The trees have stories to tell.

INTRODUCTION

A photo elicitation makes use of photographs in interviews in order to ‘prompt discussion, reflection and recollection’ (Tinkler 2013:174). Tinkler (2013:194) maintains that photo elicitations are ‘percieved to encourage dialogue and the generation of useful data’. The dialogue and data that interviews that include photographs procure is useful for research purposes. This blog post aims to provide an account of the results of a photo elicitation that is centred on the four narrative categories for trees noted by Joanna Dean and my very own persistent tree narratives, which fit into the four respective categories.

PERSONAL NARRATIVES ABOUT CITY TREES

Narrative of Service:

This is a tree that selflessly provides a service to the residents of a city (Dean 2015:162). This includes providing shade and cleaning the air of carbonic acid gas (Dean 2015:162). Oak trees, or Acorn trees as we used to refer to them, were abundant on the playgrounds of my primary school. Their purpose was to provide shade and shelter us from the sun’s rays and heat as we played during breaks. 

Narrative of Power:

A tree that serves to ‘pacify a city with beauty’ (Dean 2015:164), meaning that it is used for ornamental and aesthetic purposes, is one that has a narrative of power. The Jacaranda trees in Pretoria, around the University of Pretoria, are trees that are integral to the beauty of Pretoria. These trees, however, are not indigenous to South Africa, and purposefully serve as decoration. 

Narrative of Heritage:

The narrative of heritage belongs to a tree that is ‘a specimen associated with a historic person, place, event or period’ (Dean 2015:164). According to Dean, ‘the tree is a living symbol of the past’ (2015:164). My mother and father bought what is referred to as a ponytail palm when they moved into their first house together. The small tree is a symbol of our family and moves with us from house to house. 

Counter Narrative – The Unruly Tree:

An unruly tree is one that ‘[gets] in the way, [costs] money and [resists] human interaction’ (Dean 2015:162). According to Dean (2015:166), these can be trees that refuse to be managed and create a mess. At the aftercare I attended as a child, there was a Mulberry tree. It proved to be problematic for parents when it came to children going home with their feet stained black as a result of playing beneath the tree and stepping on mulberries, and wanting to keep silkworms as pets. Due to the dissatisfaction expressed by the parents, the aftercare considered cutting down the tree but could not due to the fact that it had grown in and around the jungle-gyms and became an extension of them.

PHOTO ELICITATION

INTERVIEW WITH CATHERINE (PEER):

Narrative of Service:

Catherine recalled her younger self playing beneath the branches of Breede River yellowwood trees at the Kirstenbosch gardens in Cape Town. The trees selflesslessly provided shade, and entertainment for kids in the form of a playground of sorts, which Catherine remembered to feel like a cave made of trees branches. As a child, she would imagine it to be a magical place in which supernatural creatures existed.

Narrative of Power:

Catherine has lived in Pretoria for the majority of her life and has, therefore, experienced the blooming of the Jacaranda trees every year. They are always in bloom around the time of her birthday, and purple is one of her favourite colours. Catherine noted that people are often quick to sweep up leaves that fall to the ground in order to keep the streets looking clean, but the purple blossoms that fall from the Jacaranda trees are left in the streets as they are aesthetically pleasing and one of Pretoria’s attractions. Their narrative of power lies in their use as ornamental trees that decorate the streets of Pretoria.

Narrative of Heritage:

What came to mind for Catherine when we discussed the narrative of heritage were the trees in the garden of remembrance at the Voortrekker Monument. The garden of remembrance serves as a commemoration site for the great trek, as well as a softening sight for the harsh histories accounted for at the monument. 

Counter Narrative – The Unruly Tree:

Catherine told me the story of how her grandfather once had a house near the marina in Port Alfred. The drainage system of the house was rather dysfunctional and when her grandfather decided to try remedy the problem, he discovered that the roots of trees had been growing within the network of pipes making up the drainage system.

