Environmental History Flashcards
(37 cards)
Environmental History
Term by Donald Hughes from the 60’s; Environmental History studies the mutual relationships of human and nature through time:
1) Nature and how it has changed over time; including the impact of humans.
2) How humans use the environment.
3) How people think about the environment/nature.
Green Environmentalism
Preservation of nature. Since 19th century, local pollution activism since the 1940’s.
Grey Environmentalism
Focus on industrialisation. From the ’70s. Club of Rome.
Blue Environmentalism
Focus on climate change. From the 90’s. Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion.
Holocenic Climatological Niche
Human utter dependence on natural environment. Development of human civilization over the last 13.000 years. Small variations in temperatures, precipitation, etc. Huge impact on humans!
- Medieval Maximum / Medieval Climate Anomaly
- Small Ice Age
Quaternary megafauna extinction
Lots of megafauna became extinct worldwide because of hunting.
Neolithical Agricultural Revolution
Deforestation to make room for agriculture + Domestication of animals to places were they had never lived before. -> Consequences: Zoonotic pathogens & diseases.
American Demographic Catastrophe
Post 1492: Lots of the population in the America’s had died because of European diseases, causing the forest to take over. -> Small Ice Age in Europe!
Oceanic Holocaust
18th-19th century: The forced migration of the indigenous American population.
Political Ecology
Studies the relationship between political, economic and social factors and environmental issues and changes.
Commons
A cultural and natural resource that are accessible for all members of society. A shared space not owned by anyone, everybody could use it.
Disafforestation
It’s not a forest anymore, but the property of an individual.
Carrying capacity
The number of people that can live a good life without going hungry or thirsty.
Pollution
1) The action of making an environment unsuitable or unsafe for use by introducing man-made waste.
2) The addition of any substance (solid, liquid or gas) or any form of energy (such as heat, sound or radioactivity) to the environment at a faster rate than it can be dispersed, diluted, decomposed, recycled or stored in some harmless form.
Osteoarcheology
Research of human bones and theeth. -> Their way of living/diseases.
Archaeobotany
Botony for older periods; the analysis of seeds or pits. -> Food, crops, environment.
Palynology
Focus on pollen, which plants they’ve come from.
Landscape archeology
Focus on the landscape as a whole and how much people have exploited it.
Demographic transition
Mortality decreased, while fertility remained initially high.
Urbanization
Strong rise of urban populations, as a result of massive rural-to-urban migration (related to ecological change) and natural urban population growth.
Transport Revolution
The advent of (steam) trains and ships and later cars, busses, trucks and airplanes meant a revolution in the transportation of commodities and human mobility.
Ecology
Studies the relationship between living organisms in the environment and is focusssed on nature as a complex web of ecosystems that shape and ensures life on earth. Mankind is part of this, but also impacts it.
Post-materialism
State of widespread prosperity in which individuals switch focus from a concern of material or economic needs to quality of life issues.
Sustainability
Normative concept that is used as a solution to environmental issues. The capacity of a system to maintain its health and to continue its existence over a period of time.
