Antrhropocene: the era of humanity. Specifically, anthropocene refers to the industrial and post-industrial era of humanity, when people around the world began to take over land, as well as sea, that had been previously untouched or unhindered by humankind, and began reshaping those regions for their benefit. Ecologically, that definition would be modestly adequate, as undoubtedly humans have done their fair share of destruction of—as well as have been destroyed by—nature long before, but it was during this particular time in human history when we the people stepped on the accelerator.
As Vitousek and others point out, major changes and fluctuations occurred during our collective quest for more oil, more fuel, more food, and, well, more of everything. Resources of every sort were and are literally uprooted from their habitats, and in its place are exhaust and runoff. Atmospheric carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur levels have relatively skyrocketed, and along with the damaging of the ozone layer due to chlorofluorocarbons, the global meteorology has in turn returned the damages back as acid rain and scorching ultraviolet harm. Humans are able to actually displace the air, the sea, and the earth around them, and in part due to naiveté and part to necessity, they have done exactly that.
Then, as Kareiva and his colleagues explain, humans became conscious to their work, and instead of a fairy-tale righting of past dues, an odd conundrum—and ensuing chaos—occurred. As people preserved natural habitats they displaced people; as people preserved people they displaced the natural habitats. It is realized, then, that an antebellum status quo of nature would be impossible, if not impractical, to achieve. Humans have simply done too much; even if they do not directly interact with the ecosystem they believe is untouched, their global actions—namely the continued usage of fossil fuels and massive depletion of resources, such as deforestation and overfishing—can still negatively affect, if only slightly alter, said ecosystem. Instead, Kareiva suggests, humans should adapt to the resilience and adaptability of nature itself, to understand the resistance of ecosystems to change, and to encourage that advancement instead of preserves and parks.
That is urban ecology. Urban ecology is the meshing and proper coexistence of the natural and the industrial. It is the construction and/or maintenance of ecosystems, micromanaged and global, that can be sustained with and despite human interference. It does mean a significant sacrifice on part of humanity; for one, humans cannot continue to see the world as their giant sandbox. It is finite, and as humans continue to grow they will find it to be increasingly finite—that is, scarce. For another, people were the reason for the destruction or displacement of species and terrain alike; if they have the power to cause such disrepair, then they should have the power to do the opposite. Indeed, one testament to humanity’s power of construction of such a scale is the projects intended to build artificial islands. Surely, if people can build islands, then they can otherwise reshape the Earth in any fashion they desire. It may take green technology, solar panels, transitioning into gas-sipper-cars, international agreements, and something with a little more weight than a monkey wrench, but it is entirely possible for humanity to survive in the era of urban ecology. The next era that humankind should make is the polisopocene.
