Land Use and Resources

1. Land Use and Resources AP Human Geography

2. Land Use Models • Economic Land Use Model – looks at present, addresses land use for development now • Topocide – killing off of landscape to build new one • Sustainability Land Use Model – taking something from land and replacing it with something else (renewable resources) • Environmental Land Use Model – use the land but leave it in its natural state • Preservationist Land Use Model – landscape is sacred, should not be touched by humans • Environmental terrorism (ecoterrorism) – like burning down a ski resort because land is sacred…

3. Land Issues • Ecotourism – using the natural beauty of an area as a selling point to promote tourism and generate funds to preserve the ecological community • Debt for Nature Swap – forgiveness of debts in exchange for setting aside land for conservation or preservation • Tragedy of the commons – theory suggest humans will inevitably do what is best for them despite what is best for the public good (William Forster Lloyd and Garrett Hardin) • Toponyms – place names for physical features on the surface of the earth

4. Resources • Renewable Resources – can be used again, grow/replenish themselves in nature or are constant (trees, sugarcane, sunlight, etc) • Nonrenewable Resources – resources took tens of thousands of years to produce, they do not replenish themselves within a human life span or even several human life spans, once used up – gone forever • Proven Reserve – reserve of a fossil fuel that has been discovered • Potential Reserve – reserve that has yet to be discovered by geology suggests it may exist in a particular location

5. Fossil Fuels • Fossil Fuels – coal, oil, natural gas – come from breakdown of carbon-based sediment over long periods of time under great pressure • Reserves – amount of the resource left in the ground yet to be used • Production – removal of the resource • Resource Crisis – the eventual depletion of fossil fuels and a resulting collapse of energy-dependent societies • Extractive Industries – find the most efficient way to remove resources from the earth with minimal disruption to the natural environment • Space – actual location of the resource • Mineral Fuels – gas, oil, coal, natural gas, and others

6. Oil/OPEC • One of greatest world natural resources • Lifeline of western world • Comes from deep inside earth • Oil companies develop and are a large part of the economies in cities worldwide • Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – the more barrels pumped, the lower price. • US relationship w/ OPEC rocky – 1970s, OPEC refused to sell creating skyrocketing prices • Middle East leads world

7. Coal • US has abundant resources – we burn more than any other resources for electricity • Must be burned to produce energy • Lignite – needs to be burned in greater quantities to produce same amount of energy, not used to make steel (uses too much), used for electricity • Anthracite – Appalachian coal – highest value of any coal due to high heat output • Subbituminous & bituminous coal generate high heat outputs • US leads world

8. Natural Gas • Odorless, colorless gas from inside the earth • When burned, provides abundant heat • Russia leads world

9. Metals • Gold – wealth, caused migration looking for it • Open Pit Mine – land is removed and resources are extracted in the open air • Shaft Mine – tunnels dug deep into earth and extend for miles • Surface Mines (strip mine) – dig up earth and then replace soil when digging drilling completed • Underground Mines – shaft and tunnel systems • South Africa leads world

10. Iron Ore • Rock from which iron can be extracted • Most important use of iron ore is production of steel • Hematite, Magnetite, and Taconite • China leads the world

11. Forestry and Fishing • US Forest Service under direction of US Dept of Agriculture – supports harvesting timber in national forests • National Park Service under direction of US Dept of Interior does not support chopping down trees • Fishing entails the capture of fish from the wild (whereas aquaculture is the breeding and raising of fish/fish products)

12. Alternative Energy • Hydroelectric Power – use of water to create electricity (falling water – water wheels, dams) • Downsides: create energy but are expensive to build and must be on waterway that can provide necessary power to produce large amounts of energy, damming affects people/environment, dams break, block fish • Solar Energy – uses the power of the sun to produce heat that can be used to create electricity – one of best renewable energy sources, cleanest, cost effective • Passive solar energy use darker objects to absorb heat of sun and store it • Downsides: cannot effectively power massive power plants or entire cities, even homes in areas w/o direct sunlight during parts of year • Photovoltaic Cells – panels that are used to convert light into electrical energy, expensive to install, not many people use them • Wind Energy – movement of wind to create power – huge turbines are located in windmill parks (wind farms), air gets warmer, rises and as it cools, falls – movement turns blades of windmill, spins turbines, produce electricity, promising future, cleanest • Downsides: not that productive yet, lots of windmills required to produce enough power to meet electricity needs of cities, overly windy conditions shut down windmills – need 6-20 mph, adverse effect that birds are killed • Nuclear Power – one of most controversial yet productive power sources • Fission Nuclear Power – splitting uranium atom and harvesting the energy from the splitting process, controlled thru use of water and supercontainers of concrete that can be 10 ft, splitting produces heat, causing water to boil and steam is sued to generate electricity • Fusion Nuclear Energy – joining of two hydrogen atoms to create a helium atom, reaction takes place in the sun, fusion reactor produces incredible amount of heat • Downsides: plant safety and potential for nuclear meltdowns, storage of waste as spent rods of uranium are radioactive • Biomass – use of agricultural products, natural vegetation, or urban waste to produce a type of fuel that automobiles or other engines can use. Most common is sugarcane, corn (ethanol) • Downsides: ethanol is acidic and rapidly corrodes fuel pumps, gas mileage is less, tendency to freeze in cold weather • Geothermal Energy – uses heat from interior of the Earth to heat buildings on the surface. Dig deeply (3 miles) to caputure steam from magma, steam used to spin turbine, causing generator to create electricity for an urban area • Downside: not all places can use this energy (location must have close proximity to Earth’s magma/interior heat)

13. Pollution • Air pollution – unnatural products in the atmosphere as a result of human activities • Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, coal • Results in acid rain – any form of precipitation with an unusually low pH value – sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide chemically alter water droplets • Ozone depletion – chlorofluorocarbons are released into the environment when an aerosol can is used • Substitution principle – transition to a more environmentally friendly product • Greenhouse Effect – gradual warming of the earth due to pollutants, which come primarily from developed countries • Global Climate Change – retreating glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctica • Critics of this theory – lack of research supporting concept, heating up due to lack of scientific study and data available (only last 150 yrs)