The document discusses the environmental impact of humanity throughout history from ancient times to the future. It covers several topics: - The Agrarian Era from 4000 BC to 1st millennium BC, where early humans developed agriculture, writing, metals like copper and bronze, and domesticated animals. - The Modern Era from the 1st millennium AD to the 21st century, bringing developments like the railway, steamships, internal combustion engine, airlines, and space exploration. - The Digital age from the late 20th century focusing on topics like biotechnology, the internet, augmented reality, and a potential future Martian internet. - The document concludes with predictions that internet connectivity will be ubiquitous,

1. The Anthropocene
THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF
HUMANKIND ON EARTH THROUGHOUT THE
YEARS
Glykeria Rovatsou
Konstantinos Rodopoulos

2. Anthropocene
• Definition: a proposed term for the present
geological epoch(from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards),
during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the
environment.
• In general, it’s how much humans have shaped earth and have
affected the environment throughout the years to satisfy their needs
and to evolve humankind.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Anthropocene
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/anthropocene

3. THE AGRARIAN ERA
4000BC-1ST MILLENIUM BC

4. Chalcolithic/Copper Age (4000Bc)
• Copper Age is known to be an era between the Neolithic Age and
the Bronze Age, could be also considered to be the beginning of the
Bronze Age.
• During that period humans made many inventions that are useful
even for our generation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcolithic

5. Inventions/Developments (Chalcolithic-Bronze Age)
• Rope (Ancient Egypt, around 4000-3500BC)
• Pottery technology (Canaan, around 3300BC)
• The first writing systems (Egypt, Sumeria, China, Crete and the Olmecs of Mesoamerica)
• Swords, daggers and arrowheads
• Domestication of horses (Western Eurasia)
• Beginning of cultivating plants and seeds (South & Central America, Eurasia)
http://alistof5.blogspot.gr/2015/05/5-inventions-of-bronze-age-that-are-still-in-use.html
https://www.reference.com/history/inventions-bronze-age-8f5f4479bae8f4a8#
http://wiki.sjs.org/wiki/index.php/List_and_explain_any_inventions_from_the_Early_Bronze_Age_to_the_Iron_Age

6. Early Bronze Age (3500 BC)
• In 3500 the transition from the Chalcolithic period to the Bronze age
finally happened.
• Of course, great inventions were created during this period as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35th_century_BC

7. Inventions/Developments (Bronze Age)
• Sumerians were living in large communities, making the first cities.
• Farming had become something really important for the Middle East and
Europe civilians
• First civilization (Sumerians)
• In Southwest Asia and northern Europe humans began to develop the first
wheeled items. As a result, transportation became easier
• Tin is discovered
• Metals are used for making weapons and tools
https://www.thoughtco.com/wheeled-vehicles-history-practical-human-use-171870
http://www.timemaps.com/history/europe-3500bc/#timemap-3500bc/
http://www.timemaps.com/history/middle-east-3500bc/

8. 15th Century BC
• During the Bronze Age, this century had a great achievement, which
is no other than the alphabet.
• There is no doubt that many more inventions were made during this
period.
http://quatr.us/timelines/2000bc.htm
http://www.timemaps.com/history/europe-1500bc/

9. Inventions/Developments (Bronze Age)
• Wheels with spokes, in order to fight from their chariot (Asia)
• Pottery wheel, which helped potters work faster and made pottery
cheaper
• Writing (China)
• The alphabet (West Asia)
• The beginning of the use of iron (Hittites)
• Cultivation of squash, corn, beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes
(South & Central America)
http://quatr.us/timelines/2000bc.htm

10. Iron Age (1st Millenium BC)
• The 1st Millenium BC brought the rise of many empires
• During this period, several civilizations made really important
inventions for humankind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_millennium_BC

11. Inventions/Developments (Iron Age)
• Coins became popular among peoples’ payments, whereas they used to exchange
animals
• Greek Alphabet, which is the first alphabet with vowels
• Pythagorean Theorem (Greece)
• Glass (Lebanon)
• Fake teeth (Etruria)
• Lenses (Ancient Greece)
• Lighthouse (Ancient Egypt)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions

12. THE MODERN ERA
1ST MILLENIUM AD- MID TO LATE 21ST
CENTURY

13. 1st Millennium AD
• It was a period of great transition for Europe and the Mediterranian,
as it is characterized by the rise of Christianity, the Great Migration
and the Middle Ages as well
• In the west the Vikings expanded their conquest, while in the east
there is the rise of the Bysantine Empire and the Islamic conquests
and the Golden Age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_millennium

