Surely it is inconceivable that human activity could rival the forces of nature. We are such insignificant creatures that it seems breathtakingly arrogant to believe our impact on the immense grandeur of our planet could be anything but minuscule.
That's what some prominent climate sceptics indignantly assert. Their incredulity may be understandable, but they are just plain wrong. Our species is now a geophysical agent of unprecedented power, albeit with unsustainable growth expectations.
Indeed, our impact is already so profound that my colleagues are seriously debating whether to christen this period "the Anthropocene" - a geological epoch dominated by the global effects of our own species.
This is a timely reminder that humanity is not only altering the composition and dynamics of the atmosphere and the oceans but leaving its mark on the planet in many other ways.
Rivers and glaciers, for example, have moved about 10 billion tonnes of sediment from mountain to sea each year on average, over geological time. Each year humans mine about 7 billion tonnes of coal and 2.3 billion tonnes of iron ore. We shift about the same amount again of overburden to access these resources, along with construction aggregate and other excavations. In short, we are now one of the main agents shaping the earth's surface.
For full article:
Author: MIKE SANDIFORD- Mike Sandiford is professor of geology and director of the Melbourne Energy Institute, University of Melbourne.
No comments:
Post a Comment