1. Where in the World Wednesday?
Where is this?
What is it called?
How is this an example of HEI?
Would you drive on this road?

2. Human-Environment Interaction
Latin America

3. Human Environment Interaction
Demonstrates how people change themselves or their environment to allow themselves a better life.
HEI in Latin America is based mostly around 3 major categories:
Agriculture
Urbanization
Tourism

4. Agriculture Reshapes the Environment
Native peoples were the first in the Western Hemisphere to change the environment to grow food
Vertical zonation plays a role
Elevation changes where you can grow certain crops

5. Terraced Farming
Terraced Farming: ancient technique for growing crops on hillsides or mountain slopes
Farmers cut step- like horizontal fields into hillsides and slopes
Reduces soil erosion
Inca of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico used terrace farming

6. Slash-and-Burn
Slash-and-burn: cut trees, brush, and grasses and burned the debris to clear the field
Effective in humid and tropical areas
Exhausts soil over time

7. Destruction of the Rain Forests
In order to be able to survive, many people have started to tear down the rainforests.
Reasons cited include:
Demands for hardwoods
Cattle grazing
Farming

8. Debt for Nature Swap
Some forms of HEI are considered to be more harmful to the environment than they are beneficial to the people.
Many nations in L.A. are in economic strife
They have two options to fix their economic issues:
Tear up the environment more so they can grow crops, create factories, etc
Ask first world (developed) nations for financial assistance- which means going in debt.
Dismissal of countries foreign debt in exchange for their conservation of natural resources and physical features
Has prompted several nations to begin other environmentally-friendly efforts

9. Urbanization
Throughout Latin America, people are moving from rural areas to the cities
Leave farms and villages to find jobs and a better life
Cities have grown so fast that the region is as urban as Europe or North America

10. Tourism
Millions of tourists visit the resorts of Latin America every year
New hotels, restaurants, boutiques, and other businesses pop up in the Caribbean and Mexico
Tourists spend lots of money in the region
Many jobs have been created for local residents to serve these tourists
Lots of resentment in areas of tourism- crime rates are high
Unfair look at a nation

11. From Country to City
Push Factors: Poor medical care & education, low-paying jobs
Pull Factors: Higher paying jobs, better education & medical care
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay are the most highly urbanized countries in South America
85% live in cities
Largest cities in the region includes Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogota, Santiago
Most populous city is Mexico City
18-20 million people in the city alone
30 million in the greater metropolitan area

12. Problems with Growing Cities
Slums spread over larger urban areas
Unemployment and crime increase
High levels of air pollution from cars and factories
Governments cannot afford to handle population increases
Infrastructure: Includes things such as sewers, transportation, electricity, and housing

13. Favelas Shanty towns in Brazil
As people moved from rural areas into cities, they often had no place to live and settled in these slums