The geographical environment is a part of nature with which human society interacts directly. People need it to solve production problems and for life. The diversity that exists in nature naturally divided the work of man. He began to engage in hunting and fishing, cattle breeding, mining, etc. Features that the natural environment has, give specific areas of human activity. An example is one or another branch of production that varies depending on the country and region.
History of development
The geographic environment arose as a result of the evolution of the Earth's biosphere. Further, its development took place. The entire specified period is divided by scientists into three stages. The first of them lasted about three billion years. It was the time of the existence of simple organisms. In the atmosphere at the first stage of the development of the geographical environment, a small amount of free oxygen was contained. But at the same time there was a lot of carbon dioxide in it.
The second stage lasted about five hundred seventy million years. He was characterized by the leading role of living organisms in the development and formation of a geographical envelope. During this period, rocks of organic origin accumulated, and the composition of the atmosphere and water changed. All this was due to the photosynthesis of green plants. The end of this stage was the period of the appearance of man on Earth.
Forty thousand years ago the last, modern period in the development of the geographical envelope began. At this time, the relationship between man and nature changed significantly. People began to actively influence various parts of the geographical environment, since without this they could not live and develop further.
So, mankind has brought forth new species of animals and plants. It has mastered uncharted territories and supplanted wild flora and fauna from there.
Main components
What complexes form the geographical environment? It consists primarily of territory. This is a place where there are socio-political or ethnic entities. The territory consists of the following components:
- Geographical position. It reflects the remoteness of the terrain from the equator and the poles, its location on a particular island, mainland, etc. A number of features of a particular state (soil, climate, fauna, flora, etc.) depend in many respects on the geographical location.
- The relief of the surface. It is characterized by the degree of ruggedness of the territory, the presence of mountain ranges and elevations, the presence of lowlands and plains, etc.
- The nature of the soil. They can be podzolic and marshy, sandy and chernozemic, etc.
- The bowels of the earth. This concept includes the features of the geological structure of the territory, as well as the presence of fossil wealth in it.
The second component of the geographical environment is climatic conditions. It includes:
- the quality and quantity of solar energy received in a given area;
- seasonal and daily changes in air temperature;
- the nature and amount of precipitation;
- air humidity;
- cloud cover;
- the presence of permafrost in the soil;
- the strength and direction of the winds, etc.
All these are elements of the natural environment that are included in the concept of climate.
The next component of the Earth's biosphere is water. This concept includes rivers and seas, lakes and swamps, mineral springs and groundwater. The "man-nature" system is very developed. Thus, the hydrographic regimes of the seas, lakes and rivers, their temperature, course, salinity, freezing, etc., have a great influence on many aspects of human life.
What other complexes form the geographical environment? This is an animal and plant world. It includes all living organisms that live in the waters, in the soil and on the earth. These are birds, animals, plants and microorganisms.
Based on the foregoing, what is called the geographical environment? This is a combination of the location of the terrain, the structure of its surface, minerals, soil cover, water resources, climate, as well as the animal and plant world in a certain area of the Earth, where a certain part of human society lives and develops.
Environment
This concept is of great importance for the life of society. Its structure is much wider than that of the geographical environment. What is included in it? There are certain types of environments - natural and artificial.
The first of them is the biosphere. This is the realm of all living things. The biosphere includes not only representatives of fauna and flora, but also all their habitats. Of course, the relationship between man and nature is such that people are constantly exploring and transforming more and more new territories. For society, these actions are only positive. The development of the riches given by nature leads to the undoubted growth of not only material, but also spiritual values of mankind. People would not be able to become rational if they had not learned how to create the new - that which is not in the world.
The environment includes artificial habitat. It contains everything that was created by man himself. These are not only a variety of objects, but also plants and animals bred by breeding and with the help of domestication.
The value of the artificial environment for society is increasing every year. However, the dynamics of this development are worrying. The fact is that the state of the environment as a result of the life of society is constantly deteriorating. The volume of everything that has been created by man, already significantly exceeds the weight of the living organisms of the planet.
Despite the fact that the whole biosphere that surrounds human society is called the geographical environment, there are anthropogenic components in its form in the form of enterprises and cities, highways, etc. Such elements are often called the "second" nature. However, the term “environment” in international agreements has a slightly different meaning. Under it understand only the natural biosphere.
Conflicting interaction
All progress is possible only as a result of the struggle and simultaneous unity of the opposing forces. There are two opposites in the world. This is nature and people. Each of these two forces lives according to its own laws. And therefore there is nothing surprising in the fact that throughout the history of mankind its struggle against nature takes place.
The result was the improvement of implements that went from stone axes to lasers. Nature and man have not changed the essence of their interaction over many millennia. The scale and forms of struggle have become different.
Unity
Man and the environment are united in the process of production of material goods. People conquer nature, but they can only act according to its laws. All geographic environmental factors are needed by man. He simply cannot do without them. And there are numerous examples. Nature and man are one. How can this be explained? The fact is that people are not social creatures at all. They are biosocial. With our body we belong to nature, and in this regard, every blow to it affects our health.
Here are some more examples. Nature and man interact and fight among themselves through production and technology. However, any technological process is a method of appropriation by nature of objects of nature. Therefore, harmonious relations with these two opposites should be established here.
Thus, the concept of “natural environment” and the fate of mankind are closely related. That is why the development of society should not interfere with the evolution of all that the geographical environment consists of. It should be remembered that nature is a kind of inorganic body of man. That is why the creation of production that can destroy the environment is so disastrous.
