HIEnviron10

Topic 10:

Human Impact on the Environment

Introduction |Goals | Notes on Readings | Outline Notes |Links to Other Resources

Introduction	Interaction of human systems and physical systems. Ways humans adapt to, modify, and use the environment. Issues of pollution, resource use and management in the developed and developing world. Perceptions of natural hazards at a variety of scales. Cultural reactions to hazards: planning for disaster in Japan vs. So. California. Variations in world patterns of technology and consequent effects on environment. Global solutions to global problems: climate change, ozone depletion, land degradation.
Goals	The goals for this section of the course are to understand ways humans interact with the environment to describe how humans impact the environment to apply the general model of pollution to understanding human impacts on the environment to explain how the nature of human-environment interaction has changed over time to describe ways physical systems (the environment) affects human systems
Notes On Readings	Chapter 4 pp 129-141 explains the ways geographer's conceptualize environment/society, nature/society links. Pages 152-168 examine human impacts on the environment and leads the reader to a deep understanding of the factors contributed to global environmental change. The essential concept of sustainability is outlined on page 167.
Outline Notes	This topic has been integrated into class discussions all semester.
Links to Other Resources	There are a number of excellent resources related to human-environment interaction. Here are three which will link you to many other web-based sites. The World Resources Institute United Nations Sustainable Development NASA's Earth Observatory

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