GEOG 3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Water Scarcity, Animal Husbandry, Sustainable Agriculture
29 Jul 2020
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Document Summary
Agriculture: early human impacts on the physical environment. Agriculture includes animal husbandry, or the raising of animals, as well as the cultivation of plants. The human population began to grow more quickly, rates of natural resource use increased, permanent settlements eventually developed into towns and cities, and ultimately, human relationships became more formalized. Very early humans hunted animals and gathered plants and plant products (seeds, fruits, roots, and fiber) for their food, shelter, and clothing. Genetic studies suggest that between 8000 and 20,000 years ago, people in many different places around the world independently learned to develop plants and animals for food and other uses through selective breeding, a process known as domestication. Certainly the desire for more secure food resources played a role, but the opportunity to trade may have been just as important. There are many other factors that contribute to food insecurity, some of which will be discussed in later chapters.
