COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT
COMPONENTS OF
ENVIRONMENT
Environment
comprises number of factors that interact with each other in some or other way
so that keep the planet earth alive and support life on earth. If we closely
look at these factors they form the components of the environment. These
components can be grouped as Abiotic or non-living and Biotic or living
components.
1. Abiotic or Non-living Components:
a) Location : The term Location in Geography has been used since very early days of Romans and Greeks. This term is derived from the Latin word locus, meaning place. It is a relative term. It expresses relative occurrence of space.
The
location of a country becomes one of the most prime factors that influence the
range of human activities that will develop in that country. Location primarily
has an influence on climate. Location is looked upon either as absolute
location or as relative location. Absolute location is referred in terms of
latitudes and longitudes. For example, India's location is 8° 4' 28" and
37° 17' 53" North latitudes and 68° 7' 3" and 97° 24' 47" East
Longitudes. It gives us an idea about any country's products, people and level of
economic and commercial development. Relative location is mentioned with
reference to some other reference like a country or a natural or man-made
feature. Relative location of the country can be studied in different ways
i) Location in Terms of Its
Relation to Water Bodies and Land Areas : Countries located near the sea have
maritime location. With the help of this type of location we get an idea about
continental and maritime activities of the country. There are different types
of maritime locations. They are (i) Insular, (ii) Peninsular, (iii) Isthmian
and (iv) Littoral. Maritime location gives direct, access to the world market
for finished products and raw materials. There are a number of other advantages
of maritime location. Coastal waters provide rich harvest of fish, salt and
petroleum etc. In addition to these advantages, maritime countries enjoy more
pleasant climate which keeps people active. Of all the maritime locations,
insular location is most advantageous since it provides advantages for import
of raw materials and export of finished products.
ii) Continental Location : Countries which are
located away from the sea in the interior parts of the continents have,
continental location. e.g. Afghanistan, Mongolia, Poland etc. Since such
countries are away from the sea and surrounded by land from all sides, contacts
with other countries are limited. Extreme climate of continenta countries
affects productive activities. Overall effect of this is seen in their economic
backwardness and poor development of international trade.
iii. Location in Relation
to Transport Lines :
There can be two types of locations in relation to transport lines. They are :
• Focal Location : Whenever two or more than
two trade routes converge or cross, it is said to have focal location. For example,
Chicago in U.S.A. (Fig. 1.2) and Thane, Pune, Ahmednagar, (Fig. 1.1) Kolhapur
and Mumbai in Maharashtra. Focal location is the best location for the
development of manufacturing industries and trade since two roads or railways
cross each other. Thane is the best example of focal location. It was just an
ordinary village of fishermen. Today, it has become one of the important
industrial and trade centres of India. Two national highways and a railway that
passes through this town has made it easily accessible to different parts of
India.
• Portal Location : The location of a coastal
site, possessing a harbour, at which ships call to load and unload goods is
known as portal location. For example, Mumbai, (Fig. 1.4), New York (Fig. 1.3).
Such portal locations are very important for the development of internal and
international trade.
b) Topography : Physical features of a region like mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc. form the topography. These factors of environment influence the development of economic activities.
i) Mountains : Mountain regions have
remained economically backward. Agriculture is not much developed due to
limited level land and rapid soil erosion. Due to lack of transport and
communication facilities and undulating nature of the terrain, human
settlements are limited and manufacturing industries are not developed.
Mountains offer limited opportunities for primitive activities, such as, fruit
gathering, animal rearing, shifting agriculture etc. However, mountains are
store houses of minerals and forests. Around the mountains which are accessible
to densely populated industrial regions, mining and lumbering activities are
well developed. These mountain products move to the plains and thus trade is
developed to some extent.
With a rapid revolution in transport
and communication technology, research in plant growth and animal breeding and
agriculture, many mountainous regions which were considered hopeless for the
development of economic and commercial activities have become very useful for
man. Today, most of the plantation crops like rubber, tea, coffee etc. are
cultivated along the lower slopes of some mountains and tourism in tropical
countries has developed in the areas of high mountains.
ii) Plains : Plains occupy about 55 per
cent of the land area and support nearly 90 per cent of the world's population.
The concentration of population in plains is mainly because of fertility of
soil, level land, presence of a number of rivers and well developed transport
facilities. Since transport and communication facilities are well developed and
different raw materials are easily available, a number of manufacturing
industries are also well developed. The development of both, agriculture and
manufacturing industries helps to develop trade. Foodgrains and manufactured
products from plains move to mountains and minerals and wood move to the
plains. Thus, trade between plain regions and mountainous region always well
developed atleast for certain commodities.
iii) Plateaus : Rolling or flat land at
higher elevation is known as plateau. Development of economic and commercial
activities on plateau depends upon their location, climate, natural vegetation
and the availability of mineral and power resources.
A plateau which is located in the
interior part of a continent, the climate is cool and dry. Grazing and dry
farming are the only economic activities of man. Agriculture is only on
subsistent basis. Only surplus animal products are available for trade. For
example, Plateaus of N. America, Central Asia etc.
