Week 1 Part A

My Environmental Worldview

As I get progress through school and focus on my area of study, my views on the environment change with the knowledge I acquire. At Florida Gulf Coast University I am studying the environmental studies major course. Each new class I step into gives me new information that changes my views on a certain topic but the general theme of my environmental worldview is a more constant concept. When I first came to FGCU, I didn’t appreciate my new home in Southwest Florida. I grew up in Ft Lauderdale right across the state so I thought I had little to learn about Southwest Florida. But today I have come to realize they are very different places. I know about the hydrology of the state, natural ecosystems and human impacts. We are part of these natural processes but we have changed them as well. Humans are just one organism in this diverse world but we have had the most impacts on our natural world. Just one single species has changed the face of our planet. Florida is a perfect example of how humans have changed the natural world. In the 1800’s the landscape of Florida was changed forever. As people came to settle here the Everglades was seen as a useless swamp area. All over the state drainage and dredging of the wetlands took place to create dry land for agriculture. People had no idea the problems that would arise from this. Today we have programs to help restore the damage done to Everglades and worldwide people know of the destruction done to our natural systems. I believe we are in the middle of another great revolution that will change our world again. Just like the Industrial Revolution changed life for humans; I believe our “Green Revolution” will be just as significant.