When looking at the Anthropocene there are many factors to consider. Are we humans ultimately responsible for conserving our planet for the next era of rulers? That question is essentially what Vitousek and Kareiva try to answer. Vitousek approaches the problem with vigor and is quick to point out all of the flaws of human intervention in the ecosystems of the world. Kareiva, in turn, addresses the problems conservationists have in dealing with the harms that come with human technological advancement.
According to Vitousek, approximately 1/3 to ½ of the earth has been transformed by humans. What have been the results of this involvement? Vitsousek cites examples of deforestation, hunting and fishing. These are dangerous activities humans do that directly effect their respective ecosystems. Vitousek goes on to state that many of these activities cause “irreversible losses of biological diversity.” The examples of humans burning through forests for precious trees for a variety of needs from housing to paper paints the picture that we are effectively destroying the ecosystem. We humans, are responsible for the close to 20% increase of CO2 emissions caused by land transformation. A consequence of this has been a global climate change. An astounding statistic mentioned by Vitousek, Marine Fisheries discard 27 million tons of nontarget animals, essentially altering that habitat and ecosystem. By taking these sea creatures out of the environment, both animals that are prey and predator will have population surges and declines, respectively. The effect on humans is not recorded.
Overall Vitousek acknowledges that humans have touched every ecosystem and have transformed or destroyed as many as half of them. Fossil fuel combustion adds about 5.5 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions to the environment annually. Synthetic organic chemicals such as Polychlorinated biphenyls have decimated many large bird populations like the Eagle and Falcon. Vitousek cites many of the problems and fallacies with human intervention and is rarely vocal about any conservation efforts. Kareiva is much more moderate in his approach.
On a much different note, Kareiva, starts his article about how 13% of the world is actually protected. What is surprising is that most of these lands are uninhabited by humans. Conservationists have worked to create parks and “protect” wilderness but now the question facing them is how to address landscapes and urban ecosystems. What is an urban ecosystem? Well, it takes all the work that conservationists have been doing away from humans and puts it in the direct path of the mass population. Urban ecology helps to address how government and organizations deal with pollution of air and water. This is a much more practical solution to solving the problem at hand.
Kareiva concludes with how resilient nature is. There is a new vision for conservation and organizations should team up with corporations to try to address this issue together. The end all goal should be to enhance ecosystems so they benefit the widest array of people and serve them effectively.
-Chandrapaul Latchman
