REM 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Conspicuous Consumption, Power Machines, Malnutrition

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Resource & Environmtl Mgmt
• Course: REM 100
• Professor: John Irwin

Document Summary

Simplification of natural ecosystems to a smaller number of domesticated species. The invention of agriculture and herding allowed for higher human population densities. Agricultural surpluses allowed for specialisation, political organization and the development of urban elites. However, sometimes high population densities led to overexploitation of resources and the collapse of the cultures dependent on the: ex. Indus valley, mesopotamia, mayans, khmers, anasazi, easter island. Although they transformed the landscape, most agrarian societies were ecologically sustainable: farming methods evolved to limit environmental degradations. Crop rotation: population density was relatively low high proportion of population was rural. A massive change in the social and economic organization of western societies over the last 500 years that has had a profound effect on the global environment. The replacement of labour-intensive craft-based and cottage industries with machine-based factories. Initially powered by water, later by stem engines fuelled by coal.