Final Project on the Humanized Environment (Weebly)

http://trevorhumanizedenvironment.weebly.com/ 

First and second submission topics of discussion for chapter 14

Trevor Jones
5/12/16
Per. 3

Chapter 14 Discussion Topics 

1.  How scale affects our identity.

2.  Benedict Anderson's concept of a nation as an imagined community. 

3.  Connectedness affecting personalized information. 

4.  How connectedness and the internet affects globalization. 

5.  Affect of multiple types of networks on globalization. 

6.  How the digital divide increases the gap between core and periphery countries. 

7.  The concept of Space-Time Compression in global cities. 

8.  How social networks influence revolutions and propaganda. 

9.  How NGO's have an affect through social networking. 

10.  Vertical integration of the media and deciding what's news and what's not. 

Chapter 13 T&R

Trevor Jones 

5/4/16

Per. 3

Sources: 

Human Geography: People, Places, and Culture: Chapter 13 - The Humanized Environment

Home (Documentary on our Earth) - https://youtu.be/jqxENMKaeCU 

Deforestation of the Amazon: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/ 

Haiti Earthquake: http://list25.com/25-worst-natural-disasters-recorded/ 

Africa Toxic Storage: http://whenonearth.net/20-countries-that-are-used-as-dumping-grounds-for-your-waste/  

Home is a documentary about how humans have changed the environment (especially in the last 100 years), by educating the audience about earth’s unsustainable energy and environmental situation. Home presents the evidence of our impact upon the environment, and then proceeds to shed light on the situation, explaining how all is not lost if we as a species come together and fix our bad environmental habits. No matter how far scientists look into it, the root of our environmental crisis is based on climate change and environmental stress. As mentioned in the documentary, a subcategory of the problem is deforestation, taking place all over the world (most notably in the Amazon rainforest). Deforestation can lead to erosion of the land, desertification, and loss of nutrients in the land. Another major category discussed in the documentary is the pollution of the atmosphere. Pollution of the atmosphere, caused by countries emitting toxic gasses into the atmosphere, can cause detrimental effects to the population of not only the originating country, but the globe as a whole, through acid rain, and emission of chlorofluorocarbons, which deplete the ozone layer. Several other topic were mentioned in the documentary, but the final major subcategory is the pollution of water, or the hydraulic cycle. The pollution of fresh drinkable water is a major crisis for the population of the globe and can be caused by the overuse of clean water for corporate businesses (or even by governmental business for that matter), making the water too salty to use for anything. The pollution of freshwater can also be caused by the seeping  of toxic, nuclear, and unsanitary materials from landfills, into a local water source. Humans caused these environmental problems so at the end of the day, it is up to us to fix it for the planet. Luckily, organizations have been established to address these issues, the primary goal of which is to create a set of rules and policies to follow in order to cease or at least slow the set of crises that humanity has brought upon the environment. 

This is a map of South America. I choose to color this map because it contains the Amazon Rainforest, existing across parts of Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. The amazon rainforest is a perfect example of the affect humans have on the environment through deforestation for use of resources. During the past 40 years, close to 20 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been cut down for agricultural uses and for lumber. If the Amazon’s current situation remains at the same pace, in the next two decades, an additional 20 percent of the rainforest may disappear causing a chain reaction of negative side affects in the land. The natural moisture of the rainforest will be depleted, causing trees to dry out and die which could further cause wildfires, harming neighboring tribes and inhabitants of the Amazon. Deforestation is an increasing problem and will continue to be unless humans can change their detrimental acts upon the environment.  

This is a map of North America. The reason that I chose to color this map is because it contains the country Haiti. In 2010, Haiti’s Port-Au-Prince experienced one of the most deadly earthquakes ever recorded, scoring a magnitude of 7.0 in the Richter Scale. This Deadly natural disaster led to over 200,000 deaths, 2 million homeless, and 3 million people in need of emergency aid (mostly from foreign core countries like the United States). Because of the extreme poverty in Port-Au-Prince, the population living in clustered slums were ill prepared for this disaster, causing the death and injury toll to be magnified compare to well prepared/funded regions in core countries (California). The humanized environment is magnified in this situation through the unique distribution of wealth, that could’ve prevented this disaster from occurring if the area was better prepared/funded. 

This is a map of Africa. The reason that I chose to color this map is because it contains various countries’ space taken advantage of by core countries in order to store toxic waste. Multiple countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Lebanon and South Africa are paid small amounts of money to take toxic waste from core countries, and “dispose” of it, often in an unhealthy and unsafe way for the population and the environment. Unsafe methods of waste storage in periphery countries such as these can lead to disease among the locals forced to live there, loss of biodiversity, water and air pollution, and several other negative side affects. As toxic waste is exported to these periphery counties, we are reducing the chances of safe storage, further harming the environment for the entire globe, digging the population into a bigger hole than ever before. 

Chapter 12 T&R

Trevor Jones 

4/25/16

Per. 3

Sources: 

Human Geography: People, Places, and Culture: Chapter 12 - Industries and Service 

Paris, The Industrial Hearth - http://the-paris.blogspot.com/2008/08/industrial-revolution.html 

China, The Top Producer of Goods and Services Worldwide - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/002fd8f0-4d96-11e0-85e4-00144feab49a.html#axzz46teO33Kn 

Rust Belt in the U.S.: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Rust_Belt.aspx 

The Oil Crisis of 1973 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis#Summary 

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the United States wanted to help their alliance, Israel, against attacks by Middle Eastern Arab countries by supplying them with arms, but the waring Middle Wastern countries did not like this so in response, the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) announced an oil embargo against Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the US. So, the United States transitioned to a period of oil uncertainty (because OAPEC was virtually the only source of our oil) and a huge increase in the price of crude oil. The United States then proceeded to negotiate a deal between the warring countries, restoring the relationship between the OAPEC and the United States/the other core countries. After this oil crisis, the Unites States continued to purchase crude oil from Middle Eastern countries, as well as expanding their horizons to other oil sources such as those in Mexico and Russia. 

