GEOG 410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Urban Heat Island, Lawn, Columbian Exchange

• School: UBC
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG 410
• Professor: K A R E N A B K K E R

Document Summary

Chapter 14 takes the modern lawn as its object of concern. Turfgrass lawns are a million dollar business, a cultural phenomenon, and an environmental phenomenon. Grass is natural, but the perfect green lawn requires mechanical equipment and chemicals, some of which are used even though they are known to be toxic to humans, pets, and ecosystems. Turfgrasses were domesticated for livestock raising, so they do best when clipped frequently as would occur under grazing. Turfgrasses as part of human economic history: turfgrasses are not native to the americas, and were brought over as part of the columbian. The chemical revolution: early lawn chemicals were crude and dangerous. Ddt replaced early chemicals because it seemed safer, but it was banned in 1972 because it is so toxic for marine and avian species. The explosion of lawns: lawns cover a large portion of the united states, and may be considered the largest irrigated crop in the country.