There is nothing inevitable about choices that are environmentally destructive. In 1800, there were indeed 550 steam engines in Europe but there were over 500,000 water mills. Coal was more expensive than hydro power and many industrialists were not persuaded of its added value. It was the economic recession of 1825–1848 with increasing agitation by textile workers over salaries and conditions which made the use of coal-powered, steam-driven spinning machines a much more attractive proposition. More machines meant fewer workers and fewer workers meant fewer demands, notably for wage rises. Therefore, the substantial increase in CO2 emissions in Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century, which through economic competition, war and imperial domination would start a worldwide trend, was not the blind outcome of the machinery of ‘progress’ but the cumulative consequence of a set of very specific decisions taken by identifiable socio-economic actors.
Similarly, the notion that ecological awareness is only a very recent phenomenon where “humanity” finally woke up to the environmental consequences of its economic activities does not stand up to scrutiny. In the period from the beginnings of the industrial revolution to the decade when the movement towards fossil fuels use becomes more marked, awareness of the relationships between humans and their environment or the “natural world” was widespread. Environmental risks have been clearly and repeatedly signalled from the time of the industrial revolution onwards. The notion of an unthinking humanity bringing destruction upon itself does not bear up to examination.
🔗 Texto adaptado de: Cronin, M. Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene. New York: Routledge, 2017, p. 11–12.
139. The second sentence of the first paragraph indicates that, in 1800, there were already anthropogenic changes in nature.
🔎 Gabarito: CORRETO
🧭 1️⃣ Leitura orientada do item
O item direciona a atenção para a segunda frase do primeiro parágrafo, que apresenta dados quantitativos sobre tecnologias já existentes em 1800.
📝 2️⃣ Análise técnica do item
A frase menciona a existência de 550 steam engines e mais de 500.000 water mills em 1800.
Ambos são artefatos humanos que implicam intervenção direta no ambiente natural, caracterizando alterações antropogênicas.
O texto não afirma neutralidade ambiental dessas tecnologias, apenas evidencia que a transformação da natureza por ação humana já estava em curso.
⚠️ 3️⃣ Armadilhas clássicas da banca
• Confundir “antropogênico” com “poluição explícita”.
• Exigir menção direta a dano ambiental, quando basta intervenção humana.
• Ignorar o valor indicativo dos dados históricos apresentados.
🧠 4️⃣ Resumo B3GE™ Master
✔ Máquinas e moinhos são intervenções humanas.
✔ Indicam modificação da natureza por ação antrópica.
✔ O item interpreta corretamente a informação do texto.
Gabarito confirmado: CORRETO.