Chapter 8

This chapter refers to three aspects which are ecology, energy, and the environment. As we all know the condition of the environment is getting worse and worse. Many scholars call on the urgent protection of environment. They point out that all things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. We should maintain the balance of the ecosphere, use energies in rational ways, and beautify our environment.

The purpose of studying ecology is to understand the interrelationships of living things with each other and with the environment. As introduced in the book, there are chains everywhere in the ecosphere, such as the evident chain of “ who eats whom”. In that chain, grass is the producer. Cattle, let’s say, is the first order consumer because it eats grass. Man eating cattle is the second order consumer. Many of the food chains make the food webs. The food webs are tangled because they consist lots of interconnected food chains. The same as food webs, water cycle is complex too. Water evaporates into the atmosphere and falls back to the surface of the earth. The whole process needs the shining of the sun, the transport by the wind, and the condensation of the water vapor, all of which are inseparable chains of the process. There are more perplex cycles, such as the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle and the nitrogen cycle which cannot be explained in a few sentences. On the whole, all living things are dependent on these interwoven webs and cycles, The consequences of disturbing which are unforeseen and unfortunate.

The knowledge of energy is important to us. There are four categories of resources which are inexhaustible resources, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, and new and to-be-developed resources. Nonrenewable fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, will eventually be used up one day. Therefore, men are seeking for new and to-be-developed resources, some of which are energy in the biosphere, solar energy, and energy from nuclear fission and fusion.

There are lots of hazards to our environment. The book presents these hazards in detail which are wastes, erosion, deforestation, water crisis, acid rain, ozone hole, and the green house effect. Specific measures are taken corresponding to these problems. Forest conservation measures include combating fire, harmful insects, and tree diseases; practicing careful lumbering methods, reforestation; and the recycling of paper. Water conservation involves the protection and extension of watershed areas, construction of dams and reservoirs, reuse of water, elimination of waste, and the use of water-conserving irrigation practices on farmlands. Improvement of the urban environment includes better housing, more neighborhood facilities, reduction of air and noise pollution, and better planning.

A new and beautified environment will emerge from the old and polluted one if we keep our desires and actions with respect to the use of our environment.