Human Geography 4e Places and Regions in Global Context Authors: Paul L. Knox & Sallie A. Marston PowerPoint Author: Keith M. BellMain PointsWhat is Nature?Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11TechnologyI=PATRachel CarsonCultural EcologyUnderstanding Cultural & Political EcologyPolitical EcologyPolitical Ecology – Piers BlaikieEnvironmental PhilosophiesEnvironmental Justice researchEnvironmental Justice TheoryIncinerators are often located in poor and/or minority neighborhoodsOrigins: Love CanalOrigins: Warren County, NCCancer Alley, LA. Home to ¼ of the nations petrochemical industries and high rates of cancer among residentsPowerPoint PresentationThe Newtown Florist Club. Note the factory in the backgroundEnvironmental Justice in Gainesville, GaSlide 29Slide 30Slide 31Slide 32Global Environmental JusticeA Spatial Fix for Environmental ProblemsSlide 35E-waste exports as ‘externality’Slide 38Slide 39E-wasteHuman Geography 4ePlaces and Regions in Global ContextAuthors: Paul L. Knox & Sallie A. MarstonPowerPoint Author: Keith M. BellChapter 4: Nature and SocietyMain 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 so-called ‘nature’?Which is more ‘natural’: the rural or the urban?What is Nature?•The idea that nature is socially produced describes the refashioning of landscapes and species by human activity, especially economic production and labor processes.Humans must turn the environment into things that sustain our existence. ‘Metabolism’There is nothing unnatural about New York City, or any city.What is Nature?Nature is present in both landscapes, yet somehow we tend not to see the environment in this way. Why?http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/What is Nature?http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/What is Nature?What is Nature?http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/What is Nature?http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/What is Nature?http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/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 servicesDeformities in frogsI=PATAffluence: Iceland and GuatemalaAs 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 resourcesP = populationA = affluence, as measured by per capita incomeT = a technology factorRachel CarsonCultural EcologyThe 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 EcologyCultural ecology addresses how certain nonmaterial practices (beliefs, traditions, social institutions, etc) impact our material practices (food production, provisioning of shelter, reproduction, etc).How and why do humans adapt to the environment in certain ways and not others?Andean woman weavingThe cultural ecology approachPolitical EcologyPlaces 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 like resource use.How does our system of production (capitalism, socialism, etc), impact society’s relationship with the environment?Political Ecology – Piers BlaikieExample: 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 PhilosophiesNature 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 researchEnvironmental 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 neighborhoodsOrigins: Love CanalOrigins: Warren County, NC.Cancer Alley, LA. Home to ¼ of the nations petrochemical industries and high rates of cancer among residentsCancer AlleyThe Newtown Florist Club.Note the factory in the backgroundEnvironmental Justice in Gainesville, GaA tornado destroyed Gainesville in 1936Industrial Encroachment19381967 2007People in Newtown have Lupus at 9 times the national rateGlobal 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