Human-Environment Interaction

Human-Environment Interaction:

The study of the interrelationship between people and their physical environment.

By understanding how the Earth’s physical features and processes shape and are shaped by human activity, geographers help societies make informed decisions.

Why study Human-Environment Interaction?

1. How Does the EnvironmentInfluence Human Behavior?

2. How Do Humans Influence Their Environment?

Two Important Questions?

Adapting to the environment

Modifying the environment

Humans respond to their environment in 2 ways:

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Adapting or Modifying?

Settlement patterns Housing materials Agricultural activity Recreational activity Transportation patterns

Adaptive Behaviors:

Diverting water: dams, canals, polders Changing the landscape: terrace

farming, deforestation, desertification Changing the environment: acid rain,

pollution

Modifying Behaviors:

Aswan High Dam

FACTS:Built in 1979

Control FloodingNile River

Aswan, Egypt

Lake Nasser

Helped with Irrigation

Decreased soil fertility

Aral SeaFACTS:

Located in Central Asia

Between the countries of UzbekistanKazakhstan

Formerly USSR: Diverted water to grow cotton/rice on nearby farms.

Water for irrigation and poisonous runoff from the fields have caused the sea to shrink and increased desertification.

Colorado RiverFACTS:

1450 miles

Through SW U.S. and NW Mexico

Source – Rocky Mtns.

Mouth – Gulf of California

More than 20 dams

Water diverted to the Imperial Valley for farming and growing population

No longer reaches the Gulf of California

Polders in the NetherlandsFACTS:

Located in Northern Europe

Most of the country is below sea level.

Sea walls/dunes protect it from the sea.

Can you see the reclaimed land?

DeforestationRainforest FACTS:Contain more than ½ the world's 10 million species of plants, animals and insects

One-fifth of the world's fresh water

20 percent of the world’s oxygen

Areas of DeforestationBrazil – SANepal – AsiaMalaysia - Asia

Once covered 14 % of earth.

Now cover 6%

1-1/2 acres lost every minute

Desertification

Spread of desert-like conditions

Greatest Areas of Impact:

Africa – Sahara DesertAsia – Gobi DesertCentral AsiaSW United States

CAUSES:

Overgrazing

Drought

Poor Farming Techniques

Overpopulation

Natural Climate Patterns

Acid Rain

Given the causes, where might you find acid rain the most?

Acid Rain

Developed Countries: US, Europe, China

Coniferous forests in the Appalachian Mountains destroyed by acid rain.

Forms of Pollution:

AIR

LAND

WATER

Mexico City, Mexico Buenos Aires, Argentina Beijing, China Cairo, Egypt Seoul, South Korea Karachi, Pakistan Jakarta, Indonesia Los Angeles, California USA

Most Polluted Cities:

Mexico City reports unhealthy ozone emissions nearly 85% of the year. Mexico's geographical location--in the center of a volcanic crater and surrounded by mountains-- locks in the air pollution, causing smog to sit above the city.

Mexico City

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Chernobyl, Ukraine - Chernobyl is now infamous for the 1986 nuclear disaster that killed 30 people, forced 35,000 to evacuate their homes, and left a 19-mile radius around the plant that is still uninhabitable to this day.