Transcript Man and the Environment: An Overview

Man and the Environment: An
Overview
M. Stafford
8/07
Note taking - Remember
• Cornell Style – questions, comments, points
of emphasis in margin.
• Summarize slides
• Add information from discussion
Origins
• Homo sapiens
• Latin “wise man”
• Humans and apes
share ancestry
(Hominoids)
• Hominids are humans
and direct ancestors
The Early Days
• 30-35 million years
ago (mya)
• Tree dwellers
• Tropical environments
20 MYA
• Indian Plate collides
with the Asian Plate
• Himalayas form
• Results Africa drier
• More Savanna
• Arboreal ancestors
adapted to less life in
the trees
5-7 MYA
• Humans and Apes
diverged (split)
• Differences in:
Australopithecus
– Brain size
– Jaw shape (shorter)
– Family structure
(extended parental
care)
We are pretty recent and
there have been many species
of human-like organisms
Homo habilis 2.5 – 1.6 mya
Larger brain and stone tools
1.8 to 500,000 Years Ago
• Homo erectus
migrates out of Africa
• Taller, larger brains
200,000 to 30,000 Years ago
• Neanderthals in
Europe
• Very similar to
modern humans (we
may have shared
DNA)
• Art and burial
ceremonies
• Used Stone tools
Approximately 100,000 Years
ago
• Migrations throughout
Asia and Europe
• May have been due to
climate change and/or
increasing populations
• Several hypotheses
Modern Humans Survival
Strategies
•
•
•
•
Hunter-gatherer
Gather natural foods
Hunt
Extinction of North
American Megafauna
• Nomadic
• Beginning of division
of labor
Hunter -gatherer
• Valued old people
• Make little or no effort
to control the natural
resources in an area in
which they live
• Possible exception
(fire)
Hunter-gatherer
• Small environmental
impact
• Population density
remained low
• Result:
– Environment has time
to regenerate
– Disease does not
become pandemic
Agricultural Societies
• Originated about
10,000 years ago in
several areas
• Middle East, Asia,
Africa and possibly
the Americas
• Produced crops and
domesticated animals
Agricultural Societies
• Agriculture caused
two changes in society
– Reduced Nomadism
– Increased division of
labor
• Inventions followed
such as the plow
• Populations increased
• Food excesses meant
that some did not need
to farm which leads to
formation of cities
with craftsmen,
manufacturing and
trade networks
Agricultural Societies
• If an agricultural
society can live within
the limits of its
environment, it can
sustain indefinitely
Agricultural Societies
• Early agriculture
rotated crops and left
some fields fallow
• Now logging and
overgrazing often
result in loss of soil
followed by loss of
vegetation, climate
change and
desertification
Industrial Societies
• 1700’s Production of
goods switched from
skilled craftspeople to
machines
• Coal-fired steam
engine allowed for
mass production of
goods
• Mass production and
advances in
agriculture resulted in
more food produced
by fewer people
Industrial Society Defined
• Society in which the
production of food and
other products is
performed by
machines, demanding
large amounts of
energy and resources.
• Scientific advances:
– Increased crop yields
– Medical advances
• The population rises
dramatically
• Along with this is the
industrialization of
many aboriginal
societies
• Increased energy use
and human population
• End result:
• Environmental
damage
• Pollution of land, air
and water is a
widespread problem of
the 20th and 21st
century.
End