Cultural Changes and Environmental Worldviews. Cultural Changes – Major Human Cultural Changes Agricultural Revolution Industrial Revolution.

Cultural Changes and Environmental Worldviews


• Cultural Changes

– Major Human Cultural Changes• Agricultural Revolution• Industrial Revolution



– Impacts of Major Human Cultural Changes• Increased energy supply• New technologies to alter and control the planet to

meet our needs



– Impacts of Major Human Cultural Changes• Expanded food supplies• Increased population • Increased life spans• Increased resource use and pollution



– Hunter-gatherers • Lived in small nomadic bands• Subsisted on wild plants, hunting, fishing• Possessed expert knowledge of their natural

surroundings



– Hunter-gatherers • Had available to them three main energy sources:

– Sunlight captured by plants (perpetual and potentially renewable resources)

– Fire– Their own muscle power



– Hunter-gatherers • High infant mortality rates• Estimated life span = 30-40 years• Very slow population growth rates



– Hunter-Gatherers • Environmental Impacts

– Use of fire converted forests into grasslands– Possible extinction of some large animals



– Hunter-Gatherers • Environmental Impacts

– Changes in plant diversity distribution– Overall, the impacts were localized, limited, and easily

repaired by natural processes



– Agricultural Revolution• Began 10,000-12,000 years ago• Earliest form of agriculture was subsistence farming

– Family only grew enough food/livestock for itself– Depended on human muscle and crude implements



– Agricultural Revolution• Methods of subsistence farming:

– Agroforestry– Slash-and-burn– Shifting cultivation



– Agricultural Revolution• Subsistence evolved to farming methods that relied

extensively on domesticated animals– Pulling plows– Hauling loads– Meat and milk– Manure



– Agricultural Revolution• Environmental Impacts

– Using domesticated animals allowed for the expansion of agriculture

– Increase in birth rates and population due to a larger and more reliable food supply




– Increases in farm area as people cleared more land

– Widespread use of irrigation systems to transfer water




– Surplus of food

– Growth of cities and development of merchant and artisan professions




– Expansion of commerce and trade

– Increased demand for metals and other nonrenewable mineral resources




– Land and water disputes– Loss of biodiversity – Soil erosion– Increased waste generation– Spread of disease– Fall of civilizations



– Industrial Revolution• Began in England in mid-1700s• Major transformations:

– Potentially renewable to nonrenewable energy sources to fuel technology explosion

– Increased per capita energy consumption– Expansion in production, commerce, and trade



– Industrial Revolution• Environmental Impacts

– Increased urbanization– Forced child labor– Unsafe working conditions– Pollution-pollution-pollution!– Isolation of more people from nature


• Environmental Worldviews

– Worldview - how people think the world works, what they think their role in the world should be, and what they believe is right and wrong environmental behavior (environmental ethics)



– Two Major Environmental Worldviews• Individual Centered (Atomistic/Frontier)• Earth-Centered (Holistic)



– Individual-Centered Worldviews• Human-Centered (Anthropocentric)• Life-Centered (Biocentric)

– Species-Centered– Individual-Centered



– Earth-Centered Worldviews• Biosphere-Centered• Ecosystem-Centered



– Human-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Grounded in the concept of “planetary management”• Human beings are the planet’s most important species,

and we are in charge of the rest of nature



– Human-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Nature can be conquered and controlled• Earth has unlimited resources• Resource conservation and environmental

management is unnecessary



– Human-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Focuses on short-term economic growth regardless of

long-term consequences



– Earth-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Nature cannot and should not be conquered• All life forms have inherent value• Earth does not have infinite resources



– Earth-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Nature cannot and should not be conquered• All life forms have inherent value• Nature is interconnected and integrated, not

fragmented



– Earth-Centered Worldview - Basic Beliefs• Humans are part of nature, not apart from nature• Earth does not have infinite resources• Must not engage in activities that degrade earth’s life-

support systems

Cultural Changes and Environmental Worldviews. Cultural Changes – Major Human Cultural Changes Agricultural Revolution Industrial Revolution.

Documents

pollution slide

water slide

needs slide

muscle power slide

milk manure slide

crude implements slide

shifting cultivation

reliable food supply