Environmental humanities provides an understanding of the impact of human values and cultures on our surrounding environment while including understandings from the humanities with environmental studies to create awareness around the environmental challenges that we face. According to Holm and Brennan (2018), environmental humanities is a discipline that combines the academic study of several aspects of human culture to create an in-depth understanding of the interactions that humans have with their surrounding environment. Holm and Brennan (2018), place emphasis on the importance of addressing environmental challenges, how we can make changes through questioning and redefining the traditional stances about nature and how humans should interact with their environment.

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The term “Environmental Humanities” is used to refer to Western concepts such as the Anthropocene and environmental justice (O’Gorman et al 2019). The term “Anthropocene” is the scientific name for the era in which humans have created changes in technologies, powers, and consumption spanning the last 70 years, making humans the leading cause of Global Change (Palsson et al 2013). These advances have altered the planet’s carbon and nitrogen cycles, increasing the extinction rate and atmospheric greenhouse gasses (O’Gorman et al 2019). “Environmental justice” is a broad term that focuses on the fair distribution of environmental benefits and pressures of different regions (O’Gorman et al 2019).

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The term “Anthropocene” is a fairly new concept used to describe the change between humans and the environment (Steffen et al 2011). The term suggests that the Earth is moving away from its current geological epoch caused by human activity. Two events have also been considered as the onset of the Anthropocene, pre-industrial revolution. The first event being the mass extinctions of the Pleistocene megafauna, during the last ice age (Steffen et al 2011). It is debated whether human hunting pressure or climate variability was the end of the Pleistocene megafauna, either way humans played a role in the extinctions. The second event is the emergence of agriculture, deforestation, and conversion of land for farming, which in turn leads to carbon dioxide and methane gas emissions to the atmosphere, increasing the global temperature (Steffen et al 2011). During the Anthropocene, humans have become the dominant, and influential force by losing our connection and commitment to nature, thus negatively impacting the Earth’s bio-geophysical composition and processes by destroying biodiversity, and aided in climate change, mass extinction of plants and animals and introduced micro plastics in terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

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Environmental humanities should take on a proactive role in addressing environmental issues, by focusing on solutions, while shifting away from the traditional role of critically analysing, to contribute towards solving environmental issues. Holm (et al 2015), highlights that although intellectual and cultural involvement has been a focal point, it does not create the necessary change in human behaviour needed to ignite change through action. While knowledge of environmental problems observes and analyses required change, it does not foster motivation and influence over humans to change their values, opinions, and actions. A proactive role uses academic insights as a base for real-world strategies to help foster change through political leaders, activists, and local communities, thereby highlighting the relevance and effectiveness in contributing towards environmental sustainability. Using more involvement focused and engaging solutions to create awareness of the environmental issues increases the potential of making a lasting impact and inciting meaningful change.

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Different approaches are taken in environmental humanities to fully grasp and address environmental problems. To solve environmental issues a collaborative and comparative research approach needs to be adopted to petition contributions from cross-disciplines, such as economic, social, cultural, scientific, and political factors, to work in unity (Holm et al 2015). The input from both scientists and the humanities is required to analyse and fully understand the issues that the environment faces. Environmental Humanities aims to disrupt dominant or traditional beliefs and encourage change and create awareness.

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According to Holm and Brennan (2018), a narrative story emphasises how stories can create understanding and help foster change. The use of stories makes environmental problems more relatable in hopes to touch people at the heart level to inspire change rather than brushing the problem off as a concern that does not personally resonate with them.

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Historical studies aim to understand the past effects we have had on the environment in order to give insights into both the present and future issues we will potentially face (Palsson et al 2013). By drawing a comparison between the “then” and the “now”, a historical perspective can identify current environmental challenges and provide suggestions for a sustainable future (Palsson et al 2013).

A philosophical perspective aims to display a further understanding of the relationship between humans and their surrounding environment (O’Gorman et al 2019). It examines human responsibility while engaging with environmental moral principles to analyse how humans affect the natural world (O’Gorman et al 2019).

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The different approaches to comprehending and confronting environmental concerns, contributes to the development of environmental humanities by connecting them to human experiences and behaviours, through the adding of personal touches that make environmental issues more personal. Environmental humanities aims to connect humanity with nature again, for the betterment of our environment and to instil heedfulness for the protection of nature. By fostering a joint approach to investigate the connection between people and the environment, bridges the gap between science and emotional expressions.

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Disappearing Ecosystems and

Declining Biodiversity as Slow Violence

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Environmental crises have garnered attention over recent years, but not all forms of environmental disasters are seen straight away or have an immediate impact on the environment. While focus is put on pressing disasters, many are overlooked. Rob Nixon’s concept of “Slow Violence”, highlights an essential perspective of hidden environmental crises that are gradual and often overlooked, but will accumulate over time resulting in long term problems (Nixon 2011). This concept is essential when examining the cause of ecosystem destruction and the extinction of species (Nixon 2011). 

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Nixton describes slow violence as environmental damage that is gradual and often missed due to the fast-paced media culture we live in (Nixon 2011). The fast-paced media focuses on eye-catching disasters, while subtle events lack the sensation to become newsworthy, making it harder to inspire immediate action and to respond to the damage within a desirable timeframe (Nixon 2011). Slow violence affects ecosystems and surrounding communities over an extremely long period of time and in different ways, making it difficult to pinpoint the cause and to effectively address the problem (Nixon 2011). This highlights the difference in visibility and impact that slow violence and traditional violence have on our environment and how attention is diverted to more staggering events.

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Rachel Carson (1962) gives the example of pesticide use in farming that leads to chemical pollution as a form of slow violence (Carson 1962). The chemicals used are designed to kill pests, but have long-term effects on the environment and its inhabitants (Carson 1962). These effects are not immediately visible in the environments and worsen over time (Carson 1962). The chemicals from the pesticides enter water sources, soil, and food chains and over time cause harm to various species of animals and plants, resulting in the decline of species, populations and disrupting whole ecosystems (Carson 1962). Carson’s research shows how the slow collection of chemicals is an example of Nixon’s concept of slow violence (Carson 1962).

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Another example of slow violence according to Kolbert (2014), is human activities such as deforestation, climate change, and habitat destruction that lead to gradual yet mass extinction events (Kolbert 2014). Deforestation decreases essential habitats and further depletes resources, while climate change disrupts ecosystems by changes in temperature (Kolbert 2014). The gradual change disrupts ecosystems and affects human’s dependence on biodiversity for resources (Kolbert 2014).

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Slow violence is often hard to perceive as it manifests in subtle ways, like the changes in natural soundscapes, such as less frequent bird sounds throughout the day, often going unnoticed in our surrounding environments (Whitehouse 2015). This gradual change makes it challenging to emphasize the importance of the environmental issues we face and to gain attention to initiate change (Whitehouse 2015).

The loss of ecosystems and biodiversity are forms of slow violence that are gradual and often go unnoticed (Nixon 2011). Making slow violence visible can be achieved through compelling narratives that capture attention and encourage immediate action (Nixon 2011). Raising awareness and acting against the gradual changes that lead to greater issues over time can help preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, ensuring a sustainable future.