Transforming the Global Environment Midterm
22.The economist who said that, "resources are not...".
EW Zimmerman said that "Resources are not, they become" -this means something only becomes a resource when it is valued or demanded by humans
1. The three types of plant life form, and what define them
1. Tree - single, tall, woody stem 2. Shrub - multiple, short, woody stems 3. Herbaceous - non-woody stems
3. The 5 environmental controls on vegetation. The most important of these on a global scale.
1. Climate -- most important on a global scale 2. Topography 3. Soil 4. Biota (via indirect competition) 5. Disturbance affect the amount of resources (light energy, water, and nutrients) available to a plant
2. Different vegetation types, and how they transition. Know that they exist on a continuum, defined by the amount of tree cover (from forest to grassland)
1. Forest - trees with a contiguous canopy 2. Woodland - trees with a non-contiguous canopy 3. Savanna - herbaceous with scattered trees and shrubs 4. Shrubland - shrub-dominated 5. Grassland - all herbaceous plants
20.The total amount spilled (in barrels) from the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
4.7 million barrels of oil
8. The example of silver as a resource, what happened to demand for it, and why did that change.
A successful decoupling: silver In 1999, 930,000,000 oz of silver were used in photography out of global total use of silver of 276,000,000 oz (meaning 1/3 of global silver was used for photography) now less than 9% of the global market for silver is in photography why? - now we have digital photography -ceased to be a necessary resource -no longer need silver for photography with digital cameras technology helps to make the resource demand fall but silver has risen as a resource for solar panels, etc. resources are not fixed
4. The two types of leaf, in terms of their persistence versus production potential, and consequent shape. An example species of each of these trees (broadleaf/needleleaf, Deciduous/evergreen)
Black spruce: persistence-oriented, needleaf evergreen -not susceptible in the winter -carbon gain over a longer period of time, peaking in July Sugar maple: production-oriented, broadleaf deciduous -thriving in the summer months -no carbon gain in the fall and winter, a large peak in the spring and summer months broadleaf: large, flatter leaf, better for capturing the sun's rays, fall in the winter to avoid diseases needleleaf: more like pine-needles, stay on trees through the winter deciduous: leaves fall off in the winter evergreen: maintain leaves all year-round
7. Changing vegetation patterns as you travel from West (California) to East (New Jersey) across the United States.
CA to NJ (west to east coast) variation is caused by gradients of precipitation precipitation gradient -more rain the further east you go -rains more on the coast 1. Med. climate -sclerophyll biome -dry and arid -drought tolerant plants 2. Highland climate -biome depends on elevation -temperature drops for every 1000 ft you go up by 3.5 degrees -going up higher in elevation is like going up in latitude -different biomes as you go higher up -very dry past the mountains 3. Mid-latitude desert and steppe climates -rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains -very little rain -shrubs and start grasses 4. Humid continental climate -rain shadow, but some more moisture -grassland biome -not enough moisture for trees, but enough for grasses -many agricultural land now 5. Water humid continental climate -lots of atmospheric moisture from proximity to the Gulf of Mexico -broadleaf deciduous forest
9. The various means by which both producers and consumers can affect the price of a resource (see Lecture 6 slide)
Consumers: recycling can affect resource availability -use of substitutes -- hemp bags instead of plastic bags -allows the resource to last longer Producers: -different technologies / ways of digging
15. The name of the Nobel prize winning economist who argued against the Tragedy of the Commons thesis. The basis of her argument (see point 29).
Elinor Ostrom people don't always act in their narrow self-interest -Harding assumed people always act based on self-interest Fish industry aware of the need to manage stock -do try to self-regulate Land still managed under communal customary tenure -Africa -evidence that people can manage and regulate common areas Successful common property management involves involving stakeholders across a range of scales argues essentially that ToTC is resting on assumptions that we're selfish -basically saying the only way to save humanity is to privatize the commons
22. There is a reading about Elinor Ostrom in the Unit 4 tab. Know it well, especially what she identifies as the critical component in the sustainable management of natural resources. Is it nationalization, privatization or something else?
