Recently Arwa posted NASA images that depict how we have drastically altered countries in the Middle East and North Africa – a jarring post that was read by hundreds of people around the world. Today we bring you a staggering video by Globaïa, which globalizes local issues and demonstrates how efficiently human beings have conquered the entire planet in the 250 years since the industrial revolution first started.
As a result of our “success,” we have entered a new geological epoch that has been dubbed “The Anthropocene.” Hit the jump for a link to this extraordinary three minute video that puts consumption and globalization into perspective like you’ve never seen before.
Modern humans first appeared on the planet roughly 2.4 million years ago. In all those years, our ancestors struggled to survive, learned how to make fire, how to make tools. Over millions of years hominids improved their skills and became more successful, but always at nature’s whim.
But then we became too powerful and now we are the only species ever to have completely altered the earth’s natural cycle. We put a hole in the ozone and have decimated thousands of other species.
We have also improved lives for millions of people. Although our planet is under pressure, relatively speaking, humans are better off than they ever were before. We live longer and more comfortably and we can feed more people, all of which comes with a price.
This three-minute eye-opener was commissioned for the Planet Under Pressure conference held in London at the end of March, 2012. It is the first educational film describing the latest geological epoch.
“The Anthropocene changes our relationship with the planet,” said Conference Chief Scientific Advisor, Nobel Laureate Professor Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University. “We have a new responsibility and we need to determine how to meet that responsibility.”
:: Fastco
More on Globalization and Environmental Destruction:
Play God With NASA’s Flood Maps
MENA is Changing Drastically and NASA has the Images to Prove it
Saudi’s Waste of Ice Age Water Depicted in 4 NASA Images
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
She mentions means of rectifying some of this…what? (Brushing with baking soda won’t solve global problems….even if I don’t spit but swallow instead…)