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The Environmental Protection Agency has recently disclosed plans to lower the amount of methane emissions from gas and oil by 40 to 45 percent by the year 2025. The proposed plans would require emissions to be stopped at new natural gas wells, and repair all known leaks at these wells. The goal of the EPA is to reduce the amount of total pollution as it affects climate change and public health. The proposed regulations aren't being received very well by Republican lawmakers and energy groups, who argue that methane emissions have actually been falling in recent years. They believe that taking these plans into action will threaten security and economic growth, as they will increase the cost of energy for Americans. The EPA has also looked to set regulations on carbon pollution from planes, as well as trucks and vans. The theme of nature culture can be observed here, as many people of various political standpoints are fighting for their opinions on how nature should be protected, and the extent of human manipulation in nature. Through this we can see how the emission of gases is extremely difficult to reduce, and that the fight for nature preservation will be ongoing, as it has been for years and years.

Excellent application of the nature-culture theme. What's the relationship between a nation's development and their ability to help the environment?

In your article is says "About 80 of those local companies will be featured among the 200 exhibitors at the Mother Earth News Fair, a massive natural products trade show..." It's very exciting to see these small scale, local businesses thriving. In a country dominated by commercial manufacturing, it is good to see these true home grown enterprises succeeding.

How have earthquakes in California molded the environmental perception within nature culture? Furthermore how has this changed how Californians act on the land?

This catastrophic environmental event obviously affected humans in a negative way. Why do we not take into consideration the lives affected, and put more resources into research that could be used to ensure that the damage to society is less the next time a similar event occurs? As natural disasters such as this become increasingly disastrous around the world, why are steps not being taken to increase the ability to cope with the repercussions?

Great follow up questions. I wonder which countries in the world are the most proactive when it comes to their interaction with the environment.

On August 10th, 2015, a large amount of mine waste was accidentally spilled into the Animas River of Colorado. This spill released nearly one million gallons into the water turning it a rusty orange color. The effects of the spill could be detrimental to wildlife, thus, causing clean-up to be a priority. The main concern of the spill is the effect on fish because they are very sensitive to changes in water. After the spill, the contaminated water contains much higher levels of heavy metals like iron, zinc, and copper. This change in nature has sent Colorado Parks and Wildlife Officials to be quite frustrated with the mining industry. This spill relates to nature culture, a theme of geography, because it shows how humans' thirst for money can have large effects on nature. How will the mining industry develop better ways to prevent spills? How can spills be cleaned up more effectively with less damage to wildlife?

How do this article show natural culture in the way that the Hawaiian people are responding to a natural disaster?

Thank you for your post about the nature culture theme of geography, Lydia! Your questions reminds me of another ... why were news reports stating that people were buying as much water as they could in the supermarkets? Could this be part of the nature-culture theme? Great job Lydia. Keep up the posts and comments to your peers via new posts, APHUG.

In this article, it is showing the new tropical disease occurring from a bug called the "kissing bug". The disease that the kissing bug gives out is neurocysticercosis, which is a parasitic infection of the brain. The kissing bug also causes Chagas disease which is a protozoan parasite, and can cause mild inflamed skin, as well as infection and inflammation of other body tissue. The theme of nature-culture is displayed through the people interacting with the nature where the kissing bugs are found, and catching the disease. Also, the kissing bug are native in Guatemala, and travelers were bringing back the disease and spreading it to their community, affecting and infecting the citizens of Texas. In Houston, Texas infectious diseases broke out and in the Smith's Clinic, doctors were doing their best to cure everyone who has tropical diseases. The tropical diseases were increasing to the point where one wing on the third floor of the Houston hospital was filled with patients. Everyone on the third floor had caught the tropical disease from the kissing bugs. The disease has been occurring since 2011, and the doctors are treating anyone who walks in with the tropical disease. Even though the disease has not affect Pennsylvania, it is still extremely important due to the fact that it is happening in the United States. What kind of research has been done to find a cure to the tropical disease? What should the citizens in Texas do to try to avoid catching this disease? How long does it take to cure the tropical diseases and what medication is used? These are the type of questions that are pondering in the media's mind.

In this article, it is discovered that a massive leak sprung from a defunct mine in Southern Colorado, contaminating the Animas River. The spill caused lead levels 12,000 times higher than usual to arise in the river, concerning homeowners and businesses in the general area of being contaminated themselves. The theme of geography Nature Culture relates to this article because the people in this region rely on the river water on a daily basis. It is their source of water for irrigating their crops, drinking water, and more. Due to this accident, businesses shut down and people moved from their homes because they interact with and rely on the river water so closely. Nature culture plays a major role in our lives whether we believe that or not. What is the best way to respond to this dilemma? Will Southern Colorado return to being populated along the Animas River? Sudden issues leave us wondering questions along these lines.

