UNIT
8: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER
33: THE PLANET AND HUMANITY
CHAPTER
OUTLINE
I. Introduction
A. Discussion on
the Earth’s age
1. How Earth
acquired its moon
2. Cooling
of Earth’s surface
3. Pangaea
(Figure 33-1)
B. Ocean and
atmosphere
1. Water
covers about 70 percent of Earth’s surface
2. Will
Earth be able to retain its life-giving oceans is discussed
3. Evolution
of the atmosphere
4. Photosynthesis
5. The Cambrian
explosion—the burgeoning of marine organisms in unprecedented
diversity (Table 33-1)
C. Fire and ice
1. Today a
major volcanic eruption is rare enough to make the news
2. One
billion years ago the Earth’s crust was subject to huge bursts of volcanic
activity
3. Such
volcanic activity caused mass depletions—loss of diversity
through a failure to produce new species
4. Three mass
extinctions are known to have occurred over the past 500 million years
5. Pangaea
began to fracture between 180 and 160 millions years ago
6. The Pacific
Ring of Fire—the ocean-girdling zone of crustal instability,
volcanism, and earthquakes
7. The ice
ages
a) One
occurred during the Permian Period, while Pangaea with still a super-continent
b) The Duyka
Ice Age was a time of great extinctions and occurred during the Permian
Period
c) While
Gondwana was glaciated, the South Pole was positioned not far from the
south-east coast of present day
8. The
Mesozoic Era
a) Tropical
warmth replaced Arctic cold
b) Moisture
and precipitation abounded
c) Atmospheric
oxygen increased as luxuriant forests spread
d) The age
of the dinosaurs, first marsupials and angiosperms
appeared
9. After
landmasses separated species were isolated and evolved into distinctive forms
D. Sudden death
1. About 65
million years ago Earth is impacted by a carbonaceous meteorite
a) Hit what
is today the northwestern edge of Caribbean Mexico’s
b) Consequences
were catastrophic
c) The most
recent of the planet’s great extinctions began
2. The
meteorite’s impact divides two Earth periods: the Cretaceous and the Tertiary
a) Some
small animals managed to survive
b) This
period boundary is called the KT boundary
c) Started
the sequence of events that led to the appearance of Homo sapiens
E. Back to
the future
1. Post-impact
Earth suffered an unprecedented greenhouse effect
a) Global
temperatures rose to levels that killed many animal species
b) Heat also
destroyed numerous plant species
c)
2. By the
beginning of the Oligocene another ice age was beginning (Figure 33-4)
a) The
continents were still drifting farther apart
b) Glaciers
began to develop on Earth’s highest mountains
c) Mammals
migrated and evolved rapidly
3. Discussion
of how ice ages form and the warm periods in the middle of them
4. At the
beginning of the Pleistocene epoch, less than 2 million years ago,
the planet was in a deep freeze (Figure 33-5)
a) Marked by
long cold spells and short interglacial warm periods
b) Homo
erectus succeeded Australopithecus during this time
c) When
glaciations were most severe, plants, animals, and hominids saw their living
space diminished
d) Glaciations
could last 100,000 years
e) Ice
receded during warm spells (Figure 33-6)
f) Neanderthals
may have existed at the same time as Homo sapiens
5. The Wisconsinan
Glaciation left its mark on much of the Northern Hemisphere
(Figure 33-5)
a) Humans
still managed to survive and even advance
b) Humans
that were fishing, hunting, and gathering began to use more sophisticated tools
6. About
73,500 years ago a volcano erupted on the Indonesian
a) An entire
mountain exploded
b) Millions
of tons of debris was sent into orbit, obscuring the Sun
c) Anthropologists
have suggested that much genetic diversity was lost
d) Today
e) Was the
greatest threat to human existence ever to come from any source
F. The
Holocene
1. The
current warm interlude
2. Global
warming began about 18,000 years ago
3. Temperatures
rose rapidly for the next 6000 years
4. Ice
continued to cover most of northern
5. People
ventured farther and farther poleward
6. The Younger
Dryas—a brief cold period that occurred about 12,000 years ago, when a
large ice sheet slid into the North Atlantic and caused disastrous waves along
coasts and chilled the ocean back into glaciation-like temperatures (Figure
33-7)
7. Discussion
about the forming of the
8. The Postglacial
Optimum occurred about 6000 years ago when global environmental
conditions became rather like those today
9. The Medieval
Optimum started about 2000 years ago
10. Description
of the effects of the volcanic eruption that occurred about 3620 B.P., on the
11. Impacts
of deglaciation
a) Poleward
shift of climatic zones and maturing of soils
b) Some
early states and cities in what is today the
12. Medieval
Optimum was a good time for the
a) Romans
unified
b) The Han
was
c) Romans
planted grapevines in
d)
e) Great
architectural works were built in
13. The
weather changed and grew colder
II.
