Sunday, August 19, 2012


                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. 

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your response completely. I had never thought about things in the way this excerpt brings them to the table. It is crazy to think about the human population and how much we actually do take from the rest of the world - space, water, food. As mankind, we have many luxuries and we should not take them for granted, especially when other species are in need so that we can have these luxuries. I think you did a really good job.

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