Modern Era as the Anthropocene - Essay Example

MODERN ERA AS THE “ANTHROPOCENE” Modern Era as the “Anthropocene” The “Anthropocene” is a term that is always used in reference to the extent to which human activities have been of influence on the Earth’s ecosystem. Everything that human beings involve themselves in usually has either an indirect or a direct effect on at least one aspect of the earth. The earth as it is now is not exactly how it was 200 years ago. A lot has changed as a result of human activities. This paper aims at discussing why you think scientists increasingly refer to our modern era as the “Anthropocene”.

Engineering and construction as one of the many activities that human beings involve themselves in on earth have also contributed to the many changes that have been experienced on earth over the last 200 years. For example, in most construction, cement is always used. Studies have proved that the use of cement leads to the omission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A single tone of cement is believed to have the ability to produce a huge amount of carbon dioxide. Carbon emission is the highest contributor to global warming (Zalasiewicz, Williams, Smith, Barry, Coe, Bown & Stone, 2008).

Over the last 200 years, it can be noticed that human construction activities have highly increased. There are more people undertaking construction using cement in the modern world as compared to 200 years ago. The mining of substances such as limestone for the manufacture of cement is also believed to have interfered with the earth’s topography in the last 200 years. A look at the places where the mining of limestone takes place will surely prove the effect of the mining on the land’s topography.

There has been a great transformation of the earth’s surface over the last 200 years. Most of the cities that are well known in the modern world were not there some 200 years ago. In short, it can be said that cities and human settlements are the dominants of the landscape. All these are attributed to the construction activities that human beings have involved themselves in the last 200 years. In the process of building new cities and human settlements, it is evident that human beings were doing away with the natural vegetation that was covering the earth at that moment.

Apart from the natural vegetation, there were also the inhabitants of the natural vegetation who had to be displaced as a result of such developments (Smith & Zeder, 2013). The displaced animals had either to adapt to a new kind of life or end up being distinct. The clearing of natural vegetation has also led to an increase in global warming. The other activities that human beings have excessively involved themselves in are also the reason why the modern world can be referred to as the “Anthropocene”.

A good example of such an activity is transported. Transport is a very important aspect of the modern world. People and goods usually have to be transported from one part of the world to another. Almost all means of transport usually lead to carbon emissions which leads to an increased rate of global warming. Some like sea transport also usually have negative effects on the sea and the animals whose lives depend on the big water bodies such as seas, oceans, and lakes. The alarming thing is that these activities have highly increased over the last 200 years.