Third Class

On Thursday May 23rd, Dr. Morris decided we stay in class and watch a video about how different types of the world are being effected but also contributing to the problems that are happening right now with our environment. The first place we looked at was Kansas, farmers are using less materials in order to not pollute the water as much and preserve. This is a good thing because when they lose less materials, they are saving money. However, not all people think that this is a good thing, especially the companies who produce the chemicals that the farmers use. If farmers are using less, then the chemical companies are not making as much profit which does not make them happy. One example that was discussed in class was a farmer trying to get a loan at the bank. When the bank realized that he does not use chemicals because he is an organic farmer, they declined him because one of their major contracts was a chemical company that instructed the bank to either make the farmers use their chemicals, or they are taking their money elsewhere for another bank to have. This can effect SW Florida by the food we eat has either more or less chemicals which could impact our health. Also if the farmers have to use more materials, then the water can become more polluted and can impact the water we drink greatly.

The other place we looked at was south Africa. In this situation, they had a low amount of water and did not know why. After some research they realized that the invasive trees that were planted there are taking up a lot of the water and making the river stay still instead of flowing smoothly. Once they cut the trees, the water flowed very smooth and they began to drink again. The effects on SW Florida would be that even though it is in south Africa, we in America still drink the water from there and if the the water is low, that limits are water supply.