GEOG 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Fijians, Glossary Of Partner Dance Terms, Industrial Revolution
6 May 2018
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GEOG 1000 Sept. 18, 2017
Oceania: Island Nations and Climate Change
There are about 20,000 islands in Oceania which stretch across the south pacific, plus half
of Papua New Guinea.
High Islands and atolls which are very low make up the islands.
2016 was the hottest year on record.
Changes in a group of climatic variables. Increases in sea levels and ocean acidity.
Precipitation patterns are also changing, rainfall is becoming much more intense and
uneven. Hurricanes are becoming stronger. Average temperature of the earth is increasing
at an increasing rate.
An enhanced greenhouse effect, the sun is the source of solar radiation, normally the
atmosphere acts as a blanket capturing some of that radiation, due to greenhouse gasses
more radiation is captured and less escapes into space. The atmosphere is a lot thicker
since the industrial revolution. About 76% of greenhouse gasses are from carbon dioxide
from the burning of fossil fuels: gasses, coal for electricity. 2nd major source of GHG is
methane: cows, warming earth releases methane from the earth 16%. Fertilizer is a source
of GHG about 6%.
The countries most affected by the changes in climate are the ones that emit the least
amount of greenhouse gasses. Those causing the most climate change are the least
vulnerable. This is called Geographical Inequality. Nowhere is that more clear than in the
pacific islands.
Consist of three parts, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. They go in order from first
settled to most recently settled areas. MPM.
The peoples who colonized this land were very diverse and amazing navigators.
First European to find this area as Abel Tasman. The person to claim the pacific islands for
Britain was James Cook.
Colonialism - a political and economic system in which places and societies are legally,
economically, and politically dominated by an external society. Always involves oppressing
the indigenous peoples, reshaping the indigenous economy and society to serve the
interests of the external society.
Some islands have an “association” with a colonial state.
Social Impacts of Colonialism: Figi. Fiji had an ideal climate to grow sugarcane. The
Australian sugar company imported 60,000 Indians to work in the sugar fields, these people
leased land from the indigenous, had no access to purchase land, became the merchant
class and more educated than the indigenous. Had an Indo-Fijian population living with an
Indigenous Fijian population.
Economic Impacts: MIRAB - Migration, imports, remittances (people who left send money
back), aid, bureaucracy (jobs are only in the public sector). Subsistence affluence. Tourism.
Document Summary
There are about 20,000 islands in oceania which stretch across the south pacific, plus half of papua new guinea. High islands and atolls which are very low make up the islands. Precipitation patterns are also changing, rainfall is becoming much more intense and uneven. Average temperature of the earth is increasing at an increasing rate. An enhanced greenhouse effect, the sun is the source of solar radiation, normally the atmosphere acts as a blanket capturing some of that radiation, due to greenhouse gasses more radiation is captured and less escapes into space. The atmosphere is a lot thicker since the industrial revolution. About 76% of greenhouse gasses are from carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels: gasses, coal for electricity. 2nd major source of ghg is methane: cows, warming earth releases methane from the earth 16%. Fertilizer is a source of ghg about 6%.