 

INTERVIEW WITH MANDY (MOTHER):

Narrative of Service:

My mother smiled when I asked her about this particular narrative because she attended the same primary school that I did. Thinking about the acorn trees at the primary school we both attended brought her to idea that they represent a link between us as those very same trees that provided me with shade did the same thing for my mother when she was a child.

Narrative of Power:

When discussing this narrative of power with my mother, she mentioned that she thought that the ponytail palm tree, or our family tree, that I mentioned as my own narrative of heritage, she would consider to be a tree that told a story of power to her. She said this because it was a tree that her and my father took great care of as it grew, making sure to trim off any dead leaves and ensuring that the area in which it was placed, often near the front of our door, suited the tree by planting other plants around it that complimented it and made it the focal point. It was maintained for aesthetic purposes and to, in a sense, represent the status of our family.

Narrative of Heritage:

My mother spoke about the maple tree that stood in the park directly across from the house that we as a family had stayed in for the longest period of time without moving to another house. The propeller seeds from the maple tree would often blow into our garden. My mother found it strange that she associated the maple tree with mine and my brother’s childhood – she has fond memories of us playing with our dog beneath the tree and trying to make the seeds fly. My mother thinks of the maple tree as a symbol of the memories we made in that house.

Counter Narrative – The Unruly Tree:

My mother instantly thought about a tree that her and my father decided to cut down in order to expand our garden. The tree was successfully cut down; the stump and roots removed. She said that the tree could be considered unruly because the result of cutting down the tree was dealing with all of the bugs that inhabited the tree for several months after cutting it down.

 

INTERVIEW WITH EVELYN (GRANDMOTHER):

Narrative of Service:

My grandmother recalled having a lemon tree in the back of her garden, and picking lemons from the tree with her five children and making use of them in various kinds of recipes. The lemon tree told a story of service due to the fact that it provided my grandmother and her children with both lemons and precious memories. In that way, it was both a functional tree and an integral part of the memories made by my grandmother and all of her children.

Narrative of Power:

The story and photograph I provided for my narrative of power lead to my grandmother and I discussing a memory of me explaining to her that I loved the feeling of driving on roads that had trees arching over it on either side when she would drive me to my extracurricular activities. She remembered telling me that a road that had trees on either side of it was referred to as an avenue. We talked about how it never occurred to either of us in that memory that someone had intentionally planted those trees in that way to create beauty.

 Narrative of Heritage:

The narrative of heritage that my photo elicitation prompted from my grandmother was that of the loquat tree that is still standing in front of the home in which she lives. My grandmother said that she associated the loquat tree with the history of her grandchildren. There are definitive age gaps between her grandchildren and the loquat tree served as a means of entertainment for each of the grandchildren when they reached the age at which they could climb the tree and play beneath it. To my grandmother, the tree represents the passing of time and the growth of her grandchildren. 

Counter Narrative – The Unruly Tree:

My grandmother lived across from a park in which there was a sycamore tree that would produce seeds in the form of balls that would break apart and if they came into contact with human skin, would cause irritation. My grandmother used to take her children to the park to play, and they would often throw the balls down the backs of one another’s shirts. This would cause fights amongst my grandmother’s children, and would sometimes cause them to breakout in rashes.

 CONCLUSION

This blog post has provided an account of a photo elicitation interview I conducted, which revolves around Dean’s four narrative categories of city trees. The inclusion of photographs in the interview proved that photo elicitations do in fact encourage discussion and generate information or data. The photo elicitation acted as a catalyst for conversation about the persistent narratives of trees and allowed me, as the interviewer, to gain insight into the lives of others through the tree narratives that are part of their lives.

 

REFERENCES

A silkworm feeding on a mulberry tree. 2010. Malaysian Herbals. [O]. Available:

http://sidhhaherbs.blogspot.co.za/2013/02/malaysian-herbals-mulberry-plant-56.html

Accessed 10 May 2016.

 

Dean, J. 2015. The unruly tree: stories from the archives, in Urban forests, trees and

greenspace: a political ecology perspective, edited by LA Sandberg, A Bardekjian & S, Butt.

New York: Routeledge:162-175.

