The point of this class is to care enough to learn and then spread awareness about the impact of our actions. I came in not knowing what the word ‘Anthropocene’ meant. I now know it means humans are a geological force. We are glaciers and meteors and our change is affecting the entire world. However, with the dawning realization of… Read more »
Sitting 11,000 feet above sea level I realized how people affect me. Perched in front of a Buddhist monastery in the village of Upper Pisang, along the Annapurna Circuit Trek, in the Nepalese Himalaya I found my collectivist agenda. While I sat at this ramshackle monastery thousands of feet in the air, two Russian travelers sat beside me…. Read more »
India and China, two increasingly populous countries driving local development and deleterious emissions, will inevitable be limited by the natural resources available for their use, much like a chemical reaction (Steffen). In this manner, the planet checks the expansion of humanity. However, between biofuels and antibiotics, our species continues to defy the parameters that hinder the advance of other life… Read more »
During our periods of self reflection related to this course, I find myself facing a recurrent thought. The majority of US citizens acknowledge that climate change is happening but is anyone actually willing to do anything about it? I have heard so many individuals cry out against climate change, making claims of how we as a society need to initiate… Read more »
There are many people who think that humans are getting what was coming to them. We destroyed thousands of acres of forests, hunted animals to extinction, pumped the atmosphere with chemicals, and laid cities to waste with nuclear bombs. Why shouldn’t we be punished for all the environmental crimes we have committed, right? The most interesting implication of the Anthropocene is… Read more »
Let’s talk about bubble wrap. For the uninitiated, it’s worth noting: a fresh sheet of pristine bubble wrap provides an endless abundance of sensorial pleasure and poppable potential. The satisfaction of its loud “clack!” is matched only by the sheer delight of snapping a pustule beneath your thumb pad. For years (heck, until this course began, really), I’ve lived within… Read more »