Introduction to Human Geography Using ArcGIS Online. J. Chris Carter
areas that are too wet, such as the tropics; too dry, such as deserts; or too cold, such as the Far North and Far South (figure 1.39). These types of environments are poor for agriculture and make large-scale food production difficult, thus limiting human settlement. The natural environment also influences components of human culture. For example, due to climatic differences, northern Europeans have a traditional diet that is high in fish, meats, and carbohydrates, while Mediterranean Europeans have a traditional diet that includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The way people dress, obviously, is also a function of environment; just envision people in sun-soaked Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and chilly Helsinki, Finland. How people build varies as well, with wood used in forests, adobe in deserts, steeply pitched roofs in areas of heavy snowfall, and flat roofs in arid regions.
Environmental determinism and possibilism
Environmental determinism is the idea that the natural environment determines much of the spatial patterns of human activity. As in the earlier examples, the environment is seen as determining where people live or do not live, what types of crops they grow and what foods they eat, how they dress, and how they build their houses. This theory has also been used to explain patterns of economic development. European thinkers once believed that the mid-latitudes, which were not too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry, led to vigorous, hard-working, and productive societies. In contrast, tropical latitudes, with their heat and humidity, made hard work so unpleasant that societies remained primitive. Environmental constraints on hard work were said to hold true of hot desert regions and cold high-latitude regions as well.
Figure 1.39.Ittoqqortoormiit Village in Greenland. Arctic settlements such as this village tend to have low populations due to harsh environmental conditions. Photo by Adwo. Stock photo ID: 200898014. Shutterstock.
Environmental determinism fell out of favor during the twentieth century. Historically, many successful societies have formed in areas once considered to have overly harsh environments, from the Mayans of Central America to the great ancient cities of Mesopotamia in the Middle East. More recently, tropical places such as Singapore and Hong Kong have become among the richest in the world, and major urban areas such as Phoenix and Las Vegas have grown in deserts. Irrigation allows for new crops in the desert, while fertilizers in the tropics can overcome poor soil quality. As is clear from these examples, environmental conditions do not directly determine the spatial patterns of human activity.
Instead, the concept of possibilism is more appropriately used when studying human-environment interaction. Possibilism is the notion that the natural environment creates possible outcomes for human activity but that humans can overcome many of the constraints imposed by nature. With human creativity, tropical Singapore used the natural conditions of a harbor located on trade routes between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe to become a wealthy state tied to international trade and services. Human taming of the Colorado River via construction of the Hoover Dam, combined with the invention of air conditioning, allowed for the massive urban areas of Las Vegas and Phoenix to grow (figure 1.40). Natural environments offer opportunities and constraints, but due to human ingenuity, they do not determine spatial patterns.
Environmental perception and hazards
Geographers are also interested in how people perceive their environments and how these perceptions influence cultural ecology. Environmental perception relates to the way in which people view the environment and how this view influences their interpretation and use of the natural landscape. One group of people may view the forest as a place for recreational hiking and will want to preserve it in a natural state, while another may view it as a source of economic development and will want to harvest wood for sale. Different perceptions lead to very different uses of the land.
Figure 1.40.Phoenix, Arizona. While the natural environment influences human settlement, people overcome many of its challenges with technology. Without air conditioning, the growth of Phoenix would be highly constrained. Photo by Tim Roberts Photography. Stock photo ID: 91397345. Shutterstock.
Humans can perceive natural landscapes in terms of exploitation, preservation, or sustainability. The exploitative approach is to use natural resources and modify natural landscapes in the unlimited pursuit of economic growth. Preservation is aimed at leaving natural resources and landscapes untouched by humans, with use geared, at most, toward limited-impact recreation. In contrast to both, sustainability is the idea that natural resources and landscapes can be used by humans for economic growth, but they must be used in a manner that is sustainable in the long run. Lumber can be harvested from forests, but only at a rate that allows for regeneration of trees and protection of wildlife and other flora; fishing can be sustainable by restricting the amount of fish taken per season; natural landscapes can be converted to urban uses or farming as long as waterways are protected and wildlife preserves are incorporated. Sustainability can be accomplished either by cultural norms in a society or by government regulations that restrict overuse.
Environmental perception is useful when studying how people react to natural hazard risk. Many residents of modern urban societies view natural hazards as something that humans can control. People build homes in areas prone to flooding along rivers and coastlines, in wooded and canyon areas at risk for fire, and in areas of landfill subject to earthquake liquefaction. As cities in much of the western United States expand, more and more homes are being built in scenic yet fire-prone hillside areas. Residents assume that firefighters and forest crews will keep their homes safe, which in many cases is true, but at a great cost in terms of economic resources (figure 1.41). Similarly, residents of the southeastern United States increasingly live along coastal areas subject to hurricanes and other flooding. Again, the perception is that these scenic areas are safe to live in, resulting in a great deal of housing and urban infrastructure that is exposed to serious environmental risk.
Figure 1.41.Homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Far Rockaway, New York. Many people perceive natural hazard risk as minimal, and they continue to build in places prone to hurricane wind and flood damage. Photo by Leonard Zhukovsky. Stock photo ID: 130759928. Shutterstock.
Figure 1.42.Tsunami warning sign in Castro, Chile. After a deadly earthquake and tsunami in 2010, some towns began establishing buffer zones between housing and the coast. Photo by Matyas Rehak. Stock photo ID: 568647175. Shutterstock.
In some societies, people may not believe that humans can control natural hazard risk but rather must leave their fate in the hand of gods. Still others may avoid living in areas of risk, avoiding flood zones or canyons at risk for landslide or fire. In some cases, perceptions of natural hazard risk can change over time, altering how people inhabit the land. In Chile, a major earthquake in 2010 sent tsunami waves rushing over many coastal towns, destroying tens of thousands of homes and killing over five hundred people. As a result, people’s perceptions of coastal risk changed. Reconstruction aimed to mitigate future risk, with some coastal areas being reserved for parkland and housing in high-risk areas being built to withstand future inundation (figure 1.42).
Go to ArcGIS Online to complete exercise 1.7: “Environmental perception: Flood risk in Miami.”
References
Bolstad, P. 2016. GIS Fundamentals: A First Text on Geographic Information Systems. Acton, MA: XanEdu.
Buchanan, Robert A. n.d. “History of Technology.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed April 20, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology#toc10382.
Castree, N., R. Kitchin, and A. Rogers. 2013. A Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Dunbar, B. 2014. “Global Positioning System.” NASA. Accessed April 20, 2017.