14. Inventions/Developments
• Christianity is becoming more and more popular among people
living in Europe. It was considered to be more accurate than science
and people were faithful to God and the Bible
• Many wars occurred during this period
• The Vikings improved their ships
• Islamism is thriving among the Near East
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_millennium

15. The Railway Revolution (Early 19th century)
• In 1840 the first train ran direct from York to London
• By the 1850s, there were 13 trains a day between the two cities,
carrying 341,000 passengers a year
• In the 1830s canal companies, because of the new new railways,
reduced prices in order to be in business. However, as railways were
seldom connected they were mostly used for local freight and
passengers
http://www.historyextra.com/article/feature/8-facts-about-history-railways
https://www.thoughtco.com/railways-in-the-industrial-revolution-1221650

16. • Industrialists soon realized that railways had real potential for profit, and in
1835 – 37, and 1844 – 48 there was what was called a ‘railway mania’ that
throughout the country. At this time there were about 10,000 acts creating
railways.
• A standardized time was introduced in Britain for the creation of a timetable
for train arrivals and departures.
http://www.historyextra.com/article/feature/8-facts-about-history-railways
https://www.thoughtco.com/railways-in-the-industrial-revolution-1221650

17. The revolution of steamships (early 19th century)
• The first ship to be powered by steam was the Pyroscaphe which was built by
the Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans in 1783
• The first successful steamship was the Charlotte Dundas which was built in
1802
• By 1818 steam powered ships were developed
• The quadruple-expansion engine was developed
• In 1854 John Elder invented the compound steam engine
• Brunel's Great Eastern, the largest ship built in the 19th. century, was launched
http://www.saburchill.com/history/chapters/IR/033.html

18. • The quadruple-expansion engine was developed in 1894
• The development of sea-going steamships in the 18th and 19th
centuries led to the British Industrial Revolution.
http://www.saburchill.com/history/chapters/IR/033.html

19. History of the Internal Combustion Engine ½ (Late 19th century)
• 1509: Leonardo da Vinci described a compression-less engine
• 1673: Christian Huygens described a compression-less engine
• 1780's: Alessandro Volta built a toy electric pistol in which an electric spark exploded a mixture of air and
hydrogen, firing a cork from the end of the gun
• Seventeenth century: English inventor Sir Samuel Morland used gunpowder to drive water pumps
• 1794: Robert Street built a compression-less engine whose principle of operation would dominate for
about a century
• 1806: Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an internal combustion engine powered by a mixture of
hydrogen and oxygenhttp://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Internal_combustion_engine
http://www.crankshift.com/history-internal-combustion-engine

20. History of the Internal Combustion Engine 2/2 (Late 19th century)
• 1882: James Atkinson invented the Atkinson cycle engine. Atkinson’s engine had one power phase per
revolution together with different intake and expansion volumes making it more efficient than the Otto
cycle
• 1891: Herbert Akroyd Stuart builds his oil engine
• 1900: Rudolf Diesel demonstrated the diesel engine in the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair) using
peanut oil (biodiesel).
• Modern gasoline and diesel engines operate on the same basic principles as these early engines, although
there have been many important improvements throughout the years. Today’s internal combustion
engines are more “fuel efficient due to innovations like fuel injection and computer controls, and they
create less pollution due to emission control systems”
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Internal_combustion_engine
http://www.crankshift.com/history-internal-combustion-engine/

21. The History of Airline Industry (Early 20th century)
• The history of air travel began with the flight of the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903
• In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act established the Civil Aeronautics Board. This board served
various functions, such as determining airline routes of travel and controlling prices for
passenger fares
• Civil air jets were developed by the 1950’s with the first passenger jet being the Boeing 707
• Airplanes have become more efficient and quieter due to improvements in engines and
composite air frames
/www.air-travel-tips.com/history-of-air-travel.html
/traveltips.usatoday.com/history-airline-industry-100074.html

22. • In 1978, airlines were able to set their own routes and prices
• A 1981 an air traffic controllers strike slowed down the growth, which continued throughout
the 1980s
• In 2001, the industry faced another economic plunge, as business travel decreased while labor
and fuel costs increased. The events of 9/11 greatly influenced the airlines' problems, leading
to a decline in customers and higher operating costs. Losses continued for many years and the
industry suffered until 2006
://www.air-travel-tips.com/history-of-air-travel.html
://traveltips.usatoday.com/history-airline-industry-100074.html