Plateaus located near coastal areas,
enjoy hot and humid climate. On such plateaus, plantation crops like coffee,
tea, sugarcane etc. can be well developed and exported to many other countries.
For example, Deccan plateau of India, plateau of East Africa etc.
The plateaus of S. Africa and Brazil
are rich in mineral and power resources. They export this mineral wealth to
European countries and N. America.
c) Climate : Of all the factors of the
environment, climate is the most fundamental factor. Climate influences
practically all the dimensions of human life, ranging from man's physical and
mental abilities to the choice of his activities. Human settlements, capacities
to undertake work, soil types, vegetation types, etc. are all affected by
climate. Climate is that factor of our physical environment which has a
profound effect on economic development and activities of man. Climate is the
sum total of the atmospheric conditions experienced over any region during a
long period of time.
Climate and Activities : Activities of man are
greatly influenced by climate. Certain activities are found only in certain
climatic region. For example, hunting, fishing, collection of wild fruits and
primitive agriculture are the important activities of equatorial region,
hunting is the main activity of tropical grassland region, wheat cultivation,
fruit farming, wine manufacturing etc. are the activities of Mediterranean
region, agriculture is the most important activity of man in monsoon region,
lumbering and trapping of animals is well developed in coniferous forest
region, while in tundra and deserts, due to very harsh environmental
conditions, the scope for the development of human activities is very limited.
The
soil types also differ from region to region, and are greatly influenced by
climate. Agricultural decisions when to grow, how to grow, what to grow are
influenced by the climate. For example, Rubber cannot be grown anywhere else
other than the tropical countries or wheat can be grown worldwide but the time
of cultivating wheat is different.
Climate and Transport : Climate also affects the
development of transport facilities. In the areas of heavy rain, road and railway
tracks are often flooded. River transport is also disrupted due to floods. Air
transport becomes very difficult in stormy and cloudy or fogy weather
conditions. In polar areas, water in ports and harbours is frozen, in Himalayan
region due to heavy snowfall, roads are covered with snow which has to be
removed with the help of dredgers.
Climate and Markets : Distribution of population
is greatly affected by the types of climate. Areas of extreme climate are the
areas of low density of population and the areas of mild climate are the areas
of high density of population. Due to this, the distribution of population on
the surface of the earth is very uneven. In other words, the distribution of
needs and wants is uneven. Densely populated countries of Europe import wheat
from U.S.A. and Canada or Pakistan and China imports rice from Myanmar and
Thailand. Due to cold winters in Europe and N. America, demand for woollen
clothing is very high and therefore, these areas import raw wool from Australia
and South Africa.
There
is a good relationship between climate and development of some tertiary
activities like tourism industry. To escape from the severe cold of winter
season many people from N. Europe and N. America go to spend their vacation in
the sunny climate of the Southern part of these continents. In tropical areas,
many rich people go to hill stations like Matheran, Mahabaleshwar, Simla or
Ooty.
d) Size and Shape of a
Country : Large-sized countries like the U.S.A., Canada,
Russia, China or India are likely to have a wider range of resources. Owing to
their large size, they might posses a larger diversity in their geological and
geographical conditions. Larger and more diverse the resource base more is the
possibility of economic growth and development.
On
the other hand, a country may have a fragmented, elongated or compact shape. A
compact country can have all its economic development as the co-ordination of
its various resources becomes easy. On the other hand, if it is fragmented it
will hinder the development and that too which will be uneven. A country having
a great longitudinal extent or elongated shape like in the case of Chile or
Peru, may face problems of political control and integration. A fragmented
country like the Philippines also faces problems of overall balanced
development.
e) Coastline: Among the different modes of transport, water transport is the cheapest. Most of the world trade is carried out by water transport. Therefore the nature of coastline is an important geographical factor influencing international trade of any country. Coastlines may be (i) Broken and Smooth or Indented and Regular and (ii) Low and High.
The
development of ports and harbours for international trade depends upon the
nature of coastline. Broken coastline encourages the development of natural
ports and harbours. When a coastline is broken, there are a number of bays and
headlands. Headlands help to reduce the force of wind and waves. Water in bay
is, therefore, calm, which is essential for launching ships and also for
loading and unloading of cargo. Coastline of many West European countries,
Japan and N. America is broken and has encouraged the development of a number
of natural ports and harbours to develop international trade. On the
other hand, smooth or regular coastlines are directly exposed to strong winds
and powerful sea waves. This discourages the development of natural ports and
harbours. The coastline of Africa, S. America and India is smooth. There are a
very few good natural ports and harbours. Their international trade is also not
very well developed.
Low
coastlines have deep water and high coastlines have shallow water near the coast.
Therefore, low coastlines are better for the development of ports and harbours
than high coastlines. Coastline of West European countries is low and hence a
number of ports and harbours are well developed, on the other hand, coastline
of S. African countries is high and hence few natural ports and harbours.
f) Minerals : Minerals are the most
unevenly distributed resource on the Earth's surface. Some countries possess
large amounts of the world's known deposits of minerals and power resources,
while others are completely devoid of those particular minerals e.g. 75% of the
world's coal reserves are concentrated in the U.S.A and Western Europe, about
90% of the world's oil reserves are found in the U.S.A. and Middle-Eastern
countries. This uneven distribution of minerals and power resources has led to
large-scale trade in mineral and power resources.
