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Introduction to Environmental Geology of Developing Nations

The Beginning Of Cities | Population | Developed vs. Undeveloped | The Focus of This Class | Losses from Natural Disasters | Energy Sources of Disasters | Links
  • The Beginning Of Cities
    • Civilization
      • “any distinct society, whether complex and city-dwelling, or simple and tribal.” (From Wikipedia)
      • This definition is often perceived as
        • less exclusive and ethnocentric than others
        • nearly synonymous with culture
    • Earliest Areas to have Cities
      • Near East
        • Mesopotamia (Sumerian Culture)
        • Nile Valley (Egyptian)
        • Indus River Valley (Harappan)
      • Far East
        • Yellow River Valley (Shang)
      • Mesoamerica
        • Mexico (Aztec and Maya)
        • Peru (Inca)
    • Natural Determinants for these Cities
      • Topography
      • Climate - 5 of 6 are between 20° & 40° N. Lat
      • Construction Materials
      • Resources
    • Earliest Areas to have Cities
      • Human Determinants
        • Religion,
        • Ethnic Grouping,
        • Defense,
        • Economics
    • Growth of Modern Cities
      • The Same Determinants Exist
        • Cities have grown huge
        • Area of impact extends far beyond the city
        • Geologic hazards are completely ignored.

  • Population
    • Distribution Of Population
      2000 Population
      (Source: UN Population Division)
      1. Tokyo, Japan 26.4 million
      2. Mexico City, Mexico 18.1 million
      3.

      São Paulo, Brazil

      18 million
      4. New York, United States 16.7 million
      5. Mumbai, India 16.1 million
      6. Los Angeles, United States 13.2 million
      7. Kolkata (Calcutta), India 13.1 million
      8. Shanghai, China 12.9 million
      9. Dhaka, Bangladesh 12.5 million
      10. Delhi, India 12.4 million
      11. Buenos Aires, Argentina 12 million
      12. Jakarta, Indonesia 11 million
      13. O-saka, Japan 11 million
      14. Beijing, China 10.8 million
      15. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10.7 million
      16. Kara-chi, Pakistan 10 million
      17. Manila, Philippines 10 million
      18. Seoul, South Korea 9.9 million
      19. Paris, France 9.6 million
      20. Cairo, Egypt 9.5 million

    • People per Square Mile in 1998
      • People per Square Mile in 1998
        (1999 World Almanac)
        1. Earth Land Area 104
        2. United States 74
        3. Mexico 130
        4. China 335
        5. India 805
        6. Japan 863
        7. Los Angeles 7,600
        8. New York City 24,000
        9. Tokyo 25,000
        10. Manhattan 75,000
        11. Bombay 127,000
        12. Hong Kong 247,000

     

  • Developed vs. Undeveloped
    • Two different types of societies
      • Developed nations
      • Undeveloped nations
    • Developed
      • Technology
      • The right tool for using the Mineral Resources
      • Money
      • Science
      • Insurance
    • Undeveloped
      • Overpopulation
      • Misuse of land
      • Poor planning
      • "outside influences"
      • Poor economic status
      • Lack of technology
      • Geographic Location
    • There are at least four types of nations:
    • Developed nations
      • Canada,
      • United States,
      • European Union,
      • Japan,
      • Etc.
    • Nations with a developing economy
      • China,
      • India,
      • Brazil,
      • South Africa,
      • Mexico,
      • etc.
    • Developing nations
      • most countries in
        • Asia,
        • Africa,
        • South America,
        • Central America,
        • and the Caribbean
    • Underdeveloped or ‘mal-developed’ nations
      • other countries in
      • Asia,
      • Africa,
      • and South America
    • Terms to Know
      • Population growth rate is a term used in demographics and ecology which refers to the rate at which the number of individuals in a population increases.
      • In demography, the crude birth rate of a population is the number of childbirths per 1000 persons per year.
      • Mortality rate (the word mortality comes from mortal, which originates from Latin mors, death) is the annual number of deaths (from a disease or at general) per 1000 people. It is distinct from morbidity rate, which refers to the number of people who have a disease compared to the total number of people in a population.
        • One distinguishes
          • 1. The crude death rate, the total annual number of deaths per 1000 people.
          • 2. The fetal mortality rate, the number of fetal deaths per all the births in a given year (both the live births and the dead births).
          • 3. The maternal mortality rate, the relationship between the number of maternal deaths due to childbearing and the number of live births or by the sum of live births and fetal deaths in a given year.
          • 4. The infant mortality rate, the annual number of deaths of children less than 1 year old per thousand live births.
      • Population Pyramid
        • Show as two back-to-back bar graphs in a particular population in five-year age groups
          • one showing the number of males (left side)
          • one showing the number of females (right side)
      • Triangular population distribution
        • Indicates a population in which there is a high birth rate, a high death rate and a short life expectancy.
        • Note that there tend to be more females than males in each age group. (females tend to have a longer life expectancy.)
        • Typical pattern for a less economically developed country
          • little access to or incentive to use birth control,
          • poor hygiene (often due to a lack of clean water)
          • and little access to health services.
      • Rectangular population distribution
        • Indicates a population in which there few children and young people, and the lack of change in size between consecutive age groups that very few people die until they reach old age.
        • Typical pattern for a economically developed country
          • low birth and death rates
          • long life expectancy,
          • contraception is widely used
          • good public hygiene and health care.
    • North America - US & Canada
      • Canada
        • 2004 population 32.5 million
        • Growth Rate 0.92%/yr
        • Doubling Rate 87 years
        • 2025 population 373 million
      • USA
        • 2004 population 293 million
        • Growth Rate 0.92%/yr
        • Doubling Rate 78 years
        • 2025 population 335 million
    • Latin America
      • 1999 population 507 million
      • Growth Rate 2.3%/yr
      • Doubling Rate 38 years
      • 2025 population 695 million
      • Individual countries

