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Week 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts
Week 1 Introduction and Basic Concepts
Sustainable Societies
GEOG 1016
GEOG1016
Instructor
Dr. Jimmy Li, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, HKU
Email: lijr@hku.hk
Office Location: 10.19, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
Office Phone: 3917-7106
My goals
A synoptic and critical
survey of human
interactions with nature
and natural resources.
The attendant problems
of their misuse and
overuse
Enlightened approaches
to nature conservation to
contribute towards
sustainable societies.
Your goals
GEOG1016
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:
Demonstrate an awareness of the fragility of the Earth’s natural
resource base, an outcome of human’s misuse and mismanagement
of natural resources
Understand the prognosis of environmental future and therefore the
need to conserve natural resources to sustain future human needs
Skills:
Establish a comprehensive and holistic perspective on human’s
tenure on the natural world
Realize that the natural world is both a source and a sink for
satisfying human needs
Develop critical and independent thinking on the multiple
relationships between humans and the natural world
GEOG1016
Tentative lecture schedule:
Week Date Topic
*Note: Section 4&5 may be combined into one section “Results and Discussion”.
Writing A Scientific Article
Title:
• Be specific enough to describe the contents or the key finding(s)
• Avoid technical jargons that only specialists will understand
• Should be appropriate for the intended audience
• Interrogative sentence (i.e., how, why) is NOT preferred as a title
Authors:
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally
listed as the first/corresponding author.
• Other people who made substantial contributions are listed as
co-authors.
Abstract:
• Should give the reader a "preview" of what's to come.
• Typically one paragraph, of 100-250 words, summarizing the
purpose, methods, and key findings of the paper.
• Do NOT use citations in the abstract.
Writing A Scientific Article
Introduction:
• What question is the paper about? why it is interesting or
important?
• What work has been done and what questions remain
unanswered (literature review)?
• End with a sentence/paragraph describing the specific goals of
this study.
Data and Methods (Materials and Methods):
• Describe the data and methods used for the study.
• Do not put results in this section.
Results:
• This is where you present the results you've gotten.
• Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your
main findings in the text.
• Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something
happened; that goes in the Discussion.
Writing A Scientific Article
Discussion (most important):
• Highlight the most significant results, and discuss if they can
solve the original question(s).
• Are your results consistent with what other investigators have
reported?
• If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Discuss the
limitations, if any.
Conclusion:
• This section should comprise a brief statement of the major
findings and the implications of the study.
• New information must not be included in the conclusions.
Acknowledgments:
• Acknowledge people who provide data or technical assistance
and funding support.
References (Literature Cited)
Writing A Scientific Article
Caption
Tables and Figures
above table
Table 1 Statistics of the two tree-ring sampling sites, the nearest meteorological station
and the PDSI grid point developed by Dai et al. (2004).
Caption
below graph
Food/Fuel Chain
• The foundation of the pyramid is the producer
• Human beings are supposed to be fewer and far between, but in fact
we are now far more than Nature can support.
• We have explored almost all accessible lands to satisfy
human’s needs.
• Some places have been all occupied by
humans!
USA vs China
• Rivers and lakes are drying up, endangering all
species.
The Human Footprint
• Global Human Footprint Index represents the relative human influence in
each terrestrial biome expressed as a percentage. The purpose is to provide
an updated map of anthropogenic impacts on the environment.
Hong Kong?
3.9
The “Environment”
• Environment:
– The circumstances and conditions that surround an
organism or group of organisms.
• Consists of both:
Biotic (living things) &
Abiotic (nonliving things)
factors that surround a life and with which
the life interacts.
Industrial
Agricultural revolution
revolution
Nature Conservation
• Nature conservation is the wise management and
utilization of natural renewable resources in a sustainable
manner to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity.
• Some threats to nature
• Pollution
• Deforestation
• Soil Erosion
• Over Fishing
• Water Scarcity
• Infrastructure Development
• Slash-and-Burn Practice
• Smothering of Coral Reefs
• Climate Change
• Illegal Species Trade
Sustainability
Sustainability: Management of natural resources in
ways that do not diminish or degrade Earth’s ability to
provide them in the future
Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Development: Development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
• Our Common Future-UN 1987
• 3Es: Environment, Economy, Equity
• Sign of un-sustainability: global
environmental problems
• Both renewable and non-renewable
resources are being over-exploited.
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Hunting and fishing
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Deforestation
After Deforestation
Tree plantation
Evapotranspiration decreases
Roads
destabilize
Ranching accelerates
hillsides
soil erosion by water
and wind
Winds remove fragile
Gullies and topsoil
landslides
Agricultural land is
flooded and silted up
habitat fragmentation
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Deforestation
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Building dams
Provides water Flooded land
for year-round destroys forests
irrigation of or cropland and
cropland displaces people
Large losses of
water through
evaporation
Provides
water for
drinking Downstream
cropland and
Reservoir is estuaries are
useful for deprived of
recreation nutrient-rich silt
and fishing
Risk of
Can produce failure and
cheap devastating
electricity downstream
(hydropower) flooding
Downstream
flooding is Migration and
reduced spawning of
some fish are
disrupted
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Water pollution
Eutrophication
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Air pollution
SO2 NOx
Acid
depositionH2O2 O3
PANs Others
Lake
Groundwater
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Invasive species
• Introduced by people accidentally or intentionally.
• Can cause problems if no natural enemies are present.
Indirect impacts on ecosystems through
climate change
• Identifiable change in the climate of
Earth as a whole that lasts for an
extended period of time (decades or
longer)
– When due to natural processes, it is
usually referred to as climate variability
or natural climate change.
– Nowadays often refers to changes
forced by human activities.
Greenhouse Gases:
• Any gases that cause the “greenhouse effect!”
• In order, the most abundant GHGs in the atmosphere
are:
Impacts of Climate Change on Atmosphere
• Each of the last three decades has been warmer than any preceding
decade since 1850.
• Warming in recent decades is likely unprecedented over the past six
millennia.
• Shifts in ranges
and migration
• Timing shifts
• Habitat impacts
Coral bleaching due to increase in ocean
temperature and acidity