Guided Reading for De Blij Chapter 13
Field Note:
Global environmental systems are interconnected at numerous temporal and spatial scales. For
example, the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in Japan contributes to a growing hole in the Earth’s
ozone layer that is centered over Antarctica.
How has the Earth environment changed over time?
Alfred Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis required the preexistence of a supercontinent, which he
called __________, that broke apart into the fragments we now know as Africa, the Americans, Eurasia,
and Australia.
Ocean and Atmosphere
 Earth today is often called the Blue Planet because more than ___ percent of its surface is
covered by water.
 Originally, the atmosphere was loaded with the gas _______ _________ (CO2).
 Eventually, however, the ocean, still heated from below, began to absorb CO2 in huge quantities,
depositing ___________ and other carbonate rocks and turning the sky a familiar blue.
 Around 1500 million years ago, green algae started to spread across the Earth’s ocean surfaces,
and as their colonies grew, their ______________ (the conversion of carbon dioxide and water
into carbohydrates and oxygen through the absorption of sunlight) raised the atmosphere’s
oxygen content.
Fire and Ice
 Bursts of volcanic activity poured incalculable volumes of gases and ash into the atmosphere,
causing ____ __________ (loss of diversity through a failure to produce new species) and
contributing to the three ____ ___________.
 Pacific Ring of ____ – an ocean girdling-zone of crustal instability, volcanism, and earthquakes –
marked the onset of Pangaea’s breakup.
 When Pangaea still was a subcontinent, an Ice Age cooled the Earth and caused the greatest
known __________ crisis in Earth’s history.
 The Pleistocene was an epoch marked by long ________ and short, warm _______________.
 The most recent glaciations of the Pleistocene, the _________ ___________, left its mark on the
Northern Hemisphere.
 Mount Toba, a volcano on Sumatra, exploded, sending tons of debris into orbit, obscuring the
sun, creating long-term darkness, and altering global ________.
The Little Ice Age in the Modern Era
 Europe’s climate fluctuated over short periods of time so that recovery would be followed by a
renewed ___________.
 Mongol migrants and their horse caravans picked up the _________ that brings on the bubonic
plague, and its vector, the flea, and rode into Europe.
 The Black Death swept over _______ and killed half the population or more.
 In China, interior rains failed, rivers dried up, the ______ crop shrank, famines broke out, and
social disorder and epidemics raged.
How have humans impacted Earth’s environment?
____ _______ are the only species with a vast and complex array of artifacts, technologies, laws, and
belief systems. No species ever affected their environment as strongly as humans do today.
Alteration of Ecosystems
 The combined impact of humanity’s destructive and exploitative actions is capable of producing
environmental changes at the _______ scale.
 Early human societies had small populations, and their impacts on the physical environment
were _________ in both duration and intensity.
 Over the last 500 years, both the rate and the scale at which humans modify the Earth have
__________ dramatically.
 Every place on earth has been transformed, directly or indirectly, by ________.
Environmental Stress
 Caused by the ________ of forests and the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere (more
obvious actions).
 Burying of toxic wastes that foul groundwater supplies, the dumping of garbage into the oceans,
and the use of pesticides in farming are less ________ actions.
Water
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Water is a ________ source; however the supply of freshwater isn’t evenly distributed.
___________ cycle brings rain and snow from the oceans to the landmasses.
Aquifers are _______, water-holding rocks.
Many areas of the world, people have congregated in places where water supplies are
insufficient, ____________, or both.
 Using water for irrigation has led to a debate over whether cities should locally grow fruits and
vegetables, or whether they should be bought from _________.
Water and Politics in the Middle East
 When relations between countries and peoples are ___________, disputes over water can make
them worse.
Atmosphere
 It’s a _____ layer of air lying directly above the lands and oceans.
 Even though the atmosphere has a capacity to ________ itself, human pollution will likely result
in longer lasting, possibly permanent, damage.
Global Warming
 “___________” gases cause the Earth to retain more heat and its full effect will not be felt until
well into the 21st century.
 Glacial ice will melt and raise ___ levels, causing the disappearance of two islands in the state or
Kirinati.
Acid Rain
 By-product of the enormous volume of pollutants spewed into the _____________.
 Forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air from the burning of
fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and combine with _____ ______ to form dilute solutions of
sulfuric and nitric acid.
 Geography is closely associated with patterns of industrial concentration (in western and
eastern Europe, the US, and eastern China) and _______- to long-distance wind flows.
The Land
 Human ___________ growth has put increasing pressure on the land surface.
Deforestation
 The world’s forests play a critical role in the _______ cycle.
 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) undertook a study of the rate of deforestation.
They predicted the entire rainforest would be gone in less than __ years.
Soil Erosion
 Since the _________ has increased, so has the cultivation of slopes and terraces.
 Since ____% of human food is grown in soil, annual soil erosion shrinks the available cropland.
 Caused by the grazing of livestock, dry lands being _______, and wind erosion.
Waste Disposal
 The US is the largest producer of solid _____, debris, and garbage discarded by those living in
cities, industries, mines, and farms.
