Earth Lights at Night

Earth Lights at Night

Canada's population is almost exclusively along the US border. There is a high population concentration along the Mediterranean Coast.

It's easy to spot London, Paris, Stockholm and Vienna. Note the Nile River and the rest of the "Dark Continent." After the Nile,

significant lights don't come on again until Johannesburg. Look at the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail Route. Note the difference between North and South Korea. Note the density of India and Japan.

What else can you see?

This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The above image is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by orbiting satellites.

Human-Environment Interaction

What two things do the following photos have in common?

What two things do the photos have in common?

People and Nature

Human-Environment Interaction:

The study of the interrelationship between people and their physical environment.

1. How Does the EnvironmentInfluence Human Behavior?

2. How Do Humans Influence Their Environment?

Two Important Questions?

By understanding how the Earth’s physical features and processes shape and are shaped by human activity, geographers help societies make informed decisions.

Why study Human-Environment Interaction?

Settlement patterns Housing materials Agricultural activity Recreational activity Transportation patterns

How Does the EnvironmentInfluence Human Behavior:

How do people use their environment, how and why do they change it, and what consequences result from these changes?

Examples: Diverting water: dams, canals, polders Changing the landscape: terrace

farming, deforestation, desertification Changing the environment: acid rain,

pollution

How Do Humans Influence Their Environment?

Aswan High DamFACTS:

Built 1979

Control FloodingNile River

Aswan, Egypt

Lake Nasser

Helped with Irrigation

Decreased soil fertility

Aral Sea

FACTS:

Central Asia

UzbekistanKazakhstan

Formerly USSR: Diverted water to grow cotton/rice

Disappearing waters and poisonous runoff from the fields have caused the sea to shrink and increased desertification.

Colorado RiverFACTS:

1450 miles

Through SW U.S. and NW Mexico

Source – Rocky Mtns.

Mouth – Gulf of California

More than 20 dams

Water diverted to the Imperial Valley

No longer reaches the Gulf of California

Polders in the NetherlandsFACTS:

Northern Europe

Most of the country is below sea level

Sea walls/dunes protect it from the sea.

DeforestationRainforest FACTS:Contain more than ½ the world's 10 million species of plants, animals and insects

One-fifth of the world's fresh water

20 percent of the world oxygen

Brazil – SANepal – AsiaMalaysia - Asia

Once covered 14 % of earth.

Now cover 6%

1-1/2 acres lost every minute

Desertification

Greatest Areas of Impact

Africa – Sahara DesertAsia – Gobi Desert

Central AsiaSW United States

CAUSES:

Overgrazing

Drought

Poor Farming Techniques

Overpopulation

Natural Climate Patterns

Acid Rain

Given the causes, where might you find acid rain the most?

Acid Rain

Developed Countries: US, Europe, China

Coniferous forests in the Appalachian Mountains destroyed by acid rain.

Pollution

AIR

LAND

WATER

Mexico City, Mexico Buenos Aires, Argentina Beijing, China Cairo, Egypt Seoul, South Korea Karachi, Pakistan Jakarta, Indonesia Los Angeles, California USA

Most Polluted Cities:

Mexico City reports unhealthy ozone emissions nearly 85% of the year. Mexico's geographical location--in the center of a volcanic crater and surrounded by mountains-- locks in the air pollution, causing smog to sit above the city.

Mexico City

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Chernobyl, Ukraine - Chernobyl is now infamous for the 1986 nuclear disaster that killed 30 people, forced 35,000 to evacuate their homes, and left a 19-mile radius around the plant that is still uninhabitable to this day.