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Environ-mentalists Off-Topic Thread :)

  • 18-10-2010 7:34pm
    #1
    tbh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,914 ✭✭✭✭


    Howdy folks -

    I wanted to get the ball rolling and the charter up so ye can start posting. Charter will be subject to change - this is a user driven forum in every sense of the word, so input is welcome, here, in dedicated threads, or via PM.

    Permanent mods will be along shortly - nothing sinister in the delay, just busy schedules and slowly turning wheels. In the meantime, feel free to chat away here and for gawds sake, someone thing of something more witty than "off-topic thread"


Comments

  • #2
    El Siglo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    Enviro-mentalist's guide to the universe?

    or

    Nuking whales and clubbing baby seals? (I like this one personally;)).

    or

    The Fantabulous Contraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel?


  • #3
    El Siglo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    I hope people like the new name.:D


  • #4
    Cork boy 55
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,324 ✭✭✭Cork boy 55


    Why is there an environmental science forum and
    also are sustainabitliy and enivironment issues forum?

    Whats the divide between two
    what should be in one and what should be in other?

    :confused:


  • #5
    El Siglo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    Cork boy 55 wrote: »
    Why is there an environmental science forum and
    also are sustainabitliy and enivironment issues forum?

    Whats the divide between two
    what should be in one and what should be in other?

    :confused:

    Well according to wikipedia:
    Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, (including but not limited to Ecology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Soil Science, Geology, Atmospheric Science and Geography) to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.

    Whereas sustainability and environmental issues would probably have to do with the management of natural resources (i.e. stewardship etc...).

    Although the areas are similar, they are by no means the same or could even be encapsulated as being the same thing. Environmental science is a science, it's driven by the scientific method:

    1. Define a question
    2. Gather information and resources (observations)
    3. Form an explanatory hypothesis
    4. Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a reproducible manner
    5. Analyze the data
    6. Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
    7. Publish results
    8. Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

    In a nutshell then, this forum is geared towards the science bit, the stuff that can be accepted or rejected based on the evidence presented. Nothing is 'managed' and everything is enquiry driven.

    Sustainability and environmental issues on the other hand is not necessarily driven by the scientific method but more a response to stewardship of natural resources.

    So essentially, the difference between the two using the ban on peat harvesting as an example. A sustainability and environmental management person will talk about the ban on turf cutting, the remit of the ban, the people behind the ban, the pros and cons of the ban etc... An environmental science person will tell you the impact of turf cutting (as an activity) on the water tables of bogs, the depletion of peat stocks, the loss of plant species, the encroachment of invasive species, the possible contaminants associated with turf cutting, the carbon and greenhouse retention of bogs, peats depths around the country etc...


  • #6
    Cork boy 55
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,324 ✭✭✭Cork boy 55


    So the Science forum is where the academics, engineers and educated
    come and talk equations and so on the other forum is where the great unwashed go to talk about the colour of wheelie bins and stuff. :);)

    Does that mean that this forum is very quiet in comparision
    I imagine there is a great deal of duplication between the two.

    Which is the most active forum?

    edit
    just checked

    threads posts
    2576 29665 SEI
    115 520 ES


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  • #7
    Drizzella
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭Drizzella


    Not sure where to put this.... was in Limerick last week... getting some good photos.. got there about 11am.. and watched in horror a woman from a very well known antique shop take her dog for a walk at the bridge at the castle, let the dog foul. then picked it up in a poly bag firing it into the river..... now we all know, thats not on.. so does she do this every day I wonder...


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