Reflection: Environmentalism is In

Reflection: Environmentalism

            The environmental movement first began in the 1960’s. This was the first time in history that people really even noticed or even considered he human impact on the earth.  People realized that resources were limited and eventually they will run out. 

            One could argue that it was the Industrial Revolution was to blame because it brought technology and oil powered machinery into the picture and no longer was our air to be clean. For decades to follow pollution and air contaminants poison not only the air but the earth’s soil and water supply as well. 

            The sudden environmentalist ideals have caused some historians to claim that the era that we are in right now ought to be referred to as Anthropogenic, or the Age of the Man because this is a time where people are starting to pay attention to the lasting impact on earths ecological systems. Strayer notes that there are three main factors that lead up to the sudden awareness. The first factor being the quadrupling of the world’s population over the last century which has caused limited resources to be used up as well as the devastation of the world’s ecosystems as we continue to expand our real estate ventures. Secondly, Strayer says that human’s discovery of natural energy sources like fossil fuel, have caused humans to become greedy and overtake from the earth.  Lastly, to keep up with the growing population, we need to mass-produce goods for sale which causes a whole plethora of problems like poor work conditions, exploitation of labor, and factory pollution.