 

Oak Tree and Acorns. 2003. Mother Earth News. [O]. Available:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/acorn-facts-zmaz03onzgoe.aspx

Accessed 10 May 2016.

 

Ponytail Palm. [n.d.]. Palms and Exotic Plants. [O] Available:

https://polospalms.wordpress.com/palms-exotic-plants/

Accessed 10 May 2016.

 

Tinkler, P. 2013. Using photographs in social and historical research. London: SAGE.

A Trip to the Moreleta Kloof Municiple Nature Reserve.

I recently visited the Moreleta Kloof Municipal Nature Reserve with a group of fellow Visual Culture Studies students. It is situated in the east of Pretoria, South Africa. Our lecturer and a guide accompanied us as we made our way through the nature reserve and ensured that we were being provided with information about the various things we were seeing. The Moreleta Kloof Municipal Nature Reserve is situated within a suburban area and, in a sense, demarcates an area that is reserved for natural wildlife. We became aware of the fact that the majority of the residents surrounding the nature reserve are not particularly aware of the environment existing within the bounds of the fences surrounding the reserve, and do not know that it is a place in which they can experience nature. The purpose of this blog post is to share my experience at the nature reserve, and hopefully encourage others to visit Moreleta’s nature reserve too.

The first thing we encountered as soon as we started the trail was the faecal matter of an antelope. We learnt how important faecal matter actually is in terms of acting as a fertiliser for flora. The loss of antelope due to hunting negatively affects the environment due to the fact that plants do not get the nutrients they usually would from animal faeces and die as a result. This in turn decreases the amount of carbon that is absorbed by plants.

From a distance, we were able to see impala. We were informed that impalas are distinguishable by the white M shape on their behinds. According to our guide, Renaldo, the M shape allows the impalas to identify their specific herds.

We then encountered an invasive species of flora that grew along the ground below trees. According to our guide, many alien species were brought in to the country when South Africa was colonised. Invasive species kill off our indigenous species by stealing the natural resources that the native species are reliant on.

After seeing the invasive species, we discovered an entire group of people who devote their weekends to trying to combat the problems resulting from the growth of invasive species. These people are hard working and truly care about the indigenous natural environment as every weekend they return to Moreleta’s nature reserve to face the same problem they did the weekend before.

I found this Protea tree, or what the Afrikaans refer to as the suikerbos, to be one of the most beautiful things we were lucky enough to see within the Moreleta Kloof Municipal Nature Reserve.

Along the trail that we were walking, we passed this water source. The water was extremely clean and we were able to see the surface beneath the water. This, our guide told us, was because the reeds surrounding the water act as a filter that cleans the water by trapping debris.

The purpose of this blog post was to share my experience at the Moreleta Kloof Municiple Nature Reserve, and to create an awareness of its existence and the environment it contains. It is a pity that we had to go to a nature reserve in order to experience the fauna and flora that we did due to the anthropocene taking over our world, but it was an informative and interesting experience.

Words: 530

Symbolic Slow Violence.

NIXON’S NOTION OF SLOW VIOLENCE

According to Nixon (2011:2), ‘slow violence’ refers to ‘violence that occurs gradually and out of sight’. This kind of violence operates ‘as a major threat multiplier’ (Nixon, 2011:3) and ‘[fuels] long-term, proliferating conflicts in situations where the conditions for sustaining life become increasingly but gradually degraded’ (Nixon, 2011:3). In order to fully comprehend Nixon’s notion of slow violence, the term ‘violence’ needs to incorporate an understanding that takes the fact that violence is not necessarily ‘a highly visible act that is newsworthy’ (Nixon, 2011:3) into account. This photo essay aims to explore the consequences, effects and damages of slow violence through symbolic representations.

SLOW VIOLENCE IN SYMBOLS

According to a survey conducted by Keep Britain Tidy in 2011, the fast food franchise that contributed the most to litter was McDonalds (Barnes 2011). The survey proved that McDonalds was liable for thirteen percent of the thirty-three percent of litter that fast food franchises in Britain were accountable for (Barnes 2011). Regardless of the figures yielded by Keep Britain Tidy’s survey, litter is a form of slow violence. The McDonalds packing is not biodegradable and it will, therefore, remain in its stable state and forever alter the natural ecosystem it happens to be littered in unless it is picked up. It is also possible for the litter to be washed into drains when there is heavy rain, which could result in polluted water.

