GEOG 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, The Population Bomb, Wellhead
29 Oct 2017
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European, north american cultures saw nature as adversary: wilderness = unknown = danger = to be feared. Now seek nature as antidote to chaos of urban landscape. Reliance on small areas of wilderness, tourism in countries with more wilderness. Biophysical environment: magnitude and frequency of action. April 20: explosion on deepwater horizon rig- caused by blowout, killed 11 crew. April 22: rig sank, leaving well gushing at sea floor. July 15: wellhead capped; c. 4. 9 million barrels of oil released. The population bomb (paul ehrlich, 1968: written in collaboration with wife, not credited, warned of mass starvation in 1970s, 1980s due to overpopulation. Fears of population explosion widespread 50s and 60s. Ehrlichs- book achieved goal; alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future. Reminiscent of malthus- population growth will outpace agricultural growth unless controlled (exponential pop growth vs. linear agricultural growth)