England promulgated the Enclosure Acts, which were responsible for privatizing (and fencing in) the lands for grazing livestock, so that they could be devoted to intensive cultivation. -- removed the commons -farmers, etc. had to move from the country to the city This Great Transformation, as the socio-economist Karl Polanyi defined it, caused low-cost labor to be concentrated in places like the city, a precondition for exploiting the use of Watt's steam engine and opening the English Industrial Revolution. In about the same years, with the promulgation of the Homestead Act, a similar process occurred in the U.S. at the expense of the Native Americans. -benefited the countryside regions, but caused worsening conditions in the cities Törbel, Switzerland did well with using common land -- proves Ostrom's theories tragedy of the commons, individuals pursuing their private objectives cause disastrous consequences for themselves and others within communities, rules and institutions of non-market and not resulting from public planning can emerge from the bottom up to ensure a sustainable, shared management of resources, as well as one that is efficient from an economical point of view -- can use common land and self-regulate it -local self-government -clarity of local laws -establishment of methods of collective and democratic decision-making -must be local and public, so as to be accessible to all individuals of a community -mutual control of resources
5. The time of the year when the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Equator: receives the most solar energy throughout the entirety of the year Tropic of Cancer: summer solstice (June) Tropic of Capricon: winter solstice (December)
19. Study the population pyramids for Ghana and Kenya. Understand what the changing shape of the pyramid over time indicates, in terms of changing population growth rates.
Ghana: -1990, very rapid growth, every five years there are more people born, very bottom heavy -more young people, less old people -- expanding population -2010, less people born each year, transition to a lower birth rate (smaller on the bottom, contracting) -birth rates are lower than death rates Kenya: -peaked in the 1990s -rate of change is slowing, but the population growth is still up see notebook for different shapes of pyramids
23. Understand the pattern of global population growth since 1800. Also understand the pattern of population growth rates over time, which are different. Both graphs can be found in the Lecture 9 slides
Global population growth: slowly rising from 1800 until 1950 (black) have accurate data from 1950-now which shows the population quickly rising (blue) -- current population is 7 billion people red, yellow, and green indicate the predictions for population growth -high estimate: 50 or 60 billion -medium estimate: 11 billion -low estimate: peaking and then remaining around 7 billion
10. The processes of Globalization and Regionalization. What each term refers to, how they are related and how they operate together.
Globalization: increasing integration of economy, culture, environmental governance on a global scale -end of the Cold War, victory of the liberal western world -some new regions emerge based on this globalized economy: IT sector in India, manufacturing in China, Silicon Valley in the US Regionalization: both the emergence of new regions and the process by which existing regions retain unique features. These may be economic, cultural, or environemtal -reactions to globalization -- MAGA/America first, Brexit -a movement away from the global world movement towards or away from globalization or regionalization can impact policies that affect the environment or the economy -questions of policy -- either each country works on its own to implement policies to protect the environment or the world works together to combat climate change these processes are happening simultaneously and shape the contemporary and future world regionalization is a reaction to globalization
21.The country in West Africa with a quarter of global aluminum resources
Guinea, which has exactly 27% of the world's aluminum sources
13. The examples of a 'tragedy of the commons' type situation given in class. The reasons why each of the three examples (one fisheries based, one maritime but caused by terrestrial activity, one very much human) are examples of the tragedy of the commons
Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" -lots of agricultural activity in the region -farmers competing for land and soil etc. -MS River drains into the GoM with runoff of chemicals from the soil that farmers use to maximize their yields -diagram: amount of oxygen in the water -- soil nutrients cause blooms which take up oxygen in the water -a lot of the water has no oxygen which prevents animals from living in the area -summary: farmers are under pressures to use fertilizers that contain nutrients to maximize growth, this leads to a depletion of the environment through the dead zone -shows how a lack of regulation and everyone acting in their innocent self-interest harms the environment Collapse of Grand Banks Fisheries -world's most reliable source of cod in 1800s-1900s -cod stocks here seemed unlimited -every fishermen trying to max outputs (catches) -in 1950s, spike in cod being caught -seemed like there was no carrying capacity -but by 1980, catches fell -no more fish -- collapse -everyone acting in their own interest depleting the environment -NEED regulation Traffic Congestion -applying Hardin's theory -roads as common space -everyone in own car is acting in self-interest by driving, but collective impact is harmful because roads reach carrying capacity Tragedy of the Commons is about what happens when something isn't controlled or regulated and demand outstrips capacity
