Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Atmosphere:
the climate surrounding Earth
Hydrosphere:
water on Earth in all its forms
Lithosphere:
the solid earth including soil and other loose surface particles
Biosphere:
all life on Earth
Culturesphere:
meaning people, and emphasizing that it is by means of culture that dif-
ferent human groups interact with nature
The emphasis on location and place is what most distinguishes environmental geography from eco-
logy. Thus, while an ecologist might study agriculture-nitrate-algae-fish linkages in the abstract or at
the scale of microbiology, environmental geography studies them as large-scale events that character-
ize locations or regions. In that regard, geography is very much at home with the study of
ecosystems,
the living things that occupy particular areas together with the inorganic elements on which they de-
pend. In Chapter 2, for example, there was a discussion of the African lion that basically was about
an ecosystem. Specifically, lions (biosphere) inhabit areas where the climate (atmosphere) results in
rainfall (hydrosphere) characteristics that produce grassland (biosphere). These grasses attract graz-
ing animals (biosphere) like wildebeest, zebra, and impala that in turn attract lions. But the grasslands
also result in soils (lithosphere) that are amenable to agriculture. As a result, people (culturesphere)
haveconvertedgrasslandtofarmsandgrazinglands,deprivinglionsofthehabitattheyneedtothrive.
Contributing Factors: Pollution on the Move
Impactsontheenvironmenttakeseveralforms.Inthesectionsthatfollow,severalkindsaredescribed
together with natural phenomena that often (and perhaps surprisingly) help to turn small environ-
mental problems into major ones.
Making an impact
Perhaps the most obvious human impact involves pollution
,
the introduction of substances
(pollutants) that are harmful to the environment. These may result in
degradation,
the reduc-
tion in quality of natural environmental elements, or in
depletion,
the reduction in quantity.
Human impacts can also be manifested by acts of removal or addition. Thus, the wholesale
removal of forests (
clear-cutting
) may not only deplete forest resources, but perhaps also con-
