Dr. Kim Burnett is research economist of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO). Her research primarily focuses on invasive species management, water conservation, and the importance on watershed management, particularly in Hawaii and the Pacific. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics at Loyola University New Orleans and soon, thereafter continued her major through her Master’s and PhD. Her strong passion for the community is what drives her to make a difference in preserving Hawaii’s water resources. In the presence of today, Dr. Burnett and her team are working on the Ike Wai project, which is an interdisciplinary research project involving a diverse team, working to measure the interconnectivity between water availability and sustainability in Hawaii. As climate change continues to persist in affecting marine life, weather, land mass, water resources, and more, many researchers are taking …show more content…
To secure Hawaii’ water future, their first step includes the stakeholder input. Researchers must come together and discuss their policies and constraints, and how they can reach their goal in securing Hawaii’s water future. The following step is groundwater modeling, a process of understanding the gist of all the science aspects of data being collected. This type of research requires a variety of scientists, such as microbiologists, geochemists, and hydrologists. An example includes taking a water sample from an area on Oahu to determine what direction the water is flowing from. Their job is to collect samples of data and analyze if there is any relationship between water and climate. The next step in their project is economic modeling, a stage of scenario-playing and discussing the economic benefits for the community. The final stage is decision support, which is directly answering questions regarding watershed policies, data, system capacity, and
Noble, Wade. "A Case Study in Efficiency – Agriculture and Water Use in the Yuma, Arizona Area." Yuma County
Protecting Hawaii’s rain forest from the invasion of Corporate America is Bill McKibben’s intention as an environmentalist. His 28-paragraph article, “Power Play Endangers Hawaii’s Rain Forest,” appeared in Rolling Stone, a popular culture magazine, on May 31, 1990. He argues that producing power through geothermal drilling harms the Wao Kele o Puna rain forest, the environment, and the people that live nearby. He also presents alternative methods for power, hoping that people will consider these, such as solar-water heating systems and energy efficient gadgets. Unfortunately, his elevated, subjective stance and attempt to convince his audience through
(Babbitt, 2007), (Dedekorkut 2003) Both the federal and state agencies, along the American people are dedicated to clean-up the water flows in the Everglades. With this, the Everglades Restoration, as Babbitt points-out, is an example of a national commitment to large scale restoration of degraded ecosystems (Babbitt 2007). However , currently, both the public and the political culture rely heavily on natural resource science for answers the many phenomena that exist in water resource policy.
The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly from this 70 percent the human population can only use 1 percent of the world’s water the rest of it is salt water, frozen, or in some way unattainable (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 2016). Humans have found many different ways to obtain this 1 percent of fresh water they need, but the techniques vary depending on location. In San Jose, California we obtain our water from 3 major sources: groundwater, imported surface water, and local mountain surface water. These 3 sources contribute different amounts of water to the San Jose community. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of our water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016). However, these percentages can change due to factors such as weather and global warming.
Economists are often asked to prepare reports with objective analyses balancing the cost and potential damage to the water sources against economic benefits to the local and national communities. These requests for analysis can provide interesting ethical questions for those
Because of the knowledge and dedication of our elected legislatures, scientists, and environmentalists many different courses of action have been developed. Which one is the right one, we may never know. All that we should know, is that there is a plan to preserve and protect our coastal waters and its inhabitants, as well as bring our economy back with tourism
Imagine being in a highly populated concentrated area with many people fighting to just get by each day. Would you try to help others for the sacrifice of your mental or physical health? Would you give up your food so that you can give it to someone who is in worse condition than you? Night shows Elie Wiesel’s experiences with the concentration camp called Auschwitz. Even if people would say that they would help others for sacrificing your health there is always a breaking point. If people think that life will be better in some sort of way in the long run, that is sometimes not true and if that is true as hopeful as they are that could be threatening to their lives. This mental and physical suffering that these people of Auschwitz endure could cause them to become senseless to tasks that would be unethical or immoral to them.
