Homosapien
Development
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During most of their 60,000-year existence,
humans were hunter-gatherers. Their
environmental impact was limited and local
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Mobile
Small tribes families
Covered large areas.
Sustainable
Higher quality of life
Advanced medical knowledge
agricultural revolution
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The agricultural revolution began 10,000 to
12,000 years ago.
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Early growers relied on slash-and-burn cultivation and
shifting cultivation, which had a low environmental
impact.
More advanced agriculture has increased food
supplies
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Rotating crops
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Beans-add nutrients-Corn takes nutrients
Irrigation
Animal Husbandry
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Selection of docile animals
slash-and-burn cultivation
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Cutting down trees and other vegetation in a
patch of forest, leaving the cut vegetation on the
ground to dry, and then burning it.
The ashes that are left add nutrients to the
nutrient-poor soils found in most tropical forest
areas. Crops are planted between tree stumps.
Plots must be abandoned after a few years
(typically 2&endash;5 years) because of loss of
soil fertility or invasion of vegetation from the
The abandoned plot cannot successfully grow
crops for 10-30 years
Agriculture-raising food
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Pros
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More people
Know what you are going to eat
You don’t have to move
Cities, Technology, Art, Commerce
Irrigation
Cons
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Susceptible to the environment
Class and race inequality
Decreased knowledge of medicine
Greater infant mortality
shifting cultivation
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Clearing a plot of ground in a forest, especially
in tropical areas, and planting crops on it for a
few years (typically 2-5 years) until the soil is
depleted of nutrients or the plot has been
invaded by a dense growth of vegetation from
the surrounding forest.
Then a new plot is cleared and the process is
repeated.
The abandoned plot cannot successfully grow
crops for 10-30 years
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The industrial-medical revolution began in
England in the mid-1700s and spread to
the United States in the 1800s.
industrial-medical revolution
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Use of new sources of energy from fossil
fuels and later from nuclear fuels, and use
of new technologies, to grow food and
manufacture products
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We are currently in the midst of a new
cultural shift, the information and
globalization revolution.
information and globalization
revolution
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Use of new technologies such as the
telephone, radio, television, computers,
the Internet, automated databases, and
remote sensing satellites to enable people
to have increasingly rapid access to much
more information on a global scale
The Early Conservation Era (18321960)
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Gifford Pinchot 1900 –Natural lands may
have many uses.
Aldo Leopold-1900-The natural lands need
to stay natural.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Theodore Roosevelt's term of office has
been called the country's "Golden Age of
Conservation." He established the first
National Wildlife Refuge, created the
National Forest Service, and used the
1906 Antiquities Act to protect the Grand
Canyon and other areas that later became
National Parks.
FDR-1930s
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New deal.
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Created parks to generate jobs.
Environmental History of the
United States: The
Environmental Era (1960-2004)
Silent Spring
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In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent
Spring, which contributed to the beginning
of the modern environmental movement.
The 1960s saw an increased awareness of
the science of ecology.
Nixon
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The first annual Earth Day was held in
1970, the same year that
Richard Nixon established the
Environmental Protection Agency 1970 .
Nixon also supported the passage of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Carter
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Jimmy Carter (president 1977-1981)
created a Department of Energy and a
Superfund to clean up hazardous waste.
Reagan/Bush 1
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The administrations of Ronald Reagan and
George Bush, Sr. allowed some
environmental laws to be undercut and
supported exploitation of resources on
public lands.
Clinton
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During Bill Clinton's administration (19932001), environmentalists were appointed
to key positions
Al Gore 2006
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Created a movie about global warmingHas as strong effect on the population as
silent spring.