What’s more, we tend to think of such places as permanent; that they are fixed in their shape, composition and behavior. If we go visit a spot, we expect it to be pretty much the same when we return, barring seasonal changes such as snow cover, water flow or leaf color, which we consider reliably predictable (or have until recently).
These perspectives—that nature is just a place and that on top of that it is a stable place (climate change notwithstanding)—are misleading. Our continued belief in them will lead us in dangerous directions as human-induced impacts on the planet intensify. If we don’t understand what is going on, we won’t understand how we’re affecting it, nor what we must do differently if we want to sustain habitable circumstances for ourselves.