Humans in an ecological system
Stemming from biology, ecology looks at ecosystems and their ability to be successful. Ecologists look at every part of an ecosystem to begin to understand the complex relationships between each species, and how interconnected every member of a ecosystem is. An ecologist can look at an ecosystem and predict just how a drought will impact the local population of deer, or the affects of the introduction of an invasive species (such as the zebra muscle in Lake Champlain) can drastically change the landscape of an ecosystem. The study of these relationships is not limited isolated ecosystems that are read about in science textbooks. An ecological view of the world is a view that looks at the connections between every aspect of our existence. Ecology challenges us to see past what is in front of us, and look at how everything is influenced by everything around it. This can be a hard concept to grasp, as at it requires the synthesis of every relationship between every factor on this earth. It’s a vast ideology, and one that cannot be simplified, as simplification would cause some of the main meaning to be lost.
The most common example of this dangerous simplification is when one assumes that ecology only occurs in the natural world. This completely eliminates humans from the established web of connections, and in turn, removes us from the ecosystem that supports our very life. This separation has lead to the establishment of a rather dangerous relationship with out ecosystem, in which we take what we need without thought towards the earth’s overall health. The belief that humans have mastered the earth and that the earth exists only to support our lives and wellbeing is a shortsighted opinion. Yet, as shown by the numerous disastrous affects of global warming, affects that impact ecosystems in ways they are not adapted to deal with, it is clear that humans have worked under this Been acting under this presumed state of ownership of the earth for some time, and have finally stretched the limits of our earth’s capacity. In order to have a truly ecological view of the world we are surrounded by, we need to include some form of the human existence and it’s impacts into the equation. We cannot fall back onto our old habits of removing humans from the system and disregarding the waste that humans create. We instead must find to establish equilibrium between humans and all other aspects in the system again, because without it, the ecosystem will not be able to continue to survive. — Ziggy Chesley