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Is the current course of human-led evolution leading to the extinction of man?

First, let's clarify the term “anthropocentrism” (from the Greek anthropos, "human", and kentron, "center"). It is a defending view that man must be at the center of actions, culture, history and philosophy – that is, man as the center of the universe.

In recent times, especially until the mid-twentieth century, the term has gained strength and space in the scientific and academic worlds and, linked to it, a sad observation has been established: that our own actions are leading us to a huge extinction of the human race en masse, the sixth in history - according to an article called The Anthropocene Biosphere, it is distinct from all others.

The main difference concerns the cause. All five extinctions described in Earth's history, in those 4.5 billion years, were caused by natural catastrophes, such as the impact of a meteorite in the best known extinction (the disappearance of the dinosaurs). This time, studies and research in the area indicate that the causes of a possible sixth mass extinction derive from the impacts of a single species: the human being.

And as said by one of the researchers and authors of that article, “episodes of global warming, ocean acidification and mass extinctions have already happened in the past, well before the arrival of humans on the planet. We wanted to find out if there was anything different about what's happening now.” And it turns out there is. In addition to warning that the impacts of a sixth extinction (fortunately still avoidable) would be catastrophic and, of course, irreversible, the scientists responsible for the study discussed four reasons that make the current context different from the others.

1. "World homogenization of fauna and flora"

It can also be called the spread of non-native species around the world. The process refers to species that changed their spatial scales and dispersed to new territories as a result of human intervention (whether purposeful or accidental). Human beings have always transported different species to the regions where they migrated and colonized to be used in agriculture, cattle raising, forestry, fish farming, biological pest control, exotic species that provide resources for native species, etc. However, the costs of this uncontrolled introduction are great for human society, as they can wreak havoc on ecosystems, leading to extinctions.

2. Humans becoming the main terrestrial and marine predators

Over the past few centuries, humanity has started to use 25% to 40% of net primary production for its own purposes, in addition to using fossil fuels for energy. Consumption has already surpassed production in many ecosystems, and around 50% of the Earth's surface is being modified for human purposes, such as agricultural and urban, in addition to intense fishing in the deep sea. “Never before has a species dominated primary production the way we do. Never before has a species reshaped the Earth's biosphere so dramatically to serve its own ends,” said Mark Williams, lead author of the article.

3. Evolution

The third point discussed by the authors is the fact that humanity has become an intense mass towards evolution, apparently without worrying about the widespread loss of biodiversity that this process has caused. Annually, about 90 million tons of fish are removed from the oceans legally, in addition to 11 million to 26 million tons that are illegally removed.

The domestication of animals (dogs, pigs, sheep, cattle) and the development of agriculture are some of the processes that contributed to these changes in the structure of the biosphere. And with the growing population increase, it is estimated that a 70% increase in global food production is needed, this equates to an annual increase of one billion tons in cereal production and 200 million tons in meat production , which consequently leads to an intensification of agricultural activity, further reducing the remaining natural habitats we have.

But human beings are driving evolution in many other ways too, such as in science. "We are manipulating genomes by artificial selection and molecular techniques directly and indirectly through the management of ecosystems and populations in order to conserve them." said one of the authors of the article.

4. The technosphere

And finally, the last point that the authors put as a determining factor in our journey towards extinction is the fact that human beings and technology have become interdependent, to the point of creating a new sphere, called the technosphere. We can define it as being the “technological layer produced by human intervention along the earth's lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere.”

Despite this interdependent relationship, some authors already see technology as independent of the human being, and one of them argues, saying that we have reached a point where it is not possible to simply “turn off” the technology and that, although we were its parent, we lost the full control over her.

From this point of view, we could treat the technosphere as a new Earth phenomenon, with its own dynamics emerging and coupled, but distinct from the biosphere, in which humans, domesticated animals and plants would be closely linked to it, within which they they can exist in large numbers and outside of which they could not.

At this point, the authors disagree with each other; there are also those who do not see this ascension of technology as a problem, pointing out that modern man was the one who spread across the Earth, created increasingly larger societies and thus gained the ability to transform the entire planet. But despite the different opinions, researchers agree that this intense phenomenon is causing a major change on the planet.

The future of the anthropocentric biosphere

But what can this big change cause? If we were to think about bringing about the great mass extinction, Williams says: “If humans were to become extinct tomorrow, then our impact on the biosphere would be recognized as the limit of an era, and after a few tens to hundreds of thousands of years, the biosphere would find a new balance without us, and probably with its biodiversity largely intact.” What would be left of the technosphere would be just physical evidence, like stratigraphic records preserved in rocks.

But what if humans don't go extinct tomorrow? Some scientists are now debating the possibility that this major human-caused shift is working, arguing that it is such an extreme shift that it could represent a geological shift as large as the appearance of microbes on the planet or the emergence of multicellular organisms. However, most researchers still believe that we are heading towards the end and that although we cannot go back in time, we can start trying to change the future.

And the first step is to change the individual view and relationship that human beings have with nature and the environment, and convey the message that every action we take will have an effect on the biosphere at some level.

Another change discussed in the article is in relation to technology: there is a lot of potential to use it to our advantage, such as with agroecological innovations, ecosystem regeneration and large-scale restoration projects, complete recycling of materials, expansion of non-energy sources. based on carbon, etc., thus making the technosphere and biosphere integrate, producing a “techno-biosphere” in which the two benefit and co-evolve in a sustainable way, instead of the current situation in which the technosphere “parasite ” the biosphere. In this way, the probability of a collapse is greatly reduced. The researchers and authors of the article say there is still time, but not without action. "The responsibility for the future of the planet is ours now," said co-author Erle Ellis.