Blog Number 3: Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems

Summary:
Humans have had a large ecological impact, on all forms of life.  The reading discusses the difficulty of calculating the amount of damage that has been done, as many of the actions have indirect effects that are very difficult to asses.  an example of the damage humans cause according to the reading is that by 1995, 22% of fisheries were depleted, this number can be linked almost completely to human exploitation.  Humans also majorly impact other natural cycles, like water, leaving only 2% of water ways in the United States unimpeded, humans are also shown to effect the carbon, phosphorus, and Nitrogen cycles, to name a few.  The Earth's biota suffers problems such as invasive species and raped extinctions.  The paper concluded with the idea that humans have caused much of this damage and are in many ways the soul hope for repairing them. 


Critical Thinking

2. Would it help to reduce the human impact on the Earth if we could reduce the human population?

Slowing population growth has long been the suggestion of many researchers as a way to slow down the damage humans cause, but that is it. It is only proposed as a way in which to slow it down, not as a permanent solution to the underlying problems, which according to the reading are; the rate at which humans alter the Earth, which can be slowed by population reduction, rapidly increasing the amount of research and studies used to understand the Earth's ecosystems and species. As well as increasing human concern and effort in environmental actions, to reduce their overall impact.