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260 R White Air, land and water are directly affected by the extraction (mining) and processing (smelting) of mined substances So, too, the world’s climate is being altered by the emission of greenhouse gases to which mining is a major contributor Recent developments, such as mega-mines and coal-seam fracking will exacerbate these harms due to the scale and nature of the methods used It is notable in this regard that scientists are now reporting the wide scale movement of many species towards the world’s poles due to a warming climate It has also been observed that changes in sea temperatures are impacting upon fish and kelp habitat, and that bird migration patterns and breeding grounds are being disrupted and/or changing as a result of changing climatic parameters (Macaulay 2016) This section has briefly reviewed how the pollution of air, land and water habitats is creating harm to nonhuman animals Pollution has direct effects, as in the case of catchment run-off draining into the sea and the prevalence of plastics in the ocean It also has indirect effects, as evidenced in how carbon emissions, the main contributor to accelerated global warming, eventually translates into fundamental transformations of habitat For fish in the sea, birds in the air, and bears on the ice, the ramifications are profound Preservation and Conservation of Habitat Responding to the issues identified in this chapter is not as straightforward as may first appear Specific responses might include introduction and better enforcement of environmental laws that prevent land clearing, stricter controls on or abolition of polluting industries (especially those most contributing to carbon emissions), and banning of the planting of GM crops These strategies depend entirely upon the balance of political forces at the local through to the international levels There are other factors and dilemmas that impinge upon the question of how best to respond to habitat destruction and subsequent harm to animals as well The reverence for and privileging of nonhuman nature sometimes translates into a concern for the ‘righteous management’ of nature, and manifests in an agenda that advocates for the mass preservation of wilderness, protection of endangered nonhuman species and restoration of disturbed areas towards a pristine nature or pristine condition (Devalleand Sessions 1985) There are two immediate problems with this view First, it implies a separation of humanity and nature as if this was and always has, empirically, been the case The notion of ‘pristine nature’ implies precisely this kind of rigid separation, yet historical and cross-cultural study indicates exactly the opposite—namely, constant and