1) Describe examples of how the interaction between humans and nature has changed over time and discuss how this has led to global environmental issues
Human nature has changed in many ways over the past century and is often subject to the whims of popular trends regarding what is politically, environmentally and socially correct behaviour
One example of how the interaction between humans and nature has changed over time is shown in the increasing consciousness of socio-environmental issues highlighted by the prominence of global conservation charities such as WWF and Green Peace’s continuous global rise in prevalence. This increasing consciousness can be attributed to a change in values and views on what the earth means to an individual as “resources are simply a cultural appraisal of the material world” (Middleton, 2013 p.24) meaning these values can and are able to change. These views can create negative global environmental issues. One such issue is that of the increased value placed upon fossil fuels in the global south, a value of industrialisation in newly industrialising countries such as India or South Africa etc. This has created a definitive view on resources and resource consumption to one of anthropocentrism. Regarding the environment as only as having instrumental value highlighted by a statement “many countries are industrialising and trying to improve the quality of life of their citizens” from the World Nuclear News (2017). A huge consumption of natural resources is currently required to allow for an increased quality of life provision in the global south. Which is no longer a luxury that can be afforded after the same development strategy was used in the global north by countries such as the UK and USA.
One global environmental issue is that of climate change. The unsustainable balance between humans and use of natural resources has reached dangerously harmful levels, with earth overshoot day this year having fallen on August 2nd . This being one day ahead from 2016 when earth overshot day fell on August 3rd (Overshoot Day 2017). Earth overshoot day “marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year”, (Overshoot Day 2017). This unsustainable usage means that “ecological overspending … is becoming more evident by the day”, (Global footprint network 2015). Physically represented by rising sea levels and coral bleaching among other effects. (WWF 2016). As of 2015 “the absorption of greenhouse gases alone would require 85 percent of the planet’s biocapacity”, (Global footprint network 2015). We simply don’t have the resources to cope with the demand required, meaning global results like less carbon capturing and increased levels of carbon release.
Another way the interaction between humans and nature has changed is through technological advancements and the availability of resources. With the development of new technology comes the ease of extracting or producing new kinds of energy and the possibility to create new energy sources. As one resource is phased out another is able to rise to prominence. In recent years this has occurred with the shift in some nations from coal to renewable sources of energy production as it becomes easier and more affordable to change an energy source. With Brazil, a country classed as being newly industrialising generating “nearly 76 percent of its electricity from renewable sources” (Export.gov, 2017). One example of this is the rise of fracking for natural gasses in the 1990’s “improved extraction techniques that combine horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing” (Greiner, 2014 p.365) made the availability of shale gas more widely availability. The same can be said in regards to nuclear power which had “Commercial development … in the 1950’s and 1960’s” (Greiner, 2014 p.369). This led to global environmental issues as both methods have led to the tainting of natural water supplies and groundwater reserves. The global environmental impact clearly evidenced by the ingestion of radioactive chemicals proven by radioactivity levels in the freshwater fish of Finland (Saxen, 1989). The tainting of groundwater can result in the underproduction of crops. In countries where exports of such products are high it can mean a reduction in GDP and food demand in other parts of the globe as “hazardous waste sites can lead to groundwater contamination” (Groundwater.org)
In conclusion, the increasing consciousness over consumption could lead to positive change in the case of global environmental issues with nature gaining traction in becoming more intrinsically linked to people’s views as nature becomes independently important, with no reference to how it makes us feel. Highlighted by the increased number of governmental bodies focussing on the natural environment in example the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 established by the UK government (Gov UK 2017) protecting the environment with the only purpose of it being conserved for the future. However, a demand for growth by industrialising countries could cause a negative balance on the scale of global usage exacerbating global environmental issues.