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Week 8 Lecture-4 (1)

The document outlines the content and structure of a lecture on human geography, focusing on the relationship between humans and the environment. It includes details about an upcoming essay assignment, tutorial preparations, and key learning outcomes related to environmental impacts and sustainability. The lecture also discusses the history of environmental concern and the implications of human activities on ecosystems and climate change.

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3 views44 pages

Week 8 Lecture-4 (1)

The document outlines the content and structure of a lecture on human geography, focusing on the relationship between humans and the environment. It includes details about an upcoming essay assignment, tutorial preparations, and key learning outcomes related to environmental impacts and sustainability. The lecture also discusses the history of environmental concern and the implications of human activities on ecosystems and climate change.

Uploaded by

arjzzberry15
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Humans and the

Environment (Ch. 12)


Week 8 Lecture

GEOG 129 Human Geography: Resources, Development and


Society

04 March, 2025
Notices
 Second Essay is due March 21
 Office Hours:

Mine: Thursday, 11-12noon, via Zoom

Dina: Wednesday 11.30 - 12.00

Megan: Friday 2.30 - 3.00pm


ESSAY 2
A geographical perspective can provide an important
understanding of the differences across the world’s
peoples and places. Discuss this claim by reflecting
on your learning on this course. Draw on key
concepts and ideas that you have learned so far in
this course to explore a specific, named issue of
difference and show how human geography can
generate interesting insights and questions about the
issue.
ESSAY 2
Your named issue of difference could be any single
aspect of economic, social, environmental or
cultural difference. You could discuss the issue in a
more general or global way, or you could use an
example of an issue of difference grounded in a
specific place or region. Think of this as exploring
the difference among the world’s peoples that you
find the most interesting.

1500 words, excluding the front page and


references.
Tutorial Prep

‘Saving Nature’ in the Anthropocene


 Three perspectives
 Three videos and accompanying articles
 Watch three videos (Required)
 Read article about your single favourite approach
 Answer questions and come to class prepared for a group debate.
Reading for Next Week

Geographies of Culture and Landscape:

10th Edition: Chapter 4 p.128-142; ‘Introduction’


to ‘Cultural Diffusion’
11th Edition: Chapter 6 p.220-235
Questions

Image: Pixabay
Outline

 Intro

 Human dependence on the environment:


Energy, technology, resources

 Human impact on the environment


o Environmental crisis and concern
o Environmental impacts

 Sustainability and sustainable development


Topic Learning Outcomes
 Appreciate the extent of human dependence and impacts on
the environment
 Outline how human activities drive environmental change
 Discuss the concepts of ecosystems, energy, technology,
resources and sustainability
 Outline the characteristics of different source of energy
 Discuss the history of environmental concern
 Discuss human impacts on vegetation, animals and climate
Environmental ‘crisis’ and concern
History of Environmental Concern

Source: Docslib.orgx

Starting 1492 – a transformation of geologic importance (Alfred Crosby;


History of Environmental Concern

 Western environmental concern

 Often traced to 18th and 19th century exploration and


colonization periods

 Impacts of plant and animal domestication and exchange

 Tropical landscapes seen as ‘pristine’, by early Europeans

 European activities in these areas were environmentally


destructive

 View of abundance + capitalist industrialization + imperial


rivalry = overexploitation of resources of the colonies
History of Environmental Concern

 These environmental impacts


became a concern when they
threatened the economic
interests of the imperial state
(Grove 1992)

 Prompting responses through:

1) the conservation (or wise


use) movement of foresters

2) the wilderness or
preservation movement that
History of Environmental Concern

 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962; Club of Rome’s Limit to Growth


in 1972

 UN conference on human environment 1972 – Stockholm

 Acid rain the Scandinavian countries from the 1970s

 World Commission on Environment and Development – Brundtland


Commission 1983-1987

 Drought, famine, environmental problems in G/South – 1980s

 Disasters:1984 Bhopal pesticide plant leak, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear


disaster
History of Environmental Concern

Environment on the political agenda nationally and


internationally

 First green party in West Germany, 1979

 Ministries of environment

 Rise of international environmental agreements

 CFCs, HFCs et al: Montreal protocol in 1987

 Climate change: UNFCCC in 1992, Kyoto Protocol in 1997, Paris


Agreement etc
Fundamental Explanations for Environmental Crisis

1. Christian belief that humans have been positioned


to subdue the earth (Lynn White, 19767)

o Although diversity of Christian ethics (Lynn White:


‘Franciscans …as pointing a direction’, more in common
with indigenous cosmology)

2. Capitalist world economy… ‘annihilating space


and place’ (Johnston and Taylor, 1986)
o Although significant environmental impacts outside the
capitalist world economy e.g. in Eastern Europe and former
Soviet Union
Contentious Issues: Environment vs economic concern

Environment and the


economy
 Economic growth &
profit Vs environment
 Markets typically fail to
incorporate cost of
externalities (recent
attempts)

Kuznets Environmental Curve Source: Adamsmith.org


Contentious issues: Environment and politics

Environment and politics


 Inter-national nature of environmental issues
 Drive to enforce hegemonic environmental standards
 International payment, opprobrium, trade policies
Contentious issues: Environment and group identity

Environment and group identity


 Ecocentric view: all of nature is equal
 Anthropocentric view: human value shapes all, land is
instrumental to humans, resources are unlimited
The Tragedy of the Commons

 Whatis the difference between ‘commons’ and ‘open


access’ resources?

