Sunday, November 27, 2016

Geography Theme of Human-Environment Interaction

Geography Theme of Human-Environment Interaction

The Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, many people are constantly interacting with their environment because much of the country is tropical jungle with a large amount of vegetation. The weather conditions of the tropical environment also affect the humans that live there in different ways. Many people in the Dominican Republic have been having to adapt to the biophysical environment primarily due to global climate change. The Caribbean is coastal therefore making it very susceptible to the sea level rise that is caused by the increase in the global temperature melting the sea ice. When the sea level rises many people have to move farther from the coast, and potentially lose much of their livlihood because of the sea level rise. "The Dominican Republic is taking climate change seriously, from grass-roots organizing among fishermen in a remote area of the country’s frontier, to government actions aimed at adapting to a warmer world. Pilot projects underway here could be used as examples of climate adaptation as other vulnerable Caribbean countries begin to feel the effects of global warming," (Lewis). Sea Level Rise The local agriculture is greatly affected by the sea and the salt water interference. Humans also modify their environment to achieve objectives, in the case of the Dominican Republic, much of the tropical forests have been cut down for industrial use. Deforestation has been a large part in how humans interact with the environment of the Dominican Republic. Deforestation is a natural resource extraction that is beneficial for human use but hurts the ecosystems and biodiversity within an environment. Also, pollution is another way humans have modified the environment for their own use, humans consume so much and much of the population's waste ends up in the environment, and this modifies how clean the area is and affects the the population and wildlife. Human Influences on Environment in the Dominican Republic. People in the Dominican Republic are also uses politics as a way to promote the reduction of biodiversity loss within the country. People are also working towards saving endangered animals, regulating deforestation, and replanting more vegetation.
(Image via america.aljazeera.com)



Haiti
Haitian people are very affected by their environment, but have a large influence on it as well. In Haiti, humans have adapted to the biophysical environment due to environmental changes brought about by global climate change. Due to Haiti also being an island in the Caribbean, it also has the problem of sea levl rise. Sea level ride has cause many people in Haiti to move inland and away from the ocean so that their homes and businesses are not at risk for being destroyed by harsher weather such as more intense storms and hurricanes, that are mire intense because of the increase of water in the ocean. Environmental Impacts from Climate Change. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was also an example of the environment's effects on humans, when the earthquake happened, many people were forced to adapt because much of the country was destroyed. Haiti is also a place where humans modify their environment. Haiti is similar to the Dominican Republic in that it is also suffering from deforestation at a rapid rate. Humans are using the developing nation of Haiti as an inexpensive place to deforest and use for industrialization. Haiti also has a problem with pollution caused by humans, the oceans surrounding the country are polluted and the land is polluted from chemicals used in the industrial farming that occurs in the deforested areas. Humans also percieve the environment as something needing attention and in Haiti they are working towards planting more trees to counteract the rapid deforestation rates, and they have preserved areas for national parks. Environment in Haiti. Many people have a hopeful attitude in preserving the environment in Haiti, and want to sustain it.


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