MEC 280 Lecture 1: Lecture 1 & 2
Document Summary
Lecture 1: ecosystems and human history | historical. Example: 1900 - infectious disease, 2000 - coronary disease and cancer. Every population is related (complex!) to every other population. In an ecosystem population size is limited: there is a maximum and a minimum. Dense populations generally have greater health problems due to pollution. Major themes and concepts: population - growth and structure. Urbanization: technology - synthetics; rapidity, impact - local, regional, global. A brief history of humans: 5 million years ago - rst human species, 150,000 years ago - homo sapiens emergy, 30,000 years ago - homo sapiens dominate (our ancestors) 150,000 - 30,000 years ago: homo sapiens becomes dominant. Agriculture: 10,000 years ago, disease becomes more common. Ecosystem changes: villages, towns, cleared forests, animals cultivated , irrigation, waste accumulation, eco-catastrophe . Starts: 18th century, ad (1700s) ends: ??? (still going strong!: more sugar (5x, more fat (15x, more fertilizers, synthetics, pollutants, fossil fuels.