Transcript The Global Village

The Global Village
• New developments in communications have
made our world smaller, by allowing
information to pass between countries and
people much faster than ever before.
• Modern Transportation has also made our
world smaller by allowing people to move
further and faster than ever before possible
in human history.
The World as a System
• A system can be defined as a set of
elements which interact with each other in
a particular way.
• Global systems generally fall into three
categories: The physical world, the
Biological world and the Economic world.
• The Universe Song
Geographic Terms
• Location (a position on the Earth’s surface)
• Place (the Physical and human characteristics that
make a location unique)
• Movement (The varied patterns in the movement of
life forms, ideas, and materials)
• Regions (Basic units of study that define an area
with certain human and physical characteristics)
• Human and physical interaction (The way humans
depend on, adapt to, and modify the Environment)
• All the Countries in the world!
The Physical World
• The physical elements of the world : Air, wind,
waterways, precipitation, soils etc. If any one of
these elements changes those changes will
affect other aspects of the system.
• Ex. Cutting down trees exposes the soil
beneath to rainfall and wind. The unprotected
soil erodes easily, and erosion leads to changes
in river flows and groundwater levels. Cutting
down trees also leads to desertification and loss
of wildlife habitat.
The Global Environment:
Sustainable Development
• Sustainable development: Economic development
that manages the environment and its resources in
a way that allows future generations to benefit
from them.
• Sustainable development occurs on four levels
• 1. At a planetary level, the health of the planet
must be preserved because the human race
depends on the earth.
• 2. On a global level, the gap between developing
and developed nations is the greatest threat to
sustainable development.
• 3. On a regional level, we must focus on issues like
the preservation of natural resources and waste
disposal.
• 4. On a local level, the diversity of the
environment around us must be protected and
preserved.
Types of Resources
• Resources can be divided into two groups:
Renewable and non-renewable.
• Renewable resources are those which will
continue to supply materials indefinitely as
long as the system that produces them is not
disrupted. Forestry, fisheries and farming are
all examples of renewable resources.
• Non-renewable resources are those which
cannot be replaced once they are used up.
Most of them are inorganic,that is ,non-living.
Such materials have been created by nature
over millions of years. Fossil fuels and metal
ores are example of a non-renewable resource
• Wind Power Ad from Europe.
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The Distribution of Resources
The world’s natural resources are very unevenly
distributed. Only about one-fifth of the world’s land area
is currently capable of sustaining a high population
density, whether for farming or industry.
The world’s best agricultural land is located mainly in
warm temperate areas such as the Midwest of North
America and along major rivers like the Nile. Many less
developed tropical nations have almost no highly
productive agricultural land and extreme climate change
makes for irregular food production. (They have more
arid land than arable land)
Mineral resources are even less evenly distributed. The
Canadian Shield and the South African plateau are
among the richest locations of ore deposits.
About ½ of the world’s coal is located in Russia and the
US
Almost 60% of the word’s petroleum is in the Persian
Gulf area.
The uneven distribution of the world’s resources is the
major impetus for international trade.
• Uneven Distribution of Wealth
• Rated PG-13, Viewer Discretion is advised
• (seriously)
Air Resources
• Global Warming: The earth absorbs the sun’s energy
and re-emits it as heat. Gases in the earth’s
atmosphere then trap this heat keeping the temp on
earth at a level that sustains life. This is called the
Greenhouse effect, the gases that allow for it include
Carbon dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) and
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s)
• Unfortunately the level of these gases in the
atmosphere is increasing due to human industrial
activity. This is causing the global temperature to rise.
• Ultimately this rise in the Earth’s temp could lead to a
rise in sea levels, which could destroy cities and crop
lands.
• Eventually this rise in global temperatures could
cause a warmer global climate, alter growth patterns
and cause deserts to expand and forest cover to
decrease.
• The effects of Global Warming. I apologize for the
Nickleback.
Air Resources Continued:
Ozone Depletion
• Ozone is a pale blue gas that is present in a thin
layer in the Stratosphere. It is formed when oxygen
in the atmosphere reacts with sunlight.
• Ozone forms a protective shield around the earth.
It filters out ultraviolet radiation (dangerous to
living things) from the sun.
• The Ozone layer is getting thinner and becoming
damaged due to the increase in greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere. This damage to the Ozone layer
is responsible for the rise in skin cancer in recent
years. It could also lead to damage in the food
chain, as a significant amount of sea life depends
on algae for food and algae is very sensitive to
sunlight
Land Resources
• Deforestation is one of the most serious
threats to the world’s forests. It continues at
a rate of 170000km2 per year, about 466
km2 each day.
• Although reforestation of temperate forests is
increasing in many countries the quality of
these forests is inferior to that of natural
forests, as they do not support the same level
of biodiversity as ecologically complex natural
forests do.
• Forests provide habitats for thousands of
plant and animal species. Many of these have
yet to be discovered, but they could hold the
key to future scientific and medical
breakthroughs.
• Deforestation.
• Are minor comforts really worth all of this
loss?
• Think hard about your answer.
Land Resources:
Desertification
• Desertification: The expansion of deserts as
a result of mismanagement of the land, for
example: Clear-cutting, over cropping or
overgrazing can lead to desertification.
• Desertification
Water Resources
• All forms of life need water to survive.
• There are over 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water
around the globe. However 97% of this is held as salt
water in the oceans.
• Only 3% of the earth’s water is freshwater, and most of
that is in the form of groundwater or ice.
• Water is distributed unevenly around the world. Some
countries, like Canada are water rich, while other
countries like Egypt are poor in water resources.
• Global warming is a threat to water resources as it has
impacted on the ice fields in the Rockies as well as in
other regions.