The need for technological processes
Human society cannot refuse to create wealth. This process is the exchange of substances (energy and information) between people and nature. How does this happen? In nature, there are huge in its scale cycles of various substances. Man complicates these cycles and makes them different in quality. In addition, people create substances that are not in nature. So, according to statistics, scientists synthesize almost two hundred thousand previously non-existent chemical compounds annually. However, such materials are either not included at all in the natural cycle of substances, or are included in it, but with great difficulty.
Biosphere conservation
The state of the environment, which has recently been of concern to ecologists, can be improved by creating waste-free production. What will it give? In this case, substances taken from nature will be reused in production cycles. As raw materials can be used metal scrap and waste paper, old products from rubber, glass and plastic. Such a business is not only economically viable. It is of great environmental interest to our planet.
For non-waste production, various enterprises must be combined in such a way that the waste of one of them becomes a raw material for the other. Otherwise, we will breathe polluted air and suffer from a lack of clean water. All this already leads to the development of numerous diseases in humans.
Geopolitical issues
Many scientists have already recognized the fact that the location of the state, that is, one of the components of the geographical environment, is of no small importance for the development prospects of this country. It affects the general policy (geopolitics) of society. What is the reason for this? Based on historical experience, we can conclude that the territory of any state is its strategic resource. In its importance, it is in first place.
With the geographical environment, that is, with its components such as water and air, earth, etc., all the vital activity of human society is connected. His spiritual ideals are inseparable from these elements. Even in ancient times, many peoples, many factors of the geographical environment were elevated to the rank of deities. And until now, religion continues to play one of the main roles in modern politics. This is especially pronounced in Third World countries.
The reason for the weak development of many states of modern society is following religious and national traditions, which in ancient times were dictated by their geographical environment. This can explain the decline that we observe in Egyptian and Indian civilizations. The consequence of this process is the lag of these regions politically, culturally and economically.
In addition to territorial affiliation, international relations are also determined by the presence (absence) of natural resources. Thus, Africa has strategic importance for the entire global economy, as well as for the geopolitical interests of the United States. The main natural resource of this territory is oil. This component of the geographic environment defines both internal and external policies of the United States.
Highly developed countries have achieved a high level of technical and technological progress. Modern equipment allows the most efficient use of existing natural resources. This fact reduces the dependence of society on the geographical environment.
In Third World countries, population growth exceeds the development of technological progress. That is why the geographical environment has a significant influence on the life of society in such states. It is not surprising that natural disasters in such countries claim a large number of lives. This is due to the inability to make a timely forecast of natural disasters, which would make it possible to take measures and reduce the number of victims.
Hunger problem
Today, the world has accumulated significant food supplies. However, despite this, about fifty million people die of hunger every year. The vast majority of the undernourished population lives in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These are Third World countries whose economies are characterized by manual labor and primitive primitive technologies. The reason for this low level is the philosophy of the peoples living in these states. They still rely on the geographical environment and the limitlessness of its resources.
The role of nature for human society today
From all the above, we can conclude that people and the environment no longer have such close ties as in previous times. The role of the biosphere in the development of society at the present stage has decreased. This was made possible thanks to the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution.
But at the same time, there is a dependence of politics, economics, and also geopolitics of countries on the availability of mineral resources. The absence of these components necessary for human production makes us look for them in other places, sometimes even by aggressive methods. In addition, air, water and land fertility are important for populated areas. These facts indicate that the role of the geographical environment in the development of society is still one of the most important. And non-recognition of this fact can cause a real environmental disaster.
Geographical environment and human health
The state of our body is significantly affected by water and food. These components have different quality depending on their location. This is due to the presence or absence of certain chemical elements in them. Food and water of poor quality cause certain pathologies that are observed in the respective regions. So, people living in the Baltic states, Finland, Germany, as well as in the northwestern regions of Russia, lack such a chemical element as selenium. This causes a deterioration in the functioning of the heart muscle and the occurrence of myocardial infarction.
Everyone knows the healing effect that the nature of Crimea has on the human body . And this is due not only to a favorable climate, the noise of the surf and ionization of the air. The fact is that there is a lot of lithium in the soils of the Crimean peninsula. This element has a beneficial effect on the human nervous system, relieving mental stress.
People living in areas where the soil has an excess of cadmium often suffer from renal pathologies. They have a reduced amount of protein in the body, more often malignant neoplasms occur.
If in the human body there is an increased content of cadmium and lead, then this fact indicates brain poisoning. Scientists have found that in those regions where the soil is poor in cobalt, negative processes occur in the body of all domestic animals. Cows that do not receive this element lose weight. They lose their hair and skim milk.
When iodine deficiency is observed in the geographical environment, endemic goiter becomes one of the most common human diseases . This pathology, in turn, becomes the cause of hormonal dysfunctions and the thyroid gland. The most common goiter in North America and Central Asia, Belarusian Polesie and Holland. Known dental diseases such as caries and fluorosis cause bone destruction. The first of them appears with a lack of fluoride in food and water, and the second with an excess of this element.
With an increased nickel content in the soil (South Urals, Kazakhstan, etc.), a person experiences irritation of the epithelium and damage to the ocular cornea. Lack of molybdenum (Florida, New Zealand, Australia) causes a violation of nitrogen metabolism.
A negative effect on human health has a pollution of the geographical environment of his residence. Carbon monoxide, which is formed during the incomplete combustion of oil and coal, is toxic to our body. Its main “suppliers” are oil refineries and metallurgical plants, as well as transport. A person suffers from heavy metals accumulating along the roads. These include lead, which disrupts the synthesis of hemoglobin, brain and kidney function. Nickel and cadmium contribute to cancer.