GEOG 200 Study Guide - Medieval Warm Period, Global Warming, Quantitative Revolution
23 Nov 2012
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Document Summary
An environmental problem is a condition of the biophysical environment that negatively affects humans. It can be naturally occurring, or caused by humans. A world environmental problem is the same, except it is a condition of the global biophysical environment. Examples include: anthropogenic climate change [systemic, deforestation [cumulative, pollution [systemic and cumulative, biodiversity loss [cumulative, ozone depletion [systemic] A geographical perspective focuses on human and biophysical processes, spatial and temporal scales, and is solutions-based. There are 4 basic elements to the environment. Cycles occur when molecules are formed and reformed by chemical and biological reactions, and are manifested in physical changes in the material concerned. There are 4 reasons for biophysical complexity: timescales- changes occur over different time scales such as geological time (earth"s entire history), geomorphic time (time in terms of landforms), and anthropogenic time (time in human terms). Timescales are important to the perception and understanding of environmental problems.
