Waiting for the Snow to Fall Analysis Section

I have been feeling for a while now, but trying to ignore, that ski resorts are kind of hypocritical. People go to them to enjoy the great out doors, but a ski resort by nature is destructive to the environment. The land has to be developed to even have a ski resort. Although some ski resorts use alternative cleaner energies, many do not. People don't want to have to work for that awesome run when they could much more easily ride the ski lift. We live in this society where people want things for free, and at first it can seem like some strategies make things come easier, and they do for a little while, but eventually you do have to pay up. Sometimes it's hard to see, but there is always some sort of price.

Whenever I read about sacred sites needing to be protected I completely agreed, but I feel like people need to see more places as sacred than the ones that for some reason have become known as sacred. Just as we value all people we must value all life and all forms. Every life form is sacred, not just the San Francisco Peaks. I mean that would be a lot more complicated to enforce in our current society, but it is a view that more people need to take on.

It is super lame that all of the organizations that are supposed to protect the environment do the opposite. I guess that's what happens in a capitalist society, or maybe its a conspiracy... or both... who knows. The only way to beat it is from the people though. People have to stand up for what they believe in and have confidence in themselves. Thats why things don't change, because people don't believe in themselves enough to think they could ever make a difference so they go on leading their stereotypical lives. Its also kind of creepy how people can feel alright with themselves when they make a huge selfish effort that destroys another people's values and culture...

Good luck world!

Final Proposal

The people of Nepal who are some of the least responsible for global warming are going to be directly effected by the consequences. Many of the glaciers in Nepal are expected to be gone within the next sixty years. Currently the glaciers are retreating at three to six feet every year. The glaciers provide water for irrigation and agriculture. With increased amounts of snow melt, the top soil is becoming eroded, making for less fertile land and flooding. In the mountains, as the glaciers melt, glacial lakes increase in volume and can exceed the capacity of their natural dams resulting in glacial lake outburst floods. These floods can wipe out entire mountain villages.

If the Nepalese want to survive climate change, they need to take immediate action throughout the entire country; unfortunately, the government has undergone some very recent major violent change, leaving it less stable than desirable. This is a country that was ruled by a monarchy for most of its history. Now, it operates as a multi-party republic, and the government hosted its first elections in 2008. Although this may appear to be progressive, the process was a violent and chaotic. The change began by the murder of The King and most of the royal family by one of the princes who then killed himself. Following the deaths the country split into many view points but the most powerful were the Maoists (who acquired their power mainly through indoctrination and violence) and the traditionalists who believed in the monarchy.

If the world doesn't want Nepal to be destroyed, it must first understand what the climate will do to the region. We must then understand what action needs to be taken in the country, as well as globally. Finally, we must understand what action can realistically be taken based on the stability and power of the Nepalese Government.

References:
New Nepal: The Fault Lines by Nishchal Nath Pandey
Darkening Peaks: Glacier Retreat, Science, and Society
Journeyman Pictures videos from You Tube
Plan to do more research using databases such as EBSCO

Waiting For The Snow to Fall Intro

So this weekend my Environmental Ed class went down to the South Fork of the American River for a pretty fabulous trip. On our first day there we explored "Pioneer Town" and heard one of the guides there talking about the history associated with the Gold Rush. I never really understood the process of gold mining before this weekend, but now that I have a better understanding I don't understand the things people go through to get their hands on certain... things. I don't understand how we prioritize and put value to objects or services. Gold basically forms in tiny open spaces between granite and quartz... so its almost like this cruddy but shiny substance. The whole process can be pretty degrading to the landscape as well as people's health. One of the ways of separating gold from other material involved using mercury. People value gold, which can literally make them sick, more than preserving a landscape that in the end could provide health to the people who take care of it...

How does this relate to a ski resort in Arizona? In terms of value. First of all it doesn't even sound like this place could naturally sustain a business in the first place. Since the environment doesn't produce enough snow to actually run a resort, the business wants to use reclaimed water to make snow. This water has chemicals in it from the process, which then will seep into the environment, potentially (and most likely) effecting people's long term heath. Not just the Native People's health, but possibly even tourist's and costumer's health....

Why are people so stupid?! ahhhh

Once again we see people putting more value on something that doesn't make any sense than on their own health.

And of course the health (physical, mental, spiritual) are much more immediate and eminent to the people who are Native to the land. I think things happened kind of similarly to those indigenous to the land around the American River.

People need to get their priorities strait. Stop doing things that don't make any sense, and start thinking about things that do make sense. Spraying poo water on a sacred mountain to make it snow where it doesn't snow doesn't make sense. Digging for something shiny that makes you sick doesn't make sense either.

Working with the land and natural patterns to create healthy and respectful human beings, things like permaculture, that makes sense.

Get real world. Please. Thanks.



Oh, I noticed an ordering in a sentence that made me think: "Leading the way is the Save the Peaks Coalition, along with the Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activists Network, Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Trust, as well as numerous Native American tribes opposed to the expansion plan." It kind of bothered me for a second that the Native American tribes were last in that sentence, but then I realized the order was probably written in terms of impact each group had, which is really sad. The people who are being effected the most have the least power in fighting, which makes them last in the sentence. I want them to be able to be first in that sentence, but the reason they are not is why we have this whole conflict in the first place. Yea, kind of redundant. Thats how my brain works, lots of circles.
aiight. im done. peace.