Society

Society must be viewed as an integral component of the natural environment rather than as something separate from it.
People that share a common geographic place are referred to as a society. Within a society, people freely engage in friendly interactions. They actually frequently have cultural and institutional overlap. A community upholds the traditions that its ancestors who lived in the same region left behind. Bonding and relationships are important aspects of society. In some cases, a subtribe exists that makes up the primary society. Additionally, because everyone in society is a part of the same environment and surroundings, a sense of belonging is created. Nature is the composition of the physical world. According to Cronon, it usually refers to the components of the “environment before human interference” (8). Nature is the combination of physical features such as mountains and lakes, plants, and the animals. The animals and plants co-exist and survive on their own accord. Some believe nature is “inclusive of other components like weather and geology” that form part of the earth (Cronon 9). Other forces beyond the power of the society control the nature even though they exert pressure on it. In other words, due to the advancement in technology and scarcity of resources, the society interferes with nature through human activities.

The environment includes things that surround human beings in the society. In most cases, it consists of living things including trees and animals. The living species are able to interact with the natural resources existing in the environment. Therefore, its components can cause negativity or positivity to human existence. The present environment entails the natural part which has not experienced human intervention, and the man-made side containing structures created out of human innovation. It does not matter whether the environment is harsh or favourable; the society always finds a way to survive. This paper argues that the society is not a part of the natural environment and should be regarded as something outside due to scientific experimental procedures, interfering with flow variation, searching for resources, and industrialisation.

The society does not have to be a key part of the natural environment because they have affected temperature by interfering with flow variation in major resources. This has interfered with the ecosystem, especially the rivers. During the twentieth century when the interference was minimal, America, for example, was able to provide water to supply the city of San Francisco from Tuolumne River. The river was flowing smoothly along Hetch Hetchy valley within Yosemite National Park boundaries (Cronon 10). However, the society interfered with the water flow by building a dam across the river. The vandalism caused along the river expanded causing the river to dry. John Muir, one of the environmental researchers asserted, “so much of Tuolumne water and scenery was going to waste.” (Cronon 11). The society is evil when left next to natural environment. Therefore, the world should unite and address the issue before the river bed turns to a desert.

The invasion of society and finding the resources has led to the disappearance of some iconic sites from the natural environments. The writers who existed before the current generation described features, which are not present today. Vining et al. assert that William Wordsworth, for instance, describes the mount Alps, which he climbed then as “exemplary and divine” since it was full of ice at its top (6). There were waterfall and crags originating from it. However, the present generation just reads these scenes in the books, as they no longer exist due to human influence. The present mountains are dry and just look like bare rocks due to the involvement of the society through scrambling of resources. In the case whereby the society is not a part of the natural environment, the sceneries would be attractive and pleasing as they were during creation. The features in the natural environment taming can only occur if the society tries to “maintain the ecosystem as natural as possible” (Soper 25). However, the society destroys the natural environment in the name of creativity and invention of what never existed during our ancestral days.

The societies engage in wars against each other leaving the natural environment down in flames. People tend not to live in peace due to constant competition for power and resources. It is ironic that the natural environment suffers for a rift in the society. The natural spaces, which used to be “virgin” faced destruction, were burnt down, and segmented in the name of territories (Cronon 25). As the wars continue, the societies tend to deepen into the natural environment spoiling it even further. In fact, the violence in the societies has made the environment to look like a poached zone. Glacier National Park in India is an example of a place that used to be beautiful but is presently ruined. They have destabilised the animals that used to exist peacefully in the past leaving it forsaken. The society can only preserve the natural environment if they stay in peace. That way, nature will maintain its originality as compared to the polluted zone that it is experienced now.

The society has ruined the natural environment through the scientific experimental procedures they conduct on saintly zones. Ingold asserts that the society has manipulated the animals and plants in the name of “making genetically modified organisms” (60). The use of ammonium sulphate fertilisers composed of some chemicals in most developed countries has led to the dominance of Agrostis grass in most parks. As a result, the natural environment has lost more than 14 species of grass compared to parks that do not use the fertiliser. According to Whatmore, the scientists should avoid testing experimental researches on nature “before they validate certainty” (79). The same result of species disappearance occurs in areas that practice agriculture in vast spaces of land. A good example occurred in the heathlands of Netherlands, which currently is dominated by sand, few weedy grass called Molina and shrubby forest instead of the fertile soils that existed before the scientific interference. The chemicals tested have led to the accumulation of toxic substances such as nitrous oxide in the environment making it difficult for the trees to survival.In cases of the animals, most of them end up dead or even become extinct. According to Castree, the lost species had their roles in the ecosystem, so their “death loss leads to a gap that might never be filled” (15). Therefore, the society ought not to be the major part of the natural environment.