6. The causes of the ITCZ, and the directions it moves throughout the year.
ITCZ: where hot air meets and rises causing cloud formation and rain. It moves through the year Intertropical Convergence Zone forms where the two hadley cells meet at the equator equator = low pressure subtropics = high pressure -sinking dry air sits on the ground -- high pressure, dry climate air then moves from the subtropical high back to the equator -air blows from high to low pressure Hadley cells: air moves from the subtropical highs back to the equator where it is warmed and rises and falls as rain. Then the dry air moves towards the subtropical highs and sinks areas of low and high pressure changing warm, moist air rising at the equator: generally hot and wet dry air descending at the subtropics: mostly hot and dry directions: -during the northern hemisphere's summer it moves towards the north -during the southern hemisphere's summer it moves towards the south
8. Changing vegetation patterns as you move North from New Jersey into Canada.
North from NJ (40-80 degrees lat) variation caused by day length and sun angle 1. Humid continental climate (34-45) -broadleaf deciduous forest -deciduous: lose leaves in the stressful winter season -not much grows in the winter, leaves must fall because they could get illnesses -mostly unbroken forests that lose leaves in the winter -exceptions: broadleaf evergreens and needleleaf evergreens 2. Severe continental climate (45-60 lat) -Quebec and Canada -Needleaf evergreen (boreal) forest -deciduous leaves cannot survive there -evergreen trees: durable leaves for long, stressful winter -exceptions: some hardy deciduous trees; lots of mosses, lichen, herbaceous plants 3. Polar climate (>60 lat) -dryer, less ground water, start growing season -Tundra biome -trees can't really grow -low-lying woody perennials and herbaceous plants -covered by snow in the winter -slow growth, low productivity
19. The rate at which sea levels are rising in Atlantic City, NJ. The two New Jersey counties most vulnerable to future sea level rise (in terms of number pf people expected to be affected by it). The amount of days with flood events in Atlantic City, in the 1970s and the present day.
Sea level rising rates AC: 8 inches of sea level rise since 1970 -a more rapid rise of sea level on the east coast, because of the way the land is used, etc. -also, sea level rise, combined with the more extreme storms, poses a threat to humans 2 counties most vulnerable: Ocean County - 3 ft rise (86,000 displaced), 6 ft (176,000) Atlantic County - 3 ft (45,000), 6 ft (128,000) Days with flood events in AC: -1970s: five days -2010s: about 30 days (between 25 and 30)
3. The reasons why the current era has been named as the Anthropocene.
The Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth's history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet's climate and ecosystems an era dominated by human activity and transformation emerged through geological scientists' actions/studies humans leaving an impact on geology concept has a broad consensus from geophysical scientists, geographers, and others that we are entering a new era the International Geographical Congress declared we have entered a new geographical epoch -rapid transformation of the world beginning with Industrialization currently in the Holocene and have been for the past 11500 years since the last Ice Age -environmental transformation is driven by human activity
12.The organization that recently declared that we were officially in the Anthropocene. The epoch that we were in before the Anthropocene.
The International Geological Congress the Holocene -- have been in this epoch for the past 11500 years since the last Ice Age
14.The two different possible future scenarios suggested by the Astronomer Royal of the UK.
The darkest prognosis for the next millennium is that bio, cyber or environmental catastrophes could foreclose humanity's immense potential, leaving a depleted biosphere Human societies could navigate these threats, achieve a sustainable future, and inaugurate eras of post-human evolution even more marvellous than what's led to us. The dawn of the Anthropocene epoch would then mark a one-off transformation from a natural world to one where humans jump start the transition to electronic (and potentially immortal) entities, that transcend our limitations and eventually spread their influence far beyond the Earth."
10. The arguments of Thomas Malthus and the definition of a Malthusian catastrophe. The reasons why a Malthusian catastrophe was predicted to inevitably occur. The things that stop a Malthusian catastrophe from occurring (checks and balances)
Thomas Malthus -feared overpopulation -increasing human activity and population growth destroying the planet and our resources -amongst the first ever to fear the implications of rapid population growth in human societies -linking changing economy and society in the Industrial Revolution with the laws of the natural world -saw how the English pop had doubled in 25 years and saw the impact it had on the British food supply and on the poor -essay on the "Principle of Population" Malthusian catastrophe -idea that population growth is exponential, but food production is linear -at some point, population growth will exceed capacity to produce enough food -will cause starvation and mass deaths -believed that people will continue to reproduce because of human attachment and desires -believed that famine was the ultimate mechanism by which nature would gain revenge -idea that population growth can be controlled by the government applying natural world to society he believed that famine will eventually keep the balance intact arguments were made for restricting who governments help and provide services for only solution is to restrict access to the feast, unlimited numbers cannot be sustained at the heart of Malthusian thinking is that natural laws ultimately determine social activity
7. The two countries that produce the most oil currently, and the two countries with the largest reserves of oil
Top oil producers: -US and Saudia Arabia Largest oil reserves: -Saudia Arabia and Venezuela
16. The broad locations on Earth where you get a tropical wet climate, tropical dry climate, arid climate, and polar climate.
