Ecological importance of biodiversity and the current major threats to global biodiversity.

Ecological importance of biodiversity and the current major threats to global biodiversity.

Discipline: – Ecology

Type of service: Research Paper

Spacing: Double spacing

Paper format: MLA

Number of pages: 5 pages

Number of sources: 7 sources

Paper details:

– The sources must be scholarly

– Please revise carefully to ensure the paper is concise and grammatically correct

– The below file explains the assignment and the topic I chose for the paper is the first on the list

– Don’t worry about the part where you need sources from the course, they can be from anywhere that gives a scholarly article

ENVS 1000

WINTER TERM – RESEARCH ESSAY TOPICS

 

The research essay in this course should be 8-10 pages in length, in a 12 point font, double spaced and not excessively wide margins. It must be referenced appropriately, containing at least 7 scholarly references. Four of your references must be from Winter course material. Outside references should be non-Web (books and journal articles found on the Web can be cited; see attached referencing guide). The essay must be your original work. For further discussion about referencing ask your TA. Refer to the attached grading rubric to guide your writing.

The following is a suggested list of topics. Other topics can be considered, with the approval of your TA. THE ESSAY IS DUE IN YOUR TUTORIAL THE WEEK OF MARCH 7th . LATE WORK WILL BE PENALIZED BY 5% PER DAY. PLEASE USE THE READING WEEK WISELY.

 

  1. Discuss the ecological importance of biodiversity and the current major threats to global biodiversity. Then, choose a specific species currently threatened with extinction and analyze the case study applying course concepts , including ecological economics, environmental justice, dualisms and environmental ethics.

 

  1. Using Warren, Merchant and/or Plumwood, among others, discuss environmental feminism, or ecofeminism, or environmental justice, as a framework to understand a particular environmental issue.

 

  1. Explain how dualist thinking in dominant culture leads to power relationships and the naturalization of hierarchies (using for example, Warren, Plumwood, Warkentin lectures). Then, explain how dualisms are implicated in a specific environmental problem.

 

  1. Can global climate change be addressed by technological solutions and sustainability alone? Why or why not? Discuss using course concepts (for example, environmental justice, environmental economics, ecofeminist intersectional analysis, etc.).

 

  1. Thinking about ecological economics and environmental justice frameworks, predict the likely outcome of the present economic and environmental policies of wealthy countries. Assess Peter Victor’s predictions in the reading and Peter Timmerman’s lecture. What kind of policies do you think should be supported and why?

 

  1. Discuss concepts presented in class (ecological economics, environmental justice, indigenous ways of knowing, animal/human relations, etc.) and apply one or two of these frameworks to a particular environmental issue (water, biodiversity, species extinction, food systems, resource extraction (including energy resources), climate change, etc.)

 

  1. Discuss food policy and its relation to human/animal ethics, social justice, and climate change. What policies should we be promoting? What did Rod MacCrae advocate in his lecture?
  2. Choose an ethical dilemma arising from an environmental issue and, using course materials and further suggested readings, present moral arguments from two different perspectives in environmental ethics? Choose two from the following list: Anthropocentric, Ecocentric, Biocentric and Ecofeminist perspectives. Be sure to support your arguments with references to ethical theory and using examples.
  3. Using an intersectional analysis, discuss how industrial animal agriculture is implicated in both environmental degradation and environmental justice. Include concepts of environmental health, social justice and environmental ethics in the discussion, and real-world examples from lecture materials, videos shown in class and course readings.