        GR DR 2004 Population
        Costa Rica 1.52% 38 Years 4 Million
        Mexico 1.80% 34 Years 105 Million
        Brazil 1.11% 55 Years 184 Million

    • Euroe & Africa
      • Europe
        • 1999 population 508 million
        • Growth Rate 0.3%
        • Doubling Rate 233 years
        • 2025 population 491 million
      • Africa
        • 1999 population 761 million
        • Growth Rate 2.9%
        • Doubling Rate 24 years
        • 2025 population 1,323 million
    • Asia Excluding Russia
      • 1999 population 3,528 million
      • Growth Rate 1.9%
      • Doubling Rate 37 years
      • 2025 population 4.7 billion
      • Individual countries
      •   GR DR 1999 Population
        Japan 0.08% 360 Years 127 Million
        China 0.57% 80 Years 1.29 Billion
        India 1.44% 42 Years 1.07 Billion
    • Three things hinder the growth of developing countries today:
      • Their growing population absorbs much of the economic growth from their resources.
      • Global economics and finance are already dominated by the developed nations.
      • They face issues of environmental awareness that were absent when today’s industrialized countries were growing economically.

  • The Focus of This Class
    • Focus of this class
      • Learn about natural disasters, and the geologic processes that are responsible
      • Examine how natural disasters affect undeveloped nations
    • Environmental
      • concerned with the ecological effects of altering the environment; “environmental pollution”
        geology
      • The science which treats: (a) Of the structure and mineral constitution of the globe; structural geology. (b) Of its history as regards rocks, minerals, rivers, valleys, mountains, climates, life, etc.; historical geology. (c) Of the causes and methods by which its structure, features, changes, and conditions have been produced; dynamical geology.
      • Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
    • What is a Natural Disaster?
      • An event of nature that releases energy upon an area, causing destruction of property and loss of human life.A
      • subdiscipline of Environmental Geology
    • What is a Natural Hazard?
      • A hazard that arises from geological or weather-related occurrences.
        • Includes:
          • Earthquakes
          • Volcanoes
          • Floods
          • Storms / Hurricanes / Tornadoes
    • Natural Hazard Definitions
      • Magnitude
        • The size of the event
      • Frequency
        • How often the event happens
      • Return Period
        • The time between two events of the same size

  • Losses from Natural Disasters
    • Losses from Natural Disasters - Human Fatalities
      • Worst Disasters:
        • Floods
        • Hurricanes
        • Earthquakes
        • Severe Weather
      • Least:
        • Tsunami and Volcanic eruptions
    • Amount varies from year to year
      • The population density of a region affects number of fatalities
    • Losses from Natural Disasters - Economic
      • Sources
        • Buildings and other structures
        • Industry and businesses
      • Insured Portion of Economic Losses
        • Amount covered by insurance
        • Dollar amount lost is different than lives lost
        • US, Europe and Japan have fewer lives lost but higher damage costs

  • Energy Sources of Disasters
    • Primary Sources
    • Impacts with Asteroids and Comets
      • Origin of the Sun & Planets
    • Gravity
      • Attraction between two or more objects
      • Interaction between the sun, moon and Earth produces tidal energy
      • Spring Tides
        • During the period of a new moon, the moon and sun are lined up on the same side of the Earth
        • Produces the greatest range between high water and low water
      • Neap Tides
        • Produced when the moon is at a right angle to the line of centers of the Earth and the sun
        • The range between high and low water is small
    • Internal Heat
      • Impact energy from the formation of the planet
      • Gravitational energy
      • Radioactive Elements
    • The Sun
      • Small percentage of total solar energy reaches the Earth
      • More than 3500 times greater than Earth’s interior heat flow
      • Where does the energy go?
        • 30% -> Albedo (reflection)
        • 47 % -> Absorbed by air, sea and land
        • 23 % -> Evaporation / begin hydrologic cycle
  • External Sources of Energy
    • The Hydrologic Cycle
    • Energy Transfer
      • The transfer of energy from one substance to another
    • Heat Capacity
      • the amount of heat required to raise one gram of a substance 1°C

  • Questions
    • In what ways might an environmental geology course benefit the liberal arts or business and/or generally your major?
    • List 10 natural disaster or geologic hazard problems in order to priority and indicate which one among them you would list as the most important one and why?
    • In many African nations, civil war and ethnic “cleansing” kills millions of innocent people each year.
      • Why are we more likely to donate money to victims of natural disasters than to victims of war?