PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT- 01.07

the collective actions of human beings do have an impact on the environment. For example, scientists have linked the increase in industrial production and use of fossil fuels to global warming, what us this referred as ?

Human Impact Humans will always try to influence, control, or change geography for better or worse. When nature wins, people may finally give in—or attempt once again to put nature and geography under human control.

The Aral Sea, a saltwater lake that lies in the middle of Central Asia, was once the fourth-largest body of inland water in the world. Because the lake is found in an area with an inhospitable climate, people living in the region began diverting the sea's waters for irrigation. After years of irrigation, the sea began to shrink. Today, its surface area is 60 percent smaller than its original size. Which human impact can this be classified as?

Negative Drinking water is scarce, wildlife is killed by an increase in salinity in lake, people need to relocate as there are scarce resources and chances for health issues related to dust storms increase. The short-term effect provided water to irrigate fields. Do you think that the short-term benefits outweigh the long-term effects? No because there is lasting trauma and concerns that occurred in this area of Asia that left an area barren when Asia is already densely populated.

in what three ways are human interactions with environments be classified as?

People depend on the environment, adapt to the environment, and modify the environment.

What are some traits that has made desertification in the Sahara desert more severe and a negative human impact?

Population increase: The population has been doubling every 20 years. This means that the area must constantly produce more food to feed the people living there. Poverty: The area includes three of the four poorest countries in the world. With people struggling to survive, they often use farming methods that increase desertification. Poor farming methods: Farmers clear land for farming, which makes it susceptible to erosion. Overgrazing: herds graze constantly. Use of trees and vegetation for firewood: The already sparse trees and vegetation are being cut and used for firewood. Nomads living in a single spot: Tribes are living in a specific area

The Tennessee Valley Authority in the Southeastern United States brought electricity to millions of rural homes. The Hoover Dam in the Southwest allows productive use of land that is naturally a desert. The Suez Canal, in Egypt,is an artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, which allows people to travel between Europe and Asia without having to sail around Africa. Which human impact can this be classified as?

Positive makes routes and increases accessibility to vulnerable people

what is a natural wonder?

They are beyond anything human beings could construct on their own that occur in the natural world.

Governments and international groups now work to assess environmental manipulation's risks and trade-offs. For example, expanded oil drilling in wild areas creates an increased oil supply but risks oil spills, accidents, and other changes to the environment. Building homes in areas subject to hurricanes and erosion may provide economic and housing benefits but risk widespread damage due to weather and increased coastal erosion. Should the government assess risks and trade-offs?

Yes If the government were to build affordable homes in an area vulnerable of earthquakes it increases the risk of an earthquake to occur and displacement to occur

When it is cold outside, people wear heavier clothing. Some might even find different modes of transportation. In colder climates, homes are sealed tightly, include substantial heating systems, preserve warmth through insulation, and prevent snow build-up through steep roofs In warmer areas, people wear lighter clothing. Homes in hot climates encourage cooling airflow through open windows, are situated to avoid direct sun, use thick walls to prevent heating from the sun, and may include air-conditioning systems for cooling. What human-environmental interaction is this?

adapt to the environment

Human beings also adapt their economic and recreational activities to their environment. Farmers plant crops that will grow best in a hot, cold, or moderate climate. People in tropical climates limit work and other activities during the hottest times of day. Human beings have also adapted to their environment unconsciously over the years through evolution. In the 1800s, a pair of scientists suggested that a group of people's prevalent body type can be seen as an adaptation to their climate. In Japan, very little farmland is available, but people still need to grow food. Japanese farmers practice a type of farming called intensive cultivation, which means that farmers grow crops on every available inch of land Which human-environmental interaction is this?

adaptations made by humans to work with the environment

natural disasters can

alter the landscape and endanger natural wonders

The degradation of arid or semiarid land so that it becomes desert

desertification In recent decades, the dry areas just south of the Sahara Desert, called the Sahel, have been changing into desert at a rapid pace. The area has been experiencing less than average rainfall for several decades, and human actions and their results have made the effects of this natural occurrence even worse

Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter, who proposed in the early 1800s that the environment determined how societies developed in a particular area. What is there theory called?

environmental determinism.

A perspective which focuses on the interaction between physical and human systems, or between natural landscapes and societies.

environmental perspective

Ancient civilizations depended on their environments for survival and adapted to them in a variety of ways, from building shelters appropriate for the climate to eating food and animals that were abundant nearby. ancient Egyptians depended on the Nile River to flood each spring to bring water to their fields. Gradually they began to control their environment through irrigation As Egypt's population grew and conditions changed, both a need and ability developed to control the Nile River floods. Construction of the Aswan High Dam across the waters of the Nile took place between 1958 and 1971. It would both protect and support farmland, especially cotton crop, important to Egypt's economy. Which human-environmental interaction is this?

modify the environment

In certain ways, human beings are completely dependent on their environment for survival. People rely on clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and healthy food to grow and maintain their health. People trust that the temperature and weather will not be so harsh that they cannot survive, and that water levels in oceans, lakes, and rivers will not flood. What human-environmental interaction is this?

people depend on the environment

According to possibilism, humans not only shape their environment but also are shaped by it. Geographers identify both ways people are affected by their physical environment and ways that human actions affect the environment. Which three ways can human impact be classified as?

positive, negative, or neutral

human actions are limited by the physical environment but, people can adapt to the environment through a variety of choices. human beings can learn about their environment and make appropriate choices. One basic example is the crops people choose to grow in different climates and soils. What is this theory called?

possibilism (accepted by current geographers)

the negative effects of human actions on the environment have prompted national, state, and local governments to require an environmental impact statement before any development project begins. For example, construction of a new factory might destroy the habitat of birds, divert the water flow of a stream, or damage air quality. In many cases, these effects are not intentional, but simply the by-products of the development. What would happen if governments didn't follow these guidelines?

the negative effects and by products would destroy our earth faster without conservation methods.