Geology Of Humans Essay

Anthropocene is a term used to describe earth’s history including when humans dominated a majority of natural processes globally. Anthropocence was a term used throughout the article to discuss the impact humankind had on the environment that caused many changes that had a negative impact over many years. Another term used was anthrones, the human footprint, which describes how much human kind has made lasting impassions on the earth. These terms have made me come to the realization anthropology operates at the crossroads of social and physical sciences, along with humanities to examine the diversity of humankind across many cultures and time.

There have been five major mass extinction on earth triggered by a distinguishable event, but in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert writes of the narrative of the sixth extinction caused directly by human impact. The book identifies the effects of human activity on how, over humans history on earth, the natural world has been affected. Every environmental impact stems into three basic groups of global problems to nature: Pollution, Habitat loss and Invasive Species. Kolbert explains that each impact can be traced back to one source, human industrial development. With each impact various types of life in the natural world are affected. Deforestation, urbanization, and sea level rise contribute to habitat loss worldwide. When humans began to travel they also brought invasive species and disease along with them; as boats only became bigger more and more invasive species travel. This reverse engineering of the planet species, brings new species that don’t have any natural predators, thus having an easier time driving native species out to endangerment or extinction. The different outcomes that come from human pollution is separated throughout the book, but the idea remains constant; with the development of human culture, pollution has drastically impacted a vast extent of species habitats and their environment.

Coexisting with each of its counterparts, Mother Earth and the system in which we live in effortlessly orchestrates the fundamental basis of not only human existence but nevertheless all of the life in which it contains. The climate of our Earth however, has been continuously changing since the beginning of its formation about 4.5 billion years ago although; it wasn’t until around the early 18th century that a widespread concern occurred in American minds regarding the treatment of our environment. This altered perspective made way for understanding that humans have made the biggest impact to our planet, biosphere, and atmosphere etc. drastically more so than any other organism. It is commonly argued in Jared Diamond’s The Worst Mistake in

The Anthropocene additionally enables us to rethink the connection amongst people and whatever is left of the normal world. Regardless of when it started, the idea of the Anthropocene is noteworthy. It features the size of our effect on Earth. By characterizing another epoch, we are announcing that the effect of our activities is worldwide and irreversible. It enables us to join various talks in regards to the condition of the planet, from environmental change to loss of biodiversity to natural degradation, by distinguishing the one thing they have in like manner; they have all been influenced by human impact.

Has Earth entered into a new geologic epoch, characterized by human influences? A recent study, spear-headed by the British Geological Survey, has come to the conclusion that man’s global impact has become distinct enough to end the Holocene and effectively begin the Anthropocene. Published in Science, the study identifies how man’s impact on our oceans, resources, climate, and vegetation has altered the sedimentary makeup of the planet. Massive species invasions, increased rates of extinction, genetically modified plants, redistributed metals, sediment, hydrocarbons, fossils, increased levels of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus all combine to create signals that geologists interpret to denote a break in the Holocene

By following the understanding of extinctions up to the present day, Kolbert addresses that extinctions are not strictly catastrophic or uniformitarian. Rather, by citing the major and minor extinctions such as the disappearance of the great auk the End-Cretaceous extinction Kolbert proves that extinctions have a wide variety of causes. Finally, with the grim depiction past and present day extinctions, Kolbert moves on to discuss the title topic: The Sixth Extinction. The term Anthropocene refers to the height of human alteration of the planet earth, which is thought to have begun during the Industrial Revolution. As humans dramatically alter the earth and its ecosystems, it is predicted that humans will eventually cause the sixth extinction if the current environmental trends continue. A combination of accelerated climate change, overhunting, deforestation, and natural ecosystem patterns have begun wiping out entire species at alarming rates. Truly, Kolbert emphasizes that all of humanity’s understanding of extinction is pointing to a devastating mass-extinction which could eventually affect the same beings which catalyzed

An article “Anthropocene: Humanity has changed the Earth so much that it has entered a new epoch, scientists conclude “by Andrew Griffin on UK Independent news on Friday 8 January 2016, pointed out what happens to the Earth and how humans affect the environment.

