Caribbean Studies Part 1

Topic: Impact of the Geographical Phenomenon: Perspectives on the environment

Does the environment determine how a society and culture is formed? Or is it the society and culture which

creates the environment or both?

Traditional Geography

This emphasizes physical geography and the role that the landscape plays in influencing society and

culture. For example, the settlement patterns of the Lesser Antilles show relatively dense settlement on the

drier west coast, where the main towns are also found, because the north east trades bring heavy relief

rainfall to the east coasts, which are the first places where hurricanes make landfall.

Human and Cultural Geography

Human and cultural geography highlights that human beings impact and shape the landscape through

technology and scientific discovery, whereby people have been able to adapt to different environments for

human habitation and sustenance.

Postmodern Perspectives

This view suggests that the term “people “is not, a single neutral category. There are power relations in all

societies and that cultures inevitably affect how each group lays claim to the environment. For example, the

aboriginal people often create a geography that is very different from say, that of urbanized Caribbean

residents, but the latter tends to be more powerful than the other group.

Urbanized people are highly educated and wealthy and hence their view becomes dominant in shaping the

environment.

The post modern outlook emphasizes that the traditional category of the “environment “ is not a single

fixed entity in a primordial ( first created or developed) state of being “ untouched.”

What is regarded as “ the environment” is constantly changing, based on the historical interactions between

human beings and their space where they live.

Therefore, the post modern view hinges on how power relations in society and culture impact on the

environment as a social space.

Other Perspectives

The colonial experience suggests that human beings dominate and control the environment which is

different from the pre- Columbian inhabitants. For example the Native American Indians, Amerindians and

Australian Aboringines see their environment as sacred and one that is devoted to worship and left

mutually untouched. They are associated with stories, myths and legends.

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The Europeans on the other hand, used science and technology in controlling nature to provide more food,

better medicines and production tools that made manufacturing more efficient.

Environment Hazards

This has the potential to destroy human life and property for example, pollution, deforestation, mining,

household garbage, sewage ect. Hazards can become disasters

Environmental disaster

This cause grave destruction to human life and property for example, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes

and droughts.

Environmental degradation

This describes the loss of quality of air, land, water around us.

It describes soil that has its fertility, hillsides that are severely gullied, air that is full of emissions from

factories, rivers that have a reduced flow because the water is channeled away from human use, and a

reduction in the numbers of species of flora and fauna in the area.

This is caused by deforestation, pollution, mining and diverting rivers.

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ENVIRONMENT DEGRADATION

POLLUTION

Adding substances to the air, water and land contaminates the environment.

Rivers are impeded due to the growth of algae which flourishes on organic sewage.

Dumping garbage reduces the aesthetic value of the environment

DEFORESTATION

Increased soil erosion

Increases the incidence of flooding in the lowlands.

Land is left useless, carves into gullies and “badlands” topography

MINING

Open- cast mining, digging, blasting and quarrying leave patches and depression in the landscape increasing the risk of soil erosion.

Can lead to pollution when effluents and emissions are released into the environment.

DIVERTING RIVERS

Blocking and diverting of rivers often brings benefits to some areras but eventually reduce flow that may become choked and stagnant.

Rivers may also be diverted by dams and irrigation canals with similar effects

Plate Tectonics

The theory of plate tectonic states that the earth’s crust is composed of several large slabs or rigid crustal materials

and some smaller ones, which are in continuous movement.

The term TECTONIC refers to earth movements and so can be relevant to mountain building activities such as

folding or earthquake ( also call seismic activity), which results in faulting of rocks, or volcanism.

The plates move relatively to each other because of the convectional currents in the mantle.

The Caribbean plate id bordered on the Atlantic Plate in the east and its western margin lies off Central

America in the Pacific.

Plates move and adjoin other plates at their margins and boundaries

There are three kinds of plate margins, based on the nature of contact between the plates. These Plates are called

Divergent margins- this occurs when two plates move away from each other. Magma from the mantle

underneath the crust rise to the surface to cool and solidify at the plate boundary. This divergent boundary

is considered constructive since new crust is formed. ( found off the coast of Jamaica)

Convergent margins- along these margins plates collide and one plate rides over the other, forcing it

downwards into the seduction zone. The descending plate is crushed as it grinds together with the other

plate pushing over it. The friction generates tremendous heat; enough to melt the rock material becomes

molten. The many holes, crevices and cracks in the surface rocks allow some of the magma to flow back up

to the surface to form volcanoes. Along convergent margins the tremendous pressure generated by rocks

exerting great force against each other. ( Dominant in the Lesser Antilles)

Transform margins- this is where plates slide past each other pressure builds up in the rock in each plate

and earthquake activity results when the rock moves suddenly to relieve the stress.

Sources

1.Mohammad, Jeniffer. (2008). CAPE Caribbean Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Macmillan Publishers Limited.

2. _____ ( 2011) Caribbean Examination Council CAPE Caribbean Studies: Self Study Guide. Nelson Thornes

Questions

1. Explain the theory of “ Plate Tectonics” ( 2 marks)

2. Differentiate between the flowing plate movements:

(i) Convergent margin

(ii) Divergent margin

(iii) Transform ( Conservative) margin ( 6 marks)

3. What are the main activities which take place at each of the plate margins above? ( 3 marks)

4. Distinguish between an environmental hazard and an environmental disaster. ( 2 marks)

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