Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
co-operation was exemplified by a theory called the
tragedy of
the commons
outlined by Garrett Hardin in the journal
Science
in
1968 based on ancient stories.
This theory involves a field that
anyone can use. Each farmer would be expected to keep as many
cattle as possible on the field for their own gain. However, the
logic of this common resource will bring tragedy. Each farmer
seeks to maximise their gain and thinks about adding one more
cow to the herd. However, this action has a negative and a positive
effect. The positive effect is because the farmer earns money from
that additional animal. However, the negative effect is the addi-
tional overgrazing created by one more animal. Because the effects
of overgrazing are shared by all the farmers using the field, the
negative effect for that farmer is therefore minor. The problem is
that the farmer may think about adding more animals, coming to
the same conclusion each time. Indeed, all of the farmers will think
in a similar rational way. This leads to the tragedy. Each farmer
exists within a system that encourages them to increase their herd
without limit but in a field with limited resources. The field will
be massively overgrazed and all of the vegetation will be removed.
Therefore, none of the animals will survive and the farmers will be
ruined.
This example may seem odd as you would think that the farmers
would realise that there is a limited resource in the field and collec-
tively they would try to sustainably share the resource provided by
the field. Indeed this is often the case and collective or institutional
management with careful rules or traditions which people are
expected to follow can avoid overexploitation. But it is not such an
odd example since it is quite analogous to allowing all people or
countries the freedom to pump pollutants into the atmosphere or
oceans when and where they want and in whatever quantity they
want as if the atmosphere and oceans were unlimited resources. We
have finite resources and we must therefore manage those resources.
Communicating the nature of the problem to all those who may be
affected is essential. This is where the role of physical geography
comes in. The study of physical geography can be used to inform
environmental managers and politicians of potential threats to the
environment and potential solutions too. As such it can inform and
shape political decision-making. Physical geography provides the sci-
entific insight and understanding of the interconnected components
