Human Environment interaction

navigation Mau Piailug – 1976; used a Polynesian-style canoe to sail to Hawaii and back Taught people how to navigate using traditional methods Transportation methods vary based on region Camel, horses, wagons, ships Navigation methods include using stars and charts made of sticks and shells 1800s – adopted European methods Voyaging canoes and outrigger canoes

Invasion of the Rabbits European colonizers bring animals to Australia, including rabbits In 1859, Thomas Austin releases 24 rabbits into Australia to hunt − one pair can have 184 descendents in 18 months − Australia has over one billion rabbits by 1900 Rabbits strip sparse vegetation, ruin sheep pastures, cause erosion − resulting lack of food endangers native animals Continued…

Invasion of the Rabbits Control Measures Efforts are made to control number of rabbits − import foxes to prey on them, but foxes also endanger native wildlife In 1950s, they’re intentionally infected with myxomatosis; 90% die − ranches then able to support twice as many sheep − rabbits become immune to disease; back to 300 million by 1990s Today a combination of poisons, diseases, fences are used

Nuclear arms race between U.S., USSR begins in the 1940s Nuclear Testing Tests in Bikini Atoll Nuclear arms race between U.S., USSR begins in the 1940s − U.S. conducts 66 nuclear bomb tests on Bikini, Enewetak atolls − atoll—ringlike coral island, or islands, surrounding a lagoon Marshall Islands’ Bikini Atoll is far from shipping, air routes “Bravo” hydrogen bomb test vaporizes several islands − radiation contamination injures or sickens many islanders Continued…

Bikini Islanders moved to the island of Kili in 1948 Nuclear Testing Long-Term Effects Bikini Islanders moved to the island of Kili in 1948 − conditions there don’t allow them to fish or grow enough food U.S. declares Bikini safe in late 1960s, some islanders return − in 1978, doctors find dangerous radiation levels in islanders − islanders leave again Cleanup of Bikini Atoll begins in 1988 − still unknown when Bikini will be suitable for humans again

Complete the chart Cause Effect Construction of Canoes Rabbit population (explosion and reduction) Nuclear testing in the region