- MENU
- HOME
- SITE
- JOBS
- VIDEOS
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com: Environment
The Myth of the Wild
by Jonah Goldberg
The pristine natural world has been gone for a long time; get used to it.
Nearly all of the earthworms in
The notion that America was "wild" when Europeans found it is more than a little racist; it assumes Indians didn't act like humans everywhere else by changing their environment. Native Americans weren't Ur-hippies taking only photos -- or I guess drawings -- and leaving only footprints. They cultivated plants, cleared forests with extensive burning to boost the population of desired animals, and otherwise altered the landscape in ways that may have seemed natural to newcomers but were nonetheless profound. As biologist
Kay goes on to note that when we set aside a "wilderness" and then let "nature take its course," we aren't preserving "some remnant of the past." We are instead creating "conditions that have not existed for the last 10,000 years."
And even then, these supposedly wild places aren't truly wild. That's because to the extent they are preserved in their seemingly natural state, it is by humanity's will. Also, the remaining wild animals in those places are often the ones we decided should live or didn't accidentally kill. And the plants and animals that ate -- or were eaten by -- those creatures have never been the same. Without humans, dogs, cows, pigs and chickens wouldn't have evolved the way they have.
The wild environment isn't just about trees and bears and other forms of charismatic mega flora and fauna. I heard
In other words, we pick and choose what should be "wild" and what shouldn't all of the time.
Last year, the salmon catch in southeast
Geoengineering proponents hope that such techniques might one day be used to sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere (though studies are mixed on this score), thus diminishing the need for wealth-crushing fossil fuel prohibitions while making food cheaper for humanity. In principle, this is no more outrageous than draining swampland to eradicate malaria and create farmland.
As
But some of the ideological responses Zubrin cited are ridiculous.
That ship sailed at least 10,000 years ago.
More Environment & Climate Change ...
- 5 Radical Takeaways from the Pope's Letter on Climate
- A Green-Energy Founding Father
- We're All Taking Dirty Pictures
- Faking It While the World Burns
- This Oil Spill Hits Close to Home
- A Fossil-Fueled Fantasy
- The Pentagon Makes War on Alaska's Pristine Wilderness
- An Open Letter to Obama: If You Want Money for the Climate, Tax Wall Street
- Climate Denial Syndrome Sweeps Wisconsin
- How Climate Change and Resource Scarcity Are Upending World Politics
- Virginia Is for Dirty-Energy Lovers
- Humanity's War on Wildlife
- Making Green Cool Again in Hungary
- David and Goliath in the Amazon
- NASA Warns of 'Megadroughts'
- Our Growing Carbon Emissions
- Global Warming Triggered Syria War
- Round-the-World Solar Flight Takes Off
- 10 Extreme Weather Facts
- New York City Sea Level Rises
- Alaskan Glaciers Disappearing
- Leather Sludge New Bio-Fuel Source
- Why the Ocean is Turning More Acidic
- Why Whales Beach Themselves
- Termites Fight Climate Change
- Gas-Guzzlers On Road To Extinction
- Technology & Transformation
- Ecuador: All You Need Is Love and Oil?
- China Pulls Critical Pollution Documentary Offline
- Forging Our Future
- Green Believers
- The Glaciers Are Talking to Us
- Bald Eagles Nesting In New York City For First Time In 100 Years
- Asian Pollution Messing With U.S. Weather
- Instagram Account Shows Reality of Climate Change
- Keystone Pipeline Would Emit Tons of Greenhouse Gases
- Why You Can't Throw Away Batteries
- Road Salt Is Worse Than You Think
- Arctic Not Cold Enough for Polar Bears
- Doomsday Clock & Climate Change
- Sea-Level Accelerating Faster Than Previously Thought
- 6 Countries Dictate Planet's Future
- Manhattan Size Glacier Breaks Apart
- Opinions Split on Fracking Benefits
- Bad News for Sea Level Rise
- 2014 Hottest Year On Record According To NASA
- While Our Planet Melts, GOP Pleads Ignorance
- The Myth of the Wild
- Plastic Bags are Not a Need - Just a Bad Habit
- Environmental Security: Conflict or Cooperation?
- Beyond The Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus
- Climate Change Report Sounds Alarm for Planet Earth
- Genesis, Mother Nature and Environmental Stewardship
- Global Climate Change: Calling All Pagans
- Chicken Little 'Science'
- Climate Change and Interstate Conflict
- Fracking: A Deadly Power Surge
- Inhospitable Earth -- Compared to What?
More Environment & Climate Change ...
Article: Copyright © 2014, Tribune Content Agency
"The Myth of the Wild "