Human earth shapers/ETHS101/Earthsystems/Humansphere

Humans as a Force of Nature

This learning pathway examines the ways that humans have shaped the Earth during the past. The video below uses the concept of 'cultural ecology' to understand humanity's interactions with its environment. The five cultural ecological periods considered are:

• Hunter Gathering and Early Agriculture

• Riverine Civilisations

• Agricultural Empires

• The Atlantic Industrial Era, and

• The Pacific Global Era

These periods of 'cultural ecology' were suggested by Thompson (1989) and used by Simmons (1993).

Additional resources

Here are some further resources you may wish to access. It is not required that you access these resources, but you may find them very thought provoking:

• TED Talk by astronomer Martin Rees. - 17 min video
• Presentation by ecosystem scientist Yadvinder Malhi. - 75 min video

Think and Share

Having now worked through the unit material perhaps you have some thoughts, comments or questions that you would like to share with other participants in the course?