World Regional GeographyChapter 3: Human Processes That Shape World Regions

• The Agricultural Revolution– Began in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago

• The Industrial Revolution– Began in 18th Century Europe

3.1 Two Revolutions That Changed the Earth

• Our ancestors lived by foraging until 10,000 years ago

• Hunters & Gatherers stayed in small, family-based groups• They were nomads, wandering from place to place to take

advantage of changing opportunities on the landscape– Because of this movement, they had a relatively

limited impact on the natural environment

3.1.1 Hunting and Gathering

Rock Art from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

This artifact depicts Neolithic-period hunting of ibex, later usesof camels and horses, and writing from the Nabatean period.

• Domestication brought about the Agricultural Revolution• Explanation for shift from hunt-and-gather to production?

– Change in Climate

– People compelled to find new food sources to support growing populations

• Abandonment of nomadic lifestyles– Shift from extensive land use to intensive land use

– People settled into small villages with fixed dwellings

• Irrigation along the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile Rivers– Bringing water to land artificially through levers and channels– Raised carrying capacity and set stage for civilization

• Domesticated plants and animals proliferated at the expense of wild species

3.1.2 Revolutionary Aspects of Farming

Irrigation Along the Tigris River in Turkey

• Began in Europe around 1750 C.E.• Based on technological breakthroughs made

possible by:– Western Europe had economic capital necessary for

experimentation, innovation, and risk– Significant improvements in agricultural productivity

took place in Europe prior to 1500– Population Growth

• Greater number of people to devote their talentsand labor to experimentation and innovation

3.1.3 The Industrial Revolution

Tweed Mill in Stornoway, Scotland

• Age of Discovery (Age of Exploration – 15th Cent.)– As local supplies of resources needed for industrial

production were depleted, Europeans started to look abroad

• Exploration Resulted in Colonization– European political and economic control over foreign areas

• Industrial Revolution’s Impact on Environment– Since 1750, total forested area on earth has declined by

more than 20%

– Total cropland has grown by 500% during same period

– Human use of energy increased 100-fold since 1750

3.1.4 Industrialization, Colonization& Environmental Change

The Role of European Merchant Fleets

In the 18th century, European merchant fleets carried goods, slaves, and information all around the world, profoundly

transforming cultures and natural environments

• Large disparity between wealthy and poor people– Evident both within and between countries

• “Haves” vs. “Have-Nots”– More Developed Countries (MDCs)

– Less Developed Countries (LDCs)

– Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs)

3.2 The Geography of Development

Wealth and Poverty By Country

Note the concentration of wealth in themiddle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere

• There is no universally accepted standard for measuring wealth and poverty on the global scale

• However, these are some common indices:– Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

– Gross National Product (GNP)

– Gross National Income (GNI)

– Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

– Human Development Index (HDI)

3.2.1 Measuring Development

• Dependency Theory– Argues that the worldwide economic pattern established by both

the Industrial Revolution and colonialism persists today

• Advantageous & Disadvantageous Location• Resource Wealth or Poverty• Cultural and Historical Factors

3.2.2 Why Are Some Countries Rich & Others Poor?

• LDCs have to borrow money from MDCs to fund development– Many LDCs are unable to pay even the interest on these loans– When lender institutions threaten to cut off assistance, borrowing

countries often try to raise money quickly using these methods:• Dedication of high-quality land to production of cash crops,

which are exported to MDCs as luxury items• Sale of Natural Assets

– Methods have a drastic long-term effect on the environment• Humans using resources faster than nature can replace it

– Ecological Bankruptcy• Occurs when countries exhaust their environmental capital

3.2.3 Environmental Impacts of Underdevelopment

Thu Bon River in Vietnam

• Population may be the most critical issue in geography– Number of people– Rate at which people consume resources

• Human Population Explosion since 1800– Will it lead to a crisis?

• Migration– Spread of cultures, ideas, and opportunities– Can spark tension and violence

3.3 The Geography of Population

• Homo Sapiens ancestors came out of Africa around 100,000 years ago to populate Eurasia

• Population Explosion– 1 Billion in 1800– 2 Billion in 1930– 4 Billion in 1975– 6 Billion in 1999

• Humans now are by far the most populous large mammal on earth

3.3.1 How Many People Have Lived on Earth?

Global Human Population

• Birth Rate– Annual number of live births per 1,000 people in a population

• Death Rate– Annual number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population

• Population Change Rate– Birth Rate minus the Death Rate– May represent either growth or loss

3.3.2 How Can We Measure Population Changes?

• Better-educated and wealthier people, understanding the economic cost of raising and educating a child, tend to have fewer children

• Less educated and poorer people generally have more children, sometimes to have additional workers to bring in more family income

• People in cities tend to have fewer children than those in rural areas

• Those who marry earlier tend to have more children• Couples with access to and understanding of

contraception generally have fewer children• Value systems and cultural norms play critical roles

3.3.3 What Determines Family Size?

• Death rates correlate mainly with health factors

• Death rates can be reduced by:– Better sanitation– Better hygiene– Cleaner drinking water– Availability of antibiotics and immunizations– Availability of insecticides– Improvements in medical and public health technologies

• Death rates rise with epidemics (HIV/AIDS, Black Death)

• Life Expectancy– Number of years a person may expect to live in an environment– United States Life Expectancy in 2007

• 80 years for Women

• 75 years for Men

3.3.4 What Determines Death Rates?

Life Expectancy

• Rate of population change has been affected throughout history by natural disasters, diseases, and wars

• With birth rates higher than death rates,the trend has been one of growth

• Doubling Time– Number of years required for the human population to double– Computed by dividing 70 by the growth rate– As of 2007, the global population change rate of 1.2%

means a doubling time of 58 years

3.3.5 The Rate of Population Change

Natural Rate of Population Change

Population change rates are highest in the countriesof Africa and other regions of the developing world

and lowest in the more affluent countries.

