- The case study I read was about Ivory trade and Elephant Preservation. Here is the link: http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/end-bots.html. In 1979, the elephant population was about 1.2 million and dropped to 600,000 currently. This is an example of development’s downsides because it impacted the elephant environment in a negative way. Even though hunters could make a lot of money selling the ivory and skin, they were killing them off to the point of extinction. Hunters are illegally poaching these animals because they can make $3,600 for on elephant because of the ivory and skin. There was a ban on hunting in many African nations, like Zimbabwe and Botswana so they didn’t go extinct. The amount of elephants killed per year dropped from 3,500 to 50 in just under 15 years! This helped the development of these elephants because they are now able to reproduce and not decline as quickly.
- The second case study is about the lobster population decline in Maine. Here’s the link: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/6001/20140423/baby-lobster-population-declining-in-maine-at-alarming-rate-may-prompt-menu-price-hike.htm. The population of lobsters has declined by 50% since 2007. This can make the cost of lobsters extremely expensive because they are becoming rare, which goes back to developmental downsides. This is an environmental injustice because the lobsters are being caught for food and the population is suffering because of us. However, it does relate back to sustainable development because the lobsters are used for food. As the article says, with warmer ocean temperatures and catching them for food, the decline is going to just increase more if we don’t do something. Since 1980, the University of Maine has been tracking the lobster population and has made it public about the sharp decrease.
- These two cases connect to my hometown of Southampton, PA because we have made preservations for animal population. We have had a decline in the deer, fish, and duck population because so many people were hunting them. This relates back to both the elephant and lobster case studies because they are all becoming extinct because humans are catching and killing them faster than they can reproduce. In conclusion, I think we can learn from both articles that there needs to be more restrictions on animal hunting and catching because people are taking advantage and not thinking about the consequences. Since the United States population is so high, we have such a problem not only in my hometown but all around of decreases in animal population.
5 thoughts on “Jessica Moritz”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Jessica! I really enjoyed reading your post because I took an animal ethics course last semester and had to write many articles about the the declination of species. I am not one to agree with speciesism. I believe every living being is equal and our economic development should not make other species suffer. I didn’t realize how much of an impact the hunting ban in Africa had on numbers in the population. I would assume that people would continue to poach, despite these new regulations.This goes to show you that individual action can lead to collective action and overall make a huge difference in the environment, and the beings that inhabit it. I was also unaware about the lobster depopulation in Maine. If this situation persists, I hope the United States will make a ban, similar to the one created in Africa to preserve the elephant population. I did my case studies on a completely different subject but also focused on development’s downsides. Both of my case studies focused on industrialization causing negative health effects on the people in surrounding communities. If you’re interested in checking mine out, the link is located here: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/23/development-downsides-to-industrial-facilities/
Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Tawnya
Hi Jessica!
My name is Jacqueline and for my case study I wrote about how increase of population and transportation can have huge negative impacts on the environment as well as the people. Your blog post caught my attention because I love elephants. I think that it is so sad that the elephant population is depleting so drastically. Bans like the one implemented to make it illegal to hunt elephants are great because they really do save populations. Great post!
Here’s a link to my blog!
https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bCd
Hey Jessica! Your post really caught my attention because I really really love animals and it honestly hurts to me see the population of animals declining. There is so much happening with the environment that it makes it hard for animals to survive in certain conditions. I also mentioned animals in my post because deforestation is causing habitats for animals to no longer exist. Here is the link to my post if you’re interested!
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/26/44604/
-Caitlyn
Hey Jessica, my name is Alyssa and I thought that your post was insightful and throughout provoking! The fact that so many animals are becoming extinct in our world should concern the human population more. Im glad you brought this to light! In my post, I talk about the need for sustainable cities throughout our world. There are attempts to set up long term goals in the US and in other countries to decrease energy consumption and to educate the future generations about sustainability. Heres a link to my post if you are interested.https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bBF
Hey Jessica! My name is Molly and I think your post is very interesting because you talk about the animal population while most other posts, including mine, are about the environment. I wrote about droughts in Somalia and the Asian Pacific along with the effects they have on food, livestock, money, and children. Where I’m from doesn’t experience droughts so I found my articles to be very interesting.
I think that it is inhumane for the treatment of animals whether they be elephants or lobsters in your case. Just because we have animals to use for money and food at or disposal doesn’t mean that we should take advantage of them and potentially risk wiping them out completely. I liked how you addressed the positive side to it when you mentioned how there have been more restrictions for hunting these animals and hopefully e will see their population increase instead of decrease.
Here is a link to my post if you’re interested! http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/26/44610/