AP Human Geography | Module 4: Human-Environmental Interaction

ecology

biological science concerned with studying the complex relationships among living organisms and their physical environments

cultural ecology

the study of the interaction between societies and their local environmental

ecosystem

territorially bounded system consisting of the interaction between humans and the environment. systems can be affected by individuals and by larger scale political, economies, and social forces

environmental perception

mental images that compromise humans’ perception of nature, that may be accurate or inaccurate.

natural hazards

a physical danger present in the environment, such as a flood, hurricane, volcanic, eruption, and earthquake

tsunami

a huge ocean wave produce by the displacement of a large volume of water, often cause by an earthquake

natural resources

material are substance that occur in nature and can be uses for economic gain

non-renewable resources

natural resources that are available on earth are finite quantities and will eventually be used up

renewable resources

natural resources that the earth will naturally replenish over time

greenhouse gases

compounds in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, such as carbon dioxide (co2) , that absorb and trap heat energy close to earth surface

greenhouse effect

the global warming trend caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide (co2)

environmental determinism

the belief that the physical environmental is the dominant force shaping cultures and that humanity is a passive produce of its physical surroundings

possibilism

belief that any physical environment offers a number of possible way for a society to develop and that humans can find ways to overcome environmental challenges. the belief that the greater society’s level of technologies advancement, the greater number of possibilities and the weaker