• If the birth rate is high and the death rate is low,the population surges– This scenario has been occurring since around 1800– This result has not been caused by a rise in birth rates,

but because the death rate has fallen• Improvements in agricultural and medical technologies

• Demographic Transition Model– Stage 1: Preindustrial– Stage 2: Transitional– Stage 3: Industrial– Stage 4: Postindustrial

3.3.6 Why Has the Human Population “Exploded”?

Demographic Transition Model

Note how the population surged in the wake of the Industrial Revolutionas death rates fell while birth rates remained high but then leveled out

and began to decline as economic development advanced.

• Population Pyramid– Classifies a population by gender and by 5-year age increments– Diagram Shapes

• LDCs are more bottom-heavy and pyramid-shaped• MDCs are more chimney-shaped

• Population Under Age 15– 31% of population of the poorer countries– 17% of population of the wealthier countries

3.3.7 The Age Structure Diagram

Age Structure Diagrams

A poor country, Niger has a relatively high birth rate, with about 48% of the population under age

15. The United States’ population is growing slowly, while Germany and some other

industrialized nations are losing populations.

LDCs vs. MDCs: Population by Age and Sex

• The natural setting is the most important factor

• China and India are most populous countries– China has a population of 1.3 billion

– India has a population of 1.1 billion

– 35% of people on earth in 2007 were Chinese or Indian

• United States ranks as 3rd most populated– Migration the most important factor in increasing population

3.3.8 Where Do We Live?

World Population Cartogram

The demographic heavyweights of China and India stand out in the world population cartogram. The United States and Indonesia, the world’s third and

fourth most populous countries, are prominent too.

World Regions by Land Area & Population

World Regions By

Land AreaWorld Regions By

Population

Population Density

• Migration refers to the movement of people– Within a community, within a country or between

countries

– Emigrant One who moves FROM a place

– Immigrant One who moves TO a place

• Migration is driven by Push and Pull Factors– Examples of Push Factors

• When hunger or lack of land “pushes” people from rural areas into cities, or when warfare or natural disasters push people from one place to another

– Examples of Pull Factors• Moving to a new area to take advantage of a job

or educational opportunity

3.3.9 Geography of Migration

Global Migration Trends

The global picture of people on the move. The major trendsare of migrants in search of work in more affluent countries

and of refugees driven by warfare or environmental adversity.

• Although it has been possible to calculate how many people have lived on the earth in the past with some confidence, projecting future numbers is difficult– Will birth rates fall faster than anticipated in developing world?

– Will death rates surge due to disease or other epidemics?

• Predictions by the United Nations– In 2050, the global population will be 9.2 billion

– The maximum number of people that will ever live on the earth at one time will be 10.8 billion in 2150

3.3.10 How Many People Will Live on Earth?

Family Planning Billboard in Cairo, Egypt

This sign on the main square in Cairo, Egypt, urges parents to have no more than two children “for the sake of a better life.”

UN Projections for World Population Growth

• Thomas Malthus– English clergyman who lived during Industrial Revolution

– He postulated that human populations, growing geometrically or exponentially, would exceed food supplies, which grow only arithmetically or linearly

– He predicted a catastrophic human die-off as a result of this irreconcilable equation

• Neo-Malthusians vs. Technocentrists– Neo-Malthusians insist that birth rates must be brought

down or humans will suffer nature’s solution, acatastrophic increase in death rates

– Technocentrists are optimists who believe peoplecan raise the earth’s carrying capacity

3.3.11 The Malthusian Scenario

Malthusian Scenario of People vs. Resources

Technocentric View of People vs. Resources

• People Overpopulation– Characteristic of the LDCs– Many persons, with each using a small quantity of

natural resources daily to sustain life

• Consumption Overpopulation– Characteristic of the MDCs– Fewer persons, but each uses a large quantity of

natural resources from ecosystems around the world

3.3.12 What Is “Overpopulation”?

Overpopulation Models: People & Consumption

• Death Rate Solution & Lifeboat Ethics

• Birth Rate Solution & Sustainable Development

3.4 Addressing Global Problems

• “Let nature take its course”– Allow people imperiled by famine or other catastrophe to perish

• Lifeboat Ethics– Introduced by ecologist Garrett Hardin– Instead of seeing earth as a “global village” with a single carrying

capacity, views the world as a number of distinct “lifeboats,” each occupied by the citizens of single countries

– Each wealthy nation is a lifeboat comfortably seating a few people– Each poor nation is a lifeboat so overcrowded that many fall

overboard– While the occupants of the rich lifeboats can choose to take on

the overboard refugees, Hardin suggests not, insteadpreserving their own standard of living and ensuring theworld’s safety for themselves and their future generations

3.4.1 Death Rate Solution & Lifeboat Ethics

Lifeboat Ethics

• People must change their worldviews and value systems, recognizing finiteness of resources and reducing their expectations to a level sustainable by earth’s capabilities

• People should recognize that development and environmental protection are compatible

• People should consider the needs of future generations more• Communities and countries should strive for self-reliance,

particularly through the use of appropriate technologies• LDCs need to limit population growth as a means of avoiding

the destructive impacts of people overpopulation• Governments need to practice land reform, particularly in LDCs• Economic growth in MDCs should be slowed to reduce

effects of consumption overpopulation• Wealth should be redistributed between MDCs and LDCs

3.4.2 Birth Rate Solution & Sustainable Development