Change over Time Man’s Impact on the Environment Essay

Mankind had many impacts throughout history economically and socially. One significant impact that arose because of changing economic and social pleasures was the effect mankind had on the environment. Mankind’s impact on the environment changes from the Agricultural Revolution through the 19th century in that man destroys more of the environment as industrialization progresses. Industrialization of the environment started out small with One of the first changes is the improvement of roads throughout the lands. European businesses worked to facilitate manufacturing goods so new road designs were built and old ones were extended. The impact was that transportation of raw materials was made easier to get into the factories where they would be used to create products. This change occurred because the increased profits that would come from a faster production. Canals were also built in places where the land was able to be dug through to make a new body of water. The canals would make transportation of materials to other locations easier without having to unload cargo from ships to cross a land barrier. The impact was the ships could pass through land barriers thanks to the canals and transport their cargo in less time. This change occurred because of the need to transport important cargo from ships in less time. Another change to the environment was from the smoke that polluted the air that came from factories. Smoke would rise into the air funneled out from the factories that would produce fumes as byproducts from manufacturing. The impact it had on society was that people near factories or workers had to breathe in lesser quality air. This change occurred because of the manufacturing boom that led to the creation of factories and their large amounts of toxic byproducts. Chemicals also had a role in affecting the environment in their own way. Chemical byproducts from factories would be dumped into nearby bodies of water to serve as an easy way to dispose of waste. The impact was that water quality decreased in places where chemicals were dumped and dangerous in some cases. This change occurred because of the factories’ profit minded owners who were worried about money rather than how dumping would affect water. The farming of coffee and cotton plants for monetary gain eroded the soil. Farmers would constantly plant these crops in patches of farmland to quickly grow the crops for money without giving the land time to recover which would slowly erode the soil. The impact was that in many cases some farmland was made infertile for many years before things  could be grown again. This change occurred because of the high demand for both coffee and cotton. The beginning of the construction of the Panama Canal in 1903 saw an enormous effort to move giant quantities of Earth. Thousands of workers worked to dig their way through the earth to cut a can through to one side of Panama to the other in order to allow ships to pass through without having to circle around South America to reach east coast North America. This change occurred because the time that would be saved from being able to cut through directly from the Pacific to the Atlantic. A continuity that remained with the environment was farming the land in many places. People would always need to farm to grow food and different types of crops. Mankind would work the land and plant seeds to grow the ingredients for foods that are needed for survival. This continuity remained because people need food and food starts with ingredients from grown crops. Through the process of industrialization mankind has made much progress but at the expense of the environment. The environment is more of an obstacle that needs to be moved in order to continue the progression of mankind. Mankind’s impact on the environment changes from the Agricultural Revolution through the 19th century in that man destroys more of the environment as industrialization progresses.