Mercury Summer
Discoveries concerning the strain human existence has had upon Mother Nature, and the fear of impeding doom have led to a growing desire to better understand and curtail humanities impact. Focus has fallen upon the disruption humanity has had upon the natural cycles of the earth. Humanity has erected an existence which is not in sync with Mother Nature, but instead is at war with it. We have chosen to ignore the rules and laws which govern all other life on earth in hopes of creating a utopia. And for quite some time it seemed that we had been largely successful. But as human population grew exponentially fear began to creep into peoples minds about whether or not this way of life was sustainable. Yet no substantial actions were taken to change course.
That brings us to present day where slowly but surely peoples eyes are being opened to the destruction caused by our chosen path. Where people realize that this way of life is not sustainable, in an economic and social sense, and significant actions are being taken. Ignorance is no longer an option with amazing and scary evidence of our wrongdoing. Phenomenon such as global warming and the recent increase in diseases have come as a well needed slap in the face. The realization of the catastrophic consequences of humanities past actions has resulted in the presence of our collective backs against a wall. Now we are left wondering where to turn in order to avoid total destruction. The key to our survival may lay not in technological advancement but instead in renewing our long lost relationship with mother earth. The solution comes in using science not as a tool for technological advancement but instead as a way to gain a better understanding about Mother Nature. To discover how we can coexist with Mother Nature and apply her rules and laws to us.
The past couple of months I have been at Clarkson University in their REU program doing my best to understand the interactions between Mother Nature and mercury in hopes that the discoveries made will be a step, all be it a small one, towards a newfound understanding of this element and how to deal with it.
My bio and the summer that was...