Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of agriculture on the environment
Industrial revolution impacts on environment
Industrial revolution impacts on environment
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects of agriculture on the environment
Agriculture: Evolution or Devolution?
Considering that the alarming excess and continuing growth of the current world population (of humans) is directly tied to food production and availability, the question of how and why we even developed the technology of agriculture in the first place is becoming more and more relevant to human survival as we collectively continue to destroy the environment in which we live due in part to these very agricultural techniques and strategies that we are continuing to employ today. Current estimations show that at around the same time that agriculture was beginning to develop and thrive, the population of our ancestors started to double at a rate that was far higher than what it had been previously for the more than 2 million years of prior human existence. What does this then mean, and what does it say about humans and their attitude towards the environment? This hinges largely on the viewpoints to which we allow ourselves to be open.
The most common view taken is that most (if not all) technologies we create mark an "advance" for humankind. Perhaps because they are prized so much either for their practical or symbolic value, it has become difficult to regard the technologies without a bias towards their immediate effects on human society as opposed to the overall compatibility with the rest of the natural world. Within this mindset, it is very hard to put aside the very "advanced" tools that seem to form the foundation of what a complicated, sophisticated, intelligent human is supposed to be. In this light, a complex process like agriculture cannot be anything but an advance, and any lifestyle that dates prior to the agricultural advent must, by subtle implication, be inferior. This infe...
... middle of paper ...
...e technologies we created, from market economy and weapons of mass destruction to the simpler-scale household appliances. This suggests that many do not really see the frictions such technologies impose on our surroundings as problems, but rather according to their perception of the way things are, the tools they use are only doing exactly what they were supposed to and it cannot be helped. And moreover, this is so ingrained in most modern human cultures that the constituents of said cultures do not even see a problem with that.
Sources
Ehrlich, Paul R. "Human Natures: Genes Cultures, and the Human Prospect". Island Press, 2000.
Cipolla, Carlo M. "The Economic History of World Population". The Harvester Press, 1978
Ponting, Clive. "A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations". St. Martin's Press, New York, 1991.
The Vietnam War brought many tears and casualties to both the United States and Vietnam. Millions of soldiers lost their lives in the time consuming battle. On February 8, 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote a letter to Ho Chi Minh, Dictator of Vietnam at the time. President Johnson’s letter expresses his hopes of ending this conflict that has gone on so long in Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh replied back on February 15, 1967 stating that it had been the United States that prolonged the wicked war. President Ho Chi Minh’s reply to President Johnson was the more persuasive of the two letters, because he appealed more to pathos, used stronger and bolder diction, and asked an important rhetorical question.
Ponting, Clive. Ch.11 from "A Green History of the World," St. Martins Press, NYC, 1991
Vietnam War (1954-1975) is considered as one of those big wars of the modern world that has been acknowledged and studied by countries in the world. Especially, in regard to the United States, starting and ending war in Vietnam was an unforgettable experience that has left a priceless lesson in its foreign policy, and of course a lot of loss, physically, mentally, and property. “The Legacy of Vietnam” article of George Herring basically summarizes how the Vietnam War led to an end in failure of America and what consequences it left behind.
As small mobile groups of hunter-gatherers adopted a sedentary lifestyle, they mastered both agriculture and animal domestication. These small settled groups quickly evolved into cities and towns that encompassed the entire globe. Today the estimated population of the world is over 6.2 million people.1 As the population has grown, it has had several deleterious effects on the Earth. These include climate changes, the spread of diseases, declining food production, deforestation, and environment pollution (particularly air pollution). As people have become more conscious of these harmful effects, they have begun to devise strategies to combat this problem. Among the suggested responses include a switch to renewable energy, a call for zero population growth, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
Between 1650 and 1713, the Dutch Republic faced many challenges to it's security, unity and prosperity. In these years, the Dutch Republic faced a decline in trade, increased debt, crushing military defeats and a skeptical, divided society, all of which threatened the vitality of the Republic.
The Dutch Republic was very successful economically and militarily around the 1650s. The Dutch were a well-respected nation in Europe due to the power they held over trade routes during the middle of the 17th century. Later, the Dutch Republic began to decline because of wars initiated by power-hungry competitor nations, mounting internal issues, and deteriorating trade in the later part of the 17th century.
