This document provides an overview of Chapter 4 from a geography textbook. It covers several key topics: 1) The relationship between nature and society, including international summits around sustainable development. 2) Perspectives on nature as a concept, including the interactive relationship between nature and society. 3) Environmental philosophies from both historical and contemporary thinkers. 4) Issues related to land use, energy use, climate change, and ensuring environmental sustainability going forward.

1. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 4: People
and Nature
Chapter 4 Lecture
Katie Pratt
Macalester College
© 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

2. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Key Concepts
Figure: Chapter 4 Opener - Induced Hydraulic
fracturing, Watford City, North Dakota.

3. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Relationship between
nature and society
• Earth summits
– Sustainable
development
– Rio+20
Nature as a Concept
Figure 4.1 Rio+20 protests.
Apply your knowledge: What is the role of international summits in balancing
economic development and environmental impacts?

4. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Alternative solutions to environmental problems
– Beyond technological solutions
– Nature and society are interactive components of a
complex system
Nature as a Concept (cont’d)
Figure 4.2 Levees system, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Figure 4.3 Vandana
Shiva.

5. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Defining nature, society,
and technology
• I = PAT
• Cultural ecology
• Political ecology
Nature as a Concept (cont’d)
Figure 4.4 Electronic waste.
Apply your knowledge: Explain how human beings and nature are part of a
complex system. Think about the influence of social policies, consumer habits,
technology, and governments on the environment.

6. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Carbon footprint
• Carbon offsets used to compensate for emissions
• Commodification of nature
The Political Ecology of Carbon Offsets
Figure 4.A The carbon offset cycle.
Figure 4.B Forest offsets.

7. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Nature as a construct
• Dominance of Western (Judeo-Christian) tradition
U.S. Environmental Attitudes and Philosophies
Figure 4.5 Environmental attitudes, Gallup Poll, 2014.

8. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Henry David Thoreau
– Romanticism
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
– Transcendentalism
• George Perkins Marsh
– Humans as significant
agent of environmental
change
• Conservation and
preservation
U.S. Classical Environmental Philosophies
Figure 4.6 Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, 1854.

9. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Environmental ethics
• Ecofeminism
• Deep ecology
• Environmental justice
• Ecotheology
Contemporary Environmental Philosophies
Figure 4.8 International Campaign for
Justice in Bhopal.
Apply your knowledge: Choose three of the environmental philosophies (classic and
contemporary) discussed, define them, and analyze why you think they are the
most relevant to your views of human-nature relationships.

10. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Anthropocene
• Ecosystem
• European colonial expansion
Global Change in the Anthropocene
Figure 4.9 Population growth in Europe.

11. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Virgin soil epidemics
• Demographic collapse
• Indigenous people and pre-Colombian environments
Disease and Depopulation
Figure 4.11 European voyages of
exploration.
Figure 4.12 Tenochtitlán, circa 1500.

12. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Ecological imperialism
Columbian Exchange
Figure 4.10 The Columbian Exchange.
Apply your knowledge: How did the interaction between the Old World and the
New World, the Columbian Exchange, affect human and natural systems in both
Europe and the Americas? Name one legacy of the exchange that we are still
experiencing.

13. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Climate change
• Global warming
• Greenhouse gases
• Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Climate Change
Figure 4.13 Global emissions of carbon dioxide.

14. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• How do we know climate is changing?
Global Climate Change (cont’d)
Figure 4.14 Major indicators of climate change.

15. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• What are some projected impacts of climate
change?
Global Climate Change (cont’d)
Figure 4.15 Effect of rising sea level on major cities.

16. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Solutions
– Emissions trading
• Climate controversy
– Climate change skeptics
• IPCC’s Fifth
Assessment report:
Mitigation of Climate
Change (2014)
Global Climate Change (cont’d)
Figure 4.17 Climate change impacts
on earth systems.
Apply your knowledge: List some of the physical evidence for climate change.
Why do you think climate change is considered controversial?

17. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Energy Land Use and the Environment
Figure 4.18 Oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

18. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Energy Land Use and the Environment
Figure 4.19 Gazprom natural gas reserves, 2013.

19. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Energy Land Use and the Environment
Figure 4.20 Disaster at Fukushima nuclear power plant.

20. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Spatial Inequality
Figure 4.E Global energy consumption, 2012.Figure 4.D Global energy production, 2012.
Why is energy consumption on the rise for peripheral countries?

21. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• High demand for fuelwood in some peripheral areas
contributes to air pollution and forest degradation
Biomass and Hydropower
Figure 4.21 Global consumption of fuelwoods.

22. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Biomass and Hydropower (cont’d)
Figure 4.22 Percentage of hydropower in the electricity supply by country.

23. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Dams provide energy but also contribute to
environmental degradation
Biomass and Hydropower (cont’d)
Figure 4.23 Three
Gorges Dam, China
(a) The world’s largest dam.
(b) More than 1.3 million people have been
relocated to make way for the dam.
(c) The reservoir behind the dam is 477 km (297 mi) long.

24. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Acid rain
Energy-Related Pollutants
Figure 4.24 Global acid emissions.
Apply your knowledge: What is the relationship between energy consumption
and environmental degradation?

25. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Renewable Energy Resources (Visualizing
Geography)
Figure 4.1 Common types
of renewable energy.
Figure 4.2 Some unusual
renewable energy sources.
Figure 4.3 Renewable electricity
production.
What are some of the limitations of renewable energy?

26. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Land Use and Environmental Impacts
Figure 4.25 Global deforestation.

27. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
Land Use and Environmental Impacts (cont’d)
Figure 4.26 Global land grab.

28. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Grasslands
• Desertification
• Greening
Land Use and Environmental Impacts (cont’d)
Figure 4.27 African grasslands.
Figure 4.28 Greening
of the Sahel.

29. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Wetlands: saltwater or freshwater
• Conversion and modification
Land Use and Environmental Impacts (cont’d)
Figure 4.29 Mangrove in Thailand.

30. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Virtual water
• Global water crisis
• Privatization
Water Use and Access
Figure 4.30 Virtual water. Figure 4.31 Protest against water privatization.

31. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Global environmental governance
– Popular protest, lobbying groups, NGOs, direction action
organizations, and political parties
– Bioprospecting
– International conferences resulting in agreements and treaties
The State of the Global Environment
Figure 4.32 Locations of Seed Savers
Exchange seeds.
Figure 4.33 Antarctic
ozone hole.
Apply your knowledge: What are some of the ways that environmental awareness has
become a global, not national, perspective? Do you think the stakes are the same for core
and peripheral countries?

32. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Sustainable development
• Local sustainability efforts
Environmental Sustainability
Figure 4.34 Waste containers: raw materials and agricultural goods account for most of the
U.S. goods shipped to China and other ports in northeast Asia.

33. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Established guidelines, standards, and policies
• Criticisms and solutions
Ecotourism
Figure 4.F Growth of shark
ecotourism.
Figure 4.G Income from ecotourism.

34. © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Continued expansion of the global economy will drive
demand for raw materials and energy
• Energy resources will be a key concern as the periphery
is industrialized
Future Geographies
Figure 4.35 Image of
Korangi Town in coastal
Pakistan shows contrast
between urbanized areas
and forests and waterways
of the Indus River Delta.
Apply your knowledge: What do you see as the most viable response to
growing energy demands in the United States?