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Cassie Roth Writing Sample

Fundamental Interconnectedness at the Heart of Reality: Systems Theory to Mitigate Climate Change 1. California’s Social Resilience Linked to Coastal Productivity

The Southern California Bight is a unique area of high biodiversity and national

significance. The mixing of warm waters from the Southern California Countercurrent and cool

waters from the California Current produces one of the world’s hot spots for coastal marine life

(McGinnis, 2005) (Figure 1). Historically, the great abundance of land and marine resources

allowed the Chumash to prosper for tens of thousands of years alongside a healthy and

balanced environment. Through careful examination of their unique environmental conditions

and living within the natural limits, the Coastal Chumash maintained a sustainable relationship

with the land and long-term survival of the tribe. Stability of Native American tribes depended

on the distribution and reliability of natural resources. Thus, acute awareness of the cycles and

connections within nature was the organizing principle of intellectual inquiry and social

organization (Kidwell, 2003). A strong relationship exists between the coastal marine ecosystem

and human society:

Losses to coastal and marine biodiversity indicate the general condition of the larger environment. Failure to protect biodiversity means a failure to ensure the biological and ecological integrity of our own habitat, placing into question the long-term sustainability of human life itself.

(Beatley, 1991)

While the Chumash prospered for thousands of years within their environment, our modern

industrialized society has disrupted every naturally functioning ecosystem on Earth, including the

entire biosphere and climate. Over-fishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and the introduction

of invasive species have transformed a once balanced and self-sustaining system into one of

disequilibrium and uncertainty. Eighty-percent of California’s population now lives within 30 miles

of the shoreline (Griggs, 2005), thus the loss of coastal-marine services can have disastrous

consequences. Future climate change policy and management of the coastal zone must

integrate the resilience of social systems with the vitality of ecological systems of which humans

depend.

2. Climate Change Threatens Vitality of Marine Species and Ecosystems

Anthropogenic climate change is quickly diminishing the health of California’s coastal

marine ecosystems, and altering the natural abundance and distribution of species. Recent

studies document ecological changes coincident with observed climate changes for a number

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of species and ecosystems in California (Barbour, 2008). In the last 100 years the atmospheric

concentration of CO2 has increased more than 30 percent above pre-industrial levels (Luer et al.,

2006). Carbon dioxide input into the sea leads to shifts in the carbonate system of the seawater

and to a decrease in pH value, causing acidification of the ocean and many harmful

physiological effects on marine organisms (Schubert et al., 2006). Ocean acidification disrupts

the developmental processes of populations on many scales, and reports of disease affecting

marine organisms are increasing worldwide (Harvell, 1999). Oceans are the most important net

sink for carbon dioxide (Figure 2), and continued unchecked human growth and activity

threatens the ocean’s ability to take up carbon out of the atmosphere. Without ocean uptake

of anthropogenic CO2, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere becomes increasingly

detrimental to human health. A fundamental reorientation to our coastal environment must

occur which views human species as a co-inhabitor of a much larger community of life (Beatley,

1991). Future laws and regulations must integrate human activity with Earth’s systems in order to

limit the dangerous effects from climate change on human society.

3. Significance of Understanding the Complex Coastal-Marine Environment

A healthy and productive coastal-marine bioregion relies on the co-existence of

numerous species and habitats. The coastal-marine bioregion includes: ecological linkages,

connections between habitats, oceanography, biology, and climate (McGinnis, 2005). Each

species plays a unique role in the system of life: “conserving coastal biodiversity is in its simplest

meaning the conservation of life” (Beatley, 1991). For example, the endangered southern sea

otter of California’s near-shore coastal waters is a keystone species in the marine ecosystem by

limiting the number of grazers and promoting the abundance of kelp forests (Figure 3). The giant

kelp habitat is the most important marine habitat of the Southern California Bight, supporting

thousands of organisms, maintaining biodiversity, and contributing to the primary productivity of

coastal waters (McGinnis, 2005). Thus, current mortality and disease of the southern sea otter

degrades the entire marine environment and is detrimental to human society. Without each

part of the system, the whole cannot operate properly. Although we cannot control climate

change and natural systems, we can control human behavior (McGinnis, 2009). Mitigation of

climate change is crucial if additional stresses on marine ecosystems are to be limited (Schubert

et al., 2006).

