HIST 2270 Lecture 18: Class 18 Notes - The Conquest of Nature in Modern Europe
1 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The conquest of nature in modern europe: the landscape. From 1800 to 1900 changes: factories, dams, deforestation, pollution. Reasons for dams: clean energy (hydroelectric power), drinking water, irrigation, flood control: fossil fuels and industry. In late 18th and 19th century, coal becomes very popular. Long term benefits outweigh short term consequences: rivers. But in the long run the river became more accessible. But you also have to dynamite the now exposed rocks and fix other problems that the faster moving rivier creates. Out with gold digging, in with industrial companies and factories. Fishermen and bird catchers lose their jobs: non-human species. Before: salmon was super abundant in the rhine river. After: salmon breeding ground was destroying through the rectification of the rhine. Before: people didn"t care about the wolves in the marshes because there were no farms in that land. After: the wolves had to move and many died - driven from human settlement.
