environmental implications of an explosive human population growth' Not enough living space and not enough food to sustain the population.