Environmental Degradation in Pacific Northwest

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Environmental Degradation in Pacific Northwest

Diamonds Five Point Framework is a popular tool used to analyze the demise of historic and contemporary societies. At the center of this theory is the idea that each society has its own set of social, political, economic, and ecological factors, which constitute the environment of a certain country. The less a certain society is able to manage these factors, the more hostile the environment becomes. If left unmitigated, the ultimate outcome is the collapse of the society. When applied to the modern Northwest Pacific, there is a concern that the environment of this region can be severely compromised due to the seismic vulnerability. Understanding what constitutes the environmental danger to Northwest Pacific is essential in ascertaining the regions level of preparedness and ability to mitigate the hostile factors.

Pacific Northwest is a geographical area, encompassing US and Canadian territories on the Western coast of the North America. This region is marked by its historic susceptibility to tectonic movements. Specifically, in 1700, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest, causing sudden land subsidence, drowning coastal forests, and, out in the ocean, lifting up a wave half the length of a continent (Schulz, 2016, p. 9). Such seismic activities are a sign of future possible similar events. This constitutes the reason for the growing concern that an earthquake of equal force may hit the Cascadia Subduction Zone (Totten, 2019). As a result, according to Diamonds theory, there is the first risk of the potential collapse, which is environmental degradation.

Naturally, the authorities are aware of the seismic vulnerability. Warning systems, such as ShakeAlert are implemented in Southern California, Northern California, and Pacific Northwest (Andrews, 2019). Seattle attempts to upgrade its buildings to make them more stable (Doughton & Gilbert, 2018). Families are recommended to compile stocks of food and learn to survive at least three days without gas or electricity (Toten, 2019). Unfortunately, some scientists believe that no amount of preparation will be sufficient to handle the impact of such a strong earthquake (Toten, 2019). Subsequently, the claim that Seattle and other cities in the Pacific Northwest are unprepared for a massive earthquake and tsunami is a valid one.

Although the fact of the seismic vulnerability cannot be influenced by human activities, societal factors pertaining to social preparedness can. 1700 Cascadia earthquake was not the first cataclysm to impact this region. Earthquakes in this area had happened for thousands of years and the indigenous people knew about them and transmitted the knowledge orally (Dinkbeiner, 2015). The problem is that it was not systematized, there was no technology capable of detecting the abnormal motion of plates, which left the inhabitants of Pacific Northwest at the start of the eighteenth century completely unprepared. The indigenous people would leave the area following earthquakes, but would always return decades later (Dinkbeiner, 2015). In essence, their response to the hostile environment was temporary migration, which did not help alleviate the damage done by the earthquakes at all.

Altogether, it should be evident that an earthquake presents a substantial danger to societys economy, stability, and demographics. 1700 Cascadia earthquake showcased the potential impact on the environment, which is expected to be repeated at some point in the future. State and local governments are aware of the risk and attempt to prepare the economy and population for a possible catastrophe by upgrading buildings, raising public awareness, and implementing warning systems. Yet, chances are that these measures will not be sufficient to mitigate the real consequences of a potential megathrust earthquake, which constitutes the environmental degradation in Diamonds framework.

References

Andrews R. G. (2019). Inside the plan to prepare the Pacific Northwest for a catastrophic earthquake. Web.

Dinkbeiner, A. (2015). The Great Quake and the Great Drowning. Web.

Doughton, S, & Gilbert, D. (2018). This is an urgent issue: Seattle makes little progress on buildings that can kill in earthquakes. Web.

Schulz, K. (2016). The really big one. In S. Holt & The American Society of Magazine Editors (Ed.), The Best American Magazine Writing 2016 (pp. 183-202). New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press.

Totten M. J. (2019). Off the Richter scale. Web.

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