 Space for waste is no longer easy to find.
 A decrease in number of ________ landfills in the US leads to sending garbage to distant
landfills, which is expensive.
 ______ wastes, including chemicals and infectious material, and ___________ wastes, including
small amounts of radiation from industries and strong radiation from nuclear power plants,
must be stored in places where they will not contaminate the environment.
Biodiversity
 Abbreviation of “biological ________” – diversity of all aspects of life found on the Earth.
 Humans have ________ rates of extinction of species by hunting them, settling in their habitats,
and carrying diseases by traveling.
What are the major factors contributing to environmental change today?
Global environmental changes express themselves at all _______, from local to global. Dramatic growth
of human population, consumption, and _________ are all factors. The causes of environmental change
vary depending on the local and regional context.
Political Ecology
 A way of considering the roles of “political ________, power and history in shaping humanenvironmental interactions.”
 The view that ________ people degrade the land more than wealthier people is held at the
global scale.
Population
 Greater number of people translates into a greater capacity for ______________ change.
 Comparing the map of ________ risk with the map of total economic loss risk demonstrates that
when a natural disaster hits a wealthier area of the world, the place will more likely be hit
financially, whereas, in a poorer area of the world, the place will likely be hit by both ________
loss and the loss of lives.
Patterns of Consumption
 Over time, humans have developed complex ways of using resources by such means as intensive
agriculture and _________ production.
 Smaller numbers of people in the core parts of the world make far greater demands on the
Earth’s resources than do the much larger numbers in the ________ countries.
 Rapid population growth in the _________ tends to have local or regional environmental
impacts. They affect their immediate environment, putting pressure on soil, natural vegetation
and water supplies, and polluting the local air with smoke from _____ just to meet the demands
in core countries.
Technology
 Constantly develop technologies that we hope will improve our standard of living, protect us
against ________, and allow us to work more efficiently.
 Fossil fuel consumption, used to develop and use new technologies, have contributed to many
types of pollution and is a factor in climate change.
 Has enable humans to alter large portions of the planet in a _____ space of time.
Transportation
 Represent some of the most important technological advances in _______ history.
 Innovations offer access to _______ areas of the planet.
 Many of the products available in stores come from distant places, requiring resources to
produce and ____ them.
 Some individuals have reduced their levels of consumption or started to consume
environmentally friendly, _______ produced products. However their impact on the geography
of global consumption has been marginal.
Energy
 Closely linked to the consumption of _______ goods.
 Supply comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels, used by tertiary, ___________, and quinary
economic activities.
 Demands are met by _________ the development of fossil fuel sources.
 The world’s ___ supply is decreasing, and by the middle of this century, alternative sources will
have to be developed.
 Countries, whose income depends on oil, are finding alternative sources of _______.
Alternative Energy
 A number of countries established implementation programs that encourage both the
development of “______” renewable energy technologies and increased energy efficiency in
buildings, transportation, and manufacturing.
How are humans responding to environmental change?
The extent and ________ of environmental change has led to numerous policies aimed at protecting the
environment or reversing the ________ impacts of pollution. Many environmental problems across
political boundaries and people move across those boundaries in response to environmental pressures.
A few global environmental issues are so pressing that efforts are being made to draw up ________ for
action in the form of international conventions or treaties.
Biological Diversity
 International concern over the loss of species led to calls for a ______ convention.
 The convention called for the establishment of a system of protected areas and for a
coordinated set of _________ and international regulations on activities that can have negative
impacts on biodiversity.
Protection of the Ozone Layer
 The ______ layer protects the Earth’s surface from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
 Main culprits in ozone depletion are human-made gases known as CFCs (__________________).
 International cooperation began with the negotiation of the ________ Convention for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer.
 Specific targets and timetables for the phase-out of production and consumption of CFCs were
defined and agreed upon as part of the _________ Protocol.
Global Climate Change
 Growing concern about climate change led to a series of intergovernmental conferences on the
nature and extent of human impacts on the climate system.
 The _______ called on the developed countries to take measure aimed at reducing their
emissions to provide technical and financial support for emission-reduction efforts in the
_____________ countries.
 The US continues to be the largest producer of carbon ________ emissions in the world.
 Ongoing discussions of climate change will invariably concentrate on China because it’s the
world’s ________ total emitter of carbon dioxide.
Guided Reading Kuby Book Chapter 14
Introduction
 The study of human-environmental ___________ is a long-standing theme in geography.
 Concern with human-environmental interactions is at the forefront of public debate today.
 One common theme underlying human-environmental interactions is the idea of a ________, a
group of elements in which a change in one element or process causes direct or indirect changes
in other.
 The basic building blocks of any system are ______ and flows which are connected in cycles,
circular series of flows that replenish the stocks of the system and allow it to continue
functioning.
 Sustainable environmental cycles remain in a balanced or ________________ state in which
stocks are replaced by returning flows.
 Negative ____________ loops offset the original change and restore the balance. Positive
feedback loops do the opposite.