23. A brief History of Space Exploration (from mid 20th century)
• In the 1930s and 1940s Nazi Germans had the idea to use long-distance rockets as weapons
• The first steps into space took place in the late 1950s. It was the Russians who first launched an
artificial satellite. Sputnik I was launched on 4 October 1957. On 3 November 1957 the
Russians launched a dog called Laika into space in a satellite. She was the first living creature in
space.
• During the 1960s unmanned spacecraft photographed and probed the moon before astronauts
ever landed
http://www.aerospace.org/education/stem-outreach/space-primer/a-brief-history-of-space-exploration/
http://www.localhistories.org/space.html

24. • By the early 1970s orbiting communication and satellites were commonplace,
and the Mariner spacecraft was orbiting and mapping the surface of Mars
• During the same time the Voyager spacecraft provided detailed images of
Jupiter and Saturn, their rings, and their moons
• In 1980 India launched a satellite named Rohini
• In the 1980s satellite communications were able to carry television programs,
and people were able to receive satellite signals on their home dish antennas
• A spacecraft called Near Shoemaker was launched in 1996. It became the first
craft to land on an asteroid (Eros) in 2001
http://www.aerospace.org/education/stem-outreach/space-primer/a-brief-history-of-space-exploration/
http://www.localhistories.org/space.html

25. • In 2004 the European Space Agency launched a spacecraft called Rosetta,
which is set to reach a comet in 2014
• The New Horizons probe was launched by NASA in 2006. It is scheduled to
reach Pluto and Charon in 2015. Also in 2006 Venus Express reached Venus
• Then in 2011 Messenger became the first probe to orbit Mercury. Also in 2011
a spacecraft called Dawn became the first to orbit an asteroid (Vesta). Then in
2012 Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman in space
http://www.aerospace.org/education/stem-outreach/space-primer/a-brief-history-of-space-exploration/
http://www.localhistories.org/space.html

26. DIGITAL
FROM LATE 20TH CENTURY TO MID 21ST
CENTURY

27. Biotechnology (From late 20th century to early 21st century)
• Definition: Biotechnology is the use of living organism/s or their
product/s to modify or improve human health and environment
• 500 B.C.: In China, the first antibiotic, moldy soybean curds, is put to use to treat boils
• 1870: The first hybrid corn is produced in a laboratory
• 1928: Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
• In 1953, JD Watson and FHC Crick for the first time cleared the mysteries around the
DNA as genetic material, by giving a structural model of DNA, popularly known as,
‘Double Helix Model of DNA’
• 1980: Smallpox is globally eliminated after a 20-years of mass vaccination
• 1994: The first breast cancer gene is discovered
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178936/ https://www.bio.org/articles/history-biotechnology

28. FUTURE
FROM MID TO LATE 21ST CENTURY ……

29. How things will be in the future?
• Internet connection will be permanent and automatic. Following dial up and wifi connections,
connectivity will be constant and streamlined without any individual “connection”. The global
internet is already a reality
• Augmented and virtual reality will play a major role. Mobile devices allow access to the Internet but next
-gen devices “will project the Internet, or embed it, into the real world” through a form of augmented
reality. Examples of augmented reality are devices such as Google Glass and Microsoft’s HoloLens. Though
augmented reality has seen some fruitless results, virtual reality, is starting to significantly develop
through Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and the upcoming PlayStation VR. AR will develop however in the near
future
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/04/18/7-predictions-for-how-the-internet-will-change-over-the-next-15-years/2/#2b890dca715e
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/what-is-the-future-of-the-internet/

30. • The ‘Internet of Things’ will fully develop in the following years. Already, the “Internet of Things” connects
many household appliances. In another 15 years, that connection will extend to nearly everything around
us
• The Earth won’t be the only planet with Internet access. By 2030, Mars will have Internet access. SpaceX
founder Elon Musk is on a mission to colonize Mars and he might succeed. The first Mars settlers will
want to communicate with friends and family on earth, and they’ll use the Internet to do so. Orbiting
satellites around Mars will transmit Internet data back and forth, although it could take longer for data to
be transmitted
tps://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/04/18/7-predictions-for-how-the-internet-will-change-over-the-next-15-years/2/#2b890dca715e
tps://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/what-is-the-future-of-the-internet/

31. THE END
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!