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Environment and Conservation

Chapter 12

Week 11

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Nature

And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy

Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime

Of something for more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting sins,

And the round ocean and the living air,

And the blue sky and the mind of Man

A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thoughts

And rolls through all things.

William Wordsworth, 1798

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Nature

nature is ever-present—there's no way to get away from it

environment, physical landscape

cosmography, physical geography, environmental determinism, cultural geography

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Nature

even in contemporary human geography you have to address the environment in some capacity

reciprocal relationship of humans and nature

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Nature

the social construction of nature

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Human-Environment Interaction (HEI)

"conquering nature"

can you conquer nature? should you?

feminist critique

unintended consquences

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HEI: Resources

oil, gas, minerals (esp. rare-earth metals), fresh water

business, politics, (organized) crime, exploitation, survival, luxury, war

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HEI: Water

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HEI: Water

the problem with water is that everyone needs it, but the fresh stuff has a limited supply

we take water for granted because we've been using it—literally—forever

survival, myths, worship, innovation, design, art, culture, power, money, geopolitics

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HEI: Water

SE Anatolia Project

the Aral Sea

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HEI: Waste

2009 in America:

243,000,000 tons of trash

7,600,000,000 tons of industrial waste

>33% of garbage recycled

the rest go to 1,754 landfills

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HEI: Waste

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HEI: Waste

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HEI: Waste - Sewers in Pop Culture

NY Sewer Alligators

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HEI: Waste - Sewers in Pop Culture

NY Sewer Alligators

TMNT

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HEI: Waste - Sewers in Pop Culture

NY Sewer Alligators

TMNT

Mario & Luigi

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HEI: Waste - Sewers in Pop Culture

NY Sewer Alligators

TMNT

Mario & Luigi

Half-Life and virtually all urban-based video games: Metro 2033, Deus Ex, Assassin's Creed, the Fallout series, etc.

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HEI: Natural Disasters

architecture by context: areas with higher risk for a certain natural occurrence build for it

cellars in Kansas

quake-proof buildings in California

elevated housing in a Serbian river that regularly floods

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HEI: Natural Disasters

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Conservation and Environmentalism

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

created 1970 by Richard Nixon

independent agency

regulates industrial waste and pollution:

air (including greenhouse gas and CFCs), water, land, hazardous (esp for radiation), and also endangered species

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Conservation and Environmentalism

reduce, reuse, recycle (and don't pollute!)

prevents waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduces energy usage, reduces air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling), sustains the environment, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions

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Conservation and Environmentalism

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  • Catalysing an energy revolution to address the number one threat facing our planet: climate change.
  • Defending our oceans by challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of marine reserves.
  • Protecting the world’s remaining ancient forests which are depended on by many animals, plants and people.
  • Working for disarmament and peace by reducing dependence on finite resources and calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.
  • Creating a toxin free future with safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals in today's products and manufacturing.
  • Campaigning for sustainable agriculture by encouraging socially and ecologically responsible farming practices.

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