“Is it Time to Embrace the Anthropocene? The Anthropocene requires that humanity take responsibility for preserving the earth and its species.”

Ganesh Chakravarthi. “Is it Time to Embrace the Anthropocene? The Anthropocene requires that humanity take responsibility for preserving the earth and its species.” The Diplomat. February 11, 2020. https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/is-it-time-to-embrace-the-anthropocene/

How has learning World History this summer grown your ability to understand or appreciate the article?

How you would have read the article 3 months ago. Do you think you read it differently now? In what way?

Chakravarthi argued that “[t]he idea of the Anthropocene is not new. It is a proposed geological epoch, similar to the ice ages of the yore. But in this case human beings and their actions impact the earth in far greater magnitudes than all of nature combined.” There is no doubt that the earth has been going through environmental changes since the beginning of agriculture (even before) to the industrial revolution and continue today. There have been many activists fighting for climate control as well as many who oppose it. However, Anthropocene is different in that instead of looking at a geological epoch or common signals across the world that show the shifting mechanisms, Anthropocene is more of a paradigm shift that focuses in the human mindset.  “It is a shift comparable to the scale of Copernican thought, which put the earth as just one component in a vast, incomprehensible universe” (Chakravarthi, 2020). This article also mentions how human actions have irreversibly altered the natural evolution cycle. Actions such as radioactivity from nuclear tests, the immeasurable amount of plastics in our ecosystem, and soil nitrogenation that has increased manifold over natural cycles. Additionally, many type of animal species are going extinct—“unless we resolve to preserve the many species, process, and biodiversity that make up our earth, we may not live to see a safe future for generations to come” (Chakravarthi, 2020). 

Three months ago I would have read this article and taken everything as fact without further research. Although the information provided in this article resonates with me, I would now do more research to eliminate any biases that I might have. Looking back at what I learned in world history this summer solidifies some of the information in this article. Our very actions have indeed changed the environment. Something very simple as farming and raising animals have after-effects—“[Even the] Paleolithic people acted to alter the natural environment substantially. The use of deliberately set fires to encourage the growth of particular plants certainly changed the landscape (Strayer, p.22) . During the enlightenment period there were new developments in ideas—astronomy, science, inventions, laws, wars and revolutions. Then, during the industrial revolution the world saw a major increase in population, which generated an increase of living standards which in turn led to the depletion of natural resources—“Human beings have even affected the atmosphere and the oceans as carbon dioxide and other emissions of the industrial age have warmed the climate of the planet in ways that broadly resemble the conditions that triggered earlier extinction events” (Strayer, lix). The use of chemicals and fuel in factories resulted in the increase of air and water pollution and an increase in the use of fossil fuels. Therefore, when I read this article I am able to appreciate the information more because I have some knowledge of how our actions from the past have impacted our world today.