 Life exists in the ______________, the thin layer of air, water, and earth that supports life.
 ______ driving forces are the underlying trends or processes in society that are indirectly
responsible for environmental degradation but do not directly hurt the environment.
 Human activities such as forestry or industry directly damage ______________ systems.
 Human _________ lead to environmental change to the stocks and/or flows of energy,
materials, and organisms in the biosphere.
 Environmental changes can have adverse human and natural ______________, such as human
lung disease or species extinction.
 When humans come to understand how our activities have caused them, people begin to seek
____________ to treat the problem.
Human Driving Forces
 Less-developed countries have three-quarters of the world’s population. Their populations are
growing faster than in more-developed countries, and this increase creates population
________ on the land and resource base.
 Individuals generate more waste of every kind per person: waste water, ______ waste, CO2
emissions, and solid waste.
 Better technology wastes fewer natural resources, develops more ways of tapping __________
resources, and provides more effective methods of treating and cleaning waste products.
 Government encourages wasteful use of resources when it _______ mineral extraction or when
it supplies fresh water at prices below the long-term costs.
 _________ values can directly affect the environment, even in countries with similar
government systems, levels of affluence, and use of technology.
Human Activities
 ________ sector of the economy includes harvesting and extracting raw materials from the
earth (hunting and gathering, raising livestock, farming, and mining).
 ________ sector of the economy processes raw materials into finished products.
 Tertiary and __________ sectors of the economy sell the finished products or use products to
perform services (excluding transportation).
Environmental Change
 In energy and material ____________, humans do not introduce new substances into the
environment – they disrupt natural flows of energy and materials.
 __________ means to impound of stop natural movement, as in the way dams stop water and
fertile sediments from flowing downstream.
 Humans put waste materials, such as harmful substances from ___________ and industry into
the environment.
 __________ is caused when natural processes cannot dispose of waste materials, or if they
harm any form of life because of their quantity, chemical nature, or temperature.
 Direct biological ____________: When humans directly remove, redistribute, and modify living
creatures by harvesting them, transplanting them, and breeding or genetically engineering new
hybrids.
Adverse Consequences
 Environmental change affects human health by either causing high air-pollution days to
________ problems.
 Economic consequences range from lost days of work and increased health care to reduced
agricultural _____________, damage to bridges and buildings, and loss of species that could
have medicinal or agricultural value.
 The adverse consequences to other life-forms include extinctions, loss of biodiversity, disruption
of the _____ chain, and climate change that modifies or moves habitats.
Solutions
 __________ refers to the actions that address the initial driving forces of a problem.
 Least popular form of prevention is the suggestion that people accept a lower economic
standard of ________.
 What are 5 technological changes that are directed at making an activity less damaging:
o _________________________________________________
o _________________________________________________
o _________________________________________________
o _________________________________________________
o _________________________________________________
 Natural ________ feedbacks can reduce the adverse consequences of an environmental change,
and humans can allow these processes to do their work.
 Land-use change refers to either changing the location of an activity or changing the land uses
around the activity that the activity can _____.
 __________ refers to after-the-fact solutions that try to undo the damage or reduce the
adverse consequences of an event that has already occurred.
 If the political will, economic means, or technological know-how are inadequate for preventing,
relocating or mitigating a problem, policy makers will settle for compensating the victims.
 The list of important environmental problems is _____ and growing.
Case Study – Preserving the Planet
 Humans are burning ______ of carbon in the form of oil and coal that accumulated underground
for billions of years.
 The CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is building up to levels not surpassed since the
____________ Period.
 Other industrial and agricultural waste gases (methane, CFCs, and ______ oxide) are effective
insulators, and have been increasing in the atmosphere.
 Global warming is no longer a vague _______ threat – it is here and now.
 Although global warming has had many negative consequences on the Earth, not all
consequences have been adverse. The growing season has lengthened, allowing ________ crops
per year in some new regions.
 List 4 negative feedbacks:
o Oceans absorb ________________________________________________________
o Man-made pollutants ___________________________________________________
o More CO2 in the atmosphere means _______________________________________
o Cold water released into the oceans by ____________________________________
 The hydrologic cycle is becoming more intense, bringing more intense _______, heat waves,
storms, and flooding.
 At ______ Conference in 1997, the international community gathered together to address the
problem of global warming.
 In the Kyoto ________, the industrialized countries of the world agreed to reduce their
emissions of greenhouse gases.
 As of March 2009, the US remains the only ____ not to accept the Kyoto Protocol.
 Stabilizing emissions would not stabilize ______ warming.
 Different __________ groups have conflicting interests in the global warming debate.
 The divide between the MDCS and the _____ on this issue masks the fact that there will be
winners and ______ within both kinds of countries.
 The increasingly popular idea of sustainable __________ calls for economic development
without compromising the resource base and the environment for future generations.
 Sustainable development promotes policies appropriate for each particular region, given its
natural, political, _________, and social systems.
 Environmental _________ are related to the other aspects of human geography.