Johan Rockström in his paper proposes a framework by defining boundaries for major planetary systems, which upon crossing, might create an imbalance and tremendous effects on the planet Earth.
It has been observed by scientists that our planet is, now, in the Holocene state for over 10,000 years, which supports growth, cultivation and several other factors that makes the environment suitable for survival. In spite of such stability, it has been made obvious that it might soon be under threat; or as few may argue, it is already under a threat. Rockström's framework, that he co-authored with a group of scientists, defines a list of nine planetary systems, including climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss etc., out of which, we have already crossed three of them in the recent post-industrial era, implying that Holocene, the human Eden garden, which is expected to last for several more thousands of years, might not be the same if we continue to alter the environment for selfish industrial purposes. Talking about alteration and quoting Ellis et al.
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Focusing on developing the production, consumption, bettering our economy, we have created a lot of environmental loss to the planet already. Melting of Greenland's icecap in 2012 could be one of the many examples. It is to be understood that in the anthropocene today, the human species is the driver; and there is an urgent need of identifying the saturation point and not transgress beyond, because in the heavily interlinked ecosystem, we might have to face multiple effects eventually. For example, deforestation should not be allowed not only because of the what is in the forest area or that land, also because forests heavily influence the rainfall and we wouldn't want a world without proper
There is no such thing as just changing something from one part and not having its effects distribute throughout the entire ecosystem. As an ecosystem continues changing and evolving, so will the organisms living around or in it. We must adapt to the environment or we will become extinct, unable to adapt into the rapidly changing environment we live in. Althout human impact on an environment may benefit us, it can also be harmful to nature. By taking care of what we do to the environment, we can prevent future negative changes in the environment and preserve earth’s natural state.
Society portrays the Earth as a resource, a place that provides an abundance of tools that are beneficial to one’s way of living. As time continues on, humanity’s definition of sustainability with the ecosystem becomes minor, meaning that it is not essential to their own lives. Thus, leading to the environment becoming polluted and affecting the human population. These ideas are demonstrated through these four sources: “Despair Not” by Sandra Steingraber, which provides the author’s perspective on the environmental crisis in terms of climate change.
Jared Diamond may be correct in that human activities have caused environmental issues that irreparable. The thing that is missing from this book, was the individual position. The book goes into explanations on how societies as a whole make the decision to impact the environment, when in reality it is the individuals who make the choices and influence those around themselves. What is intriguing is that Jared Diamond not only talks about the mismanagement of environment or the natural destruction of environment, he focuses on how human culture and beliefs influenced the mismanagement. It is very appropriate to engage into the rationalization of why events or the mismanagement occurred. Understanding that hunters and gatherers had to fail in one civilization otherwise there would be no need to enter into the agricultural era. From reading this book, one might find it oddly frightening that the environment is in peril because of personal action. The ideology that this book presents works in a way that it gets people thinking if their way of living is best for the society or if it is slowly, but gradually destroying the
The majority of people have a very basic understanding of Earth, the planet we reside in, let alone the seven other planets in our solar system. The eight planets surrounding our star, the Sun, are separated into two very simple categories: Jovian and Terrestrial Planets. Throughout this paper, I will be explaining the basic structure and properties of the eight planets in our solar system, along with a brief history on the discovery of our solar system and what’s to come in the future. I will also go in depth into the difference between the Jovian Planets and the Terrestrial Planets, from the basic differences to the different structures and properties.
For years, the environment has getting destroyed resulting in the melted Arctic ice caps due to global warming because of the pollution that goes into the atmosphere. It won’t stop there; if waste continues to accumulation at this rate, the earth will become a desert or covered by seawater. The world is a very delicate ecosystem and pollution is taking a toll on
The majority of the evidence from both the MEA reports and other findings suggests that Schumacher’s theory was fairly accurate. If mankind attempts to conquer nature, he will most likely lose. The predominant pattern shows that in the short term, exploiting the planet’s ecosystem services has proved extremely beneficial for humans, increasing our quality of life in numerous ways. However, the long term predictions indicate that further exploitation at similar rates will have severe repercussions. We need to stop battling with nature and start cooperating. If the ecosystem services are utilised in a sustainable manner, we will retain the use of them for many years to come.
While Rachel Carson’s “The Obligation to Endure”, Christopher Kemp’s "Medieval Planet", and Jared Diamond’s “The Ends of the World as We Know Them” all cover subjects relating to environmental issues, each author goes about purveying his or her message in a different manner. Kemp’s New Scientist article explains humanity’s environmental effects by imagining a world in which we never existed and hypothesizing how it would look and function with our absence. Carson’s essay depicts a frightening reality about the current state of humanity and the environment. She warns readers about how we are the only species who possess the capability to disrupt and even destroy Earth’s natural patterns. Diamond articulates his work with an unusual spin, using examples of historical civilizations that have snuffed themselves out by their own progress or poor relationship with the environment. The main message conveyed in Diamond's essay is that we are just as capable of choking ourselves out by our own doing today as were the historical civilizations that suffered the same fate. Despite their differing focuses, each article agrees that humans are outgrowing the finite amount of resources that the Earth can provide. A delicate symbiotic relationship between life and the environment has been maintained throughout time. Life on Earth was shaped by the constantly changing climate and surroundings. However, humans have gained the capacity to transcend this relationship. Through our ingenuity and industrialism, we have separated ourselves from natural restrictions. Because of this progress, we have been destroying the natural cycles of Earth’s environment and continue to do so at an alarming rate. Humanity has become Earth’s infection, ravaging the worl...
