Description: You have been asked to make a speech for the annual convention of Citizens for a Greener Planet, a national environmental group, on the idea of sustainable development. Since most of your listeners are not scientists, you want to use illustrations which lay people can understand. You have decided to describe the concept by describing the social factors which brought about the collapse of the Easter Island civilization. You then intend to compare these events to the on-going deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. Conclude the speech by describing what should be done to make sustainable growth a reality.
Objective: Analyze the sustainability of an ecosystem.
Once again, we are focusing on the ecosystems and sustainability.
A good focus area here is deforestation.
Read about what occurs with Easter Island. Then think about our present rates of deforestation taking place throughout the world. Do our present rates compare with what happened on Easter Island?
Do you think this area of environmental issues plays to what some people call ''environmental war''? Do we foresee a future similar to that of Easter Island?