Geography is distinctive because it encompasses both social science (human geography) and natural science (physical geography). This book focuses on human geography but doesn’t forget that humans are interrelated with Earth’s atmosphere, land, water, and vegetation as well as with its other living creatures.
IV Key Issue 1.4: Why Are Some Actions Not Sustainable?
A. Sustainability & Resources
Terms
a. resource—substance in the environment that is useful to people
b. sustainability—use of Earth’s resources in ways that ensure their future availability
c. types of resources
i renewable—produced in nature more rapidly than consumed by humans
ii nonrenewable—produced by nature more slowly than consumed by humans
2 Sustainability’s Three Pillars
a. environment pillar
i conservation—use and management of resources to meet human needs
ii preservation—maintenance of resources in their present condition with as little human impact as possible
b. social pillar—what an individual or society values affects preferences and the use of resources
c. economic pillar—exchange in the marketplace, price depends on a society’s technology ability to obtain the resource and adapt it to the society’s purposes
B. Earth Systems
1 Biotic system-living organisms
2 Abiotic—nonliving or inorganic
a. atmosphere—layer of gases surrounding Earth
i climate—long-term average weather conditions at a location
b. hydrosphere—water on and near Earth’s surface
c. lithosphere—Earth’s crust and upper mantle
C. Geography & Ecology
Ecology & the Biosphere
a. ecosystem—group of living organisms and abiotic spheres in which they interact
b. ecology—scientific study of ecosystems
c. effects of human action
d. erosion
e. depletion of nutrients
Cultural Ecology—study of human-environment relationships
a. environmental determinism—belief the physical environment causes social development
b. possibilism belief the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment
Sustainable & Unsustainable Ecosystems
a. sustainable ecosystem: The Netherlands
i. polder—piece of land created by draining the sea
b. unsustainable ecosystem: Cape Town, South Africa
Telling Time
a. 24 time zones, 15 degrees of longitude each
b. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), reference point prime meridian Greenwich, UK
c. International Date Line—close to 180, going west cross into tomorrow
Key Issue 4: Why Are Some Actions Not Sustainable?
A resource is a substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically and technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use. A renewable resource is produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans. A nonrenewable resource is produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans. The use of Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that ensure resource availability in the future is sustainability.
Sustainability’s Three Pillars According to the United Nations, sustainability rests on three pillars: environment, economy, and society. In the social pillar, the values of a society influence the choices of which and how resources are used.
Sustainability requires curtailing the use of nonrenewable resources and limiting the use of renewable resources to the level at which the environment can continue to supply them indefinitely. The environment pillar has a focus on conservation that is the sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, and recreation. Conservation differs from preservation, which is the maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible. Preservation does not regard nature as a resource for human use. In addition to the use of resources for production, the economic pillar takes into the account the actual environmental costs of using a resource such as air pollution from cars idling in traffic.
Some argue it is already too late to discuss sustainability. Others believe that resource availability has no maximum, and Earth’s resources have no absolute limit because the definition of resources changes drastically and unpredictably over time.
Sustainability & Earth Systems A biotic system is composed of living organisms. An abiotic system is composed of nonliving or inorganic matter. Three of Earth’s four systems are abiotic. The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. The hydrosphere is all the water on Earth or near Earth’s surface. The lithosphere is Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly above the crust. Only one of Earth’s systems is biotic. The biosphere is all living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms.
Atmosphere The long-term average weather condition, temperature and precipitation, at a particular location is climate. Climate may be classified into one of five main climate regions, devised by the German climatologist Vladimir Köppen:
A: Tropical climates.
B: Dry climates.
C: Warm mid-latitude climates.
D: Cold mid-latitude climates.
E: Polar climates.
These five main climate regions may be further subdivided, based on the amount of precipitation and the season in which it falls.
Ecology & The Biosphere A group of living organisms and abiotic spheres with which they interact is an ecosystem. The scientific study of ecosystems is ecology. Living organisms in the biosphere interact with each of the three abiotic systems. Human geographers are especially interested in ecosystems involving the interaction of humans with the rest of the biosphere and the three abiotic spheres. If the atmosphere contains pollutants or its oxygen level is reduced, humans have trouble breathing. Without water, humans waste away and die. A stable lithosphere provides humans with materials for buildings and fuel for energy. The rest of the biosphere provides humans with food. Human actions can destroy soil through farming practices that encourage erosion and deplete the soil of nutrients by not rotating crops.
