"Earth On Edge" Video Review

I thought the video "Earth On Edge" does a great job reminding the viewer of some of the main environmental issues we face today. The video touched different areas of the globe and a wide variety of problems. Areas such as the midwestern United States and the impact of agriculture, South Africa's exotic trees causing water scarcity, and the negative impacts of the logging industry in Vancouver Island. In the midwest United States, growing crops and grazing cattle have destroyed most of the Great Plains. Fertilizers poisoned the Mississippi River and lead to the "dead zone" in the Mississippi delta. Today, more farmers are attempting to switch back to more sustainable methods. In South Africa, environmental activists have invited the local villages to help exterminate exotic European trees that threaten the water supply. Not only do the environmentalists recruit people to help cut down the trees, they also spread the words of conservation and the importance of saving their local environments. In Vancouver Island, logging companies have clear-cutted many forests, which have destroyed many rivers that serve as an important source for large mammals and fish. Today, the island's logging companies who depend on the trees for the survival of their economy, practice selective cutting which improves both their own lives and the wildlife.
The problems covered in the video really reminded me of the South Florida environmental issues. Deforestation and development, invasion of exotic plants and animals, and the negative impacts of agriculture all occur in our own backyard. This video would be an excellent learning tool for our local citizens to understand the wide array of issues we face today and how we must confront them.