Cate Marquis
As Earth Day, April 22, approaches, it might be a good time to reflect on the state of the earth and man’s impact on it. Before it became about parades, Earth Day was intended as a day of action for the environment.
Three April events sparked reflection on the original meaning of Earth Day.
On April 11, Japan’s nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the nuclear plant disaster to level 7, the level of the Chernobyl disaster. It now ranks as the world’s second worst, above Three Mile Island at level 5.
On April 20, we will mark the first anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which started the Gulf oil spill disaster. Oil flowed for months into the gulf and that disaster is far from over.
On April 25, one of the discoverers of the ancient human fossil “Lucy,” paleontologist Donald Johanson, will speak at the university’s Big History Lecture. When this almost 3.2 million-years-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil was discovered in 1974, it was considered the oldest hominid skeleton ever found. The free lecture, titled “Lucy’s Legacy: Our African Origins,” takes place April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the J.C. Penney Conference Center auditorium.
What do “Lucy” and the Big History Lecture have to do with Earth Day? Well, in a sense, Earth Day is all about “big history,” thinking long-term about the impact of human life on the Earth. Reflecting on Lucy reminds us that we arose as part of life on this planet and we should not think of ourselves as something apart from it, even if we are the dominate species.
Another kind of fossil, the fossil fuels we burn for energy, are contributing to the threat of global warming. The anniversary of the beginning of the enormous Gulf oil spill is a reminder of oil’s other high costs. While most news media lost interest once the well was capped, the Gulf itself, its ecosystem, species, and the people who live there are still struggling with the damage. The NPR radio show “Science Friday” revisited the oil spill and updated the damage, in an excellent April 15 program with ocean conservationist Carl Safina, a program available at http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201104152.
But in our search for alternatives to fossil fuels and in hopes of moderating the global warming, let us all hope that this nation takes a long, hard look at the risks of nuclear power, in light of what is happening in Japan. Too many have become complacent about nuclear power’s risks but we should have our eyes wide open to the fact that is will never be a risk-free power source. A summary of what led to the disaster upgrade and more on the Japanese nuclear disaster can be found at the Union of Concerned Scientists’ website, at http://www.ucsusa.org.
Solar, wind and small hydropower, especially in combination, offer safer solutions to the carbon question. Proponents of coal, oil and nuclear – the big-power-plant energy sources – like to insist alternative energy provide a one-to-one replacement. That is unlikely but also unnecessary. In fact, using decentralized power generation, from more numerous smaller power plants, is actually a system safer from power failures and from terrorist attacks.
At the 2009 Missouri Energy Summit, Dr. Lea-Rachel Kosnik, assistant professor of environmental economics, described Missouri’s many sites suitable for small, non-dam hydropower generation, using existing technology and having little environmental impact. More information can be found at http://www.miller-mccune.com/science-environment/hydro-doesnt-have-to-be-big-4764 and at her website http://www.umsl.edu/~kosnikl.
This Earth Day, focus on the original purpose of the day, preserving this living planet.