The environmental question Flashcards
What do we mean by the environmental question?
It’s all about the anthropic vs ecological perspective. Is it true that humans have a responsibility towards the natural world / does it need us and our “protection”? How do we fit into our ecosystem, are we special or just another species? There are ecological limits to species, how do humans experience these limits?
What is the human perspective of the environmental question?
According to Gould in his book 8 Little Piggies, there are 2 parts of the human perspective.
1. That the planet is fragile and human intervention has caused it harm.
2. That humans need to be stewards for a threatened world.
However both of these reflect and overestimation of human importance, arguably, so is the use of the term “anthropocene”.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the term “anthropocene”?
While the term “anthropocene” is useful for drawing attention to the role of humans and their behaviours and impacts on the planet, it isn’t a solution in itself, and still frames humans as being separate from other species and the wider environment.
Thomas Berry instead suggests a more aspirational “ecozoic era”, with humans living in a mutually enhancing relationship with Earth and the Earth community.
How can paleontology help us with current environmental problems?
By studying paleontology we can see that the planet goes on, even despite mass extinctions. On a geological scale, the planet takes care of itself better than we ever could. So according to Gould, when we are working to protect the planet, the goal is really to save our species.
Give a brief overview of mass extinctions and why they’re important to consider.
There have so far been 5 mass extinctions:
- The Ordovician 445 mya
- The Devonian 340 mya
- The Permian 250 mya (the biggest)
- The Triassic 200 mya
- and the K-T 65 mya.
So 99% of the species that have ever existed are now extinct; it’s the fate of every species.
Terrestrial species usually go extinct every couple of million years, and at the moment homo sapiens are on track to continue the trend.
(Mass X recovery time: up to 10my for full diversity).
What would be the impact of a mass extinction?
Even if thousands of species died and were wiped out, there would barely be a dent in bacterial diversity, or for millions of insects and mites. As has been seen before, other life and diversity can then bounce back.
What’s the role of conservation if the planet doesn’t need us?
The idea of conservation was originally for wealthy social leaders to preserve wilderness for leisure and contemplation, so arguably utilising nature for other ecosystem services than were required before.
