Human Geography 4e Places and Regions in Global Context Authors Paul L Knox Sallie A Marston PowerPoint Author Keith M Bell Chapter 4 Nature and Society Main Points Nature is both a physical realm and a social creation The globalization of the economy has meant that environmental problems are also global in scope Sustainability has recently become a predominant way of approaching global economic development and environmental changes What is Nature Is there are clear distinction between the human world and the world of Which is more so called natural the rural or What is Nature The idea that nature is socially produced describes the refashioning of landscapes and species by human activity especially economic production andHumans labor processes must turn the environment into things that sustain our existence Metabolism There is nothing unnatural about New What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky co m Nature is present in both landscapes yet somehow we tend not to see the environment in this way Why What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky co m What is Nature What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky com What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky com What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky co m What is Nature http www edwardburtynsky com Technology Technology Defined as Physical objects or artifacts e g the plow Activities or processes e g steelmaking Knowledge or know how e g biological engineering Affects the environment through the harvesting of resources through the emission of wastes in the manufacture of goods and services through the emission of wastes in consumption of goods and services Deformities in frogs I PAT Affluence Iceland and Guatemala As the I PAT formula suggests the level of affluence of households plays an important role in their impact on the global environment I impact on Earth s resources P population A affluence as measured by per capita income T a technology factor Rachel Carson Cultural Ecology The concept of adaptation to the natural environment is part of the geographical subfield of cultural ecology most closely associated with the work of Carl Sauer and his students Cultural ecology is the study of how human society has adapted to environmental challenges through technological and human adaptations Understanding Cultural Political Ecology The cultural ecology approach Cultural ecology addresses how certain nonmaterial practices beliefs traditions social institutions etc impact our material practices food production provisioning of shelter reproduction etc Andean woman weaving How and why do humans adapt to the environment in certain ways and not others Political Ecology Places cultural ecology within a wider context Instead of looking only at how ideas shape environmental practices political ecology looks at how governments and market forces impact things resource use How does ourlike system of production capitalism socialism etc impact society s relationship with the environment Political Ecology Piers Blaikie Example Why are farmers in Nepal cultivating land on steep slopes creating soil erosion Is it because of ignorance or overpopulation Or is there a larger chain of connections between scales Blaikie found that soil erosion had to do with land ownership and marginalization of poor farmers not their own ignorance Environmental Philosophies Nature and society as separate realms Preservation Deep ecology Earth First Conservation Nature and society as always integrated The social production of nature Metabolism Environmental justice Political and cultural ecology Conservation Environmental Justice research Environmental quality is inextricably linked to human equality Hundreds of case studies have demonstrated that access to both environmental goods and bads are unevenly distributed along lines of racial class gender nationality and other forms of social difference Environmental Justice Theory This concept holds that people should not be exposed to a disproportionate amount of environmental hazards because of their race class gender nationality or any other factor Likewise environmental goods such as clean air water food and neighborhoods are a fundamental human right to be equally enjoyed by all Incinerators are often located in poor and or minority neighborhoods Origins Love Canal Origins Warren County NC Cancer Alley LA Home to of the nations petrochemical industries and high rates of cancer among residents Cancer Alley The Newtown Florist Club Note the factory in the background Environmental Justice in Gainesville Ga A tornado destroyed Gainesville in 1936 Industrial Encroachment 1938 1967 2007 People in Newtown have Lupus at 9 times the national rate Global Environmental Justice The globalization of politics and economy has meant that environmental problems are also global in scope How is geography used to solve environmental problems A Spatial Fix for Environmental Problems A spatial fix refers to the idea that issues or problems can be temporarily solved by moving them around For example moving polluting industries to Asia may help solve the problem of clean air in Europe but it does not solve the ultimate problem of pollution for the planet The spatial fix is a way to externalize the costs of environmental problems Externality Refers to a situation in which the impact of a transaction is borne by a third party not involved in the transaction Can be both positive and negative The dark side of high tech is that there are about 1 000 toxic chemicals that are commonly used in this industry Click Here to learn about what goes into a computer Click Here to learn about the health effects of common high tech chemicals E waste exports as externality E waste Environmental Injustice Or Bridging the Digital Divide