The Anthropocene, as described in Kareiva’s article in the Breakthrough Journal, is the geological era in which the world’s ecology and geochemistry are dominated by humans. It is the era that humankind has created in its strive to improve the lifestyle of all humans.
Urban ecology is the mix of the urban world that humankind has created and preservation of elements of the natural world. It studies how these two can and do interact with each other.
Because the biogeochemical cycles in nature are vast and interrelated, it is impossible for humans to avoid affecting the entire world with their actions. For example, as explained in Vitousek’s article, many of the biogeochemical cycles are driven by water so when a dam was built on the Danube River, the silica chemistry of the Black Sea was altered. This shows us that, when the water cycle is interrupted, other biogeochemical cycles are also interrupted and these effects reach different parts of the world.
Although nature is easily influenced by humankind, Kareiva’s article explains that this is not as bad as people once believed it was. The article explains that nature has proven that it is not as fragile as people thought. Conservationists had once believed that, if one species were to become extinct, it would greatly impact the entire ecosystem, putting it at risk of collapse. As the article explains, however, this is not true. There are many examples of species that became extinct without even having noticeable effects on the ecosystem. The article even points out that nature has responded surprisingly well to major disasters caused by humans, such as the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear facility and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
I believe that the articles are correct in supporting the anthropocene and urban ecology over conservation. While I support the preservation of nature, conservation’s solution, choosing sections of the world to leave untouched, is not good enough. The influence of humankind on our planet is so great that we need to do more. We need to play an active role in the preservation of nature and also put more focus on more local locations. As nature has proved itself to be resilient, we should put more focus on the nature that is around us than the nature that has been designated as a park. There is a balance between the natural world and the one created by mankind. We just need to continue studying the ways that they can coexist.