If we do not stop littering and enacting slow violence, we will only end up damaging the earth on which we human beings have to live, and making it harder for ourselves to survive as the planet becomes increasingly inhabitable. The visual denoting a full box of McDonalds fries can be said to be much like our world if the box is considered a representation of the earth and the chips or fries a representation of people. Everything is seemingly perfect in the visual. If we, however, continue to turn a blind eye towards littering and the various issues that result from it, and therefore perpetuate slow violence in an ignorant manner, we will affect our earth and ourselves. This is symbolised in the image that captures the McDonalds packaging meant to hold chips in a slightly ruined condition, holding fewer chips. If nothing is done about the problem at hand that is slowly destroying the earth, our world will resemble what is represented in the image that contains a completely empty and ruined McDonalds chip box. The earth will still exist, but it will be ruined due to the effects of human hands and human ignorance, and there will be no people or animals to inhabit it.

The process of destruction, which is symbolised in the three images containing the box of McDonalds chips in various states, will result from acts of slow violence such as littering, which is depicted in the biggest of the four images.

Words: 484

 

REFERENCES

 

Barnes, T. 2011. Litter Heroes. [O]. Available:

http://www.litterheroes.co.uk/news.htm

Accessed 21 April 2016.

 

McDonalds – The Worst Littered Brand. 2011. Litter Heroes new page. [O].

Available:

http://www.litterheroes.co.uk/news.htm

Accessed 21 April 2016.

 

Nixon, R. 2011. Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press.

Companion Species.

HARAWAY’S NOTION OF COMPANION SPECIES

In The Companion Species Manifesto, Haraway explores ‘the implosion of nature and culture in the relentlessly historically specific, joint lives of dogs and people, who are bonded in significant otherness’ (Haraway, 2007:16). In addition, she proposes the concept of ‘companion species’, which refers to two species that ‘co-[evolve] in natureculture’ (Haraway, 2007:12). This implies that ‘companion species’ alludes to a greater ‘heterogeneous category than a companion animal’ (Haraway, 2007:15).

Haraway’s notion is examined in the form of a photo essay in this blog post. This photo essay documents and considers four different narratives of pet-human relations.

NARRATIVES OF PET-HUMAN RELATIONS

KEEGAN AND KULA

A photograph of Kula, a Staffordshire terrier crossed with a Jack Russell. I was unable to interact with her while she was a puppy as I was in and out of hospital at the time of her joining our family. The novelty of having a puppy was one I did not get to experience as she matured quickly and I missed much of her youth, as a result our relationship was not a strong one. When I was thirteen, after frequently playing with her and taking her for walks to relieve myself of boredom, our relationship grew. We formed a close pet-human relation. Kula responds to the nickname Koko, but only if I use it.

CATHERINE AND JAKE

This photograph captures Jake. Jake’s relationship to Catherine, and subsequently her family, is an important one – he was adopted at a time when her family was experiencing a difficult time in their lives due to the fact that Catherine’s stepfather was ill. Catherine, at the age of fifteen, found solace in Jake as he helped her escape from the stress, sadness and worry that filled her home. Their attachment to one another was evident in the fact that Jake allowed Catherine to show him physical affection despite often displaying behaviour that indicated he only wanted to be loved from afar by other family members.

TONY AND POMPOM

This is a photograph of Pompom on the day that marked sixteen human years of his life. Pompom shared an incredibly special relationship with Tony, who never married, but instead found that Pompom’s companionship to be sufficient enough to help him get through life. Pompom would accompany Tony everywhere he went, even to meetings and masses at the school at which Tony was the headmaster. Their relationship as companions saw them growing old and suffering from various health issues together as a result. Sadly, Pompom has passed away, but his love for Tony still accompanies him wherever he goes.

