Sustainability is a concept that is being embraced in all fields of people’s lives. This has been the case due to the fact that resources to support survival are decreasing while the human population is growing at a terrific speed. These two factors have therefore led to serious considerations being done to ensure continuity of future generations. As human beings live in the environment, their coexistence affects each one of them. The more affected of the two is the environment which affects human beings later when it is not able to provide for their needs.
The essay will discuss the safe operating space for humanity so that the environment is not overstretched beyond its limits. A news article, written by twenty-eight renowned scientists titled ‘safe operating space for humanity space’ has tried to identify some of the basic requirements for this operating space to be there. There must be some boundaries within which human activities are to be carried out. Operating beyond these boundaries will only spell the most dreaded effects on the existence of the human race. (NCEAS) has cited some of the limits within which humans must operate in order to remain safe (1). These include changes in climate and good use of available freshwater.
These limits act as a check to human behavior which if left unmanned may stretch planet earth beyond her ability to cater for the species in her. Humans need to understand the earth’s system so that they can predict how their behavior change and the change of the environment can influence the system (NCEAS)
According to NCEAS (1), the change of human activities since the time of the industrial revolution has been very strong and has impacted greatly on the systems of the earth. The need for more resources to drive the different activities has continuously depleted major resource deposits on earth.
The increase in human activities is pushing the earth to the limits where the sustainability of its natural operations will be impossible. If due considerations are made well in advance, the consequences of the earth being unable to sustain itself can be prevented. This would in return go a long way in ensuring that future generations will have a place and the means to survive. According to NCEAS (1), human history and the changes that have occurred on earth should be looked at as related elements which influence each other.
This understanding will in return provide guidelines that shall be followed in setting standards that will help the human race to safely navigate within the binderies of the planet without dangerously crossing the expected threshold. The limits that were recommended by the article were not meant to replace economics, politics, or ethics. Instead, they were meant to act as yardsticks for measuring where unfair practices may be found e.g. excessive emission of gases so that we can take the necessary actions to prevent such practices from happening. The pressure applied on the planet earth by humans has reached a level where it cannot be put aside when issues regarding human survival on earth are under discussion. This is because it has become critical and failure to factor it in our planning will make our lives and those of generations become unbearable. Going beyond the planetary limits will prove devastating but if the limits are respected, the existence of the planet and its species has a bright future.
The fact that civilization was dependent on fossils is very clear. The concept of discovering new forms of energy and its subsequent influence on the population growth is very evident from the course readings. Likewise, the inseparability of human activities and environmental change is also s led to increased productivity of food. The increase in food productivity led to more land being needed for cultivation. This in turn led to clearing of more bushes to create more farms for cultivation. The uncontrolled desire to develop and satisfy needs lead to major changes most of which were negative. The manner in which the need to satisfy desires can drive people to their own destruction and the destruction of others is well portrayed in the readings. The concept of conflicts, which arise due to the scramble of scarce resources and their subsequent solving, has been highlighted in the readings. The usage of charcoal that followed the use of wood did not do much to help stop the cutting down of the trees. For societies to develop more sophisticated weapons to conquer their enemies, they had to use coal to smelt iron and other metals. This was so because wood had proven to be ineffective in this task as it could not supply the amount of heat that was required to melt metals. The coal deposits again started being depleted. Degradation of the environment was taking to another level where the pits from where the coal was mine were left open. The use of coal in revolutionizing machines in the factories led to changes in labor forces. Machines were able to handle tasks in bulk thus increasing efficiency. The increased production demanded for more raw materials from the earth some byproducts from charcoal led to a big leap into development of new systems. Manufactured gas came as a bi product of coal. The first to be manufactured was used in lighting factories and towns. This was a major change in people’s way of life in those areas where those productions took place. The demand for raw materials put strain the available resources thereby stretching the abilities of the earth to provide the demands of human beings.
The running of automobiles could not have been possible without the presence of fossil fuels such as petroleum. The use of petrochemical herbicides in the farms led to increased productivity. The emergence of theses automobiles led to the hunting of sea animals such as the whales. Their oils were being used to rubricate the moving parts of the machines. This led to massive hunting of whales that reduced their population immensely. Civilization therefore is vulnerable to disruptions of fossil fuels and its absence means that it will remain at standstill. This means that as the article had stated earlier on, sustainability of the resources the earth has carries the key to survival humans and more so the future generations. Failure to mitigate the causes and effects of these will lead to a bleak future where the generations to come shall forever blame their ancestors for having denied them a chance to experience nature at its best.
