In the case study I have chosen, scientists compared 344 plots from Latin America, Africa and Asia and discovered that crop yields were lower in farming plots with fewer bees present during flowering season. This study can be found in All Africa’s website: http://allafrica.com/stories/201602220806.html. The goal of this development is to notify the public of the positive effects of using bees to help one’s crop yields. Researchers studied these effects and concluded that a variety of bees present are good for the environment and for food security. This relates to the “end uses” definition of the term development, in which development can be measured by the “ultimate purpose of the specific economy”, In this case, the purpose of the economy focused on food production of developing, or low-income countries. This study also focused on the biodiversity of the areas in which research was conducted, as well as the environmental factors that affect the bee population.
This next case study deals with oil companies polluting the land, air and water in the Nigerian Delta. The study focused on one company, Shell and the spills they caused, which had tremendous effects on the surrounding environment, home to the Ogoni tribal group. More details can be found at http://www.umich.edu/%7Esnre492/cases_03-04/Ogoni/Ogoni_case_study.htm. The goals of the development are to stop Shell from destroying their land. They have been partially successful because through a series of non-violent protests and growing support from large international organizations, Shell withdrew. However, oil continues to spill onto farmland, and air and water are still polluted. The Ogoni tribe and Shell are working together to aid development of the area, but much progress needs to be made. This case study relates to the environmental justice movement. The Ogoni people lived in poverty during the drilling of oil and continue to live in such conditions. At first, their voices could not be heard, but through continued media attention and international support, their protests had positive effects for a short period of time.
In my hometown of Harrisburg Pennsylvania, there has been a lot of talk about lead in our water coming from buildings that house the water system. The lead also affects plants and animals in the area used for human consumption, which can cause disease. With this has come a lot of talk about how to reduce any chronic effects of lead exposure and how to encourage a cleaner environment. This new public scare relates to the Ogoni tribe case study because in both locations, there is some kind of contamination to the water. There is also a call to action to spread awareness of some kind of issue. These two cases differ in that their susceptibility to contamination relates to the location. For example, in a poor environment such as the home of the Ogoni tribe, there are less resources available to prevent contamination of the air and water. However, Harrisburg has the resources to inspect our water and take preventative steps to decrease the amount of lead in our water.
3 thoughts on “A Cleaner and More Productive Environment”
Hi Alyssa. My name is Sophia. After reading your blog, I realized that we both discussed similar things for part three. In my hometown, there was also problem with contaminated water. You can feel free to check out what I wrote in my blog.
Overall, great post. You connected everything really nicely. I enjoyed reading. https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=44426&action=edit
Hi Alyssa my name is Cassie and this is the link to my blog entry: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/23/sustaining-our-d…t-for-the-future/. I looked at cases about providing economic incentives for recycling as well as a case about the effects of the Three Gorges Dam in China on the ecosystem. Your blog entry caught my attention because I thought it was interesting how the first case you looked at discussed the benefits of bees. Normally, we would try to kill bees and we don’t want them around but we fail to realize sometimes how important they are. I think it’s really cool that the Ogoni tribe was able to gain the attention of such a large corporation as Shell and work together with them. It is really scary that your town is facing the issue of lead in the water and I hope that it is solved as soon as possible!
Hi Alyssa, My name’s Lexie and the link to my post is: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/25/water-scarcity-lexie-gersbacher/. I feel like water contamination is such a world wide issue! For example, the Flint water crisis that just made headlines a few weeks ago. You brought up a point, that Harrisburg and Ogoni differ due to the location of each because in Ogoni there are less resources. Im curious as to why they have little resources, is it because they have a poor economy? As mentioned in our model, monetary statistics, such as income or gross domestic product, often overlook important activities that don’t involve money, such as cooking, cleaning, raising children. Therefore maybe Ogoni and Harrisburg differ simply because their important activities differ, not just in monetary statistics.
Hi Alyssa. My name is Sophia. After reading your blog, I realized that we both discussed similar things for part three. In my hometown, there was also problem with contaminated water. You can feel free to check out what I wrote in my blog.
Overall, great post. You connected everything really nicely. I enjoyed reading.
https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=44426&action=edit
Hi Alyssa my name is Cassie and this is the link to my blog entry: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/02/23/sustaining-our-d…t-for-the-future/. I looked at cases about providing economic incentives for recycling as well as a case about the effects of the Three Gorges Dam in China on the ecosystem. Your blog entry caught my attention because I thought it was interesting how the first case you looked at discussed the benefits of bees. Normally, we would try to kill bees and we don’t want them around but we fail to realize sometimes how important they are. I think it’s really cool that the Ogoni tribe was able to gain the attention of such a large corporation as Shell and work together with them. It is really scary that your town is facing the issue of lead in the water and I hope that it is solved as soon as possible!
Hi Alyssa, My name’s Lexie and the link to my post is: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/25/water-scarcity-lexie-gersbacher/. I feel like water contamination is such a world wide issue! For example, the Flint water crisis that just made headlines a few weeks ago. You brought up a point, that Harrisburg and Ogoni differ due to the location of each because in Ogoni there are less resources. Im curious as to why they have little resources, is it because they have a poor economy? As mentioned in our model, monetary statistics, such as income or gross domestic product, often overlook important activities that don’t involve money, such as cooking, cleaning, raising children. Therefore maybe Ogoni and Harrisburg differ simply because their important activities differ, not just in monetary statistics.