Human beings are amazing creatures. We're set apart from all the rest of the animal kingdom by our ability to reason and solve problems.

The one thing that amazes me the most about human beings is our ability to work with mother nature. We're able to deal with the challenges she offers up. We're able to overcome these challenges, and use the fruits of our ability to change things for our own benefit.

Man is changing things all the time, it happens all around us in many forms, a lot of times we're not even paying attention enough to realize the feats we've accomplished.

We have great examples to look at - like the Delta Works in the Netherlands. This amazing project is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

The Delta Works helps protect vast amounts of land in the Netherlands from mother nature herself. Without the Works the protected lands would be under a constant risk of being flooded by the sea. The protected land would be of little or no usefulness to human beings without the Delta Works.

You can find more about the Delta Works on Wikipedia's Delta Works Entry

While there are some controversial ecological issues regarding the Three Gorges Dam - there is no doubt that this huge project in China is a great feat of mankind.

It will take many years of studying and many years of the dam proving itself to realize if this project is a worthwhile venture that will keep huge amounts of carbon out of the environment.

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest electricity producing project of any kind in the world.

You can find more about the Three Gorges Dam on Wikipedia's Three Gorges Dam Entry

The examples I mentioned above are two of the most obvious amazing feats of man. These examples impact many lives in different ways.

But what about the smaller feats? Projects like the one shown in the picture with this article. These smaller projects are also very important and significant to mankind.

The project illustrated in the picture shows man producing a micro-climate that allows him to produce a vegetable that would not normally survive in the area.

It's a simple project that's not nearly as impressive as the ones I mentioned above. Literally, the projects is a plastic sheet with holes put through it and plants are grown through the holes in the plastic sheet. The plastic serves to conserve moisture that would otherwise evaporate quickly in the heat of the sun.

It's important to be green, but it's also just as important that man survives and continues to exist. We have to find the balance and work with what mother nature has given us. Sometimes we have the need to change what mother nature has given us - we should do this with respect, knowledge and forethought.