"A Candid Photo Session: Photography, A Re-Imagining" 

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INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR LETTER 

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 - Drew Smith

The Aurora Borealis

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By waldo.

On the nineteenth of September in the year of two-thousand and twelve we saw, for many of us the first time, the famed, revered, and mythical Aurora Borealis. Glowing in streaks of green, flowing towards the North. Green because of the highly charged particles from outer space bombarding the oxygen atoms in the highest part of our atmosphere, the thermosphere, causing them to release photons in order to return to a non-excited so called “ground” state. Should one happen to see red or blue, both are attributed to the element of nitrogen, the most abundant element on our atmosphere, the former attributed to the loosing of an electron and returning to its grounded state, and the latter from gaining an electron and elevating it to a higher excited energy state. But red may also be attributed to oxygen as well due to a higher energy level in the excited atoms, though seeing red form oxygen can be hard to detect. In the far reaches of this part of our atmosphere oxygen is the primary element followed by nitrogen and lower elevations thus one sees auroras in the following orders of colors from most common to least common, green, pink, red, yellow, and blue. This color gradient is due to how far down the ionizing energy can reach into our atmosphere and thus what elements it can ionize.

Now whats causing all of this excitement you may ask your self? The energy is provided from solar winds from the sun, which is simply a name given to electrons and protons which are continually being ejected from the sun. These charged particles race through space to finally collide with our magnetosphere (map of the magnetosphere), which is an invisible formation of the magnetic field of our planets core which radiates out and traps the free charged particles and accelerates them towards the poles. At the poles the magnetic fields converge and those the particles trapped in them concentrate here. The Aurora is usually only seen during the dark hours of the day and at that not always visible, but they are always there to some degree, especially as you travel closer to the poles. If you happen to notice the aurora streaking or appearing curtain like it is because the light emissions are concentrated on the magnetic fields. The pictures above and below show this effect quite well and the one at the bottom shows a rift in the magnetic field where no aurora was present for the entirety of the time of this particular instance.

I am the Lorax and I speak for the TREES!

Hello everyone!!

Hope you all are doing well back in Bandarikjunum, which is United States in Icelandic.  It’s been almost a month since all of us here left our homes to set out on our Icelandic adventure. We all thought it was about time to do some blog entries and let you all back home know how we are doing!

We have been very busy since day one of being here. We have gone on a four day backpacking trip, picked loads of potatoes, made some art, knitted hats, started to learn Icelandic, studied the Vikings, watched loads of documentaries, seen volcanoes, and helped plant trees, just to name a few things.

            Our most recent adventure was at the base of the beautiful Mt. Hekla which I am sure many of you know is one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes. We spent three days with an amazing couple on their farm where they spoiled us with delicious food and lovely warm cabins to sleep in. When we were not eating food and drinking coffee, which it seems we did an awful lot of, we were learning all about Iceland and its different landscapes, in particular its sadly depleted forests.

You would never know it now by looking at it but Iceland used to be covered in rich birch forests. However, during the days of settlement, the Vikings cut down huge amounts of the forest to build their homes and heat themselves during the harsh winters. They would also clear forests to create grazing land for sheep, cattle, and horses. This new cleared land was quickly assaulted by the fierce winds that run over Iceland and without any trees or their large root systems to keep the soil in place erosion set in. To make matters worse, over time several volcanic explosions occurred and brought large amounts of ash and volcanic soil that caused the already eroding land to form huge black sandy deserts. What’s ironic is that this volcanic soil is actually very fertile and great for growing plants but the wind is so harsh that it wont allow plants to take root.

 Many people in Iceland have come to realize that without the trees, Iceland’s fertile soil and farmlands could be in real trouble and that the best way to fix this problem is to start planting more trees to help boost Iceland’s forests.

So amid freezing wind, rain, and the occasional snowflake, and lots of jokes about what to do if the volcano erupts, we helped collect birch tree seeds and plant them in places that they could grow and be the most help. It was not only a hands on learning experience for us but it was an activity that brought us closer together as a group.

Being from a state that is known for it’s many trees and huge forests, this project really helped me better appreciate the beautiful place I come from. It put my surroundings in perspective and made me so much more appreciative of the many trees I am lucky to have constantly surrounding me. 

