People and Nature

How people are affected by the environment The environment affects our choice of foods, shelter, clothing, and general way of life.

Bodies of Water Fresh water is essential to human life. Most of the early civilizations developed around river valleys. Today most cities are located near a major body of water.

Landforms People usually settle in flat, fertile valleys and plains, where they can build homes and grow crops easily. Less people live in the mountains, swamps, or desert areas. Those that do develop their own way of life.

Climate Clothing choices are effected by climate. People who live in the colder regions wear heavy clothing and those that live in warm areas wear light clothing. Climate affects the type of crops that people grow or what livestock they raise.

Plant and Animal life The type of plants and animals affect the human lifestyle. The local plants and animals are often used as a source of food, clothing, and building materials.

Seismic Activity This is referring to earthquakes and volcanoes. The people who live in a region highly susceptible to earthquakes build their homes out of lightweight material that is less harmful if it collapses. They do not use nails in wood homes. Instead, the wood beams are grooved to fit together to allow the house to shift during an earthquake.

How People Modify their Environment

Agriculture The growing of food. The ability to grow food has altered the landscape by clearing out the existing vegetation, and cutting the soil by tilling it.

Urban Growth Another way people have modified nature is through the building of towns and cities. Most people today in industrialized countries live in cities. The cities replace the open fields and forests.

Building of Dams Dams are built to Prevent floods Drain swamps Store water for drinking and irrigation Generate electricity.

Energy The discovery of fire allowed humans to spread to places with a cooler climate. The use of oil and coal have changed our environment. An example of the detrimental effects would be the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters

Indonesian Tsunami – 2004 – more than 200,000 people were killed. These events are usually infrequent but can kill thousands of people and destroy their buildings, bridges, and roads. Vesuvius Volcano – 79 AD Krakatoa Volcano – 1873 San Francisco Earthquake – 1906- most of the city destroyed, 3000 people killed. Indonesian Tsunami – 2004 – more than 200,000 people were killed. Icelandic Volcano – 2010 Japan Tsunami – 2011 around 16000 people killed.

Extreme Weather Can bring dangerous conditions such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and extreme heat or cold. Some scientist believe that the rising temperatures from the global climate change maybe responsible for the droughts. 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

El Nino and La Nina Rising global temperatures may also be causing the periodic warming of the surface of the Pacific Ocean leading to El Nino. El Nino create increased rain in the eastern Pacific Ocean and along the west coasts of the US and South America. La Nina Surface of the Pacific Ocean is cooler, with opposite effects. Brings heavier than usual rains to Southeast Asia.

Human Responses There is no way to prevent extreme weather or periodic natural disasters. The challenge for humans is to predict them, prepare for them, and reduce the devastating effects. Some areas built buildings that were specially designed to move with earthquakes rather than collapse. The people around the world now cooperate to help those in need during a natural disaster. In 2010 a devastating Earthquake hit Haiti and nearly 300,000 people died and a million people were homeless. Nations from around the world contributed to the relief effort.

GIS and Global Disasters GIS – Graphic Information Systems Information systems that merge information from satellites and land-based sources. These systems help in the handling of natural disasters. In the event of an earthquake, fire, or flood, officials can quickly obtain information about landforms, water bodies, pipelines, power lines, sewer systems, buildings, roads, flood zones, and weather predictions for each location.

Challenges for the Future

Pollution Climate change - burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil (gasoline) has significantly increased the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is leading the greenhouse effect. Ozone layer – CFC (chlorofluorocarbons) have created a hole in the ozone leading to increased incidents of skin cancer Pesticides – poisonous chemicals used to control insects that threaten crops. These can harm animals and may be absorbed by the crops we grow for food. Acid Rain – the burning of coal and oil dump pollutants in to the atmosphere. They are washed out through the rain. The rain produced is highly toxic. Measures have been taken to help reduce the amount of pollutants causing acid rain.

Depletion of Natural Resources Renewable resources – can renew themselves over a period of time, like trees. Non-renewable resources – can only be used once. An example would be oil and coal.

Destruction of Natural Habitats As the population expands more and more natural habitats such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands are destroyed to build farms, factories, and cities. Tropical rainforests are the most dramatic example of a loss of a natural habitat. Tropical rainforests have the greatest biodiversity.