Tropical Wet-climate: Equatorial Latitudes Tropical dry climate: Sub-tropical high Arid climate: Midlatitudes Polar climate: polar latitudes -------------------------------------------------- Equatorial latitudes: Hot, Wet Climates Sub-tropical high: Hot, Dry Climates Midlatitudes: From Hot, Dry Summers and Mild, Wet Winters to Cool Summers and Cold, Wet Winters Polar Latitudes: Cold, Dry. Tundra.
24.The example of silver and its importance in explaining why quantities of natural resources are not permanently fixed, and declining.
a successful decoupling ceased to be a necessary resource due to the emergence of digital photography declining demand for silver due to advanced technology has risen for solar power though
11. The impacts of invasive species, specifically the zebra mussel, the Nile perch, bass in Gatun Lake and a specific strain of cholera.
an invasive species is a species that is introduced into a new environment or region by humans and is defined by its ability to grow and reproduce rapidly, may not face the same competition or pressures in their new region invasive species harm the species that already live in an area Nile perch: -the river contains perch -Lake Victoria at the bottom of the river -in the 1950s, the three countries bordering it decided to introduce perch into the lake to feed the poor population in the region -perch decimated the ecosystem -- ate everything -200 species of fish in the lake went extinct due to the invasive species of the Nile perch -people didn't really eat it in the area -- not a cultural good that they eat -no market for the perch invasive species can be very expensive** Zebra mussel: -native to the Caspian and Black Seas -arrived to Lake St. Clair in the US in the ballast water of a transatlantic freighter in 1988 -spread to all five Great Lakes -formed massive colonies and clogged underwater structures like power station outlets, etc. -reduced the native mussel population Bass in Gatun Lake: -in Panama -reduced the numbers of other fish in the water which used to feed on mosquito larvae -damaged local efforts to control malaria Cholera: -used to only be found in Bangladesh -arrived in Peru via ballast water in 1991 -killed more than 10,000 people over three years
14. The solution that Hardin offered to solve the 'tragedy of the commons'. The implications of this for the ownership of land.
can't control the population by appealing to conscience - those with a conscience will make themselves extinct what we need is responsibility, "the product of definite social arrangements" Hardin's solution: "Mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon" -regulations of grazing lands with private property we have to do what we can to protect these resources and to do that we need to get rid of the commons to avoid tragedy in the form of private property rights and inheritance -removing common lands** carving up the world and giving it to only some
15.The drivers of the Earth's climate system
climate is driven by the relationship between different locations on the Earth and radiation received from the sun -other factors: continentality and altitude 1. Earth-sun relations 2. Distance from the equator (affects temp) 3. The Inter-tropical convergence zone (affects precipitation) 4. Contintentality 5. Altitude Earth-sun relations -look at the chart -not about distance to the sun, but the earth is closer in January and furthest in July. It is about the angle the Earth makes in relation to the sun -rotates on a tilted axis -- an angle of 23.5 degrees from vertical, revolution around the sun -- titled towards or away sometimes -winter solstice - arcitc is titled away, 0 sunlight -equator receives the most solar energy throughout the year -summer solstice (June 21) - the day in which the northern hemisphere has its max tilt towards the sun -winter solstice (Dec. 21) - the day in which the southern hemisphere has max tilt towards the sun -vernal and autumnal equinox (March and Sept. 21) - neither hemisphere is tilted towards, equal day and night everywhere in the world Distance from the equator -affects temperature and rainfall -- where the ITCZ is -precipitation: wherever the ITCZ moves, there is more rain ? -hottest at the equator, cooler the further you move away -equator: hot and wet -30 degrees north or south: hot and dry Contintentality: -the role of land and oceans on affecting the temperature -no water nearby -- extremely hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter -pot analogy -- without water it heats and cools fast, with water it remains hot longer
1. The etymology of the word 'Geography', the language it derived from and its meaning.
comes from "geo" which is the word for Earth and word for "graphy" which means write -the why of where -why things are where they are "writing the world" Geo = earth (in Greek) Graphein = to write geography = writing earth similar to history insofar as the central focus is on a perspective (space instead of time)
17. The assumptions that are present in Malthusian thinking about how people are affected by natural laws of population growth and fall.
