Prologue - Michael Torres

In the prologue, the author, Elizabeth Kolbert, has an interesting take on the development of the human race.  She describes it as if she has no attachment at all to the history of humans and the way they came to be how they are now.  She touches on one of the themes for AP Environmental Science: Humans alter natural systems. On page 2 she writes, “Having discovered subterranean reserves of energy, humans begin to change the composition of the atmosphere.  This, in turn, alters the climate and the chemistry of the oceans.” Here, Kolbert plainly puts that humans are affecting natural systems such as the atmosphere and the oceans,thus, underscoring the theme of humans altering natural systems.