History of Us Environmental Degradtion
Conor Noonan
Hist 85 TTH 9:55
December 2011 Environmental History Final Thematic Essay Throughout History it is apparent that many people's view towards environmental degradation is that it is a problem to be dealt with in the distant future. At the turn of the 21st century it seems as if these problems are now right around the corner. Scientists and Environmentalists are learning more and more each year about the natural processes that are being thrown off their equilibrium by humans. Awareness of the issues has been steadily increasing due to the help from well-respected people such as Al Gore. Although people are becoming aware of the problems, the persistent consumer oriented culture of America simply does not allow for sustainable living conditions that many environmentalists advocate. Instead of living sustainably were are netting entire schools of tuna to feed ourselves, depleting the earth's resources of freshwater, releasing an immeasurable amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, digging enormous holes in the earth's surface for metals, and filling up enormous holes with our waste. In order for Americans to understand what must be done to become a sustainable society, it is important to understand how our history has shaped us into the neediest most wasteful country on the planet. Pioneers arrived on the coasts of America with no sense of what it meant to exist as part of nature. These pioneers witnessed the tribes of Native Americans who had a deeply rooted respect for nature. Instead of learning from the Natives and their relationship with nature, the profit and power driven mindset of the first Americans led them exploit the environment in the most efficient ways possible. This meant creating many new technologies that were not only damaging to the environment, but indirectly damaging to human beings as well. In the 19th century many people became of aware of environmental degradation and wrote
Hist 85 TTH 9:55
December 2011 Environmental History Final Thematic Essay Throughout History it is apparent that many people's view towards environmental degradation is that it is a problem to be dealt with in the distant future. At the turn of the 21st century it seems as if these problems are now right around the corner. Scientists and Environmentalists are learning more and more each year about the natural processes that are being thrown off their equilibrium by humans. Awareness of the issues has been steadily increasing due to the help from well-respected people such as Al Gore. Although people are becoming aware of the problems, the persistent consumer oriented culture of America simply does not allow for sustainable living conditions that many environmentalists advocate. Instead of living sustainably were are netting entire schools of tuna to feed ourselves, depleting the earth's resources of freshwater, releasing an immeasurable amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, digging enormous holes in the earth's surface for metals, and filling up enormous holes with our waste. In order for Americans to understand what must be done to become a sustainable society, it is important to understand how our history has shaped us into the neediest most wasteful country on the planet. Pioneers arrived on the coasts of America with no sense of what it meant to exist as part of nature. These pioneers witnessed the tribes of Native Americans who had a deeply rooted respect for nature. Instead of learning from the Natives and their relationship with nature, the profit and power driven mindset of the first Americans led them exploit the environment in the most efficient ways possible. This meant creating many new technologies that were not only damaging to the environment, but indirectly damaging to human beings as well. In the 19th century many people became of aware of environmental degradation and wrote