Humans, Invasive or Stewards?

In my own personal opinion, humans are both invasive and stewards of this Earth. Political and public reforms have often led change to the way we consume energy and raw materials and how we go about obtaining it, meaning that we are, to an extent, fulfilling our duty as stewards. Though nothing is perfect, we still create much pollution and have driven certain species into the endangerment of extinction. There is much work to do until we can truly call ourselves stewards of the Earth.

A good example of an invasive and a stewardship action are the construction and usage of hydro dams. The ironic thing about creating a dam is that, yes we are creating clean energy neither harmful fumes nor toxic wastes but we are invading habitats of fish and other aquatic species. Dams slow river currents and may cause damage. Rivers tend to have a constant temperature and dam reservoirs have a type of layered temperature meaning that it does not have a constant temperature, which can cause harm to certain species. Loss riverbanks and river beds are often due to water exiting a dam tube. A large dam can lead to the loss of entire ecosystems.

Though dams have negatives effects it does however possess good qualities. For example, hydroelectricity is a major source of power, the power that is generated by a dam is clean and environmentally friendly. The energy that is being produced by hydro dams is clearly reducing our reliance on fossil fuel as the primary source of energy.

It will require huge amounts of money, effort, and time to return our planet to its once clean and pollution free self. But with technological innovation and production of clean energy I believe that we can fulfill our duties as stewards of this planet, as God commanded.

References:

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/59.html

http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1636

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7046