Many cultural geographers, observing the environmental changes people have wrought, emphasize humans as modifiers of the Earth. In a sense, this human-as-modifier theme is the opposite of environmental determinism. Whereas the determinists proclaim that nature molds humankind, those cultural geographers who study the human impact on the land assert that humans mold nature.
Even in ancient times, perceptive observers realized that people influenced their environment. Plato, commenting on the soil erosion in the area of Athens around 400 BC, lamented that the once fertile district had been stripped of its soil so that “what now remains compared to what formerly existed is like the skeleton of a sick man, all the fat and soft earth having wasted away, and only the bare framework of the land being left.” We now know that even seemingly innocuous behavior, repeated for millennia, centuries, or in some cases for mere decades, can have catastrophic effects on the environment. Plowing fields and grazing livestock can eventually denude regions, as Plato noticed. The use of air conditioners or spray cans apparently has the potential to destroy the planet’s very ability to support life. Clearly, access to energy
and technology is the key variable that controls the magnitude and speed of environmental alteration.
Q. What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Correlation between Man and Environment
B. Documenting Environmental Changes since Plato
C. Nature’s Control over Humankind
D. Reforming People’s Views toward Nature
I’m confused between ‘A’ and ‘D’. What do you think of that?