“Humans are Evolved for Nature, not Cities”

So says Barbara Simpson of the University of Zurich. In the paragraphs that follow, she has summarized some recent findings in anthropology that shed new light on the functioning of our human biology and the impact of industrialization on it:

“A paper by evolutionary anthropologists Colin Shaw (University of Zurich) and Daniel Longman (Loughborough University) argues that chronic stress and many other health issues are the result of an evolutionary mismatch between our primarily nature-adapted biology and the industrialized environments we now inhabit. Over hundreds of thousands of years, humans adapted to the demands of hunter-gatherer life — high mobility, intermittent stress and close interaction with natural surroundings. Industrialization, by contrast, has transformed the human environment in only a few centuries by introducing noise, air and light pollution, microplastics, pesticides, constant sensory stimulation, artificial light, processed foods, and sedentary life styles.

“‘In our ancestral environments, we were well adapted to deal with acute stress to evade or confront predators,’ explains Colin Shaw, who leads the Human Evolutionary EcoPsychology (HEEP) group together with Daniel Longman.

“‘The lion would come around occasionally, and you had to be ready to defend yourself — or run. The key is that the lion goes away again.’

“Today’s stressors — traffic, work demands, social noise, and noise, to name just a few — trigger the same biological systems, but without resolution or recovery. ‘Our body reacts as though all stressors were lions,’ says Longman.

“Whether it’s a difficult discussion with your partner or your boss or traffic noise, your stress response is still the same as if you were facing lion after lion. As a result, you have this powerful response from your nervous system but no come down.”

According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, “Our stress in the U.S. is the worst in the world. We are dying at a faster rate. The stress is causing higher blood pressure and faster heart rates. Also, the prefrontal cortex of our brain is getting to where we are making poorer decisions.” Causes of this include our high competition and our inequality which is one of the highest in the world. This is causing higher stress for both the rich and the poor. Currently, 77 percent of Americans have anxiety or depression.”

Health and reproduction under pressure

In their review, Shaw and Longman synthesize evidence suggesting that industrialization and urbanization are undermining human evolutionary fitness. From an evolutionary standpoint, the success of a species depends on survival and reproduction. According to the authors, both have been adversely affected since the Industrial Revolution.

They point to declining fertility rates and rising levels of autoimmune diseases due to our having less ability to withstand germ attacks as signs that industrial environments are taking a biological toll.

There’s a paradox where, on the one hand, we’ve created tremendous wealth, comfort, and health care for a lot of people on the planet, but on the other hand, some of these achievements are having detrimental effects on our immune, cogintive, physical and reproductive functions.

One well-documented example is the “global decline in sperm count and motility rates (speed of sperm movement) in men observed since the 1950s, which is tied to pesticides and herbicides in food but also due to microplastics.”

Designing environments for well-being

Given the pace of technological and environmental change, biological evolution cannot keep up. “Biological adaptation is very slow. ‘Longer-term genetic adaptations are multigenerational— tens to hundreds of thousands of years, ‘ Shaw says.

“This means that the mismatch between our evolved physiology and modern conditions is unlikely to resolve itself naturally. Instead, the researchers argue, societies need to mitigate these effects by rethinking our relationship with nature and designing healthier, more sustainable environments.”

According to Shaw, addressing the mismatch requires both cultural and environmental solutions. ‘‘One approach is to fundamentally rethink our relationship with nature — treating it as a key health factor and protecting or regenerating spaces that resemble those from our hunter-gatherer past,” he says. Another is to design healthier, more resilient cities that take human physiology into account.

“We need to get our cities right — and at the same time regenerate, value, and spend more time in natural spaces.”

So now, what?

The problem seems huge — maybe insurmountable. In part, this feeling stems from the same separation from nature that contributes to our current problems.

Our first step is to renew — actually, to rediscover — our deep participation in the natural world. Joanna Macy tells us that to begin to solve the social and ecological problems that beset us, we must fall in love with nature. To do this. we must spend some time learning about and actually being in nature.

While it takes commitment and planning, spending time getting invollved with the natural world isn’t as hard as it sounds. We just need to begin, to start somewhere. Below you’ll find some suggestions. Pick any one, or come up with your own. Commit to putting your selection into practice during this coming week. Think about what you’ve learned, how you’ve felt, who you’ve met. Decide what to do next. That’s it.

“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable; and it is enough.” Joanna Macy

Suggestion 1. Inspiration from Nature

Try just getting outside and sitting next to some trees and breathing with them. With eyes wide open, on some in-breaths, feel gratitude for their giving you oxygen to give you life. Then, on some other in-breaths, feel compassion for their difficulties due to climate change. Then, on some other in-breaths, feel love for them. Do so while recalling that we’re all in this together.

Suggestion 2. Practices to Connect with Nature

Try being with nature while doing some outside walking, biking, swimming, or boating on a regular basis. Consider how you can get your kids, grandkids, and other family members and friends doing this with you.

Suggestion 3. Ways to Lighten your Footprint

Consider actually doing something to lighten your footprint on the planet to help reduce climate change to save your descendants from extinction. Consider ways you can reduce your hydrocarbon usage for your transportation by using mass transit buses and trains, electric car, and avoiding airplanes. Consider changing your home heating and lighting to solar.

Suggestion 4. Joining with Others

Consider ways to also widen your connections and make more friends by joining some hiking and camping clubs such as those supported by the Sierra Club and REI. This can also be a way to join with groups that are working to restore and clean up the world around us.