Humans Revealed as Greatest Stressors on Earth: Just Google It!
We have seen the enemy and he/she is us. While some may debate the potential impact of climate change, the visual evidence of current human impact on the planet is clearly visible to those who will see, showing significant examples of the extent of human activity and its effects. Do we have growth? Are some of the implications visible? Is it faster and more extensive than most have understood? See this and consider the answers to the above questions.
In the Time article http://time.com/timelapse2016/?xid=newsletter-brief many of the most visible alternations to the planet from the past three decades are revealed in time lapse. Urban centers, drained lakes, altered landscapes all show the immense effects of human activity and show what an Anthropocene era looks like. Desertification, deforestation, building on key agricultural lands and wetlands, urban sprawl; these are real and all have their implications for the human-biosphere relationships on which “civilization” depends. As was noted in the Sustainable Development chapter of Canada’s 1996 State of the Environment Report , historically when you degraded or destroyed an ecosystem you just went over the hill and exploited another; now you meet someone on the same mission coming the other way. It is true in Canada and as obvious from these examples, a global phenomenon.
This series of time lapse views of how humans are using and affecting the planet is a moving testament to the importance of understanding the state of the Anthropocene era. Humans are now the prime generators of changes to the planet and its ecosystems and the aerial views clearly show the stresses which activities are now placing on the limits. We clearly ignore it at our own peril. Thanks to Google for making it available to all.
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