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Trushti Shah

Professor Koulen

English 1301

1st November 2022

Nature Explained

When the word, nature, comes to mind, it often refers to the planet we live on, Earth.

Many people have differing views of the definition of nature. Because there is no agreement on

one universally accepted definition, the idea of nature is not fully understood.

“Flat Earthers: What They Believe and Why” is a podcast posted by Steve Mirsky on

March 27, 2020. In the podcast, Michael Marshall discusses what he learned after speaking to

flat earthers. He explains that not every flat earther thinks of the earth in the same way. One flat

earth theory is that earth is a disc with the arctic circle in the center and the other continents

surrounding it. Another theory is the infinite plane which extends the disc theory by adding the

idea that Antarctica extends in all four directions with no end or bottom (05:00-05:11). However,

the theory does not account for gravity since there is no central mass. This is solved by defining

gravity as a downward accelerant and which is the same thing as the ground accelerating upward.

In this way, gravity is technically relative. After the U.S Flat Earth Convention, Marshall learned

that 39 out of 40 people in the convention had become believers after they had been

recommended a video on Youtube by Youtubers, such as Mark Sargeant and Eric Dubay, that

believed in the flat earth theory and had created videos that gave proof. Some proofs that were

given are that the horizon looks flat and water does not stick to a curved surface (09:30-10:40).

When Marshall mentioned visual pieces of evidence, such as a composite photo of the earth, flat

earthers responded by saying that NASA can not be trusted because it is a tool of the Illuminati.
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Some flat earthers connect their belief of the earth with another theory such as the JFK

assassination was an inside job, and the moon landing was faked.

The article, “Welcome to Pleistocene Park'' written by Ross Andersen and published in

The Atlantic on April 27 follows a Nikita Zimov,Russian scientist, whose vision to stave off

calamitous climate change by creating a Grassland Mammoth Steppe ecosystem to house Wooly

mammoths resurrected by a type of gene editing, known as CRISPR, on Asian elephants. Nikita

explains that during the winter months in Siberia, large amounts of snowfall create two layers of

snow. The two layers of snow traps greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere. During the

summer, the top layer of snow melts. If the bottom layer of snow melts too quickly, the thawing

snow releases excessive amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, which escalates the

effects of climate change. For generations, the Zimov’s have been stripping away the region’s

shrubs and trees to make space to convert the region into grasslands (Andersen 6). According to

prior research, grass reflects more light compared to the trees and shrubs, so ground absorbs less

heat which provides a layer of insulation. In the winter, short grass and snow will provide

insulation by locking away carbon dioxide in the soil. To test out the effectiveness of a grassland

biome, Nikita brings a variety of herbivores, such as musk oxen and bison, and predators as well

as thousands of resurrected wooly mammoths. Herbivores are a vital part of the grassland

because they eat the grass and return the nutrients to the soil within two days. This helps keep the

nutrients moving through the food chain. The predator will keep the herbivores on the move

which will prevent overgrazing and overpopulation from occurring (Andersen 21). Ushering in a

new age with landscaping, Nikita sets out to remake the world.

The podcast defines nature based on how the earth is perceived. Flat earthers define earth by

theorizing different ideas on the physical attributes of earth. For example, the flat earth theory
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explains that the earth is a flat disc (04:20-04:42). However, if the earth is flat, then not all the

countries will be visible. In a globe model (see Figure 1),

the earth can be spun to locate all the countries, but this is

not possible if the earth is one dimensional. In a disc

model, certain countries need to be omitted since there is

only one side where countries would be placed. In an

infinite plane model, the disc extends infinitely with no

end. Though the infinite plane model builds off the disc

model, both are fundamentally opposites due to structure.

While the disc model is structured around the arctic circle, the infinite model is structured as a

sort of vacuum where there is no end, top or bottom. To make this shape logically possible, the

definition of gravity had to be tweaked since the model has no center of mass. Flat earthers do

not believe NASA to be a credible organization because they use composite photos - multiple

images to create a complete picture of an object- to show earth. They are skeptical since these

photos could have been photoshopped or edited in a way that distorts the truth since the photo is

not made of a single photo. However, they fail to recognise that it is impossible to capture all of

earth in a single photo due to its size and proximity to us. Unlike NASA, flat earthers have no

visual proof that the planet is not a globe. Instead, they attempt to challenge a scientific proven

ideology with bites of scientific knowledge that is taken out of context, such as stating that the

horizon is flat.

“Welcome to Pleistocene Park'' defines nature based on the physical appearance of the

environment. Nikita’s attempts to convert the forest into grasslands by bending back trees and

adding grass is ruining the ecosystem. This is because he is only focusing on the environment
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rather than considering how the change might affect the animals. Even though the process of

converting the landscape will take place gradually, the change will still affect the current animals

because the place where they live is being torn down. The animals that are getting added without

caring about the animals well being. Bison, for example, are herd animals so they need a large

group. Since Nikita is not able to move a lot of animals at the same time, it would be best to wait

until he is able to find a method to do so. If only a small portion of a herd of bison were moved

to the park, they would have trouble adapting to the new environment and reorganizing their

social structure. Predators also need to be able to integrate and find a role in this unfamiliar

habitat by choosing what specific animals they will hunt. However, the mammoths have no

natural predators, so nothing is stopping the mammoths from overpopulating the park. The

mammoths and herbivores are also competing for food since both animals are grazers. The

mammoth daily vegetation intake is unknown, but is estimated to be similar to an elephant's

daily food intake. The mammoths are a large variable since there is a possibility that the

mammoth might overgraze the grasses which will release gas back into the environment and

escalate the problem the mammoth was created to solve.

The best way to view nature is to adopt a holistic perspective. This means combining the

ideas presented in both articles. Earth is a part of nature but also includes the flora and fauna

present on earth. In this interpretation, the earth is spherical since this shape of earth because

there is visual evidence to support this theory. The flora refers to the plants that are present on

earth and fauna refers to the animals that populate on earth. Both are a vital part of the earth’s

ecosystem because they work together to maintain balance. “Welcome to Pleistocene Park” takes

advantage of this connection to attempt to reverse climate change.

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Though both articles express nature by using earth as a reference, they take different

positions in their argument on what the definition of nature is. The Flat Earthers: What They

Believe and Why podcast discusses the different kinds of theories flat earthers have about the

shape of the earth as they gather proof to support their belief. The article, “Welcome to

Pleistocene Park'' attempts to fix climate change by altering the landscape, fauna, and flora in the

park. A holistic perspective is a combination of both articles that creates a concise definition that

describes the essence of nature.

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Works Cited

Andersen, Ross. “Welcome to Pleistocene Park.” The Atlantic, 2017.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/pleistocene-park/517779/

Mirsky, Steve. “Flat Earthers : What They Believe and Why.” Scientific American. 2020.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/flat-earthers-what-they-believe-and-why/

Two-dimensional maps show the earth as flat because it is impossible to show the entire surface

with a photograph of a single globe. Credit: Getty Images

https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/flat-earthers-what-they-believe-and-why/