CHAPTER 1 KEY ISSUE 4 Why are Some

CHAPTER 1 KEY ISSUE 4 Why are Some Actions Not Sustainable?

Big Question • What systems do humans interact with and how can they negatively impact those systems? What can be done by humans to prevent further destruction of Earth’s resources and systems?

Key Terms • Resources • Lithosphere • Renewable Resources • Biotic • Nonrenewable Resources • Biosphere • Sustainability • Climate • Three Pillars of the Environment • Topographic Maps • Conservation • Ecosystem/Ecologist • Preservation • Cultural Ecology • Abiotic • Environmental Determinism • Atmosphere • Possibilism • Hydrosphere

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • The world is connected by human activity but humans are also connected by the physical world (ex. atmosphere, land, water, vegetation, and living creatures) • Substances in the environment that are useful to people, economically and technologically accessible, and socially acceptable to use are known as resources

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • There are two types of resources: o Renewable Resources – Those that are produced in nature more rapidly than they are consumed by humans o Nonrenewable Resources – Those that are produced in nature more slowly than they are consumed by humans

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • Sustainability is the use of Earth’s resources in ways that endure their availability in the future • Geographers worry about humans depleting nonrenewable resources and destroying renewables through pollution

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • They also work on ways to sustain the resources we have • 1987 “Brundtland Report” claimed that the sustainability of the Earth’s resources could be achieved by three pillars: environmental protection, social equity, and economic growth

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • Environmental Pillar o By using conservation and preservation, Earth’s resources can be saved and used by future generations • Society Pillar o Humans must make changes to what resources they consume and how much of them they use. Consumer choice can support sustainability when people embrace it as a value

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • The Economy Pillar o. The economy should put a huge premium or charge on the resources that the most threatened. The more a human action damages the sustainability of earth, the more we should have to pay

Geography, Sustainability, and Resources • Some critics of such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) say it is too late to discuss sustainability…they claim humans are already using too much biologically productive land on Earth • Some claim that the Earth’s resources are unlimited because the definition of resources change drastically and unpredictably over time • Both sides of the argument agree that we must work together as a planet to preserve and distribute Earth’s precious resources

Sustainability and Earth’s Physical Systems • Natural resources are classified into four interrelated systems • The first three are made up of nonliving or inorganic matter and are known as abiotic • These include the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere • The fourth system is made up of organic (living) matter and is known as biotic. This system is called the biosphere

Sustainability and Earth’s Physical Systems • Abiotic systems: o Atmosphere – Thin layer of gas that surrounds earth up to 300 miles. Made up of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, it is held together by gravity. Long-term weather patterns make up climate which geographers use to classify places on earth into 5 climate regions

Sustainability and Earth’s Physical Systems o Hydrosphere – All water on or near Earth’s surface. Could exist in water vapor in the atmosphere or ice in glaciers. 97% of Earth’s water is in the oceans. Human activity is heavily dependent on the water, especially agriculture

Sustainability and Earth’s Physical Systems o. Lithosphere – the Earth’s crust and some of the mantle below the crust. Extends around 45 -50 miles deep in the Earth’s surface. Studying Earth’s landforms helps geographers explain the distribution of people and the choice of economic activities at different locations. Landforms on Earth’s surface are shown on topographic maps.

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • The fourth natural resource system is biotic and known as the biosphere • Living organism can not survive without interacting with the surrounding physical environment. Because of this, the biosphere interacts with and includes the three abiotic systems of Earth

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • Most organisms on Earth interact within the top 10 feet of the lithosphere, top 650 feet of the hydrosphere, and lowest 100 feet of the atmosphere • All three provide organisms with what they need to survive: lithosphere = provides food and shelter, hydrosphere = water, food, and shelter for aquatic life, atmosphere = air to breathe and protection from sun’s rays

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • The combination of living organisms and abiotic spheres is known as the ecosystem • Ecologists study the ecosystems of earth to understand how organisms interact with the physical environment

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • Human geography looks specifically at how humans interact and live within the three abiotic spheres • Human geography is concerned about how negative human interactions can harm the spheres (ex. Soil erosion, air and water pollution, depletion of key nutrients in soil, etc. )

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • Different cultural groups modify the four spheres in different ways • The human-environment relationship is known as cultural ecology • Geographers such as Carl Ritter and Alexander von Humboldt created the approach known as environmental determinism which claimed that the physical environment affects and causes human social development

Geography, Sustainability, and Ecology • Modern geographers reject this idea in favor of possibilism. This says the environment may limit some human activities but humans have the ability to adjust to their environment • Culture and wealth are big determinants in how and why people adjust to their environment • Possibilism is also used to determine if people’s activities and patterns are sustainable

Big Question • What systems do humans interact with and how can they negatively impact those systems? What can be done by humans to prevent further destruction of Earths resources and systems? & Key Terms • Resources • Lithosphere • Renewable Resources • Biotic • Nonrenewable Resources • Biosphere • Sustainability • Climate • Three Pillars of the Environment • Topographic Maps • Ecosystem/Ecologist • Cultural Ecology • Environmental Determinism • Possibilism • Conservation • Preservation • Abiotic • Atmosphere • Hydrosphere