Hearing about Glen McClure’s Antarctic expedition was fascinating. He spoke about how he was going to “split the difference” between the music you get by translating numbers to sound and regular compositions which use no numbers. One of my favorite things that Glen McClure said was when he was speaking about the landscape. He said that “the beauty is a terrible beauty.” In Antarctica you have no sense of orientation because everywhere you look is almost identical. There are some features on the landscape you can use to find your way around such as snow sculptures created by nature or the volcano which i have forgotten the name of. Antarctica is dangerous for everybody no matter their profession because is you do not know how to stay with a group or use a GPS you will most likely not survive the harsh and unforgiving environment. Glen says “humans were not meant to be down here.” But still we have to have people such as Glenn down there in order to study The continent because it could have a large impact on the rest of the world and that is why so many other countries have bases on Antarctica as well.
In the heart of the Antarctica, Appendix 1 written by Earnest Shackleton he speaks about the large variety of living organisms that he witnessed in this region such as whales and emperor penguins. Groups of Weddell seals were basking on the ice. After examining an orange colored weed he found fresh water animals. He found several “red, worm-like creatures, which moved like caterpillars and stuck their head out to feed.” He found these to be rotifers and found a variety of other ones as he examined the plants more closely. Shackleton and his crew frequently interact with the penguin colonies and came to learn a lot about them while doing so.
I find it astonishing that animals have evolved to survive in such a harsh and unforgiving environment and also had me thinking about the other animals that live there such as polar bears who are going extinct because of global warming and CO2 emissions.
In “The Therapeutic Effects of Singing in Neurological Disorders” by Catherine Y. Wan, Theodor Rüber, Anja Hohmann, and Gottfried Schlaug, they talk about how singing can affect people who have neurological disabilities such as Stuttering, Parkinson’s disease, and autism. The reason singing helps people who suffer from these diseases is because singing requires breath regulation and speech regulation which can help a person speak correctly and without something such as a stutter.
This article reminded me of my little brother who used to have a speech impediment. In the past he used to stutter and not be able to pronounce his L’s and T’s. Many times at home we would try to help him pronounce the words correctly but rarely did that ever work. However through the use of speech therapy and being involved in the schools chorus we noticed his speech improving significantly throughout this time.
In “Whisper of the wild” written by Kim Tingley she talks about her experience in Denali National Park in Alaska. Throughout her journey with the physical-science technician of Denali National Park, Davyd Betchkal, she wrote about the influences that man made sound had on the animals of that area. While some species are able to adapt to these changes in their habitat other animals have had a much harder time and are either endangered because of it or completely extinct.
I can relate this to the time my family and I went to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. While we were there we felt as if we were as far away from people that we could possibly be but still at times we were able to hear and see planes flying over our heads. I can see how these loud noises could affect the animals of an ecosystem.
Throughout “Land Divided, Coast United” written by Josie Glausiusz she addresses the issue of pollution throughout the middle east specifically the part close to the Mediterranean Sea. There has been a lot of conflict in this region between the Hamas and Israeli forces leading to 50 days in which they bombarded each other leading to more than 2,000 deaths in Gaza and Israel. Because of the conflict so much sewage has been dumped into the Mediterranean Sea that it could fill 36 Olympic sized swimming pools every day. This sewage has even affected the fresh water supply in this region. In Gaza “about 72 percent of the population is serviced by a poorly maintained sewage system” which has led to widespread waterborne infections, so much so that 26 percent of all illnesses in Gaza are water associated illnesses. This problem is similar to how the Unites States tested nuclear bombs in the past in Nevada affecting families in Utah written about by Terry Tempest Williams.
In “The Clan of the One Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest Williams she speaks about the dangers of nuclear testing and how it affected the people of nearby areas especially those in Utah. When she speaks about her family history she speaks about how nine women in her family had been affected by breast cancer from the nuclear testing and most had died from it. Williams expresses her discontent with the United States and how they would not compensate the families affected because the United States defended all war efforts such as bomb testing.
Williams piece really makes you think about how a country can do this to its own people. At first the government probably didn’t know better but even when they found out how the nuclear tests can cause cancer, it didn’t stop them. Also isn’t this the same type of thing that is going on right now with all the pollutants going into the air from major companies?
When talking about the partnership between humans and a bird called the greater honeyguide, Elizabeth Pennisi tells us that the bird will lead the way to a bee nest and feast on it after the human hunters have disturbed the hive. Also the humans and birds communicate through specific calls made by the humans and birds. It is believed that these birds find nests 75% of the time. Also the birds guided the humans 66% of the time with the proper call. The birds can even pick up on several different calls the humans make and respond properly to them. I believe this is a good piece of public facing work because it is short and very interesting because of the topic at hand. Many people believe most animals do not understand humans except for something like a dog but this article can show people that animals are not as dumb as we may think they are.
In my essay many people may bring up the argument that we create the wilderness around us and we make it to fit our own design. They could think that because in “The Trouble with Wilderness” by William Cronon he expresses many ways in which he believes nature to be formed by humans. However I believe that we cannot shape the wilderness, but merely believe that we do. We think we have control of what is happening around us but really neither nature nor humans have control of the environment around us. At first glance, some people may say that “wilderness can’t be an idea it has to be a place.” However, this is not true because when you think of something as wild it doesn’t always have to be a place, it could just be some crazy new thing you have come across that you think is “wild.”
Cronon believes that wilderness was made to fit human design and desires. He would say that humans had put the rock outside Suffolk hall there and its purpose is to fit the needs of those same people. In its own way the campus that we are on is wild. He states “we too easily imagine that what we behold is Nature when in fact we see the reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires”(Cronon, 84). He states here that nature is not really natural at all. We created it by our own design and use it as an escape from everyday life. For instance, for people that live in an urban environment going out to the country may be their way of experiencing nature. However, somebody that lives there may see the man made farms and think there is nothing about the country that is natural. That person would have to go to a much more secluded place to believe that they are truly in the wilderness. The rock outside of Suffolk hall is much more than just a rock it is a part of the connection that exists between humans and the environment that we live in.
