by Jay Fallon

Created on: December 03, 2010   Last Updated: December 05, 2010

Throughout the long history of the Earth, there has never been a species that has so violently changed the climate and the face of the planet like humanity has. For billions of years, as evolution took it's course, species came and went and came again, and the Earth essentially remained unchanged by it's inhabitants. Then along came Homo Sapiens, and things would never be the same. For a while humans continued to live more or less in harmony with the world around them, but soon came agriculture and civilization. Then came ever larger villages, towns and cities.

The first noticeable pollution came, when after years of dumping, the rivers around which most cities were built became not only undrinkable, but in some cases toxic. Finally the industrial revolution happened, and essentially put the last nail in the coffin of environmental balance. The rivers got worse than ever before, and the new coal powered economy started pumping huge amounts of pollutants into the air. For over a hundred years the process continued, almost completely unregulated and uncontrolled.

Then, ever so slowly, the mindset of the people started to change. Environmental pioneers like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt highlighted the wonder of the natural world and the need to conserve it. When they died, other environmentalists took their place, and the knowledge that we have about the environment and our impact on it continued to grow. Today, we finally have a full, or at least fuller understanding of how not only our industry, but our individual lifestyles affect the environment. With this understanding, comes a moral imperative to protect and preserve our natural world, which we now realize is more fragile than we thought.

We live in an era of unparalleled wealth and unparalleled technology. Combining these, there is no reason that we should not be able to at least preserve what remains of our once pristine planet. Humanity is nothing if not ambitious, and there is no reason that we could not halt environmental destruction altogether if we put our collective minds to it. It is a task that ultimately we must undertake, not only because it is an admirable one, but because it will become (if it is not already) necessary for the survival of our species.

There is no longer an excuse for excessive pollution or damage to the environment. We may never return to the prehistoric days when our ancestors lived in harmony with nature, but at least we can do our best to not make it worse than it already is. To do otherwise is environmentally, and morally unacceptable.

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