Is pollution natural?

Question

Since the earth has evolved over time, it has given rise to different forms of creatures and beings and structures. Since human beings evolved progressively over time, couldn't we argue that every action is in fact natural because it arises from a human being which came naturally from the process of evolution and growth? And thus pollution and global warming becomes part of the process of creation and destruction of this planet, having come naturally from the actions of a creature that arose naturally from the elements, no?

Answer 1

Indeed..

And evolution is inevitable..

And, although we insist that "things have gone wrong", we are nature expressing itself..

For as long as we can..

:-)

Answer 2

No, read a definition of pollution before you attempt sophistry. Therefore in response to your sophomoric diatribe:

1 Pollution is introducing a foreign and deleterious element into an ecosystem. It can be heat, noise, matter etc.
2 You don’t know what evolution is, go to school.

Now on to the rest of your question that rapidly switches to a whole different argument - is everything humans do ‘natural’?

Well yes, we live in nature, however when we do things like pollute or litter or refine uranium we are forgetting that inconvenient truth, as it were. So no Captain Planet or God is going to show up and take all our toxic sludge and clean it up like a big cosmic mommy. We have developed technologies that go far beyond basic wastes. And we create societies that are often devoted to fighting the effects of nature (read TH Huxley) . When they are successful (and our modern societies have developed to be fairly successful) we think we're in charge and forget about nature. This can most readily be seen in that our developed advanced societies allow the least fit to survive and reproduce, and as a result we have a massive over population problem. In nature this is followed by a big die out. All you need is one natural occurrence (volcanic eruption) to find out really fast that we are not above that process. And if you so crowd, pollute or destroy our society so that it cracks- you will see other natural laws, such as survival of the fittest, come back in full force. Right now our human invention - society - is the only thing standing between you and nature. Nature does not mean good. We will have 'environments' but living in a nice temperate region is far different than a choking dust cloud as people starve to death. You’re erroneously assuming that earth is a happy place created as a playground for humanity. We have it in our power to make the earth completely unfit for ourselves. That's the problem. Hoping the water wont rise results in issues like New Orleans. Dust clouds are spreading over China. How long do you think you’d live in a high carbon atmosphere? Yet the Earth was that way for millions and millions of years. Nature doesn’t hate you but it doesn’t love you either.

Humans are the only animals that can consciously choose how we affect environments.

The question is not whether the Earth will be here, but whether WE will.

Answer 3

Everything and everyone pollutes to an extent, it is just that Earth has the ability to recover and clean the pollution UNLESS the pollution rate is so great that earth can no longer keep up. We have indeed become a cancer on this planet.

Answer 4

Pollution is not natural. It is true that pollution arise from human beings, but aren't human beings considered as pollution to the world? Pollution is defined as a change. Ever since human came to this world, they have been causing changes. Human beings are stimulant of changes and change will forever occur. Hence pollution can never be natural.

Answer 5

Yes, but only when we consider the possibility of extinction of our race due to the pollution, is a natural cause of our demise too.

Now, do you see the real problem? We don't necessary consider death to be something we naturally agree with, but it seems okay if it happened slowly. It is quite a predicament.

Answer 6

Yes, I agree. I have always argued this. I guess the counterweight to that line of thinking is the fact that human beings actually UNDERSTAND that their actions produce pollution. The debate remains whether or not we are morally obligated to "protect" the environment. Personally, I am not alarmed by "global warming" or whatever.

Love, JAck.

Answer 7

If humans and everything we do is natural, then was does artificial mean?

I think that pollution is natural, but we have gone too far.

Answer 8

I personally believe man is the most unnatural creature in all of creation. All creatures adapt to their environment but man adapts the environment to him. So therefor man made pollution is not natural.

Answer 9

pollution isn't natural. why these humans made such a mess of this universe to talk about this now? everyone is thinking about himself only.

Answer 10

i think you're right. but i think that its a trivial point. everything in that sense is natural, including nuclear weapons and holocausts. being "natural" doesn't make something "good."