From medieval times, people and the environment have changed tremendously. The discovery of wood as a form of energy took the society of that time to a new level. A close reference to societies in central and Western Europe is a clear evidence of this. Likewise, the use of wood as material for building houses led to further cutting down of trees. Each of these discoveries had a certain impact to both the environment and the human society at large. From the environment’s perspective, the land was left bare without the original cover of trees. As people continued yearning for more convenient ways of life, they could not notice the negative impacts they were creating in the environment. This meant that once a tree was cut down, it could not be replaced as there did not seem to be any need to do so. As more settlements were being constructed, people’s lifestyles changed. Due to many people living together in the urban centers that developed later. Due to the interactions that ensued, new faiths were developed e.g. those societies in Europe who used to offer sacrifices in the trees accepted Christianity when it was introduced and left their old way of beliefs. From the human point of view, these discoveries had a huge impact on the human population. Food was being cooked well after the discoveries thereby eliminating pathogens that could cause food borne illnesses. Furthermore, houses built from wood protected them from adverse weather condition that predisposed their bodies to risks of getting sick. Generally their lives improved and their population grew tremendously. This growth led to more cutting down of trees and this continued on and on.
The changing of the human beings went hand in hand with those of the environment. The increase in human population did not leave environmental degradation behind. As the scientists in the article had recommended, human history and earth’s system changes are to be studied together as they shape each other. A clear understanding of these relationships will enable one to fully understand why historically the two occurred concurrently. This will result in designing mechanisms to deal with the negative effects that come along with the environmental change.
Uncontrolled means to satisfy human desires can be destructive. When sources of energy got depleted, and the human needs had not been fulfilled, they resulted to colonization in order to acquire more sources of energy. This totally disregarded moral issues that are involved in slavery that resulted from colonization. The societies that were colonized lost both their material resources and cultural values that guided them on how to relate with the environment. When colonization was over, those societies were not able to regain what they had lost to the colonizers. As such, they still remain ignorant of the importance of preserving natural resources so that the future generations can depend on them. Deforestation is actually at its peak in such societies while those that were the first to industrialize are fighting to regain their lost treasure. Most of the campaigns by the governments of these countries are based on sensitizing people to stop misusing resources while in the developing countries, emphasis is on mending the damage that has already occurred. The emergence of electricity use at homes made automation of many gadgets at home to be possible. Electronics such as the radio and television became widely used. Their use transformed the communication sector. Marketing of the products made at different factories were promoted through these channels of communication.
Conflicts over scarce resources were resolved mostly though warfare. Uprisings that came up as a result of the people in the lower stratum in the society revolting against those who were higher in the social stratum were suppressed though aggression. This meant that more swords of better quality had to be made. This further put pressure on mother earth to provide the metallic ores that were needed to make these weapons.
Projections that are being done currently indicate that the world is headed to a hard time due to the oil peak that is about to come. With the world population rising, a crisis is precipitating. The word governments should adopt strategies that will ensure that the population of the world does not go beyond the carrying capacity of the world. In addition to controlling the population, other sources of energy should be explored with the main intent of reducing dependence on the fossil fuels which are bound to become extinct. From the author’s point of view, people are currently seeing the importance of going back to the origins where, even if life was simple, it offered that personal touch with Mother Nature. This has been well demonstrated by the fact that the current generation is doing some activities that indicate that they are missing the old ways of life. For instance, people are using more herbal medicine than before. It is very evident therefore that if people fail to work within the limits of the earth’s capacity, the old and once referred to as ‘primitive’ will be seen like a paradise after the world has become destroyed beyond repair. Due to the imminent danger posed by the environmental degradation, and the global sensitization of the issue, people are becoming very health conscious and are only purchasing those products that portrays environmental conservation qualities e.g. using recycled papers.
The major similarities between the article and the course readings are that both are talking of sustainability of resources by human beings as they interact with their environment. The readings are majorly focusing on the trends fuels have taken since the Stone Age. On the other hand, the article is mainly looking at ways of utilizing the resources in such a way that the environment cannot be overstretched beyond its limits. Both of them are portraying the importance of using what we have wisely so that it can be available for use by generations to come.
Work cited
NCEAS. ‘’Scientists Outline Planetary Boundaries’’: A safe Operating space for humanity. University of California-Santa Barbara 2009: print.