[FriedrichN]

This was a shock for me when I learned of this. It's a great way to show people who think humanity somehow doesn't have the capability to have an effect on greenhouse gas emissions for example. We have totally and completely reshaped the earth in a matter of centuries in what should normally take thousands or tens of thousands of years.

[rbanffy]

We are probably not the first species to do that. All invasive species reshape the ecosystems they enter.

And just now we are gaining awareness of how we can change the environment in a deliberate way.

[taneq]

And all species are invasive, given half a chance.

[rbanffy]

True, but we are particularly nasty.

[tsol]

Few species have spread as far and wide as we have, and at this point the ones that are ubiquitous are already adapted to the environment

[FriedrichN]

Not on Earth according to the data that we have. We seem to be quite unique when it comes to our ability to impact our surroundings.

[rbanffy]

We are the certainly the most invasive species that has appeared in a very long time, but our uniqueness is only a matter of how fast we spread and how aggressively we reshape ecosystems.