Western Civ 101

Topic: Nature and the Environment

What is the place of humans in the natural world? What is our role in the natural
order? What is the relationship between culture and nature? Are humans just
one small part of nature, or an entity separate from it? These questions are at
the heart of various systems of society, philosophy, religion, government,
economics. Sometimes these questions are not asked directly; even then, they
are always there, implicitly. The answers to these questions determine the way
in which we relate to the environment and use it or abuse it.

Since the very beginning of human culture and civilisation, we have had some
impact on our environment. Tens of thousands of years ago, the early hunter-
gatherers influenced the places where they lived in diverse ways: in some, they
established harmonious relationships with the environment, while in others
they caused the local megafauna (huge animals such as mammoths or
megatherium) to go extinct. After the Neolithic Revolution, with the
communities settling down in the first cities and using agriculture and irrigation
to provide food for themselves, local environmental conditions were deeply
changed to suit human needs. Deforestation, resource extraction, and pollution
grew over time: in Europe in Classical times (such as in ancient Greece & Rome)
the environment and landscape were profoundly changed, with logging, mining,
and smelting on a huge scale. This resulted in flooding, drought, contamination
of land & water, diseases, and extinction of such animals as lions that used to
live in southern Europe and all around the Mediterranean Sea in ancient times.
Later, for a thousand years the vast forests of Europe were cut down to make
space for farming and use wood for burning and building, with further
extinctions (such as aurochs). At the end of the Middle Ages, with the re-
discovery of Classical science and technology in Europe (the Renaissance), the
new push for technological and economic development caused further
environmental changes in Europe.

Then, Industrial Revolution brought widespread coal mining & burning with a
huge impact on water and air quality. Natural rivers were dug up to make canals
for ships, which severely destroyed wildlife, while remaining forests were cut
down for paper and other material. Factories making all kinds of products
harvested resources from fragile ecosystems (including faraway colonies) and
released toxic pollution. It was Industrial Revolution that started global warming.
The 20th century saw continuing environmental destruction, especially after the
Second World War, when the so-called “Great Acceleration” caused a speeding
up of all kinds of technological and economic processes. The result has been the
increased exploitation of nature that resulted in the state of the world we are
now in: with climate change and global warming, ecosystem destruction and
biodiversity loss, soil erosion and resource scarcity, groundwater depletion and
widespread pollution, and others.

Our contemporary environmental problems are incomparably more serious

than ever before in human history. To solve all these problems, modern societies
need to consider whether their economic systems, social expectations, and
personal lifestyles are suitable and sustainable. More and more people in
Western countries think about it and debate possible answers and solutions. It
has become one of the hottest topics around the world, too. Everyone needs to
be aware of the precise environmental issues we are facing, so they can make
smarter decisions, engage in helpful action, and contribute to creating a better
culture.

ASSIGNMENT

1. Choose either ONE of the six major English-speaking countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, Ireland) or ONE of the 27 countries of the European Union (Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden).

2. Go to ecosia.org or cn.bing.com 国际版 (these search engines provide a larger selection of

English-language results than Chinese ones, so you can practise your language skills and avoid
Chinglish that comes from translating Chinese website contents back into English) and search
for “environmental issues in [country name]” (for example: “environmental issues in
Australia”). Write down any environmental issue you can find, looking up new words
whenever you find them (this is very useful vocab, so don’t lose this opportunity to learn it!).

3. Handwrite (pen/paper or stylus/screen) a one- or two-page essay in English, explaining the

main environmental issue (or issues) facing your selected country. Try to explain these issues
in a clear and simple language, so anyone could understand it. Include helpful definitions of
keywords. (Do NOT include solutions to these issues.)

4. Bring your essay to class :-)