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The Story of Easter Island is one about using resources sustainably and passing their carrying capacity. Easter island used to be full of trees and vegetation but the people living there did not use the land wisely. They used wood from trees to make boats and other things but problems arose. As the population grew the people needed more wood which caused them they to take more wood than was growing. As time went on the tree population was cut down until there was nothing. They also used unsustainable farming methods such as the slash and burn agriculture technique that involved burning and cutting down the trees and other vegetation. It caused the deforestation of the environment and it lead to their downfall.
The story is relevant today because we face the same problems with our use of water and oil which are resources that are vital for our existence, yet limited. If we continue to use them unsustainably we will not be able to survive long into the future. This is an important problem that we must find a solution for. Humans have affected almost all ecosystems on the planet. The most pressing concerns are pollution from burning fossil fuels, overfishing or dumping garbage. Droughts such as the one in California are an indicator that we are using too much water, and pollution is an indicator that we are burning too much fossil fuel. We can see clearly what will happen when we overuse our resources unsustainably because of examples of society like Easter Island and we can use historical civilizations like these as an example of what not to do.
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2 Comment(s)
Hi! This is a really good piece of writing, and I really enjoyed reading it. Like Laura and I mentioned on some other blogs, starting with 'the story' might make it sound less factual - something like 'the account' or 'the history' might help put emphasis on the importance I really liked how much detail you put in about the Easter Islanders' way of life - it really helps draw the reader in to the point you go on to make.
I also liked how well you linked the historical account to a current real-world problem of drought in California, and how you showed the exact parallels between the situation on Easter Island and the situation in California now. I was impressed by how many examples you pulled in from different social issues, though you could maybe expand on some of the ones only mentioned in passing, like overfishing and waste disposal.
Overall, I think this is a really excellent blog post, and a very persuasive piece of writing.
Beth
Hi there!! Interesting post, I like the use of an historical example of overuse of a resource can do to a society.
Here are some suggestions for your post, feel free to take from it what you like.
From your first paragraph:
- I'd advise to not start with "The Story" as it leads to read as a fictitious story rather than a factual, significant, historical chapter on a society.
- Your second sentence, I'd restructure it to say that the population was not informed of the problems that would arise from overusing their resources. We are lucky that we can learn from their unknowing mistake and something positive can come out of their misfortune.
- Your fourth sentence "As the pop.." I would change to something like "The populations need for wood continued to grow at a faster rate than what as regrowing." or " The regrowth of trees was not fast enough for the populations need for wood and therefore their began a deficit in the tree population."
- Your sentence 6 I would add "Unknowingly, they used unsustainable farming methods such as a slash and burn agriculture technique that involved burning and cutting down the trees and other vegetation.
- Check out this resource http://rainforests.mongabay.com/09easter_island.ht... paragraph 6, goes into detail the feedback that deforestation caused on their society (including the animal inhabitants)
From your second paragraph:
- Might change a few of the wording "This historical chapter of Easter Island can give today's society a warning. Focusing on two natural resources, water and oil, both are, arguably, vital for our existence, are limited. We can learn from the unknowing mistake of Easter Islands overconsumption of a natural resource. " Again, I'd prefer to avoid using the word "story". I changed your sentence to say "two" natural resources, as we are over consuming more than just water and oil, but this way the reader knows you are aware of this and that you will only be discussing water and oil for the rest of the paragraph.
- For your second sentence," If we continue to use these resources without a sustainable practice, we will not be able to support our population, and future populations." I choose to write it this way, as ... unfortunately ... I think if we were to use up these resources, a few humans might find a way to survive, just with a considerable reduction in the human population. To avoid the dark image, "support our population" as a lighter tone to it.
- Your 5th sentence, I'd suggest adding "A few of the most pressing concerns are ..." to the beginning of your sentence.
- Your 6th sentence: Can you find an example that we visibly see of pollution from burning fossil fuels? I think that addition would have a nice impact to your sentence. Check out this link http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choi... it talks about smog, and city haze, maybe use something along that line.
- Grammar on your last sentence "We can see clearly what will happen if we continue to overuse our natural resources without a sustainably plan. We can grow and learn from unfortunate examples like the dire ecosystem that Easter Island, so that we do not repeat history."
Again, this was a nice link you made with our present situation and from the past. I hope you take my comments as merely feedback and suggestions, to take if you want! Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Laura
Beth Richardson
Dec 7, 2015