According to scientists, nature untouched by humans is now almost gone. Hard to believe? Then take a look at this list of man-made things you thought were natural.
# 1 Lemons
You may think that “life gives us lemons”, but this wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for us.
Lemons are not naturally occurring – they are hybrids of citron and bitter orange. In fact, most citrus fruits we know and love are hybrids. Natural citruses are only the pomelo, papeda, mandarin, and citron.
# 2 Dogs
Dogs are our best friends, but where do they come from? There are no wild dogs – the species of animals named “African Wild Dogs” doesn’t belong to the sane family as our pets. The closest relative of dogs is the beautiful gray wolf on the left. Did you know that gray wolves were domesticated by prehistoric people, which resulted in the emergence of dogs as we know them today. This happened 20,000 – 30,000 years ago.
# 3 Diamonds
Most diamonds found in stores are natural, but, in fact, synthetic diamonds made in labs look the same to the naked eye. They are grown by placing carbon under high pressure and high temperature, which forms a diamond crystal. Are there any significant differences between natural and man-made diamonds? Well, the ones created by nature are more than 3 billion years old, while the synthetic ones are quite “young”.
# 4 Pearls
Just like diamonds, pearls can be manufactured. Anyway, while most diamonds we can buy are natural, pearls created without human intervention are extremely rare. Pearls grown on farms make up almost 100 % of the pearls available on the market.
# 5 The smell of gas leaks
The smell of gas we use in the household is not natural. The distinct odor is added for us to detect gas leaks. In nature, such gasses are odorless.
# 6 Smog
This word is a combination of “smoke” and “fog”, and while fog is a natural phenomenon, smog has nothing to do with it. Smog is visible air pollution, which is caused by industrial and vehicular emissions.
# 7 The Amazon rainforest
This area is often seen as an environment untouched by humans, but many scientists believe that the Amazon Basin has been altered by millions of people who lived there for more than 8,000 years. Some parts of today’s rainforest have only grown a few centuries ago, when the Europeans wiped out the ancient civilizations.
I hope you enjoyed this diversion from our usual topics.
I’d be very pleased to get your comments on this.
That’s it for now; see you all the next time.
