There is no doubt based on the evidence that humans are having a negative impact on our environment. I like the way Yeo refers to this in that “humans have mined, cultivated, trawled, bleached and emitted their way forward with new technologies and higher populations” (2016). This statement is raw and true about the past and potential future of our species. Haraway stated that “There is no question that anthropogenic processes have had planetary effects, in inter/intraaction with other processes and species” (2015). Based on human impacts on an international basis over the last few hundred years, this point in time is starting to be referred to as the “Athropocene”. This is the period of geologic time where humans have resulted in exponential increases in anything from population, carbon dioxide, surface temperature, tropical forest loss, ocean acidification, methane, energy use, water use, and international tourism (Yeo 2016). No matter which way you mold the topic there is no denial in the power that humans have in determining the degradation or restoration of the earth itself.
Although I do think that this anthropogenic time period is vital for bringing to light the degradation as a result of humans, I do not know if this can be considered a geologic time period. Most geologic time periods contain hundreds of thousands to millions of years. This could be considered a geologic time period if we consider the long-term impact on the earth and its processes for potentially hundreds of thousands to millions of years into the future. The impact of the Anthropocene can be used as a vision or foreshadowing the future of the earth.
The question we then can ask is what do we do about it? Everyone is waiting for an answer from someone else on what to do, how to act, and decisions to make. This in itself is a whole other human problem in which we are constantly looking for someone else to do the dirty work rather than trying to figure things out on our own. As someone who considers myself a teacher it seems silly for me to wait for other scientists or people to provide answers. Yet knowing what I know, I can use my science classroom to teach what I know to be helpful as ways to influence my students and provide them with some of those solutions. This to me is the way in which I can and they can contribute in a positive way rather than negative in this “Anthropocene”.
http://humanorigins.si.edu/sites/default/files/measures%20of%20the%20anthropocene.jpg
Works cited:
Haraway, Donna. “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin.” Environmental Humanities 6.1 (2015): 159-65. Web.
Yeo, Sophie. “Anthropocene: The Journey to a New Geological Epoch.” Climate Brief Ltd. N.p., 06 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. <https://www.carbonbrief.org/anthropocene-journey-to-new-geological-epoch>.
