Humans have shaped and manipulated the natural world like no other species on earth. Those alterations have helped the planet, hurt it and everything in between.
Today, environmental agencies across the country spend much of their time and money responding to problems past generations have created and trying to foresee future challenges. We introduce foreign insects to control other foreign insects that are devastating plant life. We try to stop erosion on the Great Lakes, but our short-term fixes make long-term problems. We nearly kill off gray wolves and then consider hunting them again after population growth.
How do we know we’re fixing nature’s problems not creating more?
In [Un]Natural Selection, a season of Interlochen Public Radio's podcast Points North, we examine our role as part of the ecosystem and explore the ethical line between mending our natural world and meddling with it.