First steps towards environmental leadership
I have always had an interest in the environment. Growing up between a sugar plantation and my grandfather’s farm in Colombia led to the development of a close relationship with nature. As a kid, I never gave much thought to the impact my actions had on the planet, but I enjoyed every second I spent outdoors. I grew up surrounded by fruit trees of all kinds, colorful birds, and big weird looking insects. When I look back at my childhood now, I am grateful and could not wish for a better experience with nature.
The first environmental issue I was exposed to was global warming. It was first presented to me in high school and it only gained “popularity” throughout college. In my freshman year of college, after 3 years away from Colombia, I was shocked to look at pictures of my childhood and see how green and lush the vegetation was in the places were I grew up. When I visit now, it is heartbreaking to see dirt over what once used to be green pastures, a trail of rock were there was once a river, or an empty whole were a small lake once sat. Global warming had never hit so close to home. In my freshman year of college I decided that I needed to do something.
Experiencing sustainability
Prior to joining EcoLead, I had only participated in environmental efforts such as cleanup campaigns, recycling at home, and one or two events to raise awareness about global warning. Being a part of EcoLead this semester has given me more tools to approach different environmental issues and to think about them critically.
The first choice I can single out as being influenced by the EcoLead program and my newly gained knowledge is my decision to become vegetarian. Since the beginning of 2016, I have been able to adhere to a nearly %100 vegetarian diet. Contrary to some popular believe, it has not been more expensive than an omnivore diet. The factor that influenced my choice to become vegetarian was learning about the significantly higher negative impact omnivore diets have in the environment. In an article published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, authors Baroni, Cenci, Tettamanti, and Beratie (2007) compared the environmental impact of a vegetarian diet, a vegan diet, and a omnivore diet, and found that omnivore diets have the greatest impact on the environment (Baroni et al., 2007)
In order to share my experience as a vegetarian with the class, my group agreed that it would be a fun experience to go to a vegan restaurant as our required social project for the semester. After class, on a Tuesday, we decided to go to Casa de Luz, an all-organic and plant based dining center. Everyone loved their dinner that day and we are talking about going to the restaurant as a group again.
An introduction to climate, weather, and their effect on human behavior
NASA defines climate as the behavior of the atmosphere over relatively long periods of time. Weather, on the other hand, refers to atmospheric conditions over short periods of time (NASA). While weather deals with day-to-day or even month-to-month atmospheric events such as rain, snow, cloudiness, mist, wetness, etc., climate looks at averages over time to determine overall, long term changes in the atmosphere.
Behavior is defined as the way an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus. In regards to how weather or climate affect behavior, which one is exerting the change is also determined the timeframe during which the stimulus affects behavior. Questions about how weather affects behavior inquire about the effects of rain, a sunny day, snow, or heat over one or more of the traits that influence a person’s behavior. Questions regarding the effects of climate on behavior may compare averages of temperature across generations or average of rainfall over long periods of time.
Even though weather has widely been thought to influence behavior, research has mainly focus on the psychological impact of weather on humans. Such research has found positive correlations between temperature and aggression, and negative correlations between temperature and irritability and combativeness (Anderson, 2001; and Baron and Ransberger, 1978). In a literature review, de Montigny, Ling, and Zacharias identified air temperature, direct solar radiation, wind speed, and humidity as the weather factors that most notably affect behavior (De Montigny et al., 2012).
Research Project: Design
In order to address a whole in the literature regarding weather and behavior, I wish to conduct a small study on the relationship between temperature and human activity outdoors. I will ask classmates in the EcoLead class to share some information from their observations collected during their time in nature. This information will include perceive temperature, actual temperature (as indicated by their smartphones), the date, time, length of their stay, and an approximate number of people seen.
Observations and predictions
From personal experience and information gathered during my times spent in nature this semester, I expect people to be more likely to participate in outdoors activities when temperatures are neither too cold nor too warm, and that long intermission of extreme weather conditions are a predictor of high outdoors participation when followed by ideal weather. A study by de Freitas (2015) supports this idea and adds that temperature, when near extremes, evokes behaviors that help people cope with the weather in order to remain in nature.
Next steps
Data collection from EcoLead students will commence in early March and continue throughout the course of the semester. Reports on this data will be included in entries to follow.
Bibliography
Anderson, C. A. (2001). Heat and violence. Current Directions In Psychological Science. 10:33-38.
Baroni, L., Cenci, L., Tettamanti, M., & Berati, M. (2007). Evaluating the environmental impact of various dietary patterns combined with different food production systems. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 61, 279-286.
Baron, R. A., & Ransberger, V., M. (1978). Ambient temperature and the occurrence of collective violence: the long, hot summer revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 36:351-360.
De Freitas, C. R. (2015) Weather a place-based human behavior: recreational preferences and sensitivity. International Journal of Biometeorology, 59(1), 55-63. doi: 10.1007/s00484-014-0824-6
De Montigny, L., Ling, R., & Zacharias, J. (2012). The effects of weather on walking rates in nine cities. Enviroment and Behavior. 44(6):821-840.
NASA Administrator (2005). NASA – What’s the Difference Between Weather and Climate? Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html