TRACEY AND TROY

A photograph of Troy, a Rottweiler that suffers from hip displaysia. Displaysia is a condition in which the formation of the hip socket in dogs goes awry and results in them experiencing painful arthritis in their joints. Troy struggles with his hip displaysia and has to be given medication to ease his pain. Troy is a great companion to his owner Tracey, who appreciates his beautiful temperament and provides him with the love and affection that he seeks. Tracey is sympathetic to Troy’s crying for various reasons, and comforts him when he experiences a pain while trying to play just as other dogs do.

Words: 512

REFERENCES

Haraway, D. 2007. The Companion Species Manifesto: dogs, people, and significant

otherness. Chigaco: Prickly Paradigm Press.

 

The Anthropocene and Birds Last Seen.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ANTHROPOCENE 

‘Anthropocene’ is a term that defines the ‘quantitative shift in the relationship between humans and the global environment’ (Steffen, 2011:843). It perpetuates the idea of a new geological epoch that follows the Holocene (Steffen, 2011:843). The start of the Anthropocene has been highly contested. Waters (2016:138) maintains that the proposed marking for the start of the Anthropocene is the ‘Early Anthropocene’. This period of time is ‘associated with the advent of agriculture, animal domestication, extensive deforestation, and gradual increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels’ (Waters, 2016:138), which started millennia ago. The concept of the Anthropocene reframes our perception of the environment as one that considers human activity as a driver of change (Gisli, 2013:4).

 A SOUNDSCAPE

By keeping a sound journal of two days in my own life and taking note of all the sounds I was able to hear in each new environment I entered, I was able to identify the soundscape of the Anthropocene.

On the first day, the various environments I found myself in included my room at the student accommodation I stay at during the week, outside an orthodontist as I waited in a car, my kitchen, on Lynwood road walking to and from classes, and lecture halls.

The environments I found myself being immersed in on the second day include my room at my student accommodation, the streets of Hatfield as I walked to and from campus, a lecture hall, highways and roads, and my actual home.

The most dominant sounds that could be heard in all of the environments, excluding the lecture halls, were the sound of cars passing by and hooters being sounded. The sounds of birds chirping or singing could often be identified but only when I was being highly attentive, thus the dominant sound of cars drowned out the sounds made by birds.

These dominant sounds can, therefore, be identified as a soundscape of the Anthropocene due to the fact that moving cars are a product of human activity, and they are interfering with and affecting the natural soundscape. 

BIRDS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE

What is it like to listen to birds in the Anthropocene?

Listening to birds in the Anthropocene proves the following statement by Lorimer (2012:593) to be true: ‘The recent diagnosis of the Anthropocene represents the public death of the modern understanding of nature removed from society’. When listening to birds within the Anthropocene, a certain degree of attentiveness is required due to the fact that anthrophony, or ‘human generated sound’ (2015:57) according to Whitehouse’s definition of the word, is by far the most dominant and noticeable sound within the anthropocene. To listen to birds while being situated in a cityscape is to be reminded that nature does, to a small extent, still exist within urbanised areas in spite of humans territorialising spaces and changing their natural soundscapes. Humans ruin natural soundscapes through the ‘anthropocene technologies’ (Whitehouse 2015:57) they use.

How are responses to what is heard influenced by the understanding that the Anthropocene has been profoundly influenced the mix of sounds that can be heard?

According to Whitehouse (2015:63), there is an ‘importance to people of a kind of sense of resonance with birds and their environment’. Whitehouse (2015:63) maintains that there is an ‘association that arises between human activities and those of birds, as represented in their sound making’. Despite the fact that this might be true, this response to hearing birds is being lost as young children are starting to grow up being accustomed to the soundscape of the Anthropocene. When one understands that the Anthropocene has greatly influenced the variety of sounds that can be heard, the response to what is heard is suddenly saddening.

Are most of the bird sounds from a large number of bird species or only a few? How does you answer relate to the dwindling biodiversity evident in the anthropocene?

