Earth Systems & Resources
Essential Learning Questions / Objectives
Define three major cultural and environmental changes that have
occurred since humans were hunter-gatherers.
Describe the environmental history of the United States in terms
of the Tribal and Frontier Eras, the Early Conservation Era,
and the Environmental Era.
Compare slash-and-burn agricultural practices with the modern
advanced forms of farming. State the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
List individuals who made major contributions to
conservation/environmental movements in the United States
and briefly describe these contributions.
Define environmental backlash. Briefly describe the effects of
this backlash.
Summarize the key environmental events of the 1980s in the
U.S. and the World
Compare and contrast the environmental policies of the Clinton
administration and the Bush administration.
Early History
• Earth has existed for an
estimated 4.6 billion years
• Homo sapiens have been
on earth only about
60.000 years
• Until about 12,000 years
ago men were mostly
hunter-gatherers.
Cultural Changes & the Environment
Hunter-Gatherers
Humans (Homo sapiens) have been in existence
for about 160,000 years, a mere blink of an eye
in terms of biological life. (early humans lived off
the land – nomadic)
Agricultural (Neolithic) Revolution
(10,000 to 12,000 years ago)
Industrial-Medical Revolution
(began in the 1700’s in England Progressed to
United States in the 1800’s)
Information and Globalization Revolution
(since 1950 and especially since 1970)
Hunter-Gatherers
• Survived by eating edible wild plants,
fishing, hunting, and scavenging meat
killed by other animals
• Lived in small bands
• Were nomads
• They discovered:
o Which plants and animals could be eaten
and used as medicine
o Where to find water
o How plant availability changed throughout
the year
o How game animals migrated
Advanced Hunters-Gatherers
• Used more advanced tools
and fire
• Contributed to the extinction
of some animals (sabertoothed tiger)
• Altered distribution of plants by
carrying seeds
• OVERALL IMPACT ON THE
ENVIRONMENT WAS LOW DUE
TO:
o Small population
o Low resource use/person
o Migration allowed ecosystem to
repair itself
o Lack of technology
Agricultural Revolution
• 10,000-12,000 years ago
• Also called Neolithic revolution
• Gradual shift from nomads to settling in
agricultural communities
• Domesticated animals and cultivated
wild plants
Slash-and-Burn Cultivation
Slash and Burn did destroy local environment,
but was usually very small and had a limited
impact.
Still a problem
in some parts
of developing
World. (Amazon)
1
Clearing
and burning
vegetation
2
Allowing
to revegetate
10 to 30 years
4
3
Planting
Harvesting for
2 to 5 years
The Agricultural Revolution: Trade offs
The Agricultural
Revolution
• Most early farmers practiced
SUSTAINABLE CULTIVATION
• Had little impact on the
environment because:
o Depended on human muscle power and crude
tools
o Low population size and density
o Land was available for movement to other areas
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution
• Began in England in the mid 1700’s and
in America in the 1800’s
• Based on dependence on coal
(nonrenewable fossil fuel) rather than
renewable wood
• Invention of the steam engine
• Switched from small-scale localized
production to large-scale production of
machine-made goods.
• People began to live longer
• Movement from rural to cities
o Often very bad living and working
conditions
Resulted in:
• Fossil-fuel powered farm machinery
• New plant-breeding techniques increasing yield per
acre
• More reliable food supply
• Longer life spans
• Increase in population size
Information & Globalization Revolution
•
•
•
•
Many new technologies – telephone, computers, tv, etc
Automated data bases
Remote sensing satellites
A shift took place where humans moved from relying on
wood and flowing water to a dependence on machines
run by nonrenewable fossil fuels (first coal, then later oil
and natural gas)