Human Geography plays a key role in understanding and responding to climate change. ' Discuss. Human geography as an academic discipline seeks to understand the interconnectedness of space, place and landscape over time, and in doing so it is primarily concerned with the relations between human beings and the natural world (Daniels et al., 2008). Subsequently, both human and physical geographies are inherently linked - human geography works to understand the effects of physical geographical changes, such as climate change, on humanity. It is this greater understanding of climate change and its social implications which can enable human beings to respond on a variety of local, national and global scales to mitigate or solve problems. This essay …show more content…
A 'Statement on Climate Change from 18 Scientific Institutions ' (2009) declared that "observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver." The American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006: 1) states that the "scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society." Human geography with its focus on social practices and behaviour is people-focused and therefore it is placed to understand these non-eco friendly activities and comment on them. Hulme (2008) supports this, arguing that "making human sense of climate change needs the distinctive intuition and skills of the geographer" due to their key role in understanding societal practices. However, this task of assessing human action which contributes to climate change is not an easy task due to the sheer size of the human population and the complexities of different communities …show more content…
It has been shown by Hulme (2008), Thomas et al. (2005) and Harvey (1974) that climate change is no longer just a scientific issue - due to the effects climate has on society, climate change should be viewed as both a physical transformation and a cultural entity; therefore an understanding of the social implications of climate change is needed. Human geography is also relevant not only because it improves understanding but also because it can be used to formulate policy which can work to regulate climate change. The work of human geographers in formulating policy has been limited in the past according to Massey (2001) and Martin (2001), however, due to the increasing threat that climate change poses it is likely that key policy-makers will look to human geographers in the future to help shape and improve
Physical geography has shaped humans, our cultures, and our societies. Physical geography refers to the weather, climate, or agriculture of a certain region. Humans cannot control the weather so, so we must adapt whatever nature brings our way. Specific life styles must come and go, and we must be able to shift from one condition to another. How has physical geography shaped the world we live in today?
In East Africa, archaeologists have unearthed bones and tools of human ancestors called hominids that go back about five million years ago. Australopithecus, known as “the southern ape”, were an example of hominid creatures whom were short, hairy, and limited in intelligence. They walked upright, had some ability to communicate verbally, and could travel over long distances to obtain particular stone to fashion tools. These tools included choppers, scrapers, and more for food preparations. About one million years later, a new species of hominids that belong to the genus Homo evolved called Homo erectus. Homo erectus possessed a larger brain than the australopithecines and fashioned more advanced tools such as cleavers and handaxes, which were useful in hunting and
By using the information found in this book, I will be able to write about the severity of the ongoing issue of climate change. With all the dangerous effects of climate change Kahrl and Roland-Holst point out on just a single state, it becomes clear that other places around the world are experiencing the same. In fact, since Cali...
Climate change has become of the world’s major issue today. The earth’s climate is always changing in a very fast and also in different ways. Climate changes affect our lives psychologically, emotional and also physically. Climate change is defined as a long term change in the earth’s climate, especially a change due to the increase in the average atmospheric temperatures. Due to this change in temperature, a lot of changes has occurred in our environment, these changes include rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps, hotter days, colder nights and heat waves. These climate changes plays an important role in shaping our natural ecosystem, our human economics and also the most important, it affects the human race. For
A. Teach the Language. Teach the children to count to 1-10, as well as to say general greetings. Use the book series Count Your Way Through Africa (through Korea, China, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the Arab world) Visit the About.com language labs for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish to hear correct pronunciations.
Climate change is a relatively new phenomenon in regards to its relevance towards the human population. This is because over the last several decades, negative consequences of climate change are just now starting to infringe upon the human life. Africa, a country made up of mostly periphery countries due to their topography and climate, experiences tremendous amounts of setbacks due to climate change. Therefore, this research will be centered on the consequences humans may face in Africa due to climate change and possible recommendations to combat this phenomenon. Africa is only second to Asia in landmass between all of the continents; therefore the research will be broken down into the different geographic locations of Africa
The phone is an example of an Independent Invention, because different people in different countries claimed to be the first to invent it.
