It is surprising to see how little the population knows about the environment they live in. Where does your garbage go? Sure, it’s a simple question, but where does the garbage really go? Thinking about the process of garbage collection, travel, and where the garbage actually ends up is unknown to a majority of the population. Also unknown is things that seem so apparent such as types of grass, soil, birds, and flowers that frame the world. The problem is that the world has gotten too big and too spread out. The United States once was comprised of 50 percent farmers, and has now reached the point where there are twice as many prisoners and there are farmers. The problem with that statement is that all of the small town  agriculture culture is dead. Major producers and corporations have taken over small town business that America was built on. The increase in population and ever expanding corporations has led to un-reversible pollution and damage to the environment. The most populated country in the world, China, has devised a plan to reduce the Energy intensity of GDP by 40 percent by 2020. The problem with this goal is that with the growing population and production rate in China, by 2020 even with the 40 percent reduction, China will still be producing more CO2 rather than less. With the ever growing population and drive to produce bigger and better things, the world will not slow down and the environment will inversely be affected. The invention of internet, texting, and tweeting have all changed the world. Citizens now have the opportunity to be close while not being close at all. This has created a world that is more connected and fast passed that ever before. Companies can order a product to be delivered the next day when the same process used to take weeks. Technology has changed the world and created a cyber environment.

“Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times.” Clean air council. Not only is America a leading contributor to waste each year, but is harming the environment more than ever. Waste is a huge contributor for the need of “Island Civilization” because most waste is non-decomposable and will continue to pollute the environment for thousands of years to come. In the United States, over 7 billion pounds of PVC are thrown away each year, meaning that 7 billion pounds are just sitting in landfills polluting and destroying the Earth. Possible ways to cut down on waste is recycling. Statistics show that 40-50 percent of Americans recycle, while only around 25 percent of the World population recycles. This misleading part is that Americans account for 254 million tons of garbage annually which is the most of any country. The problem with waste is that no matter how much someone recycles; there will always be items that need to be discarded and are useless. This meaning that waste is inevitable. Will waste lead to a need for Island Civilization? Even in an Island Civilization there would still be waste, and nowhere to put it without polluting the environment. So far the World has dealt with waste and has found ways to decrease and control it, such as burning waste. I think that the World can control waste for right now but with the current rate that the United States and other leading waste countries such as Russia are going something will need to be changed in the future to help control waste.

http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html/

http://www.biology-questions-and-answers.com/environmental-issues.html

                The First main point that I found to be of interest, was when the author pointed out the meaning of wilderness. They only reason that the wilderness exists is of particular interest. Humans used to live among the wilderness and the open land available to us. When expansion and modernization of the Earth began, Humans began to create division between the wilderness and what we choose to live on and use. The wilderness is now some place unpopulated by humans or unknown, but it was once a place that we lived among. The Author also points out the meaning behind Acts that are meant to help the environment. Acts such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act were created so that nonhuman species could live, when in fact they are in the wild and were here before us. The world is growing at a rapid pace which means the destruction of wilderness is inversely affected. Because of human impact, the World is now faced with water, food, and climate problems. We are now facing more natural disasters than ever including more weather related storms and destructed. We as humans have not protected what was once the wilderness but instead have built sky scrapers, roads, unnatural bodies of water, and many other destructive structures. The author explains four possible ends to the Fourth Millennium. The first is the wasteland scenario where the World ends in a trashed and poisoned planet where life is rare. This is the result of greedy humans who thought they were modernizing and progressing the world but in exchange were destroying the natural life that the Earth once was. Where humans have abused what they were given and have destroyed their bodies with genetically engineered and altered substances. The second possible outcome for the future is the garden scenario. This scenario details that humans would control nature but in a beneficial way. This meaning that the Earth is all about the billions of people that occupy it while rivers, lakes, agriculture, and wilderness are all at their prime with no diversity or differentiation as they are overtaken with homogenization. The third is entitled future primitive, entailing that in the future the civilization will look back and think of us as a ten-thousand-year bad experiment. They will look at what we did wrong and maintain what we did right, such as using technology for what the need it for but not what it could be used for. The fourth outcome is Island Civilization, where we live in what might be called a dream. The key to this outcome is putting the Earth first.

                I have never thought of myself as an environmental enthusiast or had that much interest in the environment. That being said, I found that this article was pretty interesting when I started to read it. It was interesting to realize the place of humans on this Earth. Walking around every day I never realize the effects that humans have had. We have built so many buildings and have placed so many unnatural things in the world while destroying the wilderness in the process. While reading I was thinking about the impact humans have had on the environment and it astounded me. Thinking about New York City, China, London and all of the major cities in the world and thinking about how terrible they must be for the environment. Even thinking about how much I throw away and disregard and take for granted about the environment is crazy. Every day we use roads, water from a pipe, take hot showers, throw away plastic bags, and sleep in a bed but we never think about what we have destroyed to obtain the luxuries. This article really made me think about the roots of the wilderness and of the environment which is something I previously have never thought about or had interest in. I found the article to be informational about the outcome of the World and the impact that humans have had on the wilderness and Earth.