~Jordin Muller 

Living and Learning

Margaret Hoyt

My expectations of what this experience would be like have been surpassed within just three weeks of living Solheimar. I was pretty clueless about much of my impending experience including what my living situation would be, who my fellow group members would be, how difficult the academics would be, what my day to day life would consist of, etc. Usually, not knowing this information would make me anxious and concerned but with this experience, I was too overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation to worry about those details. I had a sense of confidence in the journey I was about to embark on, with whatever it held, and was eager for it to begin. Those feelings of assurance did not steer me incorrectly, I have had the most amazing time in Iceland thus far and have learned more in this short amount of time than I would have in an entire semester at school. Just as a side note, I think that gives credit to the power of experiential learning and proves how significant learning outside of a traditional classroom really is.

Currently past the one-quarter mark, we are now fully part of a unified community at Solheimar, one excelling at community values and aiming to live as sustainably as possible. Within our time here we have climbed Mount Hestur, hiked the porsmork  trail, herded sheep for a local farmer, watched several documentaries including Meltdown, Carbon Nation, and Temple Gradin, made pottery at Solheimar workshops (others worked in forestry, the community garden, soap making, paper making or weaving), had countless one-on-one and group discussions about sustainability (including changing our lifestyles to personally live more sustainably as well as being models of sustainability for our families, friends and complete strangers to possibly follow) how we can find hope in humanity, etc., and just today, we returned from a three day trip to the Hekla forest.

While here, I’ve had many realizations. None more significant than the understanding of how crucial my generation is. I’ve done more thinking about the state of our world as a whole than I ever have before. For some time, I’ve had a limited perspective that our earth is solely in environmental damage but being here, widening and deepening my global perspective, has sadly made me realize, our world is in a much more devastating situation. We seem to be ignorantly striding towards humanities downfall with no intention of changing our habits and improving our future. Not learning much from the 2008 economic crash, we are striving to reach the same economic power as before and are even aiming for beyond. Instead of changing our mindsets, we are still greedy, money driven individuals who find the most happiness in power and fortune.

For much of my life, I was money orientated. I thought money equaled security so I was therefore extremely frugal growing up. I didn’t pay attention to the quality of food I was eating or where my clothing was being made but instead focused on the price tag and the price tag alone. Thanks to the wake up call from my mom and sister, I no longer think that like and this experience in Iceland has only validated that mindset change even more. Money should not be the sole driver in our decisions, we should not always do what is cheapest. Although I agree it should continue to be a factor, other elements should play a part as well like, is this decision helping my neighbor, is this supporting a friend of mine, is riding my bike improving my health, would changing my eating habits decrease my ecological footprint? Instead of being money, money, money, or cheap, cheap, cheap, we need to think more globally. 

To end on a happier note, my generation is very much in the hot seat but I am optimistic. I find the most hope in my classmates. We are young individuals who have made ourselves aware and informed of our environmental, economical, and political situation and instead of brushing it under the rug, we are joining together to brainstorm strategies and begin being role models of sustainability.  I cannot wait to develop these thoughts more and continue this amazing experience with my new incredible friends. 

Hope guides me

Something I’ve been struggling with lately is the idea that there is a cost for every type of green technology and sustainable lifestyle. Hydropower disrupts fish migration, floods the landscape, and prevents sediment (nutrients) from moving downstream. Solar panels require minerals that must be mined. The water extracted for utilization by geothermal plants can be corrosive, leading to the pipes being frequently replaced. Wind power is intermittent and therefore does not function as a reliable energy source with the current electrical grid. Nuclear power has all sorts of issues from weapons proliferation to radioactive waste, but even newer reactors such as thorium molten salt reactors can require mining. Often fossil fuels are hidden in the building supplies or transportation of materials.

None of these technologies, and I’d venture to assume no technology, comes for free. The obvious solution is to not rely on such technologies, but rather to live consuming as few resources as possible. However, lifestyles of reduction and simplicity can be costly in other ways. The ability to travel and experience culture and history is a beautiful part of the modern world, which unfortunately at this point requires fossil fuels. Globalization, while sometimes damaging to cultural integrity, is an amazing tool that allows the exchange of ideas and philosophies, which can lead to the ability to view a scenario from multiple perspectives. It allows us as societies and as individuals to look to each other as models and teachers in our attempts to craft a better world and better selves. Giving up those experiences for the sake of reduced carbon emissions is a very real cost.