Simply stated, knowledge can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you use it. Arguably, the inherent purpose and power of knowledge lies in the ability to use that knowledge to make good changes to things around you. The “Individuals and Societies” module explored the implications of knowledge and how we should use knowledge to make changes with respect to our water crisis. In Josh Viers lecture entitled “California Water Wars,” he presented the fact that California, more specifically, is facing a water crisis. Viers states that one reason for this water crisis is the phenomenon of the Sierra Nevada facing monumental shifts in climate change. He posits that the Nevada is shifting from a snow-dominated to rain dominated flow regime, that there is now an earlier timing of snowmelt, and that there are now longer dry seasons (Viers). The purpose of this lecture was two-fold, to inform us about our current and past actions and to warn us that changes need to be made to prevent the exacerbation of our water crisis. Viers urged us to look at the data and see that our actions
To first address the issue of water resources in Hawaii, one must know what Hawaii’s main source of water is, and how it works. Groundwater is the main source of water in the state Hawaii as it covers drinking, irrigation, domestic, commercial, and industrial needs. Groundwater is water that is present underground in soil and rocks that supplies water to underground aquifers and wells. Water located underground exists in two zones, called the unsaturated zone and saturated zone. The unsaturated zone contains spaces where air and water resides, which is separated by the water table. The saturated zone refers to the area below the water table where most of the freshwater exists. The water found in the saturated zone makes up the groundwater which supplies Hawaii with most of its groundwater. “Ground water provides about 99 percent of Hawaii’s domestic water and about 50 percent of all freshwater used in the State” (Gingerich and Delwyn). This was taken from a study from 1995, and the statistics have not changed much, but the overall use of water from then until now has decreased slightly. Some speculate that it is because that many plantations have
In Hawaii, economic and environmental choices often go hand-in-hand. Our state’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has created a natural paradise which draws people from all over the world who, in turn, bring economic prosperity to the state through our tourism industry. However, it is also undeniable that sustainability and clean energy are essential to Hawaii due to our bearings in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tourism and development demand tremendous amounts of energy, land, and resources. Some argue that we must continue to exploit our land and resources for tourism and development, which supports us financially. Not only does Hawaii’s economy depend on others, but Hawaii as a whole is pathetically dependent on others in every aspect. The dependence on imports that we are currently imprisoned to threatens our resources and our way of life. Currently, 95% of Hawaii’s energy comes at great cost from imported fossil fuels. Every year, 47.2 million barrels of oil, or roughly 34 barrels per person in Hawaii, are
Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.
Since the beginning of time people have changed the world. They influence people to do the right thing and stand up for what they believe in. Frederick Douglass was a man who helped abolish slavery by informing others about the truth behind slavery and inspiring them to demand its end. The challenges he faced from growing up as a slave gave him the courage and strength to do the amazing things he has done in his lifetime. Frederick Douglass was the most influential African American in the 19th century because his moving speeches and prominent writing opened people’s eyes to the inhumanity in the world.
Over several generations, the people living in Hawaii have negatively altered our islands, which has resulted in an unsustainable environment. Most people living in Hawaii are not practicing sustainability. The things they have are taken for granted, and they usually don’t think twice before acting in ways that will harm the environment, such as littering, wasting food, and hiking off trails. They do not understand that they are disrespecting the ecosystem with such actions. All of these factors determine whether or not Hawaii is a sustainable island.
Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these
The film shown in class shines light towards the culture of Rwandans and the use of a traditional instrument called the inanga, and the music that is associated with it the inanga is the main instrument featured in the film. It is an instrument used by the Tutsi ethnic group. The film centers on the inanga and a few musicians who are prominent inanga players. This representation differs from how the course is typically presented as the class is given equal representation when there are multiple parties in play. The main ethnic groups in Rwanda, Tutsi and Hutu, have an extremely unpleasant past. The Hutus killed many hundreds of thousands of Tutsi and moderate Hutus. The film is a documentary focusing specifically on the Tutsi way of life, and Tutsi heritage. Although the film centers on, the Inanga it differs from the way information is presented during class; while in the film it only represents one ethnic group in class, multiple viewpoints presented.