Hg 7e lecture_ch04-237272

© 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 4: People and Nature

Chapter 4 Lecture

Katie PrattMacalester College



Key Concepts

Figure: Chapter 4 Opener - Induced Hydraulic fracturing, Watford City, North Dakota.


• Relationship between nature and society

• Earth summits– Sustainable

development– Rio+20

Nature as a Concept

Figure 4.1 Rio+20 protests.

Apply your knowledge: What is the role of international summits in balancing economic development and environmental impacts?


• Alternative solutions to environmental problems– Beyond technological solutions– Nature and society are interactive components of a

complex system

Nature as a Concept (cont’d)

Figure 4.2 Levees system, New Orleans, Louisiana.Figure 4.3 Vandana Shiva.


• Defining nature, society, and technology

• I = PAT• Cultural ecology• Political ecology

Nature as a Concept (cont’d)

Figure 4.4 Electronic waste.

Apply your knowledge: Explain how human beings and nature are part of a complex system. Think about the influence of social policies, consumer habits, technology, and governments on the environment.


• Carbon footprint• Carbon offsets used to compensate for emissions• Commodification of nature

The Political Ecology of Carbon Offsets

Figure 4.A The carbon offset cycle.Figure 4.B Forest offsets.


• Nature as a construct• Dominance of Western (Judeo-Christian) tradition

U.S. Environmental Attitudes and Philosophies

Figure 4.5 Environmental attitudes, Gallup Poll, 2014.


• Henry David Thoreau– Romanticism

• Ralph Waldo Emerson– Transcendentalism

• George Perkins Marsh– Humans as significant

agent of environmentalchange

• Conservation and preservation

U.S. Classical Environmental Philosophies

Figure 4.6 Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, 1854.


• Environmental ethics• Ecofeminism• Deep ecology• Environmental justice• Ecotheology

Contemporary Environmental Philosophies

Figure 4.8 International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

Apply your knowledge: Choose three of the environmental philosophies (classic and contemporary) discussed, define them, and analyze why you think they are the most relevant to your views of human-nature relationships.


• Anthropocene• Ecosystem• European colonial expansion

Global Change in the Anthropocene

Figure 4.9 Population growth in Europe.


• Virgin soil epidemics• Demographic collapse• Indigenous people and pre-Colombian environments

Disease and Depopulation

Figure 4.11 European voyages of exploration.

Figure 4.12 Tenochtitlán, circa 1500.


• Ecological imperialism

Columbian Exchange

Figure 4.10 The Columbian Exchange.

Apply your knowledge: How did the interaction between the Old World and the New World, the Columbian Exchange, affect human and natural systems in both Europe and the Americas? Name one legacy of the exchange that we are still experiencing.


• Climate change• Global warming• Greenhouse gases• Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change (IPCC)

Global Climate Change

Figure 4.13 Global emissions of carbon dioxide.


• How do we know climate is changing?

Global Climate Change (cont’d)

Figure 4.14 Major indicators of climate change.


• What are some projected impacts of climate change?


Figure 4.15 Effect of rising sea level on major cities.


• Solutions– Emissions trading

• Climate controversy– Climate change skeptics

• IPCC’s Fifth Assessment report: Mitigation of Climate Change (2014)


Figure 4.17 Climate change impacts on earth systems.

Apply your knowledge: List some of the physical evidence for climate change.

Why do you think climate change is considered controversial?


Energy Land Use and the Environment

Figure 4.18 Oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.



Figure 4.19 Gazprom natural gas reserves, 2013.



Figure 4.20 Disaster at Fukushima nuclear power plant.


Spatial Inequality

Figure 4.E Global energy consumption, 2012.Figure 4.D Global energy production, 2012.

Why is energy consumption on the rise for peripheral countries?


• High demand for fuelwood in some peripheral areas contributes to air pollution and forest degradation

Biomass and Hydropower

Figure 4.21 Global consumption of fuelwoods.


Biomass and Hydropower (cont’d)

Figure 4.22 Percentage of hydropower in the electricity supply by country.


• Dams provide energy but also contribute to environmental degradation

Biomass and Hydropower (cont’d)

Figure 4.23 Three Gorges Dam, China

(a) The world’s largest dam.

(b) More than 1.3 million people have been relocated to make way for the dam.

(c) The reservoir behind the dam is 477 km (297 mi) long.


• Acid rain

Energy-Related Pollutants

Figure 4.24 Global acid emissions.

Apply your knowledge: What is the relationship between energy consumption and environmental degradation?


Renewable Energy Resources (Visualizing Geography)

Figure 4.1 Common types

of renewable energy.

Figure 4.2 Some unusual renewable energy sources.

Figure 4.3 Renewable electricity production.

What are some of the limitations of renewable energy?


Land Use and Environmental Impacts

Figure 4.25 Global deforestation.


Land Use and Environmental Impacts (cont’d)

Figure 4.26 Global land grab.


• Grasslands• Desertification• Greening


Figure 4.27 African grasslands.

Figure 4.28 Greening of the Sahel.


• Wetlands: saltwater or freshwater• Conversion and modification


Figure 4.29 Mangrove in Thailand.


• Virtual water• Global water crisis• Privatization

Water Use and Access

Figure 4.30 Virtual water. Figure 4.31 Protest against water privatization.


• Global environmental governance– Popular protest, lobbying groups, NGOs, direction action

organizations, and political parties– Bioprospecting– International conferences resulting in agreements and treaties

The State of the Global Environment

Figure 4.32 Locations of Seed Savers Exchange seeds.

Figure 4.33 Antarctic ozone hole.

Apply your knowledge: What are some of the ways that environmental awareness has become a global, not national, perspective? Do you think the stakes are the same for core and peripheral countries?


• Sustainable development• Local sustainability efforts

Environmental Sustainability

Figure 4.34 Waste containers: raw materials and agricultural goods account for most of the U.S. goods shipped to China and other ports in northeast Asia.


• Established guidelines, standards, and policies• Criticisms and solutions

Ecotourism

Figure 4.F Growth of shark ecotourism.

Figure 4.G Income from ecotourism.


• Continued expansion of the global economy will drive demand for raw materials and energy

• Energy resources will be a key concern as the periphery is industrialized

Future Geographies

Figure 4.35 Image of Korangi Town in coastal Pakistan shows contrast between urbanized areas and forests and waterways of the Indus River Delta.

Apply your knowledge: What do you see as the most viable response to growing energy demands in the United States?