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The Hun School: Matthew, Samuel, Abraham
The Vikings were an ancient society based in the northern hemisphere of the Atlantic Ocean. Their society can be relevant to ours today in that the sea began to wash up on them, destroying their settlements. Their use of land resources (wildlife, wood) created a deficit that caused problems upon arrival of the Inuits. The competition and lack of resources ultimately led to the vikings demise.
Human societies today have enormous impact on the environment around them. Land management is not one of our society’s strong suits. Our selfish use of resources without thinking of the future will cause problems for society in the future. Our relentless burning of fossil fuels is causing problems that many are too stubborn to recognize. Deforestation, overfishing, and excessive water use are all impacts we have on the environment around us.
Society as a whole should be concerned about our impact on the environment. We have enormous control over our world and with that, we need to take responsibility. All over the world, regions are becoming overpopulated as groups are pushed into wild areas. Cities are overcrowded, and the suburbs around them are encroaching on natural land. We can learn from the Vikings by learning to manage our resources better, and to work together with other countries to solve the problems facing us.
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3 Comment(s)
Hi! Good work on the blog post, this is a super important issue that needs to be considered by all societies in all environments.
I like the use of the Vikings example, that's something I didn't know about them. I'd be really interested in reading more about exactly how and why the competition between the Vikings and Inuits led to damage to their society, maybe that's something you can expand on in future drafts? Likewise, all the problems you mention in the second paragraph - use of forest fuels, deforestation, overfishing, and excessive water use are all massive issues that you could definitely explore in a lot more detail.
Your point about needing to take responsibility for our environment is a really good one. Can you think of any ways of looking after our resources like you suggest? That would tie in nicely with your paragraph about the problems faced by future generations.
Overall, I thought this was a really powerful piece of writing, with a really nice flow from historical examples to the problems facing us today. Well done!
Beth
Hello, and good job on the blog. It flows logically and has a clear structure. It is also well written. I have a few comments that you will hopefully find helpful.
In paragraph one, you first state that the sea destroyed the vikings' settlements, then that they overused resources, and finally that they lost in a competition over said resources with the Inuits. As a reader, I get the impression that the vikings could have lost the competition with the Inuits regardless of the sea activity. Maybe you could make a stronger link between the vikings' downfall and their challenges with the forces of nature? Also, because the vikings were spread over a relatively large geographical area, it is a good idea to specify where you are talking about specifically. Because you mention Inuits I am guessing Greenland, would that be correct?
The second paragraph is concise, clearly communicates the message that we are currently not managing out resources well and brings in relevant examples. Good paragraph.
The last paragraph is also clear in that it presents a conclusion (we need to take responsibility for the environment) that follows logically from the previous paragraph. However, the example of groups being pushed into wild areas is unclear to me. Maybe you could specify what you mean by wild areas, and/or provide an example? Finally, (and this is really splitting hairs) - the vikings built their civilization on pillaging and plundering, hardly a model society for sustainable resource management. While we probably shouldn't learn from how they organized their resources, we can definitely learn from the mistakes they made that eventually led to their downfall.
Good luck with further editing!
Hello there!
Your first paragraph, provided enough information about the Vikings to continue with your post. However my general comment for you on this paragraph is that you mentioned that the sea began to wash on the shore, destroying their settlements. Did this lead to their overuse of land resources? I ask this, as it is unclear why you are mentioned this. You could elaborate on the destruction of sea level rise and how the Vikings were unprepared, and their settlements were destroyed, similar to when the 2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans. Low lying countries (close to the sea level) are under continual remediation, to avoid attacks from the rising sea.
From your first to second paragraph, the link between Viking's use of land resources compared to today's land management draws a nice parallel. Though I would like an example of poor land management in our society. (Which you mention in your last paragraph about overpopulated areas and us populating wild/natural land. This would make this thought stronger and drive the message home.
In your third paragraph, you mention "We have enormous control over our world..". I find that comment interesting, and thought provoking, as we do but we don't. What I mean to say is humans have the capacity to clearly change our world, but how the world responds, is out of our control. Something we all need to think about, is how far can we push our Earth before she pushes back. You could add examples of mother nature fighting back.
Your last three sentences are strong. They tie together your thoughts from above. (Except I'd still like if you'd add something about the sea destroying their settlements.) Nicely done.
As I've mentioned to others, take my comments as merely feedback and suggestions, to use if you want! Please let me know if you have any questions!
Laura
Beth Richardson
Dec 6, 2015