The Little Ice Age
A. Increasing cold
in fourteenth century
1. Decreasing
rainfall, frigid winds, and shortened growing seasons
2. Famines
struck all over
3. A shift
in the direction of reglaciation
a) Advancing
mountain glaciers and thickening Subarctic ice
b) Worst of
it started in the late 1600s
c) Did not
lead to a full-scale Pleistocene glaciation
4. Precipitated
serious social disruptions in
5. A
temporary cooling
6.
a) Recovery
was followed by renewed famine
b) Populations
mushroomed than collapsed again
7. Mongol
China in the fourteenth century
a) The
Mongols penetrated westward
b) Brought
the bubonic plague and its vector, the flea, to
c) Black
Death swept over an already weakened
8. In
a) Construction
of an oceangoing fleet that eventually numbered more than 6000 ships
(1) First
expedition in 1405
(2) Later
voyages reached the
b) The first
onslaught of the Little Ice Age came later than it did in
c) Rains
failed, rivers dried up, wheat crops shrank
d) Famines
broke our and social disorder and epidemics raged
e) Maritime
expeditions ended with burning of oceangoing fleet
f) Barges
were built to navigate cargoes of rice to northern areas
B. Crisis in
1. The
Second Agricultural Revolution
a) Necessitated
by the Little Ice Age
b) Improvement
in farm implements
c)
Better field methods
d) Transportation,
marketing, and storage of produce improved
e) New crops
were tried with some success
f) Was a
matter of survival
2. The
sixteenth century closed with one of the most extreme decades in
3. During
the seventeenth century, conditions were worsened by a series of volcanic
eruptions in
a) Some
historical geographers call the period from 1650 to 1850 the “real” Little
Ice Age
b) Growing
seasons were shortened by as much as six weeks
c) Ports
were blocked by ice
d) Sea ice
formed and remained in place over the
4. The
Failure of the
a) May be
explained by the Little Ice Age
b) Has been attributed to lack of preparation
and racist attitudes toward Native Americans
c) Tree ring
dating found
5. In 1783,
a volcanic eruption in
a) Ejected
an estimated 100 millions of ash, sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants
b) Lowered
temperature in
c) Blocked
the
d) Violent
weather in
6. The
French Revolution was related to recurring food shortages during the Little Ice
Age
C. Distant threat
1. On
a) Could be
heard a thousand miles away
b) Tens of
millions of tons of ash was rocketed into orbit
c) In 1816,
it was clear in
d) Food
riots broke out in European towns
2. The
a) Difficult
on
b) Corn
wouldn’t ripen
D. The human
factor
1. Events as
the Little Ice Age came to a close
a) The
Industrial Revolution was gathering steam
b) Colonial
era was transforming societies and economies
c) Earth’s
population was about 1 billion and has kept up its rapid growth with only one
interruption
d) By 2115 the Earth will carry
seven times as many people as it did when Tambora erupted
2. How would
the world cope today with a “year without summer?”
3. Discussion
of information contained in the next chapters
CHAPTER
34: PATTERNS AND PROCESSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
CHAPTER
OUTLINE
I. The
human impact
A. Humankind's
impact on the environment
1. May be 25
million types of organisms on Earth
2. Humans
are not unique in possessing a culture: chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and
dolphins have cultures too.