There has recently been a huge outcry over the brutal death of Cecil the lion. Cecil and his pride were the big attraction at a local Zimbabwe national park, with Cecil being the dominant male and local celebrity. Recently, Cecil was lured out of the park with food and shot by an arrow by a Minnesota dentist, who had funded almost $50,000 for the hunt. Sadly, that's not the end of it, as Cecil was then hunted down, shot in the head, skinned, and decapitated. Why would someone do this? Well, it's all for a trophy. Trophy killing is a very common sport, especially in these African countries. So much so that African lion populations have dropped 60% in the last 3 decades. This is a prime example of the theme of nature-culture, as Cecil's death damages his pride and possibly our whole ecosystem. Without their dominant male, Cecil's pride is put at risk to rogue lions and other dangerous threats. Sadly, we have ourselves to blame, as the majority of lions killed for sport are shipped to America to be turned to trophies, and these aren't the only animals we're losing because of this. How has hunting for sport damaged our ecosystem? How much have human beings destroyed nature? Are we doing more harm to the planet than good?

Thank you for your post, Eric. Great questions as well. I'm curious about what's being done to stop people from illegally killing animals in parts of the world. Many people exploit the world's fishing reserves in the ocean or at least in areas that are seen as international waters. Check out this interesting article about how a bunch of illegal fishing vessels were hunted down. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html?_r=0

Just an idea in all, but if this so-called carbon tax is passed wouldn't it raise the price of goods? But then again, I guess companies have to make up the deficient somehow.

It's crazy to think that a company has so much power that even though it is depleting water supplies and causing pollution it is still not shut down. This is probably due to lack of knowledge consumers have and the mass of money that the company has.

Worldwide food shortages are expected to become more common because of global warming. Global warming is a way that humans have modified the planet. Part of the theme of nature culture is looking at how humans modify the Earth. Shortages can also be caused by the globalization of food production. Not all countries have developed systems for food production. Countries, like those in the Middle East, that rely on other countries to import food are the ones that are expected to be impacted the most.

Great post! Does anyone think that the movement to use genetically modified seeds will be a way to adapt to global warming?

Volcanoes in Japan and Ecuador are a threat to people living in those countries and the neighboring countries. The volcano in Ecuador, Cotopaxi, has already spewed ash into the sky. This ash could spread into the capital city of Ecuador which is not far from the volcano. People have been put on a yellow alert which is the lowest of the three levels. The yellow alert precautions the people living in the area to be prepared and have masks ready to be able to keep the ashes out of their lungs. The volcano in Japan is a more serious issue. The government has issued a level 4 emergency warning which means the residents should prepare to evacuate the island of Kyushu. The volcano has been increasing in activity and could erupt at anytime. This is an example of the nature culture theme because the physical environment is shaping the culture that these people live in. The people living in the countries know that the volcanoes could be a problem from time to time and they will have to react to what the volcano brings.

This article talks about the environmental crisis on the west coast. Several states in the west are being plagued with forest fires. Over 15,000 square miles have been burned. Hundreds of people have been evacuated. Thousands of brave firefighters are working to control the fires and have now been joined in some places by the national guard. This phenomenon relates to the theme of nature culture as it gives strong examples of human and natural interaction through attempts to keep people safe and contain the fires.

This article discusses the drought in California and how people are causing the natural disaster to increase. California has increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. This change in air temperature helps to remove water from the soil, and allowing it to be absorbed into the air. Global warming is creating the drought in California, as well as excessive well pumping from aquifers. As the water becomes absorbed into the air, lasting effects such as crop failure and fires can result, changing the state of the physical environment. The theme of nature culture is exhibited throughout the article to display the different impacts of the drought. For example, as people burn fossil fuels and shrink aquifers by pumping water, the environment is changed by having less water for the people who inhabit the land. What can the citizens do to reduce the drought? How can water be restored back into the soil?

Very recently an earthquake hit California with a magnitude of 6, causing much devastation and destruction. Buildings collapsed and fires started all without warning because of human's inability to predict this natural disaster. Will humans ever be able to control the environment? Or will the environment we live in always dominate us?

What are the economic factors behind the separatist movement? Who is funding the pro-Russian rebels? What does Russia have to gain? This relates to the theme of nature culture. Nature culture encompasses political, economic and social forces. The rebels have these interests with a strong Russian political backing, Russian economic ties supporting the movement, and the common Russian heritage that is shared due to the inclusion of Ukraine in the former Soviet Republic.

The area in the red box is about 25,000 square miles, slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The small red square shows the space required to meet German demand for energy. If only this one small area of land in the desert can power the whole world, why doesn't someone build it? This shows the conflicting interests of world powers and the theme of nature-culture

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