The title “Anthropocene” is officially a theoretical one as scientists are still debating upon its legitimacy. The earth has entered a new geological epoch dominated by humanity. This epoch has been coined the Anthropocene. The term is relatively new in the scope of things as it was suggested by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen in 2002 that we had left the time period previously we thought to be in ,the Holocene, and had entered the now thought to be current time period, The Anthropocene (Zalasiewicz). The reason for this change in epoch is the ever increasing effect of mankind upon our environment and the seemingly impossibility to find something unobstructed by mankind’s extensive reach. The skeptical attitude toward the Anthropocene is due in part to the Earths vast size; consequently, it is difficult for changes that humans have made to be permanent(Brown). While permanent topographic changes are unlikely, due to unpredictable natural occurrences in addition to weathering and erosion, some changes have a much more prolonged existence such as radioactive matter. An occurrence of this would be uranium-238 which contains a half life of 4.47 billion years.(Brown) The explanation behind humans unparalleled effect on the earth is the exponential increase in population in recent history, the population has increased from under 1 billion in the early nineteenth century to over 6 billion (Zalasiewicz) .This...
There is no hesitation when it comes to whether humans impact the global environment. However, it is questioned in whether human’s ecological footprint is either negatively or positively impacting. In clear perspective, humans share from both sides and their ecological footprint is noted towards whether it will benefit or harm the environment around them. Topics such as overpopulation, pollution, biomagnification, and deforestation are all human impacted and can harm the environment, but some include benefits into helping the world around us with solutions to their problems.
Climate change, otherwise known as global warming, has grown more apparent in recent years, with increased natural disasters, significantly warmer temperatures and unreasonably long seasons. Global warming is one of the main concerns that scientists have been researching for the past century. Scientific evidence shows that global warming is caused by human behaviors. Due to the amount of human-induced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have been released into the air, the earth is becoming a highly poisonous place to live on. Earth’s climate has been constantly changing ever since the Industrial Revolution, when innovations began and factories were built, which emitted mass air pollution. As more technological advances continued the years after, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air also increased. According to the UPI Space Daily News, “Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main cause of global warming - increased by 45% between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tonnes in 2010” (Writers 1). The 1900s through the 2000s is the time period in which humans caused the most air pollution by creating vehicles and other industrial machinery. In the contemporary time period, human activities that contribute to climate change consist of hydraulic fracturing, rice cultivation, the increase of fossil fuel burning, and the rise of deforestation.
The drastic change of Earth’s environment since the evolution from the Stone Age to now can not be denied. Every since the discovery of us...
"Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel," the report said.
In 1927, for the first time in history, the world’s population reached two billion people. In 2011, less than one hundred years later, it passed seven billion (Worldometers). Some may think that this is a positive increase, creating economic growth and significant innovations in fields such as agriculture, industry and medicine. However, the amount of difficulties our species will encounter over the next century because of this population increase, will greatly outweigh those few optimistic beliefs. For example, twelve to fifteen million hectares of forest are lost every year, the equivalent of thirty six football fields per minute (World Wildlife Fund). In 2011, there were an estimated nine and a half billion metric tonnes of carbon emissions put into our atmosphere (CO₂ Now). The list could go on and on, but ultimately, these are all just contributors to what might be humanity’s most challenging problem yet: climate change.
Our planet has managed to survive and thrive for about 4.54 billion years. In the last 2 million years we have caused enough damage and destruction to make our world “broken” beyond repair. We will not be able to get back the world we once had. The reason behind this is global warming, specifically, the increase of the global temperature due to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. If we do not make the issue of global warming a priority in today`s society, our entire way of life will be at risk. There are many reasons why so many people believe global warming should be a concern. Thoroughly examined points include: scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations. Though there are several points arguing how global warming should not be a concern, the reality of the matter is that it needs to be taken into consideration on a global scale before it is too late, as to do nothing would have devastating implications on humankind.
One of the most evident problems associated to the environment is the issue of the logging of trees, mainly in undisturbed places such as the Amazon basin. Trees are considered the lungs of the Earth. They recycle all the polluting carbon in the air and return oxygen back into our atmosphere, creating a stable cycle of carbon in our atmosphere. However, the impeccable rates which trees are being cut down in our forests have grown to ever increasing and alarming rates. Trees that are made way for farming are burnt up releasing deadly amounts of carbon and thus leading to the problem of global warming. As its names suggest the world is slowly warming up and without any notice the environment which God has gave us will be slowly eradicated. The daily lives which humans carry on about every day are also a factor influencing on our environment and global warming. By driving cars that have a thirst for petrol we are releasing carbon dioxide and furthermore impacting on the world?s climate. In Australia environmental impact has always been evident. Land clearing especially in places such as Queensland has caused land to lay dry and lifeless where all forms of life is destroyed. By clearing land we are not only affecting our climate but are also destroying animal habitat and the usage of the land. Senseless actions by commuters in Australia, emitting tons and tons of lethal gases vulnerable to the atmosphere are starting to take its toll on our climate. We are seeing a harsher climate and at the same time less rain. If we want to preserve our world we must take a stance on this issue and take action for what is right, not carrying on the actions that will lead to a desolate, destroyed Earth.