TED Community » Trevor Howard

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• A reply on Conversation: Can we restore salmon runs without hurting our economy?

  Jun 12 2012: I understand the fact that fish ladders can be useful in aiding fish migration upstream, but juvenile fish rarely use them when they move downstream. Typically, dams still provide a massive barrier as juveniles either swim into turbines or are dumped over a massive spillway that opens them up to severe predation and very significant losses of migrating fish over time.
  Not to mention, dams significantly alter the natural flow regime of a river while also blocking the downstream movement of sediments like gravel that are necessary for salmon spawning. Fish ladders, along with hatcheries were thought to be the solution, but it has become apparent that they are not enough.

• A reply on Conversation: Do zoos help biodiversity conservation?

  Jun 6 2012: I completely agree with you on this point. Zoos offer numerous advantages beyond giving people the pleasure to view an exotic animal. From the research that goes on to the breeding and sometimes the salvation of injured animals to the education of the public about the plights of these animals, zoos undoubtedly help organisms in the wild. For example, the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California is responsible for some of the most important research and discoveries of marine organisms in the world and they serve a multitude of purposes from Sea Otter rehabilitation to fighting for protection of the California Coast and beyond. Without these "zoos", we would likely know far less about the natural world than we do.

• A comment on Conversation: Do zoos help biodiversity conservation?

  Jun 6 2012: Without a doubt, zoos can do both and they really do nowadays anyways. Zoos provide a plethora of benefits in both educating the public while also maintaining refuge populations of organisms and this can be sustained if the proper care is taken to ensure that there isn't inbreeding depression or any evolution that occurs due to being bred in captivity.It has been well documented that animals kept in zoos and bred over many generations can start to show changes in their phenotype and genotype due to a lack of selection that would happen in the wild. As was stated above, major animals like Pandas truly are being saved by the roles zoos play in breeding pandas and then releasing their young into the wild.

• A reply on Conversation: From ivory tower to prison cell: How can we bring conservation efforts to the public?

  Jun 6 2012: I completely agree that getting to children is one of the most important facets of change. It is a travesty in my opinion at how little is being taught in school. At the college level in a very progressive school, I hear about conservation, sustainability, etc. nearly every day in class but a lot of people rarely hear or think about it. If we educate the masses now, it should reap huge rewards in the future.

• A comment on Conversation: From ivory tower to prison cell: How can we bring conservation efforts to the public?

  Jun 6 2012: I think we need to take a full on approach to alter the way our society thinks about conservation. By first getting some influential members of society to truly be champions of conservation, they would start a trend of people who believe in living sustainably. Through teaching children now that sustainability is the only way of the future, it will get ingrained into their system for times ahead. By changing regulations not only on a local level, but instead on national and global levels, we can truly make a change.
  Now I realize these are very broad ideas here, but this is a very broad problem as well. I can see in our society quite a significant change just in the past decade with hybrid vehicles becoming mainstream, solar panels popping up on thousands of houses, new wind turbines being developed across the globe and some, although not much, awareness now about eating healthier. Stores like Whole Foods and Market of Choice offer normal places for people to buy locally grown, organic foods. Even hydrogen fueling stations are coming online across the nation. Through furthering these causes as students, graduates and future parents we can all as a group make small choices that result in major changes.

• A reply on Conversation: Do extremist tactics push environmentalism forwards or backwards?

  Jun 6 2012: I really like how you brought up how the actions of people similar to the Sea Shepherd end up cutting off or hurting negotiations because it is true. When a truce is called during war, peace is supposed to reign but if one side breaks that truce then all out war resumes. While countless groups are undoubtedly working very hard to stop the bigger issue of over harvesting whales, these members are causing damage to all sides of the argument. Undoubtedly they bring attention to their issue through the media but it seems highly unlikely that any nation will ever be able to completely stop whaling as it is. Native American tribes have hunted whales for thousands of years and so have people across the world. So maybe it is best to come to a conclusion where the greater whale population is protected from decimation but maybe a few could be retained annually as a means to come to a solution? I have no idea whether or not this will work but it is important to think of both cultures included in this argument and see that there has to be a compromise to meet both side's goals.

• A reply on Conversation: Do extremist tactics push environmentalism forwards or backwards?

  Jun 4 2012: While I agree that extremist actions get attention, how can you say for sure that they create any forward movement of a cause? Many people see extremists fighting for a cause and get turned off by it, further distancing themselves from what is occurring.

• A reply on Conversation: Do extremist tactics push environmentalism forwards or backwards?

  Jun 1 2012: I totally agree with you. I almost feel as if the extremist tactics used involving the potential loss of human lives and monetary damage these groups are responsible for are giving the other side (whalers, et. al) more ammunition to fight for their cause. These hostile tactics are alienating the rest of the population since most people fail to feel much of a connection with ramming ships, throwing chemical bombs and using any number of tactics that these people are doing.
  While they are usually slow to start, peaceful methods can garner a much more unified backing by the people as a whole while not alienating those who are needed most to support your cause.

• A reply on Conversation: Do extremist tactics push environmentalism forwards or backwards?

  May 30 2012: I definitely agree that there can be changes at a cost. The reason why "Whale Wars" has gained so much attention is because of the extreme activities of the crew members. This garners attention and, while it may not necessarily shed a positive light on them I feel like it at least has broadened the audience that knows more about the whaling industry. The issue here I believe is more cultural however. How can we create a cultural shift to where people won't hunt endangered species like some of the whales seen on the show? Also, how might our culture come to allow the harvest of sustainable mammal populations without encountering significant extremist intervention?

• A reply on Conversation: Should shark fishing be banned?

  May 28 2012: Peter: I agree with you here that the big picture has a complexity of issues that no few paragraphs can come close to describing. There are undoubtedly numerous populations of sharks, and for that matter, any number of organisms that can be killed and utilized in a sustainable manner and an overall ban on shark fishing would be preposterous. It is crucial that we take each case species and ecosystem into account in a completely new light every time someone is trying to set regulations because all species in different regions of the globe need certain criteria to survive.