doesn't take social factors into consideration like healthcare, education, wealth, women's changing roles, etc. doesn't consider the fact that humans have a desire to maintain civilization and will innovate to do so doesn't consider the fact that population actually stabilizes assumes that natural laws control everything
6. Changing vegetation patterns as you travel North down the Nile, and the driving forces behind these.
down Africa's Nile River (0-30 degrees latitude) -beginning at the equator -looking at the variation in the region caused by Hadley Cell and ITCZ 1. Uganda - Tropical wet climate (0-10) -never below 70 degrees, always raining -no need for leaves to drop -a contiguous forest -Tropical Broadleaf Evergreen Forest (rainforest) -Forest: lots of energy and water to support biomass -Evergreen: no reason NOT to be, no stressful season -Broadleaf: more efficient shape only limit to growth is competition with other species, have plenty of nutrients, water, and light 2. Tropical Wet and Dry Climate (10-15) -year-round influence of the ITCZ receeds -Tropical Savanna and Grassland -serengeti plain -less contiguous -more shrubs and bushes 1. climate: a lack of moisture in the dry season -very hostile climate -not enough water, dry season 2. Fire: high fire frequency -favors herbaceous vegetation that can regrow quickly 3. soil: dry season and clayey soils -need plants that can survive in this hard soil -things that survive in the rainforest cannot live there 3. Sub-tropical desert climate (15-30) subtropical desert biome -sparse shrubs with drought - coping traits -plants that can live without water -succulents, etc.
21. The fertility rate in Africa in the middle of the 20th century, the present day, and the predictions for the end of the 21st century
fertility rates dropped in 1950, women had 6.6 children on average from 2010-2015, there was an average of 4.7 the prediction for 2095-2100 is 2.16 this means that the fertility rates are slowing down, which indicates that the population likely won't grow at a rate we should be afraid of
9. The amount of the Earth's Net Primary Productivity that human activity consumes, and the amount of the total ice-free land surface devoted to human activities.
humans directly consume almost 25% of the planetary primary productivity human land-uses occupy almost 75% of the ice-free land surface
5. The ways in which topography can affect vegetation. Examples of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
lay of the land -- steepness, etc. mountains, slopes, etc. controls the microclimate experienced by plants -wind, where water flows, etc. affects the delivering of groundwater to the plant -all this can affect what is in a biome over a small area Natural: •Fire •Wind •Floods •Landslides •Insect outbreaks Anthropogenic : •Clearing of land •Invasive insect outbreaks
2.The location(s) on the earth where Projections of Global Temperature Increase by 2080 is expected to be greatest. The positive and negative feedbacks that will occur in this region, and which of these are thought to be strongest (see supplementary exam readings on Sakai).
in the north, around the poles average increase of 6 degrees Celsius ice will begin to freeze much later in the fall and melt much earlier in the spring; more water instead of ice Russia: Positive feedback: longer growing seasons in Russia because of the warming climate Negative feedback: melting of the permafrost (area underground that is frozen water) -- as it melts it causes methane to be releases, which causes more warming Arctic feedback loops: Negative: when the white ice melts, areas of dark open water are exposed which absorb more heat from the sun. That extra heat melts even more ice. Permafrost may also be involved in feedbacks. As permafrost thaws, plants and animals that were frozen in the ground begin to decay. When they decay, they release carbon dioxide and methane which causes more warming Positive: Arctic amplification -longer growing season in the region and the plants can therefore take up more carbon from the air positive feedback effects are stronger than the negative effects -Arctic climate will not return to previous conditions
12. The reasons, both mathematical and biological, why Garrett Hardin thought population an unsolvable problem.
math - you can't maximize two things one equation -cannot maximize the entire population size while also maximizing the amount of goods/calories a person can have biology - can't maximize population and individual calorie intake - have to choose one says that if we are trying to maximize the greatest amount of people we have to limit calories -either focus on individuals or calories -- cannot have equality of calories across the pop. to maximize it