The bird sounds heard in my two-day recording of sounds from a soundscape in the Anthropocene indicate that there are only a few bird species that were audible within the respective locations. Despite the fact that other species could, and are likely to, exist outside the environments in which I found myself, there is a great possibility that the biodiversity in bird species is not what it used to be within the regions I found myself in due to human activity being a driver of change. There is, therefore, definitely a link between the number of bird sounds that could be heard and the dwindling biodiversity in the anthropocene.

 THE ALTERED ENVIRONMENT

Asking my mother about the bird and animal life that existed in the area that she grew up revealed that the bird species which she encountered throughout the duration of her childhood are not that different to the species that I have encountered. My mother said that she grew up on a mine, which is an environment that is altered by human activity to a great extent and explains why there is little to no difference in our encounters with natural bird and animal life. She often encountered Pigeons and Common or Indian Mynas, as well as Hadedas. I too have encountered all of these birds. My mother, however, saw these birds more frequently as she did not grow up within a highly urbanised area. Behind the mine she grew up on, was a wetland reserve where she’d had the opportunity to encounter duck species, Widows and Waxbills.

Interviewing my mother about her encounters with bird and animal life during her youth drew attention to the fact that biodiversity and ecosystems have declined in number due to the fact that she encountered creatures, specifically birds, more frequently as they existed in greater numbers. Attention is also drawn to the fact that humans have irreversibly changed the environment. Despite the fact that my mother grew up in an already altered environment due to the fact that it was a mine, the environment had not been altered to the extent that it was during my own childhood.

A CONCLUSION ABOUT THE ANTHROPOCENE

Our soundscape reveals that we are living in the Anthropocene due to the fact that ‘the context in which we are currently embedded is increasingly and globally the result of human activities’ (Gisli, 2013:4). It is also not common to hear birds; their ‘silence and discordance are symptomatic of the Anthropocene (Whitehouse 2015:66). It would be possible to hear more birds on a daily basis if the biodiversity of bird species were not being affected by human activities and anthropocene technologies as a result of us affecting their natural ecosystems.

Words: 996

REFERENCES

Gisli, P et al. 2013. Reconceptualising the ‘Anthropos’ in the Anthropocene: integrating

the social sciences and humanities in global environmental change research.

Environmental Science & Policy 28:3-13.

 

Lorimer, J. 2012. Multinatural Geographies for the Anthropocene. Progress in Human

Geography 36:593-612.

 

Steffen, W et al. 2011. The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical

perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 369:842-867.

 

Waters, CN et al. 2016. The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct

from the Holocene. Science 351(6269):[sp].

 

Whitehouse, A. 2015. Listening to birds in the Anthropocene: the anxious semiotics of

sound in a human-dominated world. Environmental Humanities 6:53-71.

The problem will wash ashore.

Who and what are the divers of change?	What is happening?	What can be done?
· Carbon emissions. · Climate change. · Ocean deoxygenation. · Pollution. · Greenhouse gasses. · Industrial corporations.	· Ocean is absorbing roughly 30% of carbon dioxide emissions per year. · Chemical reactions within the ocean are increasing its acidity. · The ocean is rising in temperature. · Marine organisms are being negatively affected, which could lead to the extinction of calcareous marine organism. · Fisheries, shells and corals are being affected. · Indigenous marine species are being threatened by alien species that thrive in waters with high carbon levels.	· Limiting the emission of greenhouse gases. · Lowering the maximum temperature rise for climate change agreed to by governments. · Creating awareness so that fisheries and aquaculture are included in the discussion surrounding the effects of global warming or climate change.

INTRODUCTION

 The ocean is far more important than it is often made out to be. This is proven by the fact that, according to the Mail & Guardian (2011) article, the ocean acts as a habitat for eighty percent of the living organisms found on earth and a source of sixty percent of the protein consumed by developing countries in the tropics. It provides a sustainable income for at least five hundred million people. Due to the fact that many people are ignorant to the important role the ocean plays, very little attention is paid to the effect that carbon emissions, which result in the acidification of the ocean, have on the ocean and marine life in conjunction with deoxygenation and global warming.

