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I recommend MacKinnon's The Once and Future World, which talks about the world before our population exploded and overtook the world. It's shocking how much mor

by spodek 7y ago

I recommend MacKinnon's The Once and Future World, which talks about the world before our population exploded and overtook the world. It's shocking how much more untouched nature there was, or however I should describe it. Fish were so dense in the ocean that boats would come to a halt in the middle of the Atlantic. Coral reefs several stories high and miles long. Lions roaming North America larger than in Africa. Armadillo-like animals the size of cars. Plenty more. I did a couple video essays on it: - http://joshuaspodek.com/your-daily-environment-009-the-once-and-future-world-8-9-19 http://joshuaspodek.com/your-daily-environment-009-the-once-... - http://joshuaspodek.com/your-daily-environment-010-the-once-and-future-world-august-27-2019 http://joshuaspodek.com/your-daily-environment-010-the-once-...

AtlasBarfed 7y ago
Flying in a plane, it's apparent the scale of industrialization, be it agricultural or otherwise, we've imposed upon the world.
- dTal 7y ago
  I think about this whenever I hear someone complain that windmills "spoil the natural landscape". There isn't a natural landscape - not anymore. Those pretty green fields and hedgerows you see in rural areas? As artificial as the Hoover dam, and as destructive to the former ecosystem. Unless you're putting windmills in Yellowstone National Park, you're not ruining anything that wasn't already ruined. (Also, it's ironic that despite the amount of criticism on aesthetic grounds they catch, compared to most things that generate power windmills are virtually ecologically invisible.)
  - Nasrudith 7y ago
    Aesthetic complaints seem to be largely nostalgia/conservatism based - anything new and functional is called ugly at first because they aren't used to it. See how the Eiffle Tower and trains were called ugly and now tearing it down would be unthinkable and old steam engines are considered picturesque.

by spodek 7y ago

AtlasBarfed 7y ago

Flying in a plane, it's apparent the scale of industrialization, be it agricultural or otherwise, we've imposed upon the world.

dTal 7y ago
I think about this whenever I hear someone complain that windmills "spoil the natural landscape". There isn't a natural landscape - not anymore. Those pretty green fields and hedgerows you see in rural areas? As artificial as the Hoover dam, and as destructive to the former ecosystem. Unless you're putting windmills in Yellowstone National Park, you're not ruining anything that wasn't already ruined. (Also, it's ironic that despite the amount of criticism on aesthetic grounds they catch, compared to most things that generate power windmills are virtually ecologically invisible.)
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  Aesthetic complaints seem to be largely nostalgia/conservatism based - anything new and functional is called ugly at first because they aren't used to it. See how the Eiffle Tower and trains were called ugly and now tearing it down would be unthinkable and old steam engines are considered picturesque.