Introduction

If there is one thing we can learn from the history of hominids, it is that actions leave imprints. To the surprise of many, the impacts of humans (and even pre-humans) on their surroundings is not a modern phenomenon. In fact, this trend has been happening for a remarkably long time. Charcoal remnants found in ancient hearths suggest that Homo erectus mastered the art of fire two million years ago, and stone tools date back even further. Fire and tool usage, predation, and landscape alteration have since then been trademarks of hominid presence (Steffen et al., 2007).
One of the earliest recorded impacts that humans had on their surroundings were the megafaunal extinctions occurring in the late Pleistocene. In a very predictable pattern observable in the following figure, human migration was accompanied by the extinction of vast numbers of large animal species (Steffen et al., 2007).

UC Davis Geology 120 Lecture 9

While the hunters responsible for the megafaunal extinctions thousands of years ago did indeed impact their environment, their influence was fairly localized to the regions they inhabited (Steffen et al., 2007). 

As societies advance and populations grow, human impacts on the environment increase. My goal is to explore some of the problems we humans are causing in the 21st century, and illustrate how they are amplified (or even created) by our vast numbers. I plan to elaborate on current issues including but not limited to global warming, landscape alteration, sea-level rise, threats to wildlife, shifting storm patterns, water and air pollution, and illness and disease. 

Rather than focusing on the doom and gloom aspects of humanity alone, I will also describe positive changes humans are making to lead the world into more sustainable future. I hope to share various methods humans are utilizing to cope with or slow their population growth, reduce pollution, and conserve wildlife habitats.

Essentially, I aim to illuminate the many ways in which, as my dad would say, "We are sawing off the limb we sit on,"but also spread cheer by explaining several ways in which we humans are innovatively glueing, taping and splinting our proverbial, mangled branch back to its' stump.

Works cited:

Steffen, Will, et all. The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature? Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 36.8: 614-621.