• Question: Are humans damaging the earth?

    Asked by beccawilko to Angus, Christian, Hannah, Laura, Simon on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Angus Ferraro

      Angus Ferraro answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Humans are certainly changing it. We use it for resources and modify the land in quite drastic ways. A lot of people would say this is damage, because it removes the habitats of other animals.

      I believe we should take care not to take too much from the Earth and that we should try to keep some of it aside to be as ‘wild’ as possible.

    • Photo: Simon Holyoake

      Simon Holyoake answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      I think we are causing damage by extracting and burning fossil fuels and polluting the air and water with industrial chemicals, as well as clearing forests for pasture to graze animals on, and mass overfishing the seas

      all of this destroys animal habitats and endangers species, if we put the same effort into repairing the earth that we do in exploiting its resources I believe we could undo much of the damage in a few short generations

      currently we don’t live alongside the natural world, we exploit it to suit our purposes and I believe this needs to end!

    • Photo: Hannah Bentham

      Hannah Bentham answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      I am a little torn by the question.

      Humans are certainly using the Earth to advancement, and I think progress is necessary and natural.

      However, with progress comes responsibility and I think we need to use our knowledge and research to further technology so we can become more careful about what we do and don’t use. I think we have been a bit short-sighted in the past. But times are changing and people are becoming more aware about the damage to Earth.

      We cannot just stop using energy. Lots of things we have become used to e.g. great healthcare, transport to get to work, amenities all use a lot of energy. But we can limit the amount of harmful bi-products. Something I think we should all think about is waste. We waste so much food (~50%) and throw out so much packaging. We buy new toys for our kids that last a few weeks then throw them away or they sit in a garage. Cheap clothes mean that people buy clothes of daily basis rather than good clothes that last a few years. Better quality, less waste, live longer!

      So yes, we are damaging Earth, but I think for the most part it is reversible. We just need to think in the long term rather than the easiness of short term.

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