There was a larger emphasis on human ignorance and destruction of nature in chapter 7, “Weathering,” of City at the Water’s Edge. McCully’s overwhelming imagery exemplified her biases on the “efforts” people have made to attempt to calm climate change and protect themselves from future storms. I enjoyed the brief anecdote that connected people currently with the Dutch in the 1400’s. It reemphasized the point that history repeats itself and we should learn from our previous mistakes. The Dutch eventually realized that the best way to balance nature was to attempt to restore the natural habitat. It is pointless for humans to battle with nature because all of our attempts make conditions harsher.
The statistics she provided in the chapter were, as always, shocking, especially the drastic increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Apparently if we do not halt the rate at which we burn fossil fuels, carbon dioxide levels can increase between 30 to 150 percent. Initially, my mind focused on the superbly high “150 percent;” my second thought was how could there be such a large range? Upon doing some more research, I realized that McCully was referring to altering atmospheric compositions, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxide. She should have clarified on that statement as it could be misleading. However, the statement itself is a cry for attention to society.
We can no longer live the way we do and expect the land we live on to continue to support us. Serious reprimands by the government and the people need to be made in order for the natural restoration of the environment to return. She emphasized that we can not accurately compare our technological period with the Ice Age because we are no longer the simple hunter-gatherer society anymore. Humans have developed into a complex urban society, where money and material items are more important than the environment in which we live. We only seem to care when something, such as a catastrophic natural disaster, occurs that directly impacts us, usually negative. If people sincerely cared for the environment, there would be larger efforts to solve the beach erosions and flooding in the long-term, instead of continuously covering up the problem at costly expenses.
