For all the environmentalists ...

[Allee]

This is a pretty cool site :

http://www.breathingearth.net/

I watched for a while and saw the USA, China and Australia emitting a lot of CO2, but didn't see Canada come up once. Why is that? Do we have too many trees or something?

The birth counter at the bottom was pretty scary too. It makes one wonder what all the doomsayers that are carrying on about our non-replacement of population are talking about...

[patmoore]

Intriguing. When I visited the site Canada was in the light tan color indicating mid-level CO2 emissions. The red zones indicating the highest emissions were in the US, China, Russia, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, and England. The flashing birth icons were most frequent in India, China, and Nigeria. The flashing death icons also appeared frequently in those areas.

Interestingly enough the term Environmentalism today has no connection with its earlier meaning. I was a Geography adjunct professor at the University of South Florida in the early 70s when I first ran across the term. It was a contraction for "Environmental Determinism", the belief that you are influenced by where you live. There's an interesting Wikipedia article on the subject. "For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity, while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle latitudes led to more determined and driven work ethics." As you might expect, the proponents of this discredited belief all came from parts of the world that produced the most energetic and industrious citizens.

The environmentalists of today would be aghast to learn what the term originally meant.

[kjl]

Interestingly enough the term Environmentalism today has no connection with its earlier meaning. I was a Geography adjunct professor at the University of South Florida in the early 70s when I first ran across the term. It was a contraction for "Environmental Determinism", the belief that you are influenced by where you live. There's an interesting Wikipedia article on the subject. "For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity, while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle latitudes led to more determined and driven work ethics." As you might expect, the proponents of this discredited belief all came from parts of the world that produced the most energetic and industrious citizens.

The environmentalists of today would be aghast to learn what the term originally meant.

Is environmental determinism generally viewed as "justifying racism and imperialism" or generally viewed as arguing against it? I read Guns, Germs, and Steel and it seemed like he was arguing in favor of environmental determinism but did not believe that Eurasians were superior in intellect or culture but ended up controlling most of the world due simply to environmental conditions.

He went too far for me - he seemed to leave little room for free will or any kind of desire, and was almost arguing that the history of the last few tens of thousands of years was essentially a foregone conclusion given the distribution of natural resources like livestock, starchy vegetables, and minerals, and climate and location.

[C5 Golfer]

Is environmental determinism generally viewed as "justifying racism and imperialism" or generally viewed as arguing against it? I read Guns, Germs, and Steel and it seemed like he was arguing in favor of environmental determinism but did not believe that Eurasians were superior in intellect or culture but ended up controlling most of the world due simply to environmental conditions.

He went too far for me - he seemed to leave little room for free will or any kind of desire, and was almost arguing that the history of the last few tens of thousands of years was essentially a foregone conclusion given the distribution of natural resources like livestock, starchy vegetables, and minerals, and climate and location.

I saw the program Guns, Germs and Steel on PBS..well done as usual. I thought he made some interesting views and conclusions - some that you can accept and some where there is latitude for your own conclusion. The part about large domestic animals was very thought provoking and the germs affecting some and not others, down to the Europeans planting outside the tropics worked great and then they went inside the tropics and couldn't grow anything and did not understand for a while why. All good stuff but that is just my opinion which is not worth much these days.

[C5 Golfer]

This is a pretty cool site :

http://www.breathingearth.net/

I watched for a while and saw the USA, China and Australia emitting a lot of CO2, but didn't see Canada come up once. Why is that? Do we have too many trees or something?

The birth counter at the bottom was pretty scary too. It makes one wonder what all the doomsayers that are carrying on about our non-replacement of population are talking about...

This site is also cool -- specially if you fly a lot. Before you go to the airport - just plug in your destination and see what you are doing that day for the environment.

http://www.terrapass.com/flight/flightcalc.html

[patmoore]

I believe Environmental Determinism was pretty much discredited by the late 1930s. I only learned about it from our department chairman. I don't think I ever ran across a reference to it in any of the textbooks I used for teaching.

Wow. Al, I just checked the CO2 emissions website. Hartford to Denver = 1300 lbs.

[Allee]

Before you go to the airport - just plug in your destination and see what you are doing that day for the environment.

Yep, I've become a bit more aware of the effects of flying too ... carbon credits are all the rage these days. Guess it's true that money can't buy you guilt...

[C5 Golfer]

Wow. Al, I just checked the CO2 emissions website. Hartford to Denver = 1300 lbs.

Scarrrrrry part is that is per person... what does an airplane carry --150-300 people per flight these days?

It seems like addressing autos while that should be done too -- it is not a big piece of the pie. Average car puts out about 8-12,000 lbs year if driven 10K miles/year.

I wonder what the average ski resort puts out per year in its CO2 -- the ones that are not going towards the "green" side yet?

[kjl]

I believe Environmental Determinism was pretty much discredited by the late 1930s. I only learned about it from our department chairman. I don't think I ever ran across a reference to it in any of the textbooks I used for teaching.

The term seems to be a dirty word (like how you can't talk about eugenics anymore because people immediately link it to forced sterilization and nazi master races) but it definitely seems like the ideas of environmental determinism are in books like Guns, Germs, and Steel (which was written in 1997).