The purpose of the blog post is to provide an environmental humanities analysis as a means of critiquing three articles from the media that focus on ocean acidification. The three aforementioned articles are ‘Acidity is on the rise’ by Mail & Guardian (2011), ‘Emissions threaten the ocean crisis’ by BBC News (2015), and ‘Ocean acidification benefits invasive species’ from CBS News (2015). This post aims to provide the analysis by employing the theories of Poul Holm et al, which are proposed in ‘Humanities for the Environment – A Manifesto for research and action’ (2015), and Shelby Grant and Mary Lawhon, which are put forth in their article titled ‘Reporting on rhinos: an analysis of the newspaper coverage of rhino poaching’ (2014). This environmental humanities analysis proposes the following questions: Do the drivers for change relate to the “Great Acceleration” of human technologies, powers and consumption? How does the absence or presence of solutions relate to “The New Human Condition”? Do the proposed solutions engage with the business or corporate sector? Do the proposed solutions and means to do it stem from collaborative processes of research, stakeholder engagement and public participation? Are the solutions translated into practical means that can easily be achieved by the public?

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

According to BBC News’ ‘CO2 emissions threaten ocean crisis’ (2015) article, since 1750, the ocean has absorbed approximately thirty percent of the carbon dioxide that has been emitted as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. This absorption is a problem due to the fact that, according to the Mail & Guardian article titled ‘Ocean acidity is on the rise’ (2011), the carbon dioxide that has been absorbed acts as a catalyst for a series of chemical reactions that cause the surface water of the ocean to increase in acidity as the pH levels are lowered. The acidification of the ocean is further aggravated by the fact that the ocean has also absorbed approximately ninety percent of the heat produced by industrial corporations since 1970. Both the acidification and rising water temperatures have ramifications, such as deoxygenation, that negatively affect marine life. To make matters worse, according to the CBS News (2015) article, marine species that are indigenous are becoming increasingly threatened by alien species that thrive in acidified conditions and high temperatures. 

DO THE DRIVERS FOR CHANGE RELATE TO THE “GREAT ACCELERATION” PROCESS OF HUMAN TECHNOLOGIES, POWERS AND CONSUMPTION?

According to Holm (2015:980), the “Great Acceleration” is a concept referring to ‘human technologies, powers and consumption in the last 70 years that [have] operated as a key driver of Global Change. These human advances have come with an alteration of the planet’s carbon and nitrogen cycles, rapidly rising species extinction rates, and the generation of atmospheric greenhouse gases, which in turn are catalysts for adverse weather patterns and increased ocean acidification, the consequences of which will condition life on the planet for centuries to come’.

The drivers that are causing the acidification of the ocean are related to reckless human behavior involving carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, especially when it comes to industrial corporations, according to the three media articles from CBS News (2015), Mail & Guardian (2011) and BBC News (2015). These drivers that are affecting negative change in terms of the acidification of the ocean can in fact be linked to Holm’s notion of the “Great Acceleration”. The ocean continues to absorb the carbon dioxide emissions and the additional heat being produced as a result of global warming, thus the process of acidification and deoxygenation is further perpetuated. This not only increases the likelihood of extinction of marine life that are unable to adapt to the hotter and more acidic oceanic environment, but also affects human beings as a source of food, specifically protein, is being heavily affected. Jobs will be lost too as those who work for fisheries will find it increasingly hard to find employment as less and less seafood is available for them to harvest and sell. The seafood industry will suffer at the hands of other industries that produce and emit a surplus amount of green house gases.

 HOW DOES THE ABSENCE OR PRESENCE OF SOLUTIONS RELATE TO “THE NEW HUMAN CONDITION”?

 The manner in which the consequences and responsibilities of environmental issues cause human beings to react is known as the “New Human Condition” (Holm, 2015:983).

The article from the Mail & Guardian (2011) proposes that people need to rally together to create awareness so that fisheries and aquaculture can be included in the climate change discussion. The reason they are often not included in the discussion is due to the fact that their contributions to both the production of food and the generation of income is not highlighted. This is an appeal to the general public and gives them a way to help show the authorities that ocean acidification poses a true threat to livelihood and a precious food source. This appeal might not necessarily work due to the fact that many people may not feel as though they are directly affected by it unless they live in a developing country and depend on the ocean to provide them with food and job security. Examples are those who live in the tropics and fishermen.

