According to the articles, the Anthropocene is the current era in time we live in or in other words, an era where the world is completely dominated by humans and human activity. Many different ecosystems all over the planet are affected in some way by either direct or indirect human influence. An example of a direct influence is farming. With farming, humans decide what crops grow in a designated area. This could introduce species to an environment that they would have never been a part of before if not for this human interference. An indirect influence caused by humans can be shown with things like CO2 emissions from human activity. These emissions can lead to the degradation of ecosystems all over the world. The articles also made it clear that it is not only terrestrial ecosystems that are affected by the Anthropocene, but ocean ecosystems as well. Fishing is an example of a direct influence caused by humans in that the mass slaughter of a certain species of fish, can throw off the food chain and cause negative changes in the populations of other species. The Anthropocene is something that affects every ecosystem no matter the location or type, on the planet.
In my opinion, the term Anthropocene is a relevant way to describe the time we are living in. It roughly translates to “era of humankind” which is a truly accurate way to label this time period. There has never been an era before this when mankind had such a high population as well as such a strong influence on the world around them. The number of things that we as a species do that affect the world’s ecosystems is massive. They include farming, fishing, deforestation, hunting, driving cars, and countless other everyday activities. While the activities that affect the environment are vast and innumerable, so are the changes that they lead to. According to the Vitousek article, “the current loss of genetic variability, of populations, and of species is far above background rates.” This means that the populations of certain species are dwindling and are going extinct at rates we have never encountered before. This correlates with the massive increase in human population and activity in the last few hundred years. The term Anthropocene is adequate for this situation because the human population is dominating that of species it comes in contact with. While the human population is growing every year, the populations of other species dwindle and even go completely extinct in some cases. There is no clearer indicator of a planet dominated by human life than the extinction of various species as a result of human activity.
It is quite clear that we are living in the Anthropocene; an era dominated by humans. The human population has a stranglehold on the planet’s resources and ecosystems and is slowly changing it with its various actions to promote growth and human life. Although it is difficult to avoid living in an Anthropocene with the population as high as it is, it is clear that changes need to be made so that we as a species don’t have such a negative affect of the species around us.