The society should not be a key part of the natural environment due to the negative impacts of industrialisation. The toxic gases such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide resulting from industrial processes affect the environment. The habitats, which used to be peaceful and intact is now segregated and abandoned making it difficult for animals to survive. Ingold asserts that the gases have also affected the “climate and rain pattern” (67). The forested areas are now deserted with countable acacia and eucalyptus trees. Most industrial by-products like polyethene bags used for packaging also toxic and dangerous to the natural environment. Some industries dealing with timber primarily depends on the forest for the supply of the raw materials. Though humans have strategized on the notion of “cut one plant two,” it is not working out (Cronon 18). It is ironical that human beings place indigenous trees with synthetic plants. This does not give the same value. Others do not even plant any at all making the rivers to run dry.

Understanding the human race and the place they hold in the environment is important in helping people live positively. People have understood the value and importance of the natural environment and designed various methods of preservation. Some societies recycle their industrial products as one way of key preservation modes. For example, German uses their waste products to make “useful products such as plastics” (Vining et al. 8). On the other hand, industrial products, which are non-biodegradable, add to pollution when they are burned. Recently, many recycling companies have emerged so that the plastics and glasses are re-used instead of doing fresh production. Ingold asserts that most countries such as Australia and Bangladesh worldwide have erected “marked dustbin so that people dump similar types of waste” in a designated place for easier recycling (61). Preserving newspaper has helped in controlling deforestation directly since paper is made from trees. In addition, it saves the natural environment from degradation and pollution since recycling is economical and effective.

Countries such as France and Israel have been able to preserve the environment through the careful use of water and energy. The natural environment provides people with clean water, which we use for domestic and industrial purposes. The water is precious in its natural form in the rivers, lakes, and oceans. In the past years, a lot of contamination occurred when some industries “released the solid waste to water bodies” (Soper 80). They have changed after realising that nature punishes people who are careless about it. Developed countries such as China save energy using natural energy such as the wind and solar energy. This helps regulate the earth’s temperatures, hence, providing a sustainable environment for the survival of plants and animals.

Humans have also strategized on planting trees and other types of vegetables. Trees are the main component of our natural environment. They help in the absorption of carbon monoxide released from the industries. Most wildlife and other types of insects and birds also depend on trees. Vining et al. provide that making the cities forested on every single space makes the air people breathe fresh hence “keeping them away from respirational diseases” (3). The natural environment will be safe and protected if we plant trees and use safe products.

Other societies like Chinese have a close relationship with their environment. They prefer green foods and herbs, which majorly come from indigenous plants. The environmental herbs unite them as part of their culture. Different types of foods portray different meanings to them. Despite the value for safe food, China is a highly industrialised country. The government ensures that the industries produce limited gases to the environment. Other countries like Australia, Poland, and Kuwait have a “higher GDP due to industrialisation” but still preserve their environmentalism (Castree 3). The secret lies in the use of fewer pollutants during the manufacturing industries.

Cultural attitude is a key factor when it comes to environmental protection. The countries, which have preservative and depend on white collar jobs, tend to protect their environment. For example, there are offices in Kuwait, which have grown plants. The love between humans is likely to relate to love for nature. Some cultures rebuke behaviours, which are destructive to nature like deforestation and killing of the wildlife. Recently, most governments have created preservative cultures through introducing relevant environmental aspects in the syllabus. Children who attend schools and become elite understand the value of nature hence protecting it.

In conclusion, the society, nature and environment are the factors, which co-exist in most scenarios. However, the society is not a key component of the natural environment. This is due to the destructive nature of human beings. Unlike our ancestors, the current generation has degraded the environment through the evolvement of science and research. They have created industries, which emit toxic by-products. As a result, they have deforested and lost many plants and animal species. The scientific experiments have devalued the natural ecosystem, which used to exist in the past. The ecosystem and weather patterns have deteriorated due to human activities such as deforestation leading to rivers drying and expansion of deserts. Currently, the society is trying to use some measures, for instance, recycling to mitigate the abandoned natural environment. The methods are functional though the damage is already evident. I believe that forestation will be the key to restoring the natural environment. It will help restore the atmosphere and reduce the effect of greenhouse effect which is a factor in global warming.



Works Cited

Castree, Noel. "Socializing Nature: Theory, Practice, and Politics." Social nature: Theory, Practice, and Politics, vol.4, no.1, 2001, pp. 1-21.

Cronon, William. "The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature." Environmental history, vol.1, no.1, 1996, pp. 7-28.

Ingold, Tim. "Building, Dwelling, Living: How Animals and People Make Themselves At Home in the World." Shifting Contexts: Transformations in Anthropological Knowledge, vol.1, no. 4, 1995, pp. 57-80.

Soper, Kate. What is Nature? Culture, Politics, and the non-Human. Blackwell, 1995.

Vining, Joanne, Melinda S. Merrick, and Emily A. Price. "The Distinction Between Humans and Nature: Human Perceptions of Connectedness to Nature and Elements of the Natural and Unnatural." Human Ecology Review, vol.15, no.1, 2008, pp. 1-11.

Whatmore, Sarah. Hybrid Geographies: Natures Cultures Spaces. SAGE Publications, 2002.