Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
200
Flood
Storm
Earthquake
Drought
Landslide
Other (fire, wave surge, insect attack, volcano)
150
100
50
0
Figure 1.11 Frequency of natural disasters, 1985-2005.
Source: World Bank (2005)
changes, but less familiar with the processes and responses
which drive them. The ability to understand and explain,
rather than merely describe them, is central to the
relevance of modern geography. This is reflected, inter alia ,
in the prominence given to Earth Systems in the National
Curricula for the ES3 subject cluster (Earth sciences,
environmental sciences and environmental studies) by the
UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
(QAA) and The Higher Education Academy Subject
Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
(GEES). It is highly likely that Earth System Science will
be an enduring paradigm in its own right, rather than
merely a more sophisticated development of general
systems theory, and its significance for physical and
human geography is undeniable. Its purpose is to gather
proxy and documentary evidence of past changes in the
global physical environment and, through their interpre-
tation and supercomputer modelling, to enable us to
predict, respond to and sometimes manage future
changes. It is readily apparent that physical geography has
important applications at the cutting edge of global
environmental research, and the development of manage-
ment solutions for human socio-economic activity in the
physical environment.
this period the discipline has matured from religious
dogma and the description science in its early days to one
using the most sophisticated analytical techniques, based
on numerical modelling by the use of computer, and
based on laboratory analysis of the physical and chemical
properties of sediments, soils and water samples. Whilst
these skills are necessary for advancing knowledge and
understanding, they carry the danger that the reductionist
approach will mean that the integrated and holistic
understanding of environmental systems will become
obscured by the sheer weight of detail amassed. In
short, the wood will become lost for the trees. In this
environment of research, it is important that the systems
viewpoint of the environment is emphasized, so that the
implications of each process at work, or each factor of
control, are assessed as part of the whole system.
Computer models will help to do this, by providing
different scenarios derived from the modelling of whole
systems. However, it is important to ensure that the
fieldwork element is not lost, and that linkages with
the real world are maintained. Field observations provided
the basis for many working hypotheses generated by
early physical geographers. Many have been disproved,
some reinforced, but all had the merit of attempting real
explanations about real landscapes.
Upper Wharfedale is only one small part of Earth's
surface, yet it illustrates several key features common to
environmental systems everywhere . First, it has a history
which is shown in the landforms, soils and vegetation.
Parts of the landscape are inherited from previous times
CONCLUSION
This introductory chapter has reviewed the development
of physical geography over the past two centuries. During
 
 
 
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