ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
When you think about a classroom, it’s easy to forget that everything from the chairs to the electricity comes from natural resources. Those resources go through a chain of human activities, like logging, manufacturing, and distribution, before they become the finished goods we use.
Human activities have a significant impact on the environment, sometimes even changing natural features like river patterns or weather conditions. This shows that while nature shapes human life, humans also shape nature in return. For instance, cutting down trees in a particular area may increase the likelihood of floods downstream.
The way natural resources are used is often determined by who owns them. Let’s say the government owns a forest. It can choose to either protect the forest or lease it to companies for logging. This is a way social structures play a huge role in environmental management.
Social and cultural values also influence how we interact with the environment. In a capitalist society, nature is often seen as something to profit from. In contrast, some religious or spiritual beliefs may encourage people to protect certain lands or animals, considering them sacred.
Managing the environment is not an easy task, especially as technologies become more complex. We live in a world where the activities and technologies we don’t fully understand can sometimes lead to disasters, like industrial accidents or nuclear meltdowns.