Cultural Ecology Human geographers are especially interested in the fact that different cultural groups modify the natural environment in distinctive ways. The geographic study of human-environment relationships is known as cultural ecology.
Environmental determinism, largely dismissed by modern geographers, states that physical factors cause cultures to develop and behave as they do. Environmental determinists believe that human geographers should apply laws from the natural sciences to understanding relationships between the physical environment and human actions. Possibilism recognizes the constraints of the physical environment while also crediting human cultures with the ability to adapt to the environment in many ways—including changing it.
Sustainable & Unsustainable Ecosystems The Netherlands and Cape Town, South Africa have both modified their environments in response to an overabundance or lack of water.
Sustainable Ecosystem: The Netherlands A polder is a piece of land that is created by draining water from an area. In total, the Netherlands has 2600 square miles of polders. The Dutch government has reserved most of the polders for agriculture to reduce the country’s dependence on imported food. The Dutch have also constructed massive dikes to prevent the North Sea from flooding much of the country. A second ambitious project in the Netherlands is the Delta Plan. The low-lying delta in the southwestern part of the country is very vulnerable to flooding. The Delta Plan called for the construction of several dams to close off most of the waterways from the North Sea.
Unsustainable Ecosystem: Cape Town, South Africa An urban area of 3.8 million people faces possible water shortages. Located on the edge of desert areas scarcity of water is an issue. Intensive water conservation efforts were used in the city’s management of water resources. Reservoirs capture rainwater during the winter rainy season. However, the worst drought in 100 years has affected water supplies with the major reservoirs way below capacity. With global climate change, the winter supplies of water are no longer reliable, despite conservation efforts reoccurring water shortages are likely. Alternatives include use of ground water and desalinization both of which are expensive.
Telling Time Longitude plays an important role in calculating time. If we divide 360 degrees by 15 degrees, we get 24 time zones. As the Earth rotates eastward, any place to the east of you always passes under the Sun earlier. Thus, as you travel eastward from the prime meridian you are catching up with the Sun, so you must turn your clock ahead 1 hour by each 15 degrees. If you travel westward from the prime meridian, you are falling behind the Sun, so you turn your clock back by 1 hour for each 15 degrees. During the summer, many places in the world, including most of North America, move the clocks ahead 1 hour. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or Universal Time (UT), is the master reference time for all points on Earth.
When you cross the International Date Line, you move the clock back one entire day, if you are heading eastward, toward the Americas. You turn the clock ahead 24 hours if you are heading westward, toward Asia. The International Date Line for the most part follows 180 degrees longitude. However, several islands in the
Pacific Ocean belonging to the countries of Kiribati and Samoa, as well as to New Zealand’s Tokelau territory, moved the International Date Line several thousand kilometers to the east so that they would be in the same day as Australia and New Zealand.
1.4 Key Terms
Atmosphere
The thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.
Biosphere
All living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms.
Ecosystem
A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact.
Environmental determinism
The belief that a physical environment is THE reason that some societies are strong while others are weaker
Environmental possibilism
The belief that a physical environment plays a role in the development of a society, but is NOT the ONLY factor at work
Hydrosphere
All of the water on and near Earth's surface.
International Date Line
An arc that for the most part follows 1800 longitude. When the International Date Line is crossed heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When it is crossed heading west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.
Lithosphere
Earth's crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust.
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
Natural resource
A physical material constituting part of Earth that people need and value
Nonrenewable resource
A resource that is produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
Polder
Land that the Dutch have created by draining water from an area
Renewable resource
A resource that is produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans.
Sustainability
The goal of the human race reaching equilibrium with the environment; meeting the needs of the present without while also leaving resources for future generations
Temporal
Relating to time
Environmental degradation
Deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil and habitat destruction
Biodiversity
The variety of life forms – used a measure of the health of a biological system
Tropical climate
(Usually around the equator) areas that have an average temperature above 64° and get substantial precipitation
Natural resource depletion
Consuming resources faster than they can be replenished