Activity 4.1 - US Environmental History and Major Regulations

 In this week's module I learned about the history of environmental change throughout the US. I think it's important to know our history, especially now that climate change is becoming a more serious issue. I spend a lot of time on social media like Tik Tok, and I see a lot of the things that are going on in the world in terms of news, politics, the environment, etc. When learning about history we as a society should learn what has happened throughout the years to where we are now. I see things on the internet like Antarctica is melting, many wildfires, extreme heat, no potable water, etc. While I was reading the articles for class I learned that back before the internet even existed, people really didn't have to worry about pollution, or waste. The reason due to this, is because back then it wasn't as populated as it is now, and technology didn't exist. In the article it states “When one stand of trees was consumed for housing or fuel, another was nearby; when one field was eroded to the point of limited fertility, expansion further inland was relatively simple; when rivers became silted so that fisheries were impaired, one moved further upstream; and when confronted with endless herds of wild animals, it was inconceivable that one might over-consume to the point of extinction” (Tomkin 16). This quote really gave me a different perspective on how life used to be, before being populated. I definitely had a different idea in my mind when I would think about people who lived during the times when technology wasn't a thing. This made me realize that people back then were careless, just like we are now. People thought that nature would restore itself, and we’d have resources forever. As the years went by however, the idea of better environment methods started being implemented by a man named Jared Eliot. He was mostly worried about farming methods, but as time went by it then became about human disease, and outbreaks. I came to the realization that as the years went by people started having their concerns on the environment like farming, forests, mining, etc. Everything would soon be connected, meaning that although there are many environmental issues those issues affect us, animals, plants, etc. I agree that back then people were careless about the environment, and that obviously had consequences, because many diseases came along like cholera. When the environment is having an issue that also affects us. Some examples are pollution, someone might see a piece of paper on the ground and think “oh that won't affect me, it is just a piece of paper on the ground”, when in reality that small piece of trash will eventually end up in a landfill, or the ocean. Lets not forget most landfills are overcrowded with the amount of trash there is in the world. This can cause bacteria, or disease to spread if there is trash everywhere. An animal can eat it, and we might eat that animal and it spreads to us. Water that we drink might also get contaminated due to run off of fertilizers from farming, or other things. In conclusion laws are always changing and as years have gone by people have requested their concerns about the environment, so laws come into place to fix these environmental issues. However, there is still much to do to keep the earth from being consumed by pollution to the point where not even a law will do anything to help.

Citation References

Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (Eds). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation. OpenStax CNX