3. Some
biogeographers suggest the next great extinction may be caused by humans
B. Alteration of
ecosystems
1. Environmental
destruction began early
a) Fires set
to kill entire herds of reindeer and bison
b) Maori
people arrived in
c) Polynesians
(1) Reduced
forest cover to brush
(2) Exterminated
more than 80 percent of bird species for their feathers
d) European
fashion had a disastrous impact on African species
2. Traditional
as well as modern societies have had devastating impacts on their ecosystems
3. Over the
last 500 years both the rate and scale of human modification of the physical
environment has increased dramatically
C. Environmental
stress
1. Obvious
actions causing environmental stress
a) Cutting
of trees
b) Emission
of pollutants into the atmosphere, and spilling oil into the oceans
2. Less
obvious actions
a) Burying
of toxic wastes that foul groundwater
b) Dumping
vast amounts of garbage into the oceans and use of pesticides in farming
II. Water
A. A renewable
resource
1. Not
distributed evenly across the globe (Figure 1-5)
2. Distribution
is sustained through the hydrologic cycle (Figure 34-1)
3. Where
precipitation goes
a) Much is
lost through runoff and evaporation
b) Some
seeps downward into porous water-holding rocks called aquifers
c) Aquifers
hold about 50 times as much water as falls on the
4. Chronic
water shortages
a) Figure
34-2 shows variations in the moisture index in the
b) Affects
tens of millions of farmers in
c) Affects
d) The
Biscayne Florida Aquifer is overused and saltwater invasion threatens it
5. Nearly
three-quarters of all freshwater used annually by all humanity is used in
farming
a)
b) Debate:
should cities be provided with water at the expense of
6 Industry
worldwide uses 20 percent of available water
7. Today
East
a) Inadequately
regulated industries were to blame
b) Expansion
into inhospitably dry environments
8.
a) One of
the great ecological disasters of the twentieth century
b) Diversion
of water from streams feeding the
c) Chemical
pesticide use caused pollution of groundwater
d)
9. People
are depending more and more on water sources of uncertain future capacity
a)
b) Coastal
eastern
c) Southwest
B. Water and
Politics in the
1.
2.
III.
The atmosphere
A. What it does
1. Provides
oxygen and moderates temperatures
2. Shields
us from the destructive rays of the sun
3. Carries
moisture from the oceans over the land
4. Has an
amazing self-cleaning capacity
a) Example:
Krakatoa volcanic eruption of 1883
b) Example:
5. Human
pollution may be causing permanent damage
a) Waste
pouring into the atmosphere may be producing irreversible change
(1) Troposphere
(2) Stratosphere
b) Two
centuries of industrial expansion have caused an enormous increase in the
pollution of the troposphere
c) The
problem may be beyond control
B. Global warming
1. Tropospheric
pollution enhances the Earth's heat retention
2. Full
effect may not be felt until well into the twenty-first century
3. Estimates
of global warming have been lessened
4. Earth
might warm 3.5şF to 5.5şF over the next 50 years
5. A Rhode
Island-sized chunk of ice broke off from
6. Little
consensus on the extent of greenhouse warming
7. Key
greenhouse gases have been increasing about 2 percent per decade
C. Acid rain
1. Forms
when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from burning fossil fuel
2. Combines
with water vapor in the air to form dilute solutions of sulfuric and nitric
acids
3. Does
great harm over time to some ecosystems
a) Acidified
lakes and streams causing fish kills
b) Forests
become stunted in their growth
c) Corrosion
of buildings and monuments is worsened and accelerated
4. Associated
with areas of industrial concentration and middle- to long-distance wind flows
a) Heavy
industrial areas associated with coal and oil burning
b) Western
and
5.
6. Former
a)
b) Problem
of antiquated factories
7. Acid rain
is increasing in East and
8. In the
IV. The land
A. Desertification
1. Natural
expansion and contraction has effected the world’s deserts for a long time
2. Marginal
areas have been lost to desertification because of human activity
3. Human
activity can speed the process: for example the
a) The
b) Overgrazing,
wood-cutting, and soil exhaustion
4. The
United Nations held a Conference on Desertification in 1977
a) The great
b) Became
clear desertification was happening around the world (Figure 34-5)
B.