The two essays by Michael Pollan and Curtis white talk about climate change in regards to the relationship between the environment and human beings. Although the two essays share the same topic, they take the subject and engage the readers in totally different points of views. Pollan’s essay talks about global and ecological responsibility being a personal virtue while Curtis discusses the socio-economic or political issues underlying sustainability (Pollan; White). These two essays are very different in terms of voice; however these pieces of writing are both important for people all over the world to read. Climate change and environmental disasters are a real issue. Just this year, there have been more storms, cyclones, earthquakes and typhoons all over the world. One cannot look at the state of many developing counties where the majority of the population is exposed and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This issue on developing a viable solution for the problem of anthropogenic gases and global warming is long from being found. Not only this, many people do not want to hear about this issue since they do not think it is real. Unless people have tangible proof that their cars, thermostats and aerosol cans are contributing to climate change, they are not going to give up their lifestyles. By synthesizing the two essays, one can see that there is a need for change and that it is not an issue which should be dealt with in terms of ecological factors or even personal virtue. The social, economic and political factors affecting this problem and the move towards real sustainability should also be a topic that will raise awareness.
It has been said so many times by so many different kinds of personalities, from academics to renowned politicians, that the world’s climate is changing and much of it has to do with what man has been doing for the last few decades. This has been further confirmed by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in their assessment published in spring of 2007. The Panel had concluded that much more adaptation is needed in order to alleviate the possible effects of future climate changes. Given the considerable progress made in man’s understanding of the physical climate system, it is unfortunate that the knowledge gained has not been put to much use in terms of decision-making, risk management, and stakeholder engagement (National Research Council (NRC) report on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, September 2007).
The main ideas presented in “Why Geography Matters…More Than Ever!” revolve around what exactly geography is, and the implications of the subject. Geography is the study of the physical world and human actions, it also covers the affects of human actions. Geography influences a plethora of topics and geographers do research on numerous subjects. “Geographers do research on glaciations and coastlines, on desert dunes and limestone caves, on weather and climate, even on plants and animals”(7). The author stresses how underrated geography is the present times, and how the introduction of social studies have doomed the subject of geography for future generations. In a section detailing the teaching of geography
This book applies to the theme of Human and Environment Interaction in the geography field. It illustrates the connection between man and nature and how we must help nature to help ourselves and the environment. This interaction is how humans change their environment and how the environment changes them. For example, climate change is proving that the global temperatures are being changed because of pollution that humans have made and now humans are trying to modify their actions to help conserve the planet. In the future, humans may have to adapt to the higher temperature to survive with the
The study of human-environment interactions in geography has gone through a bewildering series of theoretical, philosophical and methodological revolutions in the past years, ranging from the environmental determinism, regional geography, regional science, quantitative-spatial science, radical-Marxist geography, structuralism, feminist geography to postmodern geography. As advocated by the humanistic geography where greater attention is given to humans and their consciousness in the analysis of geographical events, other scholars belonging to the more than human geographies questioned the rationality and the tenets of humanistic geography. Unlike the humanistic perspective in geography, the more than human geographies or posthumanistic geography has challenged the supremacy and hegemony status accorded humans in the analysis of the geographic
Scientific knowledge required to show the effects and trends of climate seems to be well-developed and valid for use, but the social, economic and political aspects have always caused differences, which have delayed the efforts to solve these issues (Maslin, 2007). While the world is still struggling to find a better and effective way of dealing with these effects, there has been very little efforts made towards this on global scale, with each nation attempting to have its own way of dealing with these issues. Moreover, the controversies over the responsibilities per nation or region have been a drawback towards finding a solution to these problems (Brown & Leipold,
“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences.” this quote argues that identifiable consequences of climate change are substantial to understand climatic events (Ingersol, 1899 p.270 cited in Burroughs, 2007). The term ‘climate change’ indicates the statistically long – term period environmental deviation of the global atmosphere including the averages state of the climate or natural climate variability (the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Chang (IPCC), 2007). During the past historical and recent decades, climate change and the Earth’s responses illustrate that most regions have been changed rapidly in the variability of climate including increasing the averages global temperature, greenhouse gases concentration, water vapour atmosphere, sea – level and coastal wind, decreasing in snow and ice cover and differences of day – night temperature, and changing pattern in all life activities (Hardy, 2003). This essay examines firstly what causes of climate change or change in climate variability, then focus
Drawing from the research of organizations such as the IPCC and scientists skilled in multiple disciplines, I will explore the history, perceived causes and impacts of climate change. Based on this examination, I will propose my own solutions, at the local and global levels, to mitigate or adapt to probable impacts from global warming.