These are notes from the third lecture in the “Understanding Cultural and Human Geography” course.
Notes
- This lecture focuses on the concept of the “Anthropocene”: the idea that we are in a new geological epoch because of the impact of human activity on the environment. (As far as I can tell, this hasn’t been formally accepted. And the start date of the Anthropocene is debated – the beginning of the industrial era and the beginning of the agricultural era have both been proposed.)
- People have influenced the natural environment in many ways, particularly by altering the atmosphere, land cover and the distribution of species.
- Accepting the concept of the Anthropocene implies that we need to take responsibility for environmental decisions, by considering the impacts on people and other species, and trying to understand the ramifications. However, these decisions shouldn’t depend on judgements about what is most ‘natural’, as this starts to become meaningless in the Anthropocene.
- An example: a large nature reserve in the Netherlands that tries to replicate the environment of the late Pleistocene era. This is located on reclaimed land that would have been deep under the ocean during the actual late Pleistocene. And there’s a breed of cattle placed there to take the role of the extinct aurochs.
Reflections
The importance of metaphor in this lecture was interesting. The metaphors we used to think about the environment are likely to influence the decisions we make about the environment.
For example, the lecturer mentioned a book called The Rambunctious Garden by Emma Marris – considering our whole environment as a garden (rather than making a perhaps outdated distinction between natural and artificial environments) can inspire new approaches.
Metaphors can be surprisingly powerful.
Related
My notes on the previous lecture: On “Understanding Cultural and Human Geography 2”
My notes on the next lecture: On “Understanding Cultural and Human Geography 4
A world-building idea inspired by this lecture: world-building idea: who’s building our world?