Deforestation
1. Yielding
to pressure applied by increasing human population
2. Middle
and lower latitude forests play a critical role in the oxygen cycle
3. Where
forests have the greatest biomass is in the same regions where human population
is most rapidly growing
4. By the
early 1980s, 44 percent of the tropical and equatorial rain forest had been
affected
a) Was
estimated the entire equatorial rain forest would be gone in 90 years
b) New
estimates say the rain forest will be gone in just 45 years
5. Effects
of deforestation are not clearly understood
6. In the
7. Has many
causes
C. Soil erosion
1. Called a
"quiet crisis" by ecologists Lester Brown and Edward Wolf
2. Reasons
for the increase in soil erosion
a) Farmers
cultivating steep slopes without terraces, and plowing dry lands
b) Shifting
cultivators must shorten their field rotation cycle
c) Livestock
graze in areas of fragile natural vegetation
3. Soil loss
estimated to be more than 25 billion tons per year
4. Great
need to educate farmers and governments on soil-conservation methods
5. Soil is a
renewable resource and can be recovered with proper care
D. Waste disposal
1. The
a) Also the
most prodigious consumer of resources
b) Produces
3.7 pounds of solid waste per person per day
c) Other
high-technology countries also produce large amounts of solid waste
2. Disposal
is a key problem
a) Poorer
countries throw it into open dumps
(1) Vermin
multiply and decomposition sends methane gas into the air
(2) Rain and
waste liquids carry contaminants into the groundwater
b) Sanitary
landfills
(1) Now
include flooring materials to treat seeping liquids
(2) Soil
covers each layer as it is compacted and deposited
c) Number of
suitable landfill sites is declining in the
(1) Capacity
has been or will soon be reached in about 12 states
(2) States
with no capacity left will have to buy space in other states
(3) Transport
of waste is very expensive
3. The solid
waste disposal problem is global
a) The
b) Recipient
countries are paid for receiving this waste, including hazardous material, but
do not have the capacity to treat it properly
4. Toxic
wastes—the danger is caused by chemicals, infectious materials, etc.
5. Radioactive
wastes
a)
Low level radioactive wastes
(1) Wastes
that give off low levels of radiation
(2) Produced
by industry, hospitals, research facilities
(3) For many
years disposed of in steel drums in six government-run landfills
b) High
level radioactive wastes
(1) Emit
strong radiation
(2) Produced
solely by nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons factories
(3) Will
remain radioactive for thousand of years and must be stored in remote locales
(4) No
satisfactory disposal place has been found
(5) Transport
problems
V. Biodiversity
A. Human impact
1. We do not
know the actual total number of species on Earth
2. Only some
1.75 million species have been identified
3. New
species, especially of insects, are being discovered regularly
4. Human
impact has dramatically increased rates of extinction over time
5. Many
birds and mammals have been hunted for food, skins, feathers, etc.
6. We know
over 650 species of plants and over 480 animals have become extinct in the last
400 years
B. Introduction of
new species to a different region by humans
1. Rats are
among the most destructive, especially to islands
2. New
species may cause extinctions by preying upon native species or competing with
them
3. The dodo
4. May carry
diseases
5. Estimated
2000 species of birds on tropical Pacific islands were driven to extinction
following human settlement
6. Case of
the extinction of the passenger pigeon
CHAPTER
35: CONFRONTING HUMAN-INDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
CHAPTER
OUTLINE
I. Introduction
A. Environmental
changes are caused by both humans and nature
1. Greeks
and Romans cut down many trees
2. Spanish
invaders harvested the forests of
3. Florida
Everglades are drying up from a natural trend
4. Today,
many of Earth's physical systems are being influenced by human activities
B. Geography is
one of the few academic disciplines which studies the relationship between
humans and the environment as a primary concern
1. Centrally
involved in an interdisciplinary symposium on "Man's Role in Changing the
Face of the Earth" in 1955
2. Recently
led a symposium on "The Earth as Transformed by Human Action"
3. Global
environmental systems are interconnected at numerous temporal and spatial scales
a) Release
of chlorofluorocarbons contributes to a growing hole in Earth's
ozone layer
b) Industrial
production in the
II. Understanding
environmental change
A. Global changes
1. Express
themselves at all scales, from local to global
2. Now
forced to think about rates of environmental change
3. Humans
are accelerating rate at which natural processes occur
4. Dramatic
growth of human population
B. Population
1. Greater
number of people translates into greater capacity for environmental change
2. Example
of
3. Many
questions are being raised about population growth and environment
C. Patterns of
consumption
1. Many
societies consume resources at a level and rate that far exceed basic
subsistence needs
2. A
hunter-gatherer could subsist on the resources found within an area of about 26
square kilometers
3. Today,
