Standard 15: PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AFFECT HUMAN SYSTEMS Earth physical landscapes are wide-ranging and very diverse. Climates vary; soil types vary; vegetation varies; and topography varies across the planet Humans are remarkably resourceful and ingenious in the way they can modify the physical environment from which they come, and use it to their best ability. Some physical environments are suitable for agriculture and housing construction and are accessible in many ways. However, some physical environments are harsh and make life a bit of a challenge for people who live in there.

Arizona’s Topography and Precipitation

How do people organize their space to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the natural environment – good soil, abundant precipitation, moderate climate, and so on? It’s important to remember that humans are very capable and throughout history have modified and adapted to even some of the harshest environments to meet their daily needs.

The Trans-Alaska pipeline carries crude oil from Prudhoe Bay, above the Arctic Circle, south to the port of Valdez on Prince William Sound. The 800- mile route crosses three major mountain ranges, permafrost & earthquake-prone zones, & hundreds of rivers & streams. During construction, thousands of workers transformed Fairbanks, near the route's mid-point, from a sleepy outpost into a booming frontier town. How do humans mitigate some of the harsher characteristics of the physical environment serve their needs and make their physical locale livable?

Highland Aymara Indians in Peru and Bolivia. Sustainable farming techniques used at 12,000 feet above sea level, an altitude that typically does not support good agriculture.

Carrying Capacity – Resources & Population Growth An important geographic concept is that of the ‘carrying capacity’ of a place. Carrying Capacity means: How many people can be sustained in a given place, without incurring significant environmental degradation and ultimate ecological collapse. Earth’s physical, climatic, and environmental diversity provides many great examples that show how people and societies have understood the concept of carrying capacity, and have modified the physical world to increase its carrying capacity. Be cautious, though. Earth does have its limits. What’s the Human Population Carrying Capacity?

Life Style & Consumption Life styles and levels of consumption are two major factors that help to analyze the relationship between people and their environments. An important question to pose is: how can humans’ actions and decisions about the way they live their lives in terms of consumption, energy and water conservation, land use, and so on, affect the carrying capacity of a given place? Voluntary Simplicity

Right: How did early inhabitants survive Arizona’s heat before air conditioning? They built houses with thick adobe mud bricks, a great insulation. And they hung wet sheets outside on their patios on hot nights to serve as rudimentary evaporative cooling systems, and earlier by dwelling in caves on the mountain sides. Left: Early Arizona Hohokam Indians built canals that provided irrigation for their crops. Today, modern human technology has facilitated human habitation in some of the most remote and inhospitable physical environments. In the days before high tech, we also see very creative and advanced ways that people have employed to facilitate their survival & livlihoods.

Hurricane Katrina – Aug. 29, 2005

By Elizabeth Larson, PhD Lecturer, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, 2011