GEOG 12 Wilderness, Culture and Environmental Conservation
The purpose of this course is to describe and examine the manifold ways that environmental alterations have occurred - over both geologic and historical timescales. Considerable research over the past several decades has shown that anthropogenic disturbance has significantly modified natural processes frequently leading to degraded conditions. The goal of the course is first to establish that shifts in climate, vegetation, and landscapes are "natural" and have occurred over geologic time and that the timing and magnitude of these shifts provides the necessary background to evaluate the type, magnitude, and frequency of anthropogenic disturbance. The second, and major theme is to present and examine the types of human-induced changes in biotic, atmospheric, and terrestrial conditions (e.g. logging, grazing, urbanization), and to evaluate the social and management issues resulting from these anthropogenic disturbances. Lastly, the third part of the course will focus on the human dimensions of global change by exploring the social aspects of environmental change. In the last part of the class, we will focus on how global environmental changes generate impacts at the local scale, and how small-scale transformations propagate into large-scale global environmental issues.