Earth & Sky

Humans and nature a "coupled system"

Lately, we’ve asked experts in the sciences and humanities what it means to live in a human world.

Here’s an answer from B.L. Turner, professor of Environment and Society at Clark University.

B.L. Turner: The question of what is or ought to be humankind’s relationship with nature is one of the great questions confronting humanity and one that by and large the science world, social science, and humanities world has avoided.

They’ve avoided it, he said, because science has worked by reducing complex systems to simple descriptions. So, in the past, for example, ecologists might have tried to study how a forest functions apart from human influence.

Now that’s changed. A forest ecologist now has to acknowledge human impacts such as climate change, recreation, mining and fire suppression.

And the flip side is also true. Scientists are realizing that human biology, culture and history are all linked to the natural world.

B.L. Turner: To tackle certain kinds of questions about what is and ought to be our relationship with nature requires us to understand that people and nature are intimately intertwined. Now many people have said that. But the modern code for it is the “coupled human–environment system.”

For more perspectives on the human world, visit us at earthsky.org. We’re Block and Byrd for Earth & Sky.

6 Comments for Humans and nature a "coupled system"

1. 1

   Dec 1, 07:44 AM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   Dear Dr. B.L. Turner,

   Speaking of great questions, would it not be correct to say that the evolution of science is making it possible for scientists to more adequately examine large-scale human activities like human propagation and human consumption of resources as well as human systems like the world economy? From my humble scope of observation, the beauty of data acquisition and analysis regarding a man-made system like the global economy is to be found in an adage: The visual feast from careful and thorough “top-down” scientific research is liberating; we can SEE THE FOREST RATHER THAN REMAIN BLINDED BY THE TREES.

   Thanks,

   Steve

2. 2

   Dec 5, 07:13 PM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   Dear Dr. Turner,

   Do you believe a time will come when scientific data is openly discussed that advances human understanding about human population dynamics and the human overpopulation of Earth or will such extant data remain shrouded by our colleagues under a thin veil of silence?

   Thanks,

   Steve

3. 3

   Jan 21, 12:46 PM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   Can you think of a way the growing influence of humans and the remainder of the natural world can continue to be a viable “coupled system” unless the human species chooses to seek out and find BALANCE in its relationship with other living things and the rest of the natural world?

   At their current scale and estimated rate of unbridled growth, is it not becoming clear that the human species is not moving toward balance with other living things and the remainder of the natural world but rather ignoring the requirements of reality by “staying the course” of adamantly insisting upon and investing in soon-to-be patently unsustainable global overgrowth activities?

4. 4

   Jan 21, 07:11 PM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   For a moment let us consider that the current scale and rate of growth of human production/consumption/propagation activities are unsustainable. OK. One thing it would mean is that the human species does not yet possess an adequate enough grasp of its “placement” within the natural order of living things or the requirements of physical reality. This is precisely the point where the research of Hopfenberg and Pimentel becomes valuable. Perhaps their research makes it possible for us to acquire an improved understanding of this vital knowledge.

   Wtihout this knowledge, hubristic masters of the universe could unknowingly and inadvertently be in hot pursuit of a fool’s errand by attempting to do what is humanly impossible. Such a specious effort could lead the human species to go beyond its nature-bound limits and could result in humanity’s quality of life becoming dangerously diminished, if not worse.

   The masters of the universe not only have “feet of clay” but also are composed of selfish clay. We are for ourselves and for living without regard to the limits imposed upon us and other living things by the limitations of the natural world God has blessed us to inhabit.

   We are NOT for the human family, NOT for the maintenance of biodiversity, NOT for the promotion of a viable environment for our children, NOT for the preservation of Earth…....and, saddest of all, NOT for the future and coming generations.

   We are the great opposers of necessary change; we are the fatuous promoters of the “primrose path” and an unsustainable way of life.

5. 5

   Jan 23, 03:17 PM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   Who are the masters of the universe?

   Are we modern day exemplars, the likes of Daedalus and Icarus?

   Have we lost our relation to nature?

6. 6

   Jan 24, 05:25 AM #

   stevenearlsalmony says:

   Perhaps another mistake by the masters of the universe can be identified:

   When it really matters, WE embrace SILENCE not SCIENCE.