many urban dwellers have access to resources from all over the planet
4. Estimated
a baby born in the United States during the first decade of the twenty-first
century will, at current rates, consume about 250 times as much energy as a baby
born in Bangladesh over the same lifetime
5. People
living in periphery countries tend to affect their immediate environment
6. Because
the reach of affluent societies is much greater, they have an impact on distant
environments
7. Demand
for water is greater (Table 35-1)
8. Globally
consumption is tied to technology
D. Technology
1. Resource
extraction practices have created severe environmental problems
2. Burning
of fossil fuels has contributed to many types of pollution and may be a factor
in climate change
3. Innovations
have produced hazardous and toxic byproducts, creating pollution and health
problems we are only now beginning to recognize
4. Great
open-pit mines created by huge machines
E. Transportation
1. Represent
some of the most important technological advances in human history
2. Internal
combustion engine revolutionized travel
3. All
innovations require increased resource use
4. Offer
access to remote areas of the planet
5. Indirectly
responsible for global environmental changes
6. Oil
spills (Figure 35-1)
7. Facilitated
the introduction of new species to areas where they had not been previously
found
8. Modern
cargo ships transport pelagic species, taken on in ballast
seawater, around the world
9. Facilitates
global transport of goods and foods
F. A Sense
of Scale box: Wind Energy Parks in the European Union
G. Energy
1. Today
much of our energy comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels
2. Tertiary,
quaternary, and quinary economic activities have not reduced consumption of
nonrenewable resources
3. In
developing countries, energy demands are met by increasing development of
fossil-fuel sources
4. Global
energy production was 75 percent greater in 1999 than in 1971
5.
Fossil fuel production is concentrated in the highly industrialized part
of the global economic core (Figure 35-2)
6. Damming
of rivers alters freshwater systems
7. Nuclear
energy production is limited because of highly volatile byproducts and potential
for accidents
8. Use of
remote sensing to aid in understanding rates and scales of global environmental
changes
9. Advances
in communication technologies have created a global dialogue on environmental
change
III.
Policy responses to environmental change
A. Problems of
controlling environmental damage
1. Many
problems do not lie within a single jurisdiction
2. European
Union has limited authority over member states
3. Within
democracies, politicians eye the next election and hesitate to tackle long-term
problems that require short-term sacrifices
4. Leaders
in peripheral countries find it hard to take action in already marginal standard
of living countries
5. Some nongovernmental
organizations are trying to gain agreement among countries
a) Operate
outside the formal political arena
b) Tend to
focus on specific issues and problems
c) The 1972 United
Nation Conference on the Human Environment
d) The United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in
e) The Global
Environment Facility (GEF)—a joint project of the United Nations and
the World Bank
f) The GEF
functions in a state-based world (Figure 35-3)
B. Biological
diversity
1. Agreement
to protect species was submitted to UNCED in the early 1990s
a) Calls for
the establishment of a system of protected areas
b) Set of
national and international regulations on activities that can have negative
impacts on biodiversity
c) Agreement
went into effect in 1993
d) By 2001,
168 countries had signed the agreement
2. The
biodiversity convention affirms the vital significance of preserving biological
diversity and provides a framework for cooperation
3. Struggle
to find balance between need of poorer countries to promote local economic
development and need to protect biodiversity
C. Protection of
the ozone layer
1. A natural
Ozone layer exists in the upper levels of the stratosphere
2. Protects
Earth's surface from sun's harmful ultraviolet rays
3. Thinning
over the south pole
4. CFCs
(chlorofluorocarbons) are blamed for the thinning of the ozone layer
5. International
cooperation began in 1985 with the negotiation of the Vienna Convention
for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
a) An
international agreement known as the Montreal Protocol was signed
in 1987
b) Called
for a reduction of production and consumption of CFCs of 50 percent by 1999
c) Signers
of the Protocol later agreed to halt CFC production by 2000
D. Global climate
change
1. In the
1980s conferences started on human impact on climate
2. Discussion
of the following conferences held around the world and their results
a)
b)
c)
d) Marrakech
November 2001
IV.
The future
A. There are no
certainties
1. Global
environmental changes illustrate the limits of our knowledge about Earth
2. Many
environmental changes were not anticipated
3. Many
global changes are nonlinear, some are “chaotic”
4. Too many
variables
5. Must
consider emerging patterns of environmental change and impact of differences
from place to place
B. Looking Ahead box: The Social Challenges of Environmental Change