Portfolio Reflection

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Analysis of “Neuogeology: The Anthropocene’s Inspirational Power”

The author's major claim involves an aspect or concept used to show how human activities have dominated the earth and will continue doing so in the coming days. Here, he suggests that human activities on the earth's surface have continued exerting pressure on the planet's long-term systems. He tries to relate the dominance of human activities to the new phase for the earth as well as a unique experience for humans as species. Based on his argument, he claims that for many years, human beings have continued rebelling against natural limitations making the human activities to dominate the earth's future (Schwagerl 29). Moreover, he emphasizes more on how planet earth is undergoing through a process of being colonized by human advancement. Human activities, as Schwagerl suggests, have been continuously changing the primary parameters of the planet's various composition as well as its initial character.

The human relationship with the natural environment can be termed as a coupled human-environment system. It is a description that explains how one can significantly affect another and also how one depends on another in one way or the other. In essence, humans have continued exploiting the earth’s environment by advancing their activities such as agriculture, and industry. The number of people who have engaged in such activities is substantial. Besides, the number has not got any lesser as the demand for such events is increasing, similar to the population rate. As such, this only predicts the worst to come as far as the natural environment is concerned.

Further, he uses some sub-claims to emphasize on his main claim of the dominance of human activities over the earth. For instance, he compares two phases of human evolvement, including Pleistocene and Holocene phases. During these phases, humans evolved from being just hunters and gatherers to modern activities like agriculture and industry. During this time, humans exploited the planet's natural treasure trove that had form for over four billion years and that they did not consider the impacts that could incur. Notably, the phase when human advanced to modern activities, as he admits, came to rebel against natural limits that no other species on the planet had ever done. Based on his argument, before human activities evolved from hunting and herding of animals to mining, building of houses, and agriculture, the human did not significantly alter with the earth's climate or environment. Nevertheless, after human evolution came into the real picture, the earth's climate changed, and it has continued to so as the activities continue to be substantial.

The relationship between human and physical geography was once considered more apparent when compared to the contemporary world. Nevertheless, with the increasing human experience in regards to technology, the relationship has remained more obscured. Initially, social activities were limited to herding and hurting. These activities did not have a significant impact on the natural environment. Moreover, the human population was smaller, and the occupational regions were countable. As such, the effect of humans on the earth was in control, causing harmony to the relationship.

In contrast, today, human activities have evolved with technology taking its part to colonize the natural environment as we know it. With the increasing demand for resources, human has taken their actions to the next level where forests such as Amazon have continuously been destroyed for human interest. Activities such as mining and intensive agriculture have primarily contributed to soil erosion and deforestation. As a result, many tropical forests in the world have been turned into seasonal deserts, thereby changing the initial natural geographical system. For instance, human activities in Australian forests have caused wildfires in the states of Victoria and New South Wales.

Besides, he predicts that in the future, the human activities on the earth's surface will have a significant impact on fossil decomposition. In other words, he claims that the record of fossils and the long-term biological composition of the world will entirely rely on human actions and inactions. As evidence, he gives an example of "The Anthropocene Project," where Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz indicated that there are at least one hundred thousand cats that have been domesticated globally for every wild tiger existing on the planet (Schwagerl 30). In the long run, he predicts that there could be the existence of new species evolved from contemporary house cats. He calls this a directed evolution where the tastes of early pet owners will shape and lead to the procreation of neo-wild species in the future. Here, he emphasizes how human actions and inactions will lead to changing features in the future.

In essence, the author reassures his skeptical audience that the concept of human activities dominance over the earth is among the hypotheses of scientific study. Based on his argument, contemporary scientists are currently testing the idea of forcefully having collective action of humanity in the geological record, and this will continue throughout the millennia to come. He provides a warrant by indicating that the first group of scientists has been assigned to carry out the necessary research concerning the matter. In 2017, the first scientific verdict by the group was done, and this is expected to be carried out by geologists in the concurrent future years (Schwagerl 31). The aim as he suggests, is to identify or to come up with a series of concurrent judgments as well as classifications. Based on the warrant, as human activities have continued to grow, the environment has also been rapidly changing. From the past, human activities have shown a certain pattern concerning how it affects the climate. In essence, its impact on the climate has continued to be substantial with time, and this is expected to worsen with time goes by. Similarly, the author suggests that before when human activity only involved hunting and herding, the climate had its way of dominating the earth. However, when human activities increased to mining, agriculture, building houses, among others, the climate changed, and the activities ruled the world as it is today. As time goes by, human activities will continue increasing due to the demands of resources, thereby causing more impact on the earth.

The author continues to support his argument showing how the dominance of human activities to earth indicates the interlaced relationship between the ecosphere, lithosphere, and anthroposphere has come and is vital. Mostly, he predicts that in the future, there will be formulation of new terms to describe this process's patterns and mechanisms (Schwagerl 36). He proclaims that the modern life of humans cannot be separated from nature itself. The more humans continue to interfere with ecosystems and the planet's resources, the closer they come across natural phenomena. On the contrary, he claims that this also deepens them into a new nature that develops through their various activities on the earth's surface.

Work cited

Schwägerl, Christian. "Neurogeology: The Anthropocene's Inspirational Power" In: "Anthropocene: Exploring the Future of the Age of Humans," edited by Helmuth Trischler, RCC Perspectives 2013, no. 3, 29–37.