The Earth: Our Home

Spaceship Earth

What colors representthe earth?Blue—why?Brown & Green—why?White—why?

Earth's changeable environments

Most recent Geologic Epoch?

Start of Cenozoic

Organizing Humanity

Paleolithic periodSimple stone tools and fireAmount of available living space increased

Allowed human movement Small isolated groups

Leisure Time: Cave paintings Formal communication, belief systems &

customs The environmental result?

Organizing Humanity:Domestication of Plants

Caring of plantsDifferent from plant domestication

Plant domestication in the Holocene (last 10,000 years)Southeast AsiaCombination of human settlements, forest

margins, and freshwater streamsRoot crops may have been first

Organizing Humanity:Domestication of Plants

Planned cultivation of seed plants is complex (Nile?)Majority believe it started in the Fertile Crescent

Marked the beginning of the First Agricultural Revolution

Interglaciation Effect

Organizing Humanity:Domestication of Animals

Took place during same period as plant domestication

Goats in the Zagros Mountains (Iran) Sheep in Anatolia (Turkey) Useful animals…

Organizing Humanity:Early Settlements and Networks

Farm village network Social stratification

Nonfarmers vs. farmersCreation of a social ladder

Conflict and competition

Nazca-Wari-Inca Succession

Organizing Humanity:Early Settlements and Networks (cont.)

Rise of cities in Southwest Asia uncertain

Fertile Crescent not alone…

Organizing Humanity:The Next Stage of Human Development

Political states had not yet developed Fertile Crescent gained political power:

Ancient Babylon

Ziggurat

Organizing Humanity:The Next Stage of Human Development

Emergence of large cities = significant political and geographic developments

Stage set for the rise of Greece and Rome Idea of “the state” spread Today Earth’s living space = > 200 states,

dependencies, and other territories Few hunter-gatherer/subsistence farmers

Imprints of Humanity

Why was the Holocene different?

How did Holocene humanity transform the Earth?

Contemporary Framework:Land & Space

Contemporary Framework:Land & Climate

PEOPLE:LOCATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND DENSITY

What are the issues?

Present distribution Population growth Migration and refugees Population policies

Elements of population geography

Population and space Population distribution and density

Arithmetic population density: area of country/total population

Physiologic population density

Population Density Isopleth Map

Population Density Dot Map

Major Population Concentrations

East & South Asia

Europe

North America

Major Population Concentrations

Other regionsSoutheast AsiaSouth America, Africa, and Australia do not

have comparable population concentrations

Java

Australia

South America

Major Population Concentrations

Room to Grow:South America and Australia

JapanSmall island country with very limited farmlandsHigh population densityMr. Baseball quote: “We take things and make

them better…”

Discussion Question #1

You have been offered an extremely well-paid opportunity to lead a tour group consisting of travelers from North America to Australia and New Zealand. How could you use the Köppen Climate Classification System to help answer some of their questions? The travelers are from Vancouver, Phoenix, Miami,

and San Francisco

Discussion Question #2

Some of the world’s largest cities, such as Mumbai (Bombay), Shanghai, and Cairo, lie in countries that rank among the world’s least urbanized cities.Explain this apparent contradiction