The areas with rich mineral deposits
have attracted large number of people, from distant places to areas which were
considered to be less suitable for human settlement. The economies of Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq are entirely dependent on oil exports:
g) Soils : Different types of soils
are found in different regions. Soil is a governing factor in raising a
particular crop e.g. black cotton soils are suitable for cotton, tobacco, etc.
alluvial soils for sugarcane, jute, rice, etc. The fertility of soil controls
the quality and quantity of a particular crop e.g. Alluvial soil in the Nile
delta is good for cotton or Virginia tobacco grown in the sandy loam soil in
South-Eastern parts of U.S.A. As a result, Egypt exports cotton and U.S.A
exports tobacco. The permafrost soils of the Tundra are not useful for
agricultural practices.
The
Natural vegetation and animal life are the two most important factors of the
living or biotic environment.
a) Natural Vegetation: The vegetation cover is directly dependent
on climate. Natural vegetation provides us with timber, wood, fruits, etc.
Lumbering is an important activity in the areas of softwood coniferous regions.
It has also helped to develop paper and pulp industry, and shipbuilding
industry. On the other hand, in the regions of tropical hardwood forest, the
scope for the development of economic activities is very limited on account of
the nature of wood, unhealthy climate, lack of transport facilities, etc.
b) Animal Life: Hunting and fishing are amongst the oldest
occupations: of man. From time immemorial, native animal life of the lands have
been hunted for food, clothing and other materials, likewise, from wherever man
has lived by sea, lakes and rivers, fishing has developed. Both occupations
require direct adjustment to the environmental conditions.
Hunting
and fishing are still the primary occupations of several tropical parts of the
world. Today, commercial grazing and commercial fishing are the leading
occupations in the extensive temperate grasslands and coastal regions of the
temperate latitudes.
Thus,
various factors of the natural environment exert considerable influence on the
production of various goods and the commodities and pattern of economic and
commercial activities of man. The development of internal, inter-regional and
international trade is deeply rooted in the variations in various environmental
factors.
B. HUMAN OR
ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENT
When we examine the ascent of man, we find that initially
he was subordinate to Nature. The sheer necessity for survival made him look
around for tools and weapons or aids to increase his power and efficiency.
Nature with her inherent resistance, posed tremendous difficulties for man to
progress. But with superior intellect, man ultimately won the struggle with the
aid of culture, which not only strongly changed his physical existence but also
helped him to flourish. According to Zimmermann, culture is the sum total of
all the devices produced by man, with the aid, advice and consent of Nature, to
assist him in the attainment of his objectives. Natural Environment determines
the extent of opportunities but to what extent these opportunities are
exploited and used by man depends on the level of technological, cultural, economic and
social changes, Government attitudes, population, etc.
Sometimes, even thickly-populated
regions with high per capita income restrict trade in particular commodities,
as in the case of the Middle-Easi countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain,
etc. ban trade in wine, as it is prohibited by their religion or India for
instance, has not developed beef cattle, in spite of the highest number of
cattle population in the world, as cattle is considered as holy animal.
b) Political Environment : A Government plays a significant role in promoting people's welfare through economic development. The political condition prevailing in a country directly affects the flow of commerce of that country. The countries of the world follow different political systems such as Democratic, Communist, Dictatorial, etc. The countries following the same political system form a Trade Block to regulate their trade and get more benefits from international trade, e.g. EEC, LAFTA, WTO, G-7, OPEC, etc. Formation of such groups helps to reduce unhealthy competition amongst the members and stimulate commerce.
The countries with stable political
conditions can develop their domestic and international trade. The countries
with internal political conflicts and external wars, etc. find it difficult to
export their goods e.g. recent political crisis in the former Russia had
created tremendous shortage of commodities or the political crisis in the
Middle-East created major oil crisis. The Government policies of taxation,
quota system, assistance for the development of industries also determines the
economic development and political environment of the country.
c) Economic and Technological Environment : The development of science and technology has raised the position of man from being at the mercy of Nature to the one who can exploit its resources systematically. Man has overcome the barriers of the environment and today, can produce certain goods in the areas that were unsuitable for their production. He has converted the temperate grasslands into areas producing wheat and corn on a large scale, by the use of sophisticated machinery, which does the entire farm work from ploughing to harvesting. This also requires large capital investment. He has also extended his search for mineral resources to deep-sea beds and to Polar Regions. All this was possible due to the availability of huge capital and technological development.
The
development of infrastructure is also greatly influenced by the availability of
capital and technology. Infrastructure forms the backbone of any economy.
Therefore, development of manufacturing, trade and commerce is dependent on
this infrastructure which requires capital and technological advancement in the
form of communication facilities, speedy transport, banking, etc. from above we
have understood so far, it is clear that human race is entirely dependent of
its natural environment for its survival. But so far, except in theory, man has
shown no apparent signs of respecting his environment. He has been considering
the Earth as an unlimited storehouse of resources that will support man for an
indefinite period.
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