This is a map of Western Europe. The reason that I chose to draw this map is because it contains the country France, and more specifically, its capital, Paris. During the industrial revolution, Paris was an industrial hub that attracted business and corporations from all around, to take advantage of the workforce and access to transportation and mechanization. This lead to an increase in the manufacturing of luxury items and ultimately a drastic population boom, eventually leading to the cholera epidemic in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Paris became and still remains an important industrial complex due to its mechanization and connectivity to the rest of the world.  

This is a map of the United States. The reason that I chose to draw this map is because it contains the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These states make up the Rust Belt, a term given to the large abandoned manufacturing cities of the 70’s and 80’s. As the population in these cities became increasingly wealthy, moment to suburban areas began to take place, moving the large workforce out of the city. The large industrial corporations that relied on workers found themselves struggling to produce, so they had no choice but to abandon their factories and move to cities of higher worker population. The areas leftover were shells of their former glory, taking even more of the population away to areas in the Sun Belt and the West. The Rust belt still lacks the major industrial workforce population of the 60’s and early 70’s, but some areas have attracted local talent and are rebuilding themselves through a unique culture. 

This is a map of the landmass, Eurasia. The reason that I chose to draw this is because it contains East Asia, more specifically, China. China has recently recaptured its status as top manufacture as a country in the world, ending the United State’ 110 year reign of top producer. China has surpassed the United States in production for several reasons, including the presence of a cheap labor force, few trade laws and regulations, few environmental laws, as well as cheap and efficient transportation from megacities all around china. This has given China, as well as other developing countries, a gateway to the world economy, as well as the development of the semi-peripheral country that comes following heavy industrial manufacturing. 

Articles Presentation

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/07/14/gmos-researchers-debate-healthy-safety-genetically-modified-foods.html

Spring Movies Extra Credit

Trevor Jones

4/9/16

Per. 3

There Will We Blood: There will be blood is a movie about Daniel Plainview, a successful oil tycoon, and his orphan son, who work together to acquire the land of a third revelation preacher, Eli, and his poor farm family. Daniel eventually takes control of this land for a very low price, and a series of unfortunate events takes place for his orphan son, workers, and Eli’s family. This movie can be related to chapter 8 (political geography) by being a metaphor of geopolitics. We can see this come into play as powerful tycoon, Daniel Plainview, representing powerful core countries, taking advantage of Eli’s land, representing poor peripheral countries, using their influence and power. In the end, the core country, will succeed and acquire what they wised to acquire from the less powerful peripheral country, as we see in the outcome of “There Will Be Blood”. This example of classic geopolitics can be used at a variety of scales, varying from world powers to large scale corporations.

The Quest for Fire: The Quest for fire is a movie about, as you would guess, the quest for fire, or in the more broad spectrum, societal advancement. In the beginning of the movie, a hunter gatherer tribe of early homo sapiens achieve the gift of fire, which is soon taken away from them by a neighboring tribe. The remaining part of the movie deals with three members of the tribe trying to regain the fire, picking up a friend on the way from a more advanced tribe. This friend helps the three tribesmen recover the fire by teaching them the advanced ways of their tribe, including efficient long-ranged weapons, and making fire with friction. The four reunite with the rest of their tribe in triumph, having recovered their lost artifact, fire. This movie can relate to chapter 11, agriculture, due to the transition of the primitive hunter gatherer society (the tribe seen first), to the semi sedentary more advanced tribe seen later in the movie, as well as showing the notion that the same ideas can appear at once in several different hearths (use of fire).

A Soldier’s Story: A Soldier’s Story is a movie about an African American U.S. Army officer, Richard Davenport, in the time of WW2, who is assigned to the murder case of an African American sergeant, Vernon Waters. Officer Davenport, an officer from Washington DC, is assigned this case in Alabama, and interviews multiple soldiers/ball players at the military base he is assigned to in order to crack the case. He eventually solves the case despite his racial background in the face of other white officers, and turns in the guilty soldier, PFC Peterson. This movie can relate to chapter 5, race, because of the racial differences between military officers, seen between Officer Davenport and other high ranking officials. This racial barrier complicated his job severely, however justice prevailed despite the racial differences. 

Detroit Lives: Detroit Lives is a documentary lead by Johnny Knoxville about the Motown city Detroit of the 60’s, versus the Detroit we know now. Johnny Knoxville tours the city along with several people educating Knoxville about the promise that Detroit shows to talented young, do-it-yourself people. Instead of looking at Detroit as a decrepit city with no hope because it doesn't have major corporations located there or a big sports team, people should look at Detroit as a city of cultural innovations, with promise for the future. This can relate to chapter 9, urban geography, when talking about abandonment of large manufacturing cities and “rust belts”. As people became successful in Detroit, it allowed them to move out of the crowded city into the suburbs, followed by companies and large manufactures soon after. This left Detroit as an empty shell of its former self, with abandoned manufacturing buildings around every corner, labeling Detroit as the perfect example of a rust belt state.

Chapter 11's Agricultural Model: Von Thünen's Model