Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
products, that might otherwise be used for agriculture may become
a big issue when we are expecting to increase the human popula-
tion by 50 per cent within 40 years. So international collaboration
will be needed not only to deal with climate change but for the
provision of food and provision of water; these are not just local
issues, they are global issues which require urgent action. Physical
geographers have an enormous amount to contribute to the present
and the future in terms of understanding and dealing with these
major challenges.
Research in physical geography has told us an enormous amount
about how the world works. It can inform management and poli-
cymaking by providing insights into the integrated way Earth
surface processes operate and the feedbacks that often exist. The
understanding we have gained from research on the Earth's systems
has led to the international meetings on climate change, action on
new energy technologies, the quick international action in the
1980s and 1990s on CFCs to deal with the ozone hole, laws to
tackle overfishing, protect soils, develop integrated land manage-
ment solutions to floods, water quality, coastal management and so
on. While we have been damaging the environment for quite some
time, we have now taken notice and international effort is being
put into tackling the issues. Just as the Earth's climate system, geo-
morphological processes and biosphere are interrelated, the world's
major challenges around climate change, energy provision, poverty,
malnutrition, disease, and hostile feelings around differences in the
standard of living between countries are interrelated. Empower-
ment comes from understanding how human-environment rela-
tionships are interrelated and enables governments and people to
take action thoughtfully, minimising negative feedback effects. This
need to understand processes that operate close to the Earth's
surface, in order to provide information for environmental man-
agement, should be major driver of research.
The focus of this short concluding section of the topic has been
about the applied nature of physical geography, the need for collab-
orative environmental management and the need for science to
inform management action. However, I end on a note that says we
also need serendipitous physical geography. I write as a research sci-
entist (indeed as The Chair of Physical Geography at the University
of Leeds) who is passionate about making sure that science has an
