The earth is such a large and variable system that over the long term, humans can't significantly permantly change something like weight distribution.
The earth is such a large and variable system that over the long term, humans can't significantly permantly change something like weight distribution.
Humans have been around for what, 600k years? That’s genetically. Behaviorally (abstract reasoning, complex language) is only believed to be about 100k years old. Primates as a branch are only about 65m yold.
Crocodiles are 200m yold (mostly unchanging) while birds are 150m (wild diversity).
By whatever metric, humanity has no claim to adaptability as a species because we’re really quite too new on the scene. At best we’re more a virus - came on quick but spread at unprecedented rates all across the world bringing ecological destruction with us.
We have yet to see if we can survive the Earth’s immune response.
For example, humans are able to live in most climate zones of this planet, more than any other creatures (though, on land, not under water).
Another metric: by total biomass, humans far exceed any other animals their size (a huge outlier), with the exception of livestock (which is specifically grown by humans for own consumption).
Food production and logistics are getting more effective and more efficient over time, any hunger that has happened in the past century and will ever happen — was and will be entirely social/political in nature. We’re in no danger of food randomly disappearing naturally, as far as I understand.
We are in danger of social changes though. Current civilizations might collapse, bringing hunger and death to hundreds of millions.
Basically, the current quality of life is never again attainable by any other species full stop because of those resources having been consumed to get to today. If the point of life is just to exist as animals then sure, no need to worry. If the point of life is to reach and strive to touch the stars and achieve a kind of immortality for our species, it feels like we’re in danger of permanently dooming planet Earth to never producing such a species.
I'm not sure if we'll live to see it, but I'd be pretty surprised if some fine day humanity won't evolve enough to abandon the primate bodies and decouple humanity from its biology. That is, I believe we'll eventually give birth to thinking machines, and hopefully they'll keep the humanity going even if other branches would possibly fail to the environmental changes.
Unless, of course, we won't make ourselves extinct first.