Transcript DBQ Interactions between humans and the Environment

As humans moved from hunting and
gathering to farming and herding,
nature and the realities of the
environment confronted them. In
the process towards civilization,
humans had to learn to live with, to
harness, or to modify the
characteristics of their surroundings.
Since human-environment
interaction first began, since the
Neolithic Revolution and first cities,
there have been great
accomplishments and unmitigated
disasters. With the worldwide
Industrial Revolutions of the 19th
century, this conflict with and
exploitation of nature has
intensified. Today many humans
realize that the environment is
threatened and that humans are its
greatest threat
DBQ Interactions
between humans
and the
Environment
Happy Earth Day
Negative consequences of
human interaction with the
environment
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Slash and burn leads to soil erosion
Deforestation leads to desertification
Industrialization leads to air and water pollution
Human waste(industrial, nuclear, consumer, sewer) leads to loss of
biodiversity
Dense urban populations leads to noise, air, light pollution
Man’s need to control the environment( over fishing, over hunting,
over planting, over building) has led to mass extinctions of plant
and animal life not seen for over a billion years
Oil spills (Exxon Valdez, Deep Water Horizon)leads to poisoning of
important natural protections ( wetlands)
Fracking on a global level is contributing to potential geotectonic
disaster and overutilizing scarce clean water resources
What is being done?
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As result of Earth Day celebrations humans have worked
copiously to educate, protect and conserve the
environment
Many governmental agencies like the EPA have been
established to create legislation to protect and conserve
forests, wetlands, water and air
NGO’s like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and WWF have
raised awareness, collected funds and have worked
tirelessly to change the perception on what can be done
New forms of renewable and sustainable energies
International meetings like Kyoto protocol and recent
meetings in Peru have had international agreements to
lower carbon emissions, protect environments and
prosecute criminals
Tao Te Ching (The Way of Virtue, Number 29: Taking No
Action), Lao Tzu, China, Fifth century BCE
 “external
world is fragile, and he who
meddles with its natural way, risks causing
damage to himself.” keep nature natural
and don’t try to change ( philosophy of
the farmers) “The sage does not try to
change the world by force, for he knows
that force results in force” purpose to
provide harmony within nature by
remaining disciplined
Buddhist Sutta Nitta, a hymn, attributed to the Buddha, Fifth
Century BCE
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founder of the 4 noble truths and 8fold path said “all creatures weak or
strong, all creatures great and small;
 creatures unseen and seen, dwelling afar
or near, born or awaiting birth,
 --- may all be blessed with peace.”
suggesting the protection of the sanctity
of all life.
Hebrew Book of Genesis 1:26 – 29, first written down seventh century
BCE
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contrast to the last two documents,
Genesis provide mankind control over
nature “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; have dominion
,”
Unlike Buddhism and Taoism mankind in
Genesis has control to do what needs to
be done
over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens
Johann Gottleib Fichte, German philosopher, nationalist, and early
Romantic, 1762-1814, remarks about nature
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This document hails from a time of nationalism
and a yearning for self-determination…
“Nature [shall] ever become more and more
intelligent and transparent . . .; human
power, enlightened and armed by human
invention, shall rule over her without
difficulty.” this suggests mankind’s invention
and intelligence should govern the laws of
nature and can control more appropriately
his environment. Can be coupled with doc 3
and opposing docs 1 and 2
John Muir, American conservationist and founder of the Sierra Club,
nineteenth century CE, from one of his many books on the
environment
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reaction to industrialization and
human control suggests the need for
change “and then has left his rich fields and meadows, forests and
parks, to be sold and plundered and wasted at will, depending on their
inexhaustible abundance. Now it is plain that the forests are not inexhaustible,
and that quick measures must be taken if ruin is to be avoided. Year by year
the remnant is growing smaller before the axe and fire, while the laws in
existence provide neither for the protection of the timber from destruction nor
.” This may be grouped
in the need to correct mankind’s view
espoused in docs 3 and 4
for its use where it is most needed
Chief Seattle, Northwestern
Indian, reply to the United
States’ government, 1852
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Native American perspective f the
environment is quite like the Taoist and
Buddhist in Docs 1 and 2 “We are part of
the earth and it is part of us. What befalls
the earth befalls all sons of the earth. This
we know: the earth does not belong to
man, man belongs to the earth. Man did
not weave the web of life, he is merely a
strand in it. To harm the earth on to heap
contempt upon its creator.”
Aldo Leopold, American conservationist and
founder of the World Wildlife Fund, from his book,
A Sand County Almanac, c. 1950 CE
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This document may be combined in reaction
to mankind’s destruction and the need to
conserve…” A land ethic changes homo
sapiens from conqueror of the land
community to plain member and citizen of it.
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends
otherwise.” this may be grouped with
document 5 in terms of the need to conserve
. Saravanand Naiker, newspaper editor, his story in Malaysian
The New Straits Times Press, 11 July 2000
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This is a reaction to the ever increasing knowledge
and destruction to the eco-system and what must be
done “Each year, the human population grows, and .
. . species are becoming extinct faster. As species
disappear, humans lose today’s food and industrial
products. . . . The Government should look at
sustainable development seriously although
development is vital . . . Without bio-diversity the
lives of humans will become precarious as every
living creature plays a role in balancing the
ecosystem. We need tigers, elephants and wild
boars. They too have a right to exist.”
Note: The author is from the developing global south
which is profoundly impacts
Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin's Speech Marking
Yangtze-Damming for Three Gorges Project,
November 8, 1997
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This Chinese premier’s ability to tap into prior Chinese
accomplishments of mastering their environment
suggests the control for the public good but does
little to discuss conservation “The water conservancy
and hydro-power project we are building today on
the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the scale and
overall benefits of which have no parallel in the
world, will greatly promote the development of our
national economy, and prove to be a lasting exploit
in the service of the present and future generations.”
This can be grouped with Genesis, Doc #4 and
nationalism and focuses on the nation over the
environment
Dr. Julian Simon, Noble prize winning economist, his speech in
Pamplona to Roman Catholic group, Opus Dei, 1998
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This economist discusses the improvements
made by the scientific community to improve
components of the environment to a Catholic
group (look back at doc 3). “But people solve
problems. The principal fuel for the
acceleration of progress is our "stock" of
knowledge; and the brakes are: a lack of
imagination and erroneous social regulations
of activities. People are the ultimate resource
. . .” this documents the problem solving
abilities by humans to master their
environment
Thesis
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From the beginning of humans interaction with the
environment many belief systems an advocacy to
protect and limit interference with nature’s
delicate balance, still others suggested the
mastery of this environment through science,
technology and the benefits it produces mankind.
Others have argued that this delicate balance
should be mitigated by conservation as all
resources on this planet are finite. A record of tree
deforestation in the global south would help to
provide the impact of the palm oil market in
Indonesia, Africa and Latin America to identify
impacts of carbon emissions of potential global
warming
Other Additional documents
A
member of Greenpeace to illustrate
conservation methods utilized to protect
the environment.
 A industrialist bourgeoisie whose factories
are contributed to pollution and their
response of capital production.
 A member of an indigenous laborer
whose subsistence farming is being
impacted by industrial production