• Much of the accessible freshwater available on the
globe is used to irrigate crops, 98% of Egypt’s water
goes to irrigation projects, compared to only 10% in
Canada
Water Resources: Continued
• Much of the world’s fresh water is in the ground. It is
called groundwater.
• Groundwater is stored in Aquifers (a spongy layer of
rock that holds on to water) deposited at the end of the
last ice age, about 10 000 years ago. It is a finite
(limited) supply, about one in four Canadians depends
on Groundwater for a domestic water supply.
• When our groundwater runs out we are going to face
problems associated with water shortages, like limited
food production and industrial output.
• To have a reasonable quality of life the average person
requires about 80 liters of Water a day.
• In Canada we use 360 liters a day on average making
us second only to the US in water consumption per
capita
The Biological World
• The elements of the biological world include: Trees,
birds, fish, bugs and people. All living organisms
are a part of the Biological cycle.
• Humans have had a profound affect on the
biological cycle, it is estimated that at least one
species of plant or animal becomes extinct every
day somewhere in the world.
• Because the world works on a series of
interconnected systems each change in the
composition of any of the systems can have far
reaching affects.
• Going Organic
An Example of affecting the balance
of life
• Frogs’ legs are a delicacy in many
countries, with a greater world
population the demand for frogs’ legs
has increased.
• Frogs play an important role in the
environment, since they eat mosquitoes
and other bugs which spread malaria or
attack crops. Due to the shortage of
frogs, farmers in countries exporting
frogs’ legs are finding it necessary to
use pesticides, like DDT, to control the
insect population.
• Pesticides build up in the bodies of
animals, (especially DDT which is
banned in Canada) thus there is a
danger that frog flesh may become
increasingly affected by chemical
residues
The Swedish
chef on the
muppets tries to
make frog's legs.
The Economic World
• The Economic cycle explains the relationship
between Producers and Consumers.
• The Economic cycle has a profound affect on
both the physical cycle and the biological cycle.
• The reasons behind deforestation, desertification
and loss of animal habitat are almost all based
on economics.
• Ex. Large portions of the world’s rainforest are
being cut down to provide grazing land for cattle.
The cattle is bound for fast food restaurants
(mostly in North America)
• Some of the results of this deforestation are
desertification and loss of wildlife habitat.
• Examine the international declaration of human
rights on the next slide and ask yourself “How
does the function of the economic world impact on
the effectiveness of the international declaration
of human rights
The Universal; Declaration of Human Rights
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Declared at UN General Assembly in 1948
Based on the belief that: all human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights
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Condemns: “barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind”
• Declaration States:
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Everyone has the right to: life liberty, and security of person
No slavery, abolish slave trade
No torture or cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the
law
No subjecting to arbitrary arrest or detention
Entitlement to fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal in the case of
criminal charges against them
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence
Significance:
First international statement to recognize that all human beings have
specific rights and freedoms
The Canadian Government signed and ratified this declaration
We are bound to it under international law.
Quality of life: Economic Development
• There is a great amount of economic disparity among
the nations of the world.
• Not all countries enjoy the same standard of living
(the quantity and quality of the products and services
available to people.) Or quality of life (not only the
material standard of living, but also social, political
and environmental factors)
• Economic development is the process by which the
condition of people’s lives are improved through
knowledge and technology. It is a continuous process.
• In broad terms, high and middle income countries are
called the developed world, while low income countries
are called the developing world.
• Only those countries at the extreme ends of the
economic spectrum can be this simply classified, most
fall some where in between.
Quality of life: Economic
Disparity
• There are different levels of economic
development and opportunity within
countries. Sao Paulo, Brazil, is as modern as
any city in Canada, yet most of Brazil lives in
extreme poverty.
• The distribution of wealth is uneven within
wealthy countries and regions. Some
communities in the Canadian North, for
example, have more in common with a
developing country than they do with cities
like Vancouver.
• Even in Canadian cities, subcultures of
poverty exist with street kids and homeless
people
• Uneven Distribution of Wealth in the
Canadian North
Quality of Life: The Human
Development Index
• The Human Development index
measures the quality of life, by
ranking countries in three important
areas: a long and healthy life, (Life
expectancy) Knowledge, (Literacy
rates, both male and female) and a
decent standard of living/purchasing
power, (Per Capita GDP, on average
how much purchasing power each
citizen has in a year)
Foreign Aid:
Canada’s contribution
• Each year the government sets aside billions of
dollars for short-term humanitarian aid and longterm development strategies.
• The Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) is responsible for administering these
programs
• CIDA donates money in the short term for aid
when natural disasters strike
• CIDA also creates long-term sustainable
development in less developed countries by
contributing medical personnel, farmers teachers
and technicians.
Different types of foreign aid
• Canadian aid is distributed in three ways.
• Multilateral aid is funding provided to international
organizations such as WHO
• Bilateral aid is aid that is negotiated between
Canada and a specific country.
• Tied Aid is help that is provided on the
understanding that certain conditions be placed on
receiving the funds.
• CIDA also donates money to non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)
• One of the stipulations that Canada has placed on
aid is that the countries receiving Canadian aid
must uphold democracy and have a decent human
rights record.
The Urban Revolution
• 200 years ago only 5% of the population lived in
cities. Now 45% of people live in an urban
environment.
• Part of this shift is the development of Mega
cities (cities with populations larger than 8
million people) In 1950 only 2 cities, (London
and New York) were considered mega cities, by
1995, there were 22.
• Urban migration started as a result of the
Industrial revolution.
• In addition to creating jobs the move to an
urban environment brought an increase in
services and greater access to the infrastructure
of a modern urban environment (ex. Access to
hospitals and schools)
• Greater urbanization also led to greater Urban
sprawl, which has led to the loss of wildlife
habitats.