Introducing Human-Environment Geography & Environment-Society-Resource Debates

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, one of the most systematic reviews of environmental knowledge that exists, there is now 3-6 times more water in reservoirs globally than there is flowing naturally in rivers or streams. According to International Rivers, there are at least 800,000 dams globally, including more than 300 mega-dams. These developments block fish migrations, separating some species’ spawning and rearing habitats, trap sediment that would otherwise be integral to the maintenance of fertile floodplains and productive wetlands, and change the temperature, chemical composition and physical properties of water systems in a way that is often inconsistent with the ecological and biological requirements of species evolved to exist within river systems.

These transformations are just one example of the many ways humans have transformed their environments. While we will pay attention to these transformations throughout the course -- thinking about them in relation to food systems, energy systems, the global climate, and biodiversity decline, among other things -- we begin this week by thinking about the ways humans have always transformed their environments. Is human manipulation of the environment necessarily bad or wrong? Why or why not? This week we will also explore how perspectives from human-environmental geography -- and how environmental debate more generally -- can help us to study, understand, and govern these transformations.

Readings:

• Syllabus
• Textbook Chapter One (pp. 3-25)
• Noorgard & Baer, 2005

Assignments:

• Google Classroom Week One