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"humans are responsible for every environmental catastrophe" My God; what incredible conceit. Compared with the billions of years of eruptions, earthquakes, e

"humans are responsible for every environmental catastrophe" My God; what incredible conceit. Compared with the billions of years of eruptions, earthquakes, extinctions, meteorite impacts, ice ages, droughts, floods, and just the relentless and deadly drive of all organisms on the planet to survive at the expense of their competitors, the effect of human beings on this planet is insignificant.

vansteen 11y ago
I guess what you're saying can be discussed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environmen...
- d_theorist 11y ago
  Humans have had an effect on the environment. On some scales, a big effect. But it's certainly wildly incorrect (and absurd) to say that all environmental damage is caused by humans. And I think it's also pretty unarguable that the vast majority of the damage (a concept that is I suppose anyway subjective) over the lifetime of the planet is not human-caused.
pluma 11y ago
False dichotomy. It's not "either it's all our fault or nothing is our fault". There's also the obvious middle-ground: we have an impact but other things have an impact too. We turn vast stretches of land upside down in search of coal. We drill deep holes into the ground and pollute the water in search of oil. We excavate mountains. We then burn that oil and coal producing vast amounts of noxious fumes. We selectively breed cattle, introduce foreign species to new ecosystems. We change the course of rivers, create new islands and water the deserts. It's absurd to think that we are the only thing affecting Earth's ecosystem and biosphere, but it's not any less naive to think we don't leave our mark.
- d_theorist 11y ago
  >It's not "either it's all our fault or nothing is our fault" I don't believe I ever said any such thing.

vansteen 11y ago

I guess what you're saying can be discussed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environmen...

d_theorist 11y ago
Humans have had an effect on the environment. On some scales, a big effect. But it's certainly wildly incorrect (and absurd) to say that all environmental damage is caused by humans. And I think it's also pretty unarguable that the vast majority of the damage (a concept that is I suppose anyway subjective) over the lifetime of the planet is not human-caused.

pluma 11y ago

False dichotomy. It's not "either it's all our fault or nothing is our fault". There's also the obvious middle-ground: we have an impact but other things have an impact too. We turn vast stretches of land upside down in search of coal. We drill deep holes into the ground and pollute the water in search of oil. We excavate mountains. We then burn that oil and coal producing vast amounts of noxious fumes. We selectively breed cattle, introduce foreign species to new ecosystems. We change the course of rivers, create new islands and water the deserts. It's absurd to think that we are the only thing affecting Earth's ecosystem and biosphere, but it's not any less naive to think we don't leave our mark.

d_theorist 11y ago
>It's not "either it's all our fault or nothing is our fault" I don't believe I ever said any such thing.