So what does this mean for the creation of a sustainable world? The more I learn about environmental issues, the more I realize that there is no magic bullet solution, just as there is no single root cause of the problems. Maybe there never will be a perfect solution. Maybe we are simply trapped in a cycle of trial and error as we try to maintain our lifestyles and unintentionally create new problems. I think that refusing to act until we find or create a perfect solution to environmental problems is fruitless. Therefore we must move forward with the choices available despite the known and unknown consequences.

                In the last class of the semester, one of my favorite professors explained to us that despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, he still had hope for a better future. It is with a thorough understanding of consequences, but also with hope that we must confront environmental issues. It continues to amaze me how often hope is the foundation for everything we do.

 

-Alicia

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               Only when you truly encounter and then embrace what is stronger and what is bigger than you, can you fully appreciate your own limitedness and insignificance. This is one of the many things I have learned in Iceland.

              The land here is vast, but also relatively uninhibited. Some Icelanders would jokingly say that there are more sheep than people on this island. Bad weather conditions combined with severe deforestation, sometimes I, as a visitor, could not endure the coldness and pain from the wind, let alone people who would spend years after years in this kind of place. But if you ask me if I want to stay here for the rest of my life, I would cry out: of course yes! I would in fact choose to live in the countryside and raise some sheep. Then I would go out into the mountain to catch them and do sheep herding with my neighbors from far and far away in the fall. 

             Life here should be simple, just as simple as the colors that the country has. But if you are careful enough, you will be able to discover more in this kind of simplicity than the seemly-unlimited options in the city. Life here is not just herding sheep and sucking wind. People would also gather around with one another that they could talk to people they could only talk with once a year; people would also ride their horses into the heart of the mountain to capture those sanguine sheep; people would also celebrate the captures of the sheep by drinking brandy-filled hot soup in the fierce wind; they would also be happy and by simple. 

            Similarly, simplicity in color, as manifested in the mere black and white, makes this island more exciting. We could see a wide spectrum of man-made colors in the city, but what we cannot see is precisely such simple combination of colors. Such simplicity makes this place pristine, which in turn, cleanses us travellers and wash down the filth of human civilization. The feelings of that moment, when you feel like you have conquered something with your physical strength and mental power, when your sweat dropping from your cheek bones, and when you were about to cry out some random syllables, you may start to realize that it was not you who conquered this majestic place; but rather, it was this place conquered you, overwhelmed your, and transcended you.

            A place that would transcend you. If I were to create a commercial line for Iceland tourism, I would use this one. It does not merely change you; it turns you into a completely different person, the person that you would want more in you, than the person in the past. 

Constantine Michael

Take a Look Around

Janine Benyus believes if an item “can’t be found in nature, there is probably a reason for it” (Northwest Institute).  Benyus believes humans can create positive change upon the environment through the concept of biomimicry in which we imitate the designs of nature. 

If you stand back and look at the room you are currently standing in ask yourself, “are any of the objects in this room found in nature?" Many of the objects we encounter in our daily lives are altered by man. The wooden floor you stand on is coated by a man-made varnish. The walls that surround you are made of drywall and insulation. The bed you sleep in may have a blanket made from cotton, an ingredient naturally found in nature. However, read the label. Is the blanket all cotton or a cotton acrylic blend? 

Most of our surroundings being man-made has two major consequences. First, by surrounding ourselves with all man-made products we are inevitably creating a barrier between us and nature. The separation between “inside” and “outside” becomes that much greater. If our minds are no longer connected to nature then our consciences and moral responsibility to care for our environment will dissipate as well.

Second, if any object is not naturally created there is no natural “sink” or in this case no  “garbage” for the object to return to at the end of its use. By creating anthropogenic materials we are literally displacing millions of items that can never be fully absorbed back into the environment. 

Our planet is a mastermind. The earth has a remarkable way of recycling all of nature and its processes. Unfortunately, the earth was not built to recycle all of our manufactured goods. 

We must reduce our consumption of synthetic materials in order to reduce our waste. The earth was not built to be one huge garbage container and we can no longer treat it as one. 

Tara Byrne