4. Current Problems With Ocean Governance

The multitude of federal and state agencies that share responsibilities for land, water,

and coastal resource management makes environmental protection a troublesome effort

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(Figure 4). The Southern California Bight is a system of overlapping ecosystems, and natural

resources often transcend the artificial and arbitrary political and administrative jurisdictions

(Beatley, 2002). The present system of ocean governance remains ill-equipped for dealing with

the challenges posed by climate change for three fundamental reasons: 1) jurisdictional split

among levels of government, 2) sector-by-sector approach in the management of different

ocean resources, and 3) complexity of the ocean system (Knecht, 1988). Conflicts among

ocean users and government agencies of different interests are increasing significantly due to

narrowly-focused and disjointed environmental management which fails to deal with

interconnections, complexities, multiple perspectives, multiple uses, and the resulting cross-

cutting externalities (Margerum, 1995). Successful ocean governance requires a systems

perspective that goes beyond focusing on a single project or species, but rather facilitates

thinking about interactions among multiple biophysical and human drivers and the cumulative

effects of incremental environmental degradation (Beatley, 1991). The fundamental

interconnectedness of Earth’s ecosystems requires a holistic approach to management,

reflecting the dynamic and uncertain tendencies of nature.

5. Ecosystem-Based Management: Science, Policy, and the Environment

Due to the complexity of the coastal zone, a new integrated and science-based form of

management must be utilized in addressing the threats of climate change. Scientists and policy-

makers agree that success in dealing with environmental changes requires improved scientific

understanding and the implementation of ecological forecasting in policy and management

(Clark, 2001). Because of the fluidity of coastal marine resources, a regional and ecosystem-

based approach to management can help with multiple-use conflicts and overlapping political

jurisdictions. Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is generally defined as:

…an integrated approach to management that considers the entire ecosystem, including humans. The goal of EBM is to maintain an ecosystem in a healthy, productive, resilient condition so that it can provide the services humans want and need. EBM differs from current approaches that usually focus on a single species, sector, activity, or concern; it considers the cumulative impacts of different sectors.

(MPA News)

Key concepts associated with a place-based approach to managing marine ecosystems

include marine spatial planning, ocean zoning, and a number of management tools, such as

use permits, site planning, public education, and codes of practice (Young, 2007). For example,

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works with stakeholders to define 8

Regional Ecosystems on a global marine ecosystem model (Figure 5). Also, the Governors of

California, Oregon, and Washington have set forth the “West Coast Governor’s Agreement on

Ocean Health” which encourages regional collaboration to protect and manage the marine-

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coastal resources of the entire west coast. Regional management of coastal-marine ecosystems

offers a constructive means for dealing with the uncertainties associated with climate change.

6. Relating Inner-Human Qualities to the Composition of Nature

Human and environmental health exists when a state of balance is reached between

various forces. Just as human disease reflects an imbalance of energy, the Earth is suffering from

an overload of human impacts. The carbon cycle is out of balance, resulting in global food

insecurities, poor air and water quality, ecosystem instability, and human suffering. All events

arise within a complex web of interrelated causes and conditions:

When we come to see that everything we perceive and experience arises as a result of an indefinite series of interrelated causes and conditions, our whole perspective changes. We begin to see that the universe we inhabit can be understood in terms of a living organism where each cell works in balanced cooperation with every other cell to sustain the whole. If, then, just one of these cells is harmed, as when disease strikes, that balance is harmed and there is danger to the whole. This, in turn, suggests that our individual well-being is intimately connected both with that of all others and with the environment within which we live. It also becomes apparent that our every action, our every deed, word, and thought, no matter how slight or inconsequential it may seem, has an implication not only for ourselves but for all others, too. (Lama, 1999)

The overall health and economic prosperity of the California coastal region comes from a more

complex understanding of reality where all things and events are seen to be closely interrelated.

By viewing the individual as part of a larger dynamic system and recognizing the common

relation of all beings, we may begin to solve the current crises in our oceans.

APPENDIX

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Figure 1: Southern California Bight

Figure 2: Global carbon cycle

Schubert, R., et al. (2006)

Figure 3: Southern Sea Otter Food Web

http://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/bperry/scbweb/scbmapfortalks.jpg

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http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/bluske_brit/food%20web.gif

Figure 4: Mismatches in U.S. Ocean Governance

(Crowder, 2006)

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Figure 5: Large Marine Ecosystem model

(NOAA)

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