The Historical Roots Of Our Ecological Crisis

Rachel Carson’s Man and the Stream of time possesses enlightening perspectives of nature that have been marinating in her mind for ten years. Her writing reflects upon the effects that man has on nature and the role he plays in the ever changing environment. Her sole observation is that it is man’s nature to want to conquer the world, but nature is not one to be conquered. The writer affirms that nature is an entity that must be dignified, Like English poet Francis Thompson said, “Thou canst not stir a flower without troubling of a star.” Most environmentalist would agree that nature is not stationary, we cut the trees now today, its not just the trees that disappear ten years from now. As humanity advances, we create a multitude of

Environmental history explores a variety of topics in order to connect nature to humans. In doing so, a new history emerges. As this history unveils itself, it becomes evident that throughout time, humans have taken it upon themselves to improve the nonhuman world for their own gains. Numerous scholars have contemplated this idea, and while they do not all agree on the meaning or the means of improvement upon the land, it remains a constant theme. By exploring the theme of improvement to land, a clear path forms. The idea of improvement in environmental history creates artificial agency for humans, as well as revealing that improvement cannot happen without having an adverse effect on humans.

In “The Changing Nature of Nature: Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene” environmental politician Paul Wapner depicts the human impacts on nature, and their significant intervention in ecosystem dynamics. His research outlines the “end of nature” (Wapner, 37) and aims to put emphasis on the beginning of the Anthropocene, suggesting that we are finally realizing that nature is not merely a material object. With this in mind, Wapner argues that the ways in which we protect nature should be significantly different, this, justifying his study. In order to form an argument, Wapner begins by summarizing a general piece of academic research, and through this is then able to provide an organized overview of the logic of his argument. The alternation

The “Rise of ecology” was a very interesting and mind refreshing documentary film depicting the 10 different disasters that have devastated our planet. This documentary was a good teachable moment for us to take the necessary measure to ensure the safety of the citizens and the planet. The film also emphasized that we should minimize the amount to pollution that we release in to our atmosphere. We see that its always the people who suffer at the hands of major corporations who are just hungry for profits. The film mentions that these major corporations take the consequences of catastrophic events lightly. They do everything they can to increase the profits even at the expense of their own workers. The movie “Pandora” which I recently watched shares a lot of similarities to the documentary film “Rise of ecology” in a way that took me by a surprise. The movie tells a story of how human error came to cause the malfunction of a nuclear power plant causing the nation to go in to panic mode. The movie starts in an interesting way, a flashback where the main character and his friends were just children making assumptions of what the new mysterious development in their town was all about. Some of the kids responded by saying that the nuclear reactor plant was a rice cooker, another a robot and finally the little girl responded by saying that her teacher told her that “it was a box and that if it was open they would all be in trouble”.

Even though we separated ourselves from nature in the attempt to salvage some beauty in the world we still “began to alter places where we were not,” through by-products of our industrialized society. (Mckibben XX) Mckibben says “it is also true that we are apart of nature” (Mckibben XXI) while Cronon wants us to see that “wilderness is more a state of mind than a fact of nature.” (Cronon 493) While Cronon wants humans to separate themselves from the wild, Mckibben asks us to confront nature head on. We are apart of it and“we possess the possibility of self-restraint” so we still have the means to stop abusing the natural order. In order to do this “we would need to change the ways we move ourselves around, the spaces we live in, the jobs we perform.” (Mckibben XXII) We can start by thinking of practical ways to affect the environment positively, starting in the

Lynn White Jr. is a medieval historian. He talks about how the western world change how we treat the environment, especially by western religion. White starts by giving the history of technology around the world, for example, the clock. He also talks about the different people who were involved with helping technology growing into what we know now. He goes into his subject of Medieval and it View of Man and Nature. He explain, “This, distribution of land was based no longer on the needs of a family but, rather, on the capacity of a power machine to till the earth. "Man's relation to the soil was profoundly changed. Formerly man had been part of nature; now he was the exploiter of nature." Pg four because of technology men was no longer part of Nature anymore. White has also say that religions especially Christianity change how men think. He explains “ If so, then modern Western science was cast in a matrix of Christian theology.” pg 5 That Western Christian is how people will see the environment. White believed to solve this problem is to think of an alternative

Val Plumwood in her essay “Paths Beyond Human-Centeredness,” illustrates the impact that humans have on nature and non-animals when it comes to preserving environments. Understanding that nature has it’s living properties that let it thrive among its resources allows for people to grasp the complexities that come about when construction companies destroy the environment in which they work. Plumwood uses the term dualism to refer to the sharp distinction between two classes of individuals. There is the high class, which is considered as the “One.” In contrast, the other side of the division consists of individuals that are classified as lower and are subordinates to the “One” as “Others.” This account on dualism allows the reader to understand how humans can significantly alter the environment because of the way they perceive its resources and inhabitants. Plumwood defines five characteristics that illustrate the oppressive actions that change the connection between human relations and the relationship between humans and nature.

Discussing Critically Religious and Secular Ethical Arguments About Environmental Issues In his book, 'The End Of Nature', Bill McKibben highlights the fact that we are destroying the natural environment at an increasing rate, for our own short-term gain. Since the day that man created agriculture, and industrialisation to follow, the imbalance between man and nature has been growing[1/2]. This has been accompanied by a massive population increase, tripling in the twentieth century alone[3]. Human pressure on nature has never been so great.

As we continue to grow and have a greater impact on the Earth’s systems, it is essential that we address our role and relationship with nature. The separation of humans from nature encourages environmentally irresponsible behavior because it allows us to take on the conqueror role, giving us the ability to manipulate the landscape with the duty to provide and proliferate. Throughout human history, we have made advancements in technology and agriculture, resulting in the imbalance and overuse of land. The ability of humans to manipulate the landscape and recognize the consequences of doing so makes us an invasive species. Our dependency on Earth’s resources and services put us at competition with the environment. In order to understand our role

The most misguided reading was Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis by Lynn White. This was one of the first pieces we read and I didn’t realize my distaste for her stance on how to fix the ecological crisis until after reading and discussing many of the other works throughout the semester. The other works opened my eyes to different views that could be taken based on history and the predicted future. They made me realize how misguided Lynn White was in her description of, not only, the problem causing the ecological crisis, but also the only way to fix said crisis.

Lynn White wrote an essay titled "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis," where he argued that humans must fully examine their attitude towards nature, in order to understand and address the environmental crises that are becoming evident. The main argument of the essay was that our attitude towards nature is rooted in our religious beliefs. In this paper, I will prove to you why White is correct in arguing that religion has had a profound effect on man’s view of nature. White was at least partially correct when he argued that historically Protestants and Catholics have permitted a blatant disregard for the environment.

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.

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.

Despite what mankind would like to believe, humans are animals. As multi-celled organisms, we consume other organic matter, change the land for own uses as a beaver would build a dam, and as other mammals, we are all fed breast milk from our mothers when we were young. Yet there is this disconnection and alienation of the human race towards other species. Moreover, through fear of taking action, the convenience provided to us if we simply choose to ignore the environment, and the alienation of other species that are endangered by our actions, the hostile and uncaring attitude of humans towards nature is the core reason for many of the problems in our environment today.

Ecology, a word gains an increasing attention recently, was seldom a theme in utopian literatures. In many utopian literatures, an abundance of natural resources is granted and allows the author to explore other aspects of human societies. Anyway, ecology is a modern issue. Yet, to me, ecology should always be the foundation of any utopian society for it to be a successful model of the real world. The humanly created societies ignorant of human nature are unstable and would soon become dystopia instead; only by thoroughly considering human nature can people establish a nourishing and long-lasting society.