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Non-human Beings, "Natural" Infrastructure by Alberto Morales

AlbertoM
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As a participant in the NOLA Anthropocene Campus, I have gained insights on how communities, stewards, and managers of ecosystems in New Orleans have rolled out forms of interspecies care vis-à-vis ongoing environmental changes, coastal erosion, climate catastrophes and their deeply present and current effects (i.e., the 2010 BP oil disaster). Whilst much analytical lens has been given to geospatial changes in the study of the Anthropocene, here, I focus on how relations to non-human beings, also threatened by the changing tides of NOLA’s waterscapes, can enrich our understanding of such global transformations.

After disasters like Katrina, urban floodwaters harbored many hidden perils in the form of microbes that cause disease. Pathogenic bacterial exposure occurred when wastewater treatment plants and underground sewage got flooded, thus affecting the microbial landscape of New Orleans and increasing the potential of public health risks throughout Southern Louisiana. But one need not wait for a disaster event like Katrina to face these perils. Quotidian activities like decades of human waste and sewage pollution have contaminated public beaches now filled with lurking microbes. Even street puddle waters, such as those found on Bourbon Street, contain unsanitary bacteria level from years of close human exploitation of horses and inadequate drainage in 100-year old thoroughfares. More recently, microbial ecologies have also changed in the Gulf of Mexico due to the harnessing of energy resources like petroleum. Lush habitats for countless species are more and more in danger sounding the bells of extinction for the imperiled southern wild.

Human-alteration has severely damaged the wetland marshes and swamps that would have protected New Orleans from drowning in the water surge that Hurricane Katrina brought from the Gulf of Mexico. The latter is something that lifelong residents (i.e., indigenous coastal groups) of the Mississippi River Mouth have been pointing to for a  long time. Over the past century, the river delta’s “natural” infrastructure has been altered by the leveeing of the Mississippi River. Consequently, much of the silt and sediments that would generally run south and deposit in the river mouth to refeed the delta get siphoned off earlier upstream by various irrigation systems.

Emerging Interspecies Relations

AlbertoM
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While some actors see it as a futile effort, there have been many proposals to restore the Mississippi River Delta. For instance, the aerial planting of mangrove seeds has even been recommended to help protect the struggling marshes and Louisiana’s coastal region. Tierra Resources, a wetland’s restoration company, proposed that bombing Lousiana’s coast with mangrove seeds could save it. Mangrove root systems are especially useful in providing structures to trap sediments and provide habitats for countless species. Additionally, mangroves have been touted as highly efficient species in carbon sequestration, thus taking carbon dioxide out of the biosphere.

Species diffusion into new environments has been of great concern for the different lifeways these soggy localities sustain, whether human or non-human. Many so-called “invasive species” have been identified throughout the river delta by researchers at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research hosted by Tulane and Xavier University. Such species have disrupted local ecological relations and practices and have had profound economic effects. Some plants have even entirely blocked waterways in the swamps and estuaries where salt and freshwater mix. 

Louisiana’s humid subtropical climate, and the diverse ecosystems therein, also warrant attention in that they can incubate some of the world’s deadliest parasites and other microbes. Of particular concern would be some of today's Neglected Tropical Diseases (i.e., Chagas, Cysticercosis, Dengue fever, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma, Toxocariasis, and West Nile virus) often perceived as only affecting tropical regions of Latin America and revealing the enduring legacies of colonial health disparities.

How and when are seemingly quotidian events and upsets understood as not isolated but rather as produced in conjunction with other anthropocenics worldwide? What roles will interspecies relations and forms of care play as we cope with further anthropocenic agitation?

NOLA’s oldest tree, McDonogh Oak in City Park, 800 years old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK9YoGpng_c&t=0s

Other trees in New Orleans: https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-orleans-louisiana/trees

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harrison.leinweber
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CEHC offers Undergraduate majors and minors and a Graduate certificate. The major requires 39 credits, or 13 courses, to complete. Students must select a concentration from Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity. There are 9 core courses and the remaining 4 are in the concentration. The minor requires a student to take 6 classes in the college. The graduate course of study is divided into tracks in which students take courses.

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harrison.leinweber
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Dr. Schmid used a variety of sources and methods to produce her report. She pulled a lot of information from other essays, whether they be directly relating to the Fukushima incident or nuclear safety and preparedness in general. She also conducted communication with a number of other researchers and experts in the field. Additionally, she pulled a great deal from IAEA documents and US NRC publications.

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harrison.leinweber
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This article seemed like an introduction to a book and didn't really present any susbstative arguments. It mostly talked about how large organizations like WHO function and what some of their protocols are. It also discussed how infections and diseases can spread differently in the current era versus how they used to be spread.

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harrison.leinweber
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MSF relies upon what ever technology and infrastructure they can afford to send to a certain area. Becuase they avoid using facilities that the host country has, they are able to establish their own infrastructure in an area. Additionally, certain areas may be greatly helped by some types of medical technology while others aren't. They rely upon doctors being able to make due in difficult environments as well.

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harrison.leinweber
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This chapter focuses heavily on the a 1997 law in France that allows illegal immigrants to stay in France on a health basis and be granted amnesty as they receive health care. It discusses how this law evolved over several years to become what it is. The chapter also addresses humanitarianism and how it relates to treating and deporting illegal immigrants who are suffering from health problems.