Period 6 1900-1914Accelerating Global Change and Realignments

Key Concept 6.1- Science and the Environment Rapid advances in science altered the

understanding of the universe and the natural world and led to the development of new technologies. These changes enabled unprecedented population growth, which altered how humans interacted with the environment and threatened delicate ecological balances at local, regional, and global levels.

Communication

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New modes of communication virtually eliminated the problem of geographic distance

Transportation

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New modes of transportation virtually eliminated the problem of geographic distance

New scientific paradigms transformed human understanding of the world

The Theory of Relativity http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEZupmpTcOU

Quantum Mechanics http://

www.ted.com/talks/aaron_o_connell_making_sense_of_a_visible_quantum_object.html

Big Bang Theory Galileo and Copernicus were sort of

right, but it’s not that simple.

• … and we are sort of insignificant

Psychology We can even scientifically study

how the brain works.

Paradigm Shift So how did new scientific paradigms

transform human understanding of the world?

Which of these ideas had the biggest impact? Why?

Green Revolution Post WWII population explosion

Lots of babies Smallpox eradicated New technology/sanitation decreased

malaria, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, and plague

Medical innovations: polio vaccine, antibiotics, artificial heart

Economists project world food shortages by the 70’s

Green Revolution Technology to the rescue!

GMO crops Chemical fertilizers

Major increase in productivity BUT…

Huge profits IMF involvement Pollution- waterways Decline in crop diversity

Energy Technology Oil

Everyone buys a car People like to buy more and more

stuff that needs transportation Oil got big. Really big. Politics in Middle East and Africa Global warming

Nuclear- after the bomb, what else can we use this energy for?

Competition over resources What resources? How does this compare to previous

periods?

Global Warming Bangladesh, Maldives

Pollution Air Water

Deforestation

Desertification

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eTCZ9L834s&feature=share&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNdTKZkV_GiIYXpV9w4WxbX

Demographic Shifts Disease Birth Control Military

Disease Diseases associated with poverty

Malaria Tuberculosis Cholera

Emergent epidemic diseases 1918 flu Ebola HIV/AIDS

Changing lifestyles and increased longevity led to higher incidence of certain diseases

Birth Control

Wartime Casualties New military tactics

Trench Warfare Firebombing

“Improved” military technology Tanks Airplanes Atomic bomb

Wartime casualties Nanjing Dresden Hiroshima