How and why do humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the world around them? Give an example of a group of humans that have either successfully adapted or failed to adapt.
2006-07-07 17:33:11 · 4 answers · asked by cancerman 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
Not to be trite, but its our nature. We aren't the only species that modifies its environment to best suit its requirements. Beavers and ants for example. However, I believe your question is more philosophical in nature. Perhaps you are trying to get at, "why do we mess with our environment for personal gain?" To answer that question I would offer simply that we can, and to improve our chances for "survival" we do so. Two examples? A successful civilization: Ancient Inca's (and other South American cultures) cultivated large tracts of what we now know to be "the rain forest." They did this to improve their quality of life. An unsuccessful civilization: the original inhabitants of Easter Island (the island with the big stone heads). They floated over via boat and grew exponentially. Their demand on natural resources was so great that they exhausted them. As a result, nearly all died from disease and hunger.
2006-07-07 18:55:09 · answer #1 · answered by Bamos 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Why do humans modify the world around them? To make it easier for them to live there. How do they do it? With things like irrigation, canals, planting windbreaks, building levees so a river doesn't flood, draining swamps, and so on. As to humans who have adapted - well, people live on just about every corner of the world, and a lot of these places aren't really suitable for human habitation. The Incas created terraces on the mountains and hauled up soil so they could farm in the Andes mountains. Swamps were drained in places like Washington, D.C. and Florida to get rid of water and mosquitoes and to clear land so people could live there. Modern farming techniques have made it so that 2% of the American population can farm and supply the entire nation with enough food, still having plently left to export. The list could go on and on.
2006-07-08 00:41:16 · answer #2 · answered by vu_crusader2002 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To suck out the rest of the earth resources!!! Next stop on the shuttle Mars!
2006-07-08 01:12:40 · answer #3 · answered by nnshking 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My initial reaction is to blame it on the so-called Laws of Thermodynamics.
2006-07-08 00:37:59 · answer #4 · answered by dexter_speare 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