Religions

On Thursday I learned about a lot of different religions. Each group did a great job explaining the environmental beliefs in relation to religions such as Hinduism, Daoism, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam. There were many things that I learned from these presentations. If we really do follow any religion (and even if we don’t) we are taught to use the environment but at the same time we must protect it.

Each religion values the environment. They believe it is our place to live and should be used with care. In the Jewish religion the Genesis teaches that God created the Earth and gave human the rights and power over it. However, one should remember that everything (even the birds, mice and other creatures) came before humans in the order of creation. So there is a balance.

In Islam, the religion prohibits needless and cruel killing of animals. Animals are to be killed a certain way as to cause least pain as possible. Other religions, like Hinduism, prohibits the killing of cows because they are sacred. All religions teach the people to respect the environment and everything in the environment including animals, trees, water and much more.

I really liked the presentation on Doaism. This is because I didn’t know anything pertaining to this religion. Even though these people don’t believe in any God they still have respect for the environment. Amazingly, in this religion every creature on Earth is of equal stature. This was different from the other religion since most of the other religions believe that they are superior and have a natural right to use the Earth. We should all think this. Why are we superior and how can we prove this? If we are superior than we should be able to lead the way in protecting the environment. Instead we are the leaders of polluting the Earth and causing all the destruction to it. This is something we should all think about….

Trip to the Museum of Natural History

Last Thursday we went to the Museum of Natural History and saw many things there. Specifically we were required to see four exhibits. Out of the four the one that I thought related the most to our topics discussed in class was the Hall of biodiversity. There I saw the changes that our planet is going through.

This exhibit showed how there are new species arising because of the transformation of the spere. Human activity has altered the ecosystems. The soils and freshwaters are damaged because of increased industrialization which is due to high resource demand. One picture that fascinated me was the comparison of furniture and clothing between an Indian and Japanese family. It shows that the family in Japan owned much more than the family in India.

The NYS Environment exhibit was also interesting as it showed the activities of animals aording to seasons. Many animals go deeper into the soil as the season changes. while going there I also saw the huge tree that was chopped of and was fascinated by the size. Finally I came to the last exhibit.

The Spitzer Hall of Human Origins was also nice. It showed how human have evolved over time. From the earliest to the latest humans the humans one thing was that they decreased their hairs on the body. This was because of the clothing they had made and needed less fur on their skin. As we know, climate helps alter apperance of people. For example, people in Africa have dark skin because of the intensity of heat. We should realize that altering our weather may have many impacts on us as well.

I think the Museum of Natural History was a nice place to visit.

Research Topic:

The topic I have chosen for my research paper is the environmental racism in New Orleans. I have chosen this topic because I have done a lot of research on New Orleans specifically on the causes and effects of Hurricane Katrina on the low income population.
In this research paper I plan to extensively research the environmental condition for the people in New Orleans,specifically the African American community, and how Hurricane Katrina has impacted on their living conditions. Also, I would like to discuss the role of the government in this environmental racism.

The sources I plan on using are the following:

1.Toxic Soup Redux: Why Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Matter after Katrina.
This is a good article that explains the environmental hazards for the colored people in New Orleans. Racism and specifically environmental racism played a key role in the aftermath of Katrina. It shows how toxic the environment has become for the people in that region.
http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Sze/

2. Katrina Reveals Environmental Racism's Deadly Force.
This article explains how New Orleans as the victim of environmental injustice even before Katrina hit the region. It also shows how global warming has contributed to the natural disaster.
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=74fb2e18f6e1c829ae73181353442a61

3. Environmental Racism: How Minority Communities Are Exposed to “Toxic Soup”
This article, as it is titled, shows how minority communities are exposed to toxic. New Orleans is one of them. New Orleans has a number of toxic sites. New Orleans has a great African American popultaion and that population has been negelcted before and after hurricane Katrina.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/8/30/environmental_racism_how_minority_communities_are

4. There is no such thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class and Hurricane Katrina.
By:Chester Hartman
This book has various article on racism towards the citizens of New Orleans explaining how the government has neglected the low income African Americans in that community.

I plan on using more sources but as of right now these are the ones I have listed.