(claim of fact) Among the many challenges we face in society, environmental degradation and the exhaustion of resources is one of the challenges that will have the most impact on not only our future generations, but the future of the earth. The human population across the globe is degrading both the terrestrial and marine biomes through means such as deforestation, the emission of greenhouse gases, improper disposal of waste, and other forms of pollution. As the global population continues to rise, the way we use our energy and our resources continues to gain importance. “These changes are down to human activity, not natural variability,” says Professor Will Steffen of the Australian National University to The Guardian.

During Late Pleistocene a megafaunal mass extinction took place. It’s still debated whether humans are to blame for this, since this megafaunal extinction happened after the arrival of humans or if climate change is entirely to blame. Fossil evidence has been of great help in finding what factors might’ve caused this extinction. This mass extinction that took place is related to the Anthropocene because if humans were the main cause, humans need to be more careful now because their actions may lead to more extinctions. The observations made were the types of species that went extinct with climate change, and what humans did to contribute to this mass extinction.

I attended the Anthropocene film screening in Gosh Science and Tech for the first extra credit assignment. Google defines the term Anthropocene “relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment” basically a period in time where man has “control” over natural forces such as the climate and the environment. I went into the film screening not having any ideas about what I would be watching, but once it got started it was exactly what we’ve been discussing in class. A lot of the points that were made in the film is something I had previously learned or something we’re currently working on in class. They went through the history of human’s impact on the environment, in chronological order. A key point in the film had to deal with the factors humans had that distinct us from other organisms. Since humans acted as a system versus individuals it gave us the advantage.

The Anthropocene can be described as how “Human activities have become so pervasive and profound that they rival the great forces of Nature…Earth is rapidly moving into a less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, and probably wetter and stormier state” (Steffen et al, 614). The term can also be determined to represent “the current geological epoch to emphasize the central role of humankind in geology and ecology” (Steffen et al, 615) and focus on the ways in which humans are causing significant changes to their “home” and “dwelling”.

The new epoch was said to begin around the year 1950. It was said to be defined by the radioactive elements dispersed by nuclear bomb tests, as well as plastic pollution, soot from power stations, concrete, and even the bones left by the global proliferation of the domestic chicken. The current geological period is known as the Holocene, which is marked by the period of 12,000 years of stable climate, but in recent events, it is shown that temperatures are quickly rising, as well as the sea levels and the extinction rate of many species. It suggests that we are in a period where the ‘collective’ actions of humans has dominated the planets natural process, and due to this ‘reckless’ behavior, our planet could reach its demise. Although the actions

However, recent speculation has lead many scientists to believe that we are currently in a mass extinction period, one that could not only be bigger than any previous extinction event, but that actually points a finger towards humans as being the main cause. This extinction event is known as The Holocene Extinction, the Sixth Extinction or the Anthropocene Extinction, and whether we like it or not, there is definitely a considerable amount of evidence to prove that this mass extinction is happening, and that the cause is largely due to human activity. Specific research indicates that deforestation, hunting, pollution, the introduction of non-native species into various regions, destruction of vast tracts of land, river systems, and habitats, and the widespread transmission of infectious diseases spread through livestock and crops are having the most drastic effects on most species. Current studies even show that the present rate of extinction may be up to 140,000 species per year, making it the greatest loss of biodiversity since the Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction. Edward Osborne Wilson, an American biologist, researcher, theorist, naturalist and author, calculated that if the current rate of human disruption of the biosphere continues, one-half of

to be grown trees have to be cut down and I have explained the effects

Nearly everything that a human does is in response to the environment. Our lives are defined by what is around us and what we find in front of us, whether this means accepting, dealing with or changing it. This has been the pattern since primates first stood up and became Homo erectus, and has continued until we considered ourselves doubly wise. The shape of the land affected where humans moved. Weather was something with which to contend. Fire affected humans until they conquered it – and herein lies the core of the relationship. The earth affects humans, and humans affect it back, viewing characteristics and patterns as problems and challenges, and finding a solution.