4. The definitions of Weather and Climate, and the difference between them.
not the same thing!! weather: the daily or weekly occurrence of temperature and rainfall described in events -a snapshot, captures the day -highly variable climate: the temperature and rainfall patterns for a given region for a long period of time (more than 20 years) long term patterns of weather, less variable -two measurements/principal components: average temperature and average precipitation -explains the different climates around the world climate is driven by the relationship between different locations on Earth and the radiation received from the sun. Other factors as well like continentality and altitude Drivers of climate: -Earth-sun relations -distance from the equator -ITCZ -Continentality -altitude
11.The two different definitions of the word 'environment'
one definition is separate from people and the other is affected by it 1. the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates 2. the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity the word is attributed to Einstein -everything, but you -everything surrounding an individual -"The environment is everything that is not me" - Einstein
23.The concept of decoupling - the example country in Europe that has achieved a degree of decoupling in the past 25 years
one of the major environmental challenges into our future is decoupling resource use from economic growth two aspects of decoupling 1. Reducing the impact of resource use (impact decoupling) -reducing impact of oil spills, adding safety regulations, paying to funds when mining, etc. 2. Resource decoupling from economic activity -typically as economic activity increases, resource use increases (and so does well-being) -need to decouple resource use from economic activity and well-being Sweden has achieved a degree of decoupling CO2 emissions from GDP over the past 25 years (23% reduction in carbon dioxide usage and a 50% increase in GDP) -this success shows how we can adjust to make a more sustainable world and renewable future
20. The relationship between poverty, education level, and rural/urban location, and the number of children had by women.
poorest have more children on average than the rich the less education one has correlates to more children on average those in rural areas have more children than those in urban areas
13.Some of the geological indicators that mark the coming of the Anthropocene
see evidence in the geological record for the coming of a new epoch -movement into a new epoch shows that the human-environment relationship is primarily driven by human activity and actions changing, producing, and creating new environment -- building islands -- palm trees, shaping sand -China building islands in the sea to expand its economic interest scientists predicted the Anthropocene would be marked by -radioactive elements dispersed across the planet by nuclear bomb tests -plastic pollution, soot from power stations, concrete, and even the bones left by the global proliferation of the domestic chicken Other points made: -acceleration of carbon dioxide emissions, sea level rise, the global mass extinction of species, and the transformation of land by deforestation and development mark the end of that slice of geological time, the experts argue. The Earth is so profoundly changed that the Holocene must give way to the Anthropocene.
16. Know the demographic transition model well. Especially the birthrate and death rate, the balance between them, and how this changes as societies pass through varying levels of economic development. What does Hans Rosling identify as a critical indicator in explaining falling population growth rates.
refers to how societies beginning in the industrial era have changed in population growth rate indicates how we may predict growth rates to continue shows three sets of information: birth rate, death rate, and overall population Phase 1: agrarian societies -birth and death rates are somewhat equal and balanced -kept the population low -this was maintained until about the 1500s-1600s Phase 2: transitional to industrial -death rates drop dramatically -government, medicines, water systems, etc. -little change in the birth rate -population grows Phase 3: -birth rate falls due to changing roles of women, birth control, access to education, cities, less agriculture -death rate falls -they are about equal -population stagnates as places are exposed to cities, industrial production, urbanization, access to education, access to healthcare, social security, cultural practices changing -- population growth rates slow and stagnate see photo
18. Temperature trends based on distance from equator
the further away you move from the equator, the cooler it will become Warm, moist air rising at the Equator: generally hot and wet Dry air descending at 30° latitude: generally hot and dry Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ):where hot air meets and rises, causing cloud formation and precipitation. IT MOVES THROUGH THE YEAR!
Population growth rates over time
the growth rate of the world population is declining
18. The arguments made by Boserup and others against Malthusian thinking.
those against Malthus put human desires to overcome at the center of their ideas -necessity is the mother of invention at the heart of economy is the notion that social demand for resources of all kinds is the basis of exchange and ultimately our system of production key claim: human innovation, driven by increasing demand for things as the motor of social and environmental transformation -replacement of certainty in the power of people, markets, and things broadly transforming "for the better" -people making decisions to better society and the environment Boserup took this approach to agriculture in the developing world and showed how increased population pressure encouraged agricultural intensification and innovation -proving that the food supply has been able to exceed pop. growth (see graph!) because technology has allowed for increasing the food supply, it shows that food production can grow with the population population growth encourages food production innovation
