Why place matters in Environmental Science
Place, what an obscure topic such a simple word can be. The technical definition of place is any particular point or position in space, but place can be anything someone makes it out to be. Just like “home is where year heart is” place can follow in the same footsteps. With a definition as vague as place it is no wonder why it cannot be quantified to its’ full extent, because where would a person begin to start? Well for the sake of this argument and for this essay, place will be defined as the specific area, city, state, and in greater terms the country in which a particular test and or study is being conducted. Now place actually matters a great deal in any specific situation, in blatant terms knowing ones specific place can be the difference between being alive or dead. Luckily for us college students, we do not have to be faced with such a dramatic decision, and the only place we need to be concerned about is the place within our own disciplines.
Although us college kids enjoy pressing our luck most of the time and explore “sketchy” places because we have that invincible mentality that comes with young adult hood. Those atmospheres in which we judge whether a police officer will come or not are not the sole reason why place is a concern of ours. Place has always been brought to us on an open platter we just never fully taken the time to ask ourselves why is it there and how it is important. As we were growing up every adult one time or another would always ask “what do you want to do with your life” and we for the most part never knew how to answer their questions. At the time we were unable to answer their questions because we did not fully know how to attack it. Well what we didn’t know or failed to realize was they were really asking us which metaphoric “place” in our lives do we want to reach. Now when I mean metaphoric place I do not mean the actual place we are in the point of time. What I actually mean is the destination at the end of our lives that we want to be at and or reach. Now as humans with our complexed minds it is almost impossible to stay stationary we are always on the move constantly looking for opportunities to express our complexed needs. Now with that nomadic mentality we people are constantly traveling from place to place whether it is literally or metaphorically.
As for me, my literal place right here right now is in the dorms of California State Channel islands and the metaphoric place I am seeking out to go is a career as an Environmental lawyer. Well as that is my desired place for now, it is not an easy task. In being so difficult my first step is getting a degree in Environmental Science and Resource Management while I study here at Channel Islands. Well thanks to this wonderful place I now call home this idea of place has finally been brought to my attention through the various course I have taken here. Place to me is far beyond the given space in time I am in, place is the exact position in which an event occurs and how that particular event reflects the span of all the other things in a given sequence. Well as I feel that a given place is an important point in the sequence, I also feel that any place is an important point of reference in any discipline. Especially one such as Environmental Science where the field itself practically has a monopoly on Geographic Information Systems, a system which utilizes the idea of place. To demonstrate not only the importance of place within my field, but in general as well I will be utilizing two case studies conducted in regards to environmental science and the real world.
Now we all live in a city, and that city was formulated from the ground up with carful thought and consideration in all aspects. A city or even a building cannot even begin development until it compiles an environmental impact statement. A statement which explains the consequences it would cause to the environment and or to the people who would be living in such an atmosphere. Well as we know there are tons of cities all around the world and each one has underwent its urban development. All types of countries and even societies regardless of wealth carefully puts thought into their productions of building a cities. They utilize all sorts of resources they have to not only take into account the environmental consequences, but the economic, and social consequences as well. With a system such as GIS which can virtually map out all sorts of situations it is almost impossible not to take into account the places and areas in which a particular event is taking place. Now since I am specifically talking about the environment and societal up bring and development those will be the only two main subject I will touch upon.
As I had mentioned before, a city’s development and or improvements take serious and diligent consideration in all regards especially in the safety of its citizens. For if the foundations of a city are built under let’s say an old radioactive wasteland its population would face many unintended consequences. With having the formation of a city being so dire such studies as the water quality of a main water source is an important test to compile before development. Luckily for environmentalist the system of GIS could help point and map out the potential contaminated water areas that would be undesirable for people of a highly polluted country such as China. With regards to China and its highly polluted country Yan et al. was able to conceptualize and visualize the spatial pollution characteristics and identify potential polluted risky regions of the Honghe River Watershed. Which due to the hustle and bustle of a rapid economy such as Chia nonpoint source pollutants tend to runoff into vital societal utilities. Now with such a study the scientist had used space and GIS to map out these non-point polluted surface waters and warn it the citizens of the Honghe watershed not to drink its waters from specific sources. Bring this back to home and using the same tactics and agenda Yan et al. were trying to accomplish with the help of GIS scientist could warn us of the potential water contaminations. If hypothetically in the local area fertilizer run off became a problem, where if it was an issue they would be able to map out which farms and or crop lands these pollutants were coming from so we could do something about them and resolve the issue of pollutants entering a system.
Well to further piggybacking off the idea that urban development has a vital role in our everyday lives, another case study has been conducted in another part of the world to demonstrate the importance of environmental science and its development planning. In Tehran the capital of Iran the problem of urban sprawling has been getting out of control and creating obnoxious noise pollution leaving its citizens to experience nervous system damage and mental behavior alterations. With the help of the GIS system scientist were able to assess the spatial changes in traffic noise pollution so they could identify critical noise pollutions, where they could then install noise barriers that would limit the decibel levels being expelled. Well thanks to the study Mohammad et al. conducted the material of a surface was determined to be a factor that could and would limit the noise pollution levels. As though this may not be a major issue to us city folk who are used to the constant noises of cars and other materials, others that are not so use to such a chaotic life style it could experience negative consequences. Well to demonstrate a real world example map layers and surveyors could utilize the GIS system to do what Mohammad et al. did and see where the nosiest places are and help them map out desired places to live for like real-estate. Where if noise pollution is a problem propriety values could drop and vacancy rates may rise causing issues within the house market.
As demonstrated with the small case studies I have presented, place is a vital part to any equation whether if it is something big as picking out a place to live or something as small as which seat one should sit in class. Place is an important utility that most of us take for granite and fail to be credited when credit is due. If place had no relevance we or even I would not even being writing this essay as I speak because Channel Islands would have never existed. Instead the CSU system decided to utilize this place the once Camarillo State Mental Hospital and turn it into the CI we know and love. Place and GIS in general can and does place a crucial role in all aspects and failing to recognize and utilize such as system is a disadvantage to our own self.
Works Cited
MONAZZAM, MOHAMMAD REZA, et al. “Spatial Traffic Noise Pollution Assessment – A Case Study.” International Journal Of Occupational Medicine & Environmental Health 28.3 (2015): 625-634. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2016
Yan, Chang-An, et al. “Assessment Of Water Quality And Identification Of Polluted Risky Regions Based On Field Observations & GIS In The Honghe River Watershed, China.” Plos ONE 10.3 (2015): 1-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
