Human Population Surging Despite Environmental Threats
By: Arizona Jones
December 4, 2019
December 4, 2019
Emory Stoughton is a naturalist. Her day begins before dawn in a cedar cabin built by her great grandfather, famous author and World War I stevedore ace Lowell Stoughton. It rests in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. At 74, she is still spry and her bright eyes dance in the firelight as she packs her gear for another day counting humans. In 63 years, she has not missed a single day and her continuous count represents perhaps the most extensive survey of this once rare California species. "I was about eleven or so when I saw my first human in the mountains" she tells me. "It was a cold day, and my father and I were heading to town for some dry goods. There it was, standing on the ridge with a pair of hiking poles and a booney hat. I had never seen one in the wild, now there are so many. It's really very satisfying." Indeed, where once the gently rolling hills of the windward slopes were completely bereft of human life, there are now hundreds of signs of their proliferation.
As we walk up the gentle grade, the purple twilight fades to a steel grey. The sun obscured by the High Sierra, it will be well into morning before we are touched by it. Still, we can see clearly. Emory stops to regard a discarded water bottle. It's a Yeti, adorned with a sticker that says 'Tree Hugger'. A little further on, a plastic bag from Whole Foods. "They ate here" Emory says excitedly. We walk for a while more and I ask her how Climate Change has affected the human population. This is her favorite question, and she lights up like a Holiday Tree. "It has been just WONDERFUL" she says. "Before Climate Change, there were only about one or two million humans in California. Now, there are almost 40 million! Surely no species has ever grown so quickly in a predator free environment if you don't count any other species that has ever existed in a predator free environment." A wry smile crosses her face that said she was right and she knew it.
Although 40 years my senior Emory is easily leading. Striding up the increasing incline with the energy of an Alpaca. She clears a large boulder and stops suddenly, crouching. "Quiet!" she hisses at me. I try to make my footfalls silent as I creep toward her. She points toward Mecca. There in the clearing is a bright yellow Eddie Bauer tent and two bright orange folding chairs. Walking between them is a splendid sight. A fully mature human, festooned with a lime green puffy North Face jacket, elegant Timberland boots, and black water resistant pants. A festival of polymers, dyes, and, esters dazzling in the afternoon sun. I thought of all the opportunity the sweatshops in China and the Philippines have given to children. The barrels and barrels of chemical byproducts, the discarded nylon cuttings by the millions. Here was a human, resplendent in technological emoluments. I was so excited, I could scarcely breathe. Then it opened a flap on its jacket, reached in, and produced an iPhone 7! I had heard that the guardians of earth had such tools, but I always wondered at the technological infrastructure, from mining to child labour to shipping and packaging, required to get one in one's hand. The human began to snap pictures of the mountains, sending them coursing through the sky around a few communications satellites, and back down to eager members of its Instagram tribe. Again, I imagined what sort of underlying infrastructure must be necessary to sustain such activities. But it was time to leave. The male approached and seemed to look right at us. But it was only looking for the best spot for a selfie. Emory and I retreated slowly and headed back down the slope as the sun faded. Behind us we felt the soft glow of an LED lantern the human had kindled, and we left content that the future of this once threatened species was assured.
As we walk up the gentle grade, the purple twilight fades to a steel grey. The sun obscured by the High Sierra, it will be well into morning before we are touched by it. Still, we can see clearly. Emory stops to regard a discarded water bottle. It's a Yeti, adorned with a sticker that says 'Tree Hugger'. A little further on, a plastic bag from Whole Foods. "They ate here" Emory says excitedly. We walk for a while more and I ask her how Climate Change has affected the human population. This is her favorite question, and she lights up like a Holiday Tree. "It has been just WONDERFUL" she says. "Before Climate Change, there were only about one or two million humans in California. Now, there are almost 40 million! Surely no species has ever grown so quickly in a predator free environment if you don't count any other species that has ever existed in a predator free environment." A wry smile crosses her face that said she was right and she knew it.
Although 40 years my senior Emory is easily leading. Striding up the increasing incline with the energy of an Alpaca. She clears a large boulder and stops suddenly, crouching. "Quiet!" she hisses at me. I try to make my footfalls silent as I creep toward her. She points toward Mecca. There in the clearing is a bright yellow Eddie Bauer tent and two bright orange folding chairs. Walking between them is a splendid sight. A fully mature human, festooned with a lime green puffy North Face jacket, elegant Timberland boots, and black water resistant pants. A festival of polymers, dyes, and, esters dazzling in the afternoon sun. I thought of all the opportunity the sweatshops in China and the Philippines have given to children. The barrels and barrels of chemical byproducts, the discarded nylon cuttings by the millions. Here was a human, resplendent in technological emoluments. I was so excited, I could scarcely breathe. Then it opened a flap on its jacket, reached in, and produced an iPhone 7! I had heard that the guardians of earth had such tools, but I always wondered at the technological infrastructure, from mining to child labour to shipping and packaging, required to get one in one's hand. The human began to snap pictures of the mountains, sending them coursing through the sky around a few communications satellites, and back down to eager members of its Instagram tribe. Again, I imagined what sort of underlying infrastructure must be necessary to sustain such activities. But it was time to leave. The male approached and seemed to look right at us. But it was only looking for the best spot for a selfie. Emory and I retreated slowly and headed back down the slope as the sun faded. Behind us we felt the soft glow of an LED lantern the human had kindled, and we left content that the future of this once threatened species was assured.
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