The Mail & Guardian (2011) article and the CBS News (2015) article urge, through implication, people to be conscious of the amount of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases they produce. The article from BBC News (2015), however, overtly states that governments need to come to an agreement to lower the maximum temperature rise for climate change as the current maximum temperature rise will not prevent irreversible damage to the ocean. Therefore, it is seemingly up to the authorities to cause the public to be aware of the situation and react accordingly.

 DO THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS ENGAGE WITH THE BUSINESS OR CORPORATE SECTOR?

 The Mail & Guardian (2011) article and the article from CBS News (2015) engage mostly with the general public as its implied solutions are for people to reduce their carbon footprints and to create awareness. These solutions are, however, ones that businesses can contribute towards too. The BBC news (2015) article engages more with the authorities but, like the Mail & Guardian (2011) and CBS (2015) articles, indirectly addresses the corporate sector. By stating the need for governments to lower the maximum temperature rise permitted, it is understood that the authorities need to put systems in place that prohibit corporations from producing excess amounts of greenhouse gases.

 DO THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS AND THE MEANS TO DO IT STEM FROM COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES OF RESEARCH, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION?

 The proposed, or rather implied, solutions and the means to make them happen in both the Mail & Guardian (2011) and CBS News (2015) articles stem from a collaborative effort that includes both the general public and business stakeholders. Though, there is very little information on the exact means to carry out actions to achieve a resolution. This does not help those of the public who feel that something needs to be done about ocean acidification. The BBC News (2015) article’s proposed solution calls for a collaboration between governments and business stakeholders. All three of the articles provide information that was obtained through research, making it evident that ocean acidification is most definitely a problem. However, they provide little to no information on the means to achieving their proposed solutions or how to get the authorities, general public and the corporate world to collaborate.

 ARE THE SOLUTIONS TRANSLATED INTO PRACTICAL MEANS THAT CAN EASILY BE ACHIEVED BY THE PUBLIC?

 The BBC News (2015) article does not provide solutions for the general public, but rather the authorities and so the solutions are not translated into practical means that can easily be achieved by the public. Despite the fact that the Mail & Guardian (2011) and CBS News (2015) articles call for the general public to engage with the problem of ocean acidification by reducing their carbon footprints and creating awareness, they fall short in providing easily achievable means for the general public to do so.

 CONCLUSION

The ocean is extremely important due to the fact that it houses eighty percent of earth’s living organisms and acts as a food source that provides developing countries with a large percentage of their protein. The purpose of this blog post has been to create awareness about the acidification of the ocean by using an environmental humanities analysis of three articles in order to do so. This blog post proves that an analysis of this nature plays a crucial role in raising awareness as it indicates that the media has shortcomings in its discussion of ocean acidification. According to Mazur and Lee (1993), ‘public concern is reportedly proportional to the coverage of the environmental issue’ and the concern for ocean acidification is not as great as it should be due to a lack of media coverage.

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 REFERENCES

CBS News. 2015. Ocean acidification benefits invasive species. [Online] Available from:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ocean-acidification-benefits-invasive-species/.

[Accessed: 2 April 2016].

 

BBC News. 2015. CO2 emissions threaten ocean crisis. [Online] Available from:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33369024.

[Accessed: 2 April 2016].

 

Grant, S & Lawhon, M. 2014. Reporting on rhinos: analysis of the newspaper

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Holm, P et al. 2015. Humanities for the environment – A manifesto for research

and action. Humanities 4:977-992.

 

Mail & Guardian. 2011. Acidity is on the rise. [Online] Available from:

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-09-ocean-acidity-is-on-the-rise/.

[Accessed: 2 April 2016].

 

Mazur, A & Lee, J. 1993. Sounding the global alarm: Environmental issues in the

US national news. Social Studies of Science 23(4):281-720.