 Doyou agree that the tragedy of the commons scenario is


rare? Why? Why not?

 Whatare some ways through which groups forestall or


address potential ToC problem?
The tragedy of the commons
The tragedy of the commons
Human Impacts on the Environment
Drivers of ecosystem decline assessed in the IPBES Global Assessment. (source: IPBES)
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

 Linkedto other
elements of
the
environment

 Vegetation
change in
Europe, Asia,
then later the
tropics

Source: Mercier and Norton


Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

 Clearedland seen as
progress,
technological
dominance

 Forest:
to be
‘conquered’,
converted to
‘productive use’

 Afforestationand
reforestation also
changing the
landscape
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation
Fire

• Both natural and


deliberate tool for over a Hectares Burned by Wildfires in BC
1,600,000 (2010-2021)
million yrs
1,400,000

1,200,000
• Landscapes, heating,
1,000,000
culture and agriculture
800,000

600,000
• Ecological process-
grasslands and boreal 400,000

200,000

• Fire suppression in 0
Hectares
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 ... 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
2015 2016

N/America over a century,


Source BC Govt
megafires
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

Plant Domestication
• Modification to suit human
desire
• Ecosystem simplification:
Undomesticated as weed,
new species community
• Early: the grains and tubers,
also pulse and fruits
• Role of seed banks and
botanical gardens
Buchart Botanical Garden, Victoria Credit: Tom Hall
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

Great Reversal
• Forest density (more
and thicker trees)
increasing
• Evidence in about 45 of
68 countries that
account for 72% of the
world’s forests
• Parts of Europe,
N/America and Asia.
Also the tropics. Uneven
in pattern
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

Tropical Rain forest Removal


•Along history of decline through colonial exploitation,
misunderstanding,
• Recentdeclines: international consumption and local
subsistence
• Importantdifference between deforestation and
degradation
• ‘Peak deforestation’ in 1980s
• Biodiversity, food security and climate change
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

Source: Mercier and Norton


Impacts on the environment: Vegetation
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation

Source: Global Forest Watch


Impacts on the environment: Vegetation
Impacts on the environment: Vegetation
 Desertification

 Landdeterioration caused by climatic


change, human activities, or both in
semi arid and arid areas
 1.5
Billion people live in desertification
susceptible landscapes in SS/Africa and
Central Asia
 Multiple interacting causes
 Solutions that fail, those that work Copyright: Patrick Wallet

Wangari Maathai
Impacts on the environment: Animals
 Domestication

 Movement: deliberate and


accidental e.g. the European
rabbit
 Sports
hunting, foods,
commodities
 Wildlife trade (legal and
illegal) e.g. Ivory
 Human-animal conflict
 52% decline rate since 1970,
Source: Mercier and Norton
Impacts on the environment: Animals
Biodiversity Loss
 6th extinction
 Rate
of loss, between 100 – The Dodo, 17th century, Mauritius Island.
1000 times normal rates
(Source: Wikipedia)

 Biodiversity
declined: one-
third between 1970-2005
(WWF)
 Interpretingloss: the lumper
Vs the splitter biologists
Northern white rhino (source: bbc)
Impacts on the environment

Read up human impacts on Land,


Soil, Air and Water
Impacts on the environment: Climate
Human-Induced Climate Change
 Different from natural GHG effect
 GHGs from population, consumption, technologies,
agriculture and deforestation

Warming
potential (N, M,
C) +
persistence (C,
N, M)
Impacts on the environment: Climate

Human-Induced
Climate Change
 ‘Acceptable warming’:
1.5-2.0oC
 Secondary effects on
all other aspects of the
environment e.g. sea
level rise - in
megacities,
permafrost's,
vegetation change,
drought
Sustainable Development

Sustainability: “An approach that reflects the


interdependence of the economy, the environment, and social
well-being, and the need to maintain all three components
across generations”

Sustainable Development:
 Seeksto marry economic, social and environmental
concerns
 “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
Sustainable Development

Four principles central to new attitude underpinning


SD:

1. Humans are part of nature

2. Accounting for environmental cost

3. Acceptable living standards for all humans

4. Small impacts can have global consequences


Sustainable Development
End

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