End of Nature

This Fleeting World is a small summary of ‘big history’. David Christian’s book is a mere 92 pages long with an included 9-page prequel (on topics during the first years without humans such as Earth’s creation and more) and 16-page appendix on the book’s use in school, historical periodization, and a 4-page list of sources. With around 120 pages, this short book seems to be the perfect size to represent how our species’ history is only miniscule fraction compared to the history of that around us. In a world that has been around for over four and a half billion years old (6) in a universe that is 13.8 billion years old (1), homo sapiens have been around for only approximately 250,000 of those years (9). It seems impossible, though, to fit those hundreds of thousands of years into the modest text. However, Christian does the impossible and makes a well written short ‘big history’. Where many other historians before him have failed at making one, Christian’s book, This Fleeting World, summarizes history from the big-bang all

In a chilling recollection of mankind’s current misdeeds towards the environment in “The End of Nature,” McKibben’s call for action is one paramount to the survival of the human race. In essence, McKibben argues that the futures of both nature and ourselves are delicately yet undeniably interconnected. Furthermore, he urges that “we” (ALL humans) are the deciding chip in said bond. By doing so, McKibben implies that action must be situated if we are to expect any change in such bleak a situation. This argument can clearly be found when McKibben speaks out on a myriad of environmental issues in the past, present, and future. McKibben begins to accustom readers to a pattern in which human ignorance juts out from past environmental experiences.

8. Some people say that we need to phase out fossil fuel use and replace it with clean energy. Why is fossil fuel use becoming undesirable? fossil fuels do not burn completely and the incomplete chemical reactions produce

B. Establish Credibility – After significant research on this topic, I am more than qualified to prove to you why humans are the main cause of climate change.

d. What, if anything, has changed or is changing, and how does it affect you

There are two major problems associated with reliance on fossil fuels to meet our long-term future global energy requirements.

(b) What are three examples of positive change that suggest reason for hope that changes can be made?

The environment is negatively affected be the burning of fossil fuels. The affects of the gases contribute to global warming, along with acid rain and polluted air. This pollution cuts short an estimated 30,000 American lives according to the Clean Air Task Force (Rich). The United States must stop using fossil fuels because the gases produce harm the environment we live causing harm to come all the citizens. “The future of energy production will

There are many questions that arise when talking about climate change, and one of those questions is what are some evidences of climate change? There are nine major evidences of climate change and they are: seal level rise, global temperature rise, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, declining Arctic sea ice, glacial retreat, extreme events, ocean acidification, and decreased snow cover. These evidences occur all around the world and are very noticeable by anyone who comes in contact with them (“Climate Change”).

The topic of global warming is one of great discussion throughout the scientific community. The scientific evidence surrounding the global warming is astounding and undisputable such as the occurrence of heat-sealing carbon dioxide confirmed in the mid-19th century. With increased greenhouse gasses, the earth’s temperature is warming. The earth is also responding to solar outputs seen in ice cores sampled from Greenland, Antarctica. In addition, sea levels are rising rapidly compared to years prior. “Global sea level rose about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century. The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century.” (Climate change: How do we know? n.d., para. 6) Not only are ocean levels

The case for attributing the recent global warming to human activities rests on the following undisputed scientific facts:

The combustion of fossil fuels is a cause of climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels “derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago” (Friedland 399). As organisms are decomposed into organic matter, it is called detritus. As it is “buried under succeeding layers of sediment and exposed to heat and pressure, the organic compounds within it are chemically transformed into high-energy solid, liquid, and gaseous components that are easily combusted” (399). These consist of oil, coal, and natural gas and they are used as energy sources. They are a nonrenewable energy resource because they are finite and cannot be renewed. The “extraction by itself does not alter the carbon cycle; it is the subsequent step of combustion that

The decline of the environment due to natural and human exertion is known as the degradation of the environment. The natural weather occurrences such as heavy rain, flooding, storms, earthquakes, volcanoes etc. are not administered under human control. These meteorological phenomenon’s wreak devastation on the environment from time to time causing the land to become unsuitable to cultivate. On this subject matter, the human population does not contain the power to stop the wrath of Mother Nature. Rather, we are forced to sit back and watch. Nevertheless, humans engage in a crucial role towards the degradation of the environment in which we live in. Unavoidably, the degradation of the environment is a rising and utmost worldwide subject. I accept that the root cause to environmental degradation is the excessive use of resources on our land utilized by the processes under capitalism. As Jensen wrote in Endgame, “The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human and (nonhuman) impoverishment.

In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).

Fossil fuels are essential to life on earth as we know it today. Our world would certainly be much different if it weren’t for such seemingly simple things such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These basic elements of life on earth may not seem like a major concern to some people until we put into perspective how they have shaped our world today. Civilizations have been built, economies have risen and crumbled, and even wars have been fought over these precious fossil fuels. However, these fossil fuels serve us in ways we may never truly appreciate, as long as we use them as recklessly as we do now. The major entity about fossil fuels is concerning their longevity and permanence in our world, and we all know, they will be around forever.