64-66), author Jared Diamond claims that agriculture as opposed to popular belief, didn’t help civilization bloom, but instead proved detrimental to human lives ever since its introduction. He states that the progressives believe agriculture was adopted due to its efficiency and how it complimented our race. He contradicts this view with multiple studies and expert sources. According to his research, modern day humans are much worse off than their hunter gatherer counterparts due to a variety of lifestyle changes ranging from greatly deteriorated nutritional quality to increased sexual discrimination. He gathers the support from various archaeological research conducted on various remains found in Chile, Greece, Turkey, etc. Archaeologists can further point out the date at which this switch (from Gathering to agriculture) took place. He further establishes that Hunter gatherers may have chosen to change ways with the preconceived idea that the capability to feed more people and reducing the burden on mothers (hence allowing them to bear a child every 2 years instead of 4) would in turn drastically improve quality of life. He concludes the article by emphasizing on how it created disparities between the elite and the commoners and by defending his own kind for having discovered mankind’s biggest mistake and the motive behind
In today's world, technology is constantly changing from a new paperclip to an improvement in hospital machinery. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. Some people focus their energy on making new innovations to improve transportation and the health of people that may save lives and some people focus on making new designs of packaging CDS. Technology is significant in everyone's life because it rapidly changes what is in the market. But, some new innovations of technology are ridiculous because they serve no purpose in helping mankind.
[5] Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of
John Donne's "The Funeral" and "Holy Sonnet 3" are undeniably similar in their discussions of the separation of the body and soul. Each poem deals directly with the idea of death and afterlife. However, the topic of death is referred to not as an ending but more of as a beginning to a new life, exclusively for the soul. Each poem reflects the soul being released from the body as a way of cleansing the spirit while allowing the mind to rid itself of things that might have troubled the speaker while living. Through death the soul is given a second life, free of previous concerns and with new virginity to the blessings of the afterlife.
John McNeill, in his informative book, Something New Under the Sun, he discusses how the twentieth century brought the world into a steady decline. Although the world has improved technology-wise, it has also had a decline that overshadows the improvement we have seen. McNeil goes on to prove that it is humans, with our new technology are the reason behind this fateful decline. The world’s population has positively and negatively affected the twentieth century world by bringing “ecological changes” that will forever change the world(4).
The blessing and curse of the Agricultural Revolution is advocated with its augmentation and dissemination. Taking the stipulative definition of “blessing” and “curse” from the original premise, one can only superimpose the layman’s terms of “negative” and “positive”. Upon examination of the two classifications within the Neolithic Period and ancient Mesopotamian civilization one can confirm the premise. Therefore, the agriculture revolution was a blessing and a curse for humanity. Human society began to emerge in the Neolithic Period or the New Stone Age. This new age began around 9,000 B.C.E. by the development of agriculture in the region surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and what is commonly referred to as “The Fertile Crescent” located in West Asia.1 The very development of agriculture had benefited humans by no longer having to move about in search of wild game and plants. Unencumbered by nomadic life humans found little need to limit family size and possessions and settled in a single location for many years. One negative aspect of this settling is that the population increased so much so that wild food sources were no longer sufficient to support large groups. Forced to survive by any means necessary they discovered using seeds of the most productive plants and clearing weeds enhanced their yield.2 This also lead humans to develop a wider array of tools far superior to the tools previously used in the Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age. The spread of the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period also cultivated positive aspects by creating connections with other cultures and societies. Through these connections they exchanged knowledge, goods, and ideas on herding and farming.3 Another major positive aspec...
A Green History of the World has been very educational reading and has given me a new prospective on the environment. While I do disagree with some of Clive Pointing’s views I have learned a lot from his work. A Green History of the World was a very in-depth look at the past and the future of our environment. Pointing raised my consciousness regarding the trials we face as inhabitants of this great planet and left me with some food for thought.
Ponting, Clive. A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print.
Agriculture is quite possibly the most important advancement and discovery that humanity has made. It produces the one thing that we need the most: food. It has been around since 9500 BC, and can be the oldest sign of mankind’s acumen and the development and evolving of our minds and creations. Agriculture has been mastered throughout hundreds of years and is one of our most important resources on Earth, along with water and fossil fuels. Although the older farming methods from ancient times seem somewhat mediocre and barbaric, they were very ingenious and advanced for that time period. Over thousands of years, we have improved the way agriculture is used, how land is cultivated, the various techniques of farming and irrigation, and the tools and mechanics used. Numerous things that we see as aboriginal today, such as using a hand plow, were extremely contemporary in ancient times, and played key roles in the development of man and society, since quick labor was not abundant before this time. We are now extremely advanced in agriculture and irrigation and the tools used to farm and grow and harvest crops. We have learned from our past and ancestors how to grow and evolve in our methods and have advanced forward greatly.