Shifting baseline

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/shifting-baseline

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the conceptual originator?Ian McHarg in 'Design With Nature' (1969)
2. What is the key proponent and terminology?Daniel Pauly, who developed 'shifting baseline syndrome' in fisheries science
3. Why do people forget how many fish were once in the ocean?Scientists often start measuring fish numbers when they begin their career, so they see the fish population as it is now, not how many were before. Because the fish were already lower, they think the numbers are normal. This makes it hard to notice how many fish have disappeared over decades.
4. How does the shifting baseline affect fish farms and conservation?If managers think the current fish numbers are the goal, they set recovery targets that are too low. This means the fish never get back to the healthy levels they used to have, and the decline keeps going.

Baseline: A reference point or standard against which measurements are made or changes are assessed.
Shifting Baseline Syndrome: The phenomenon where historical ecological conditions are forgotten or ignored, leading to acceptance of degraded states as normal.
Ecological Baseline: The state of an ecosystem at a specific point in time, often considered its natural or unimpacted condition.
Perceptual Drift: A gradual change in how something is perceived or understood over time.