Thesis: The use of fossil fuel products elicited concerns over its benefits and impact of environment, which has resulted in the search of effective solutions.
Relationship of Geography and History
Geography refers to the study of humankind and its relationship with other species and features in the earth. It involves the analysis of land, its inhabitants, and the features within the environment. The discipline is related to history in different ways with respect to the presentation of life and the environment.
As such, geography is the elemental nature of matching plants and animals, which have mutual relationship. The plants make food through photosynthesis while animals feed on plants. During the process of photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen that is required by the animals. On the other hand, animals release out carbon dioxide that is used by plants to make their foods. When plants and animals die, the cycle of natural balance is repeated since the death of fauna and flora forms the earth fossils (Robbs 1).
Geography has an impact on the history of evolution of the earth. The evolution of the human species, Homo sapiens, is believed to have taken place over a thousand years. The history of fossils shows that human species shifted from one region to the other in search of favorable conditions. The migration from one environment to the other led to alteration of features that existed in the regions as well as development of adaptations for the region.
Some of the geographical and historical events that relates to humanity are addressed in the Ice age, domestication and the agricultural development, which was in line with the human species evolution. During the agricultural era, farmers produced surpluses from their farm production. The agricultural revolution led to emergence of merchandise products, which contributed to development of trade in all levels of classes.
At first, humans cultivated plants before they could tame animals since plants offered the required food. On the other hand, the animals could contribute to the environment through production of manure necessary for increasing nutrients in the soil. For this reason, it can be concluded that the mutual relationship between plants and animals has been significant from the ancient times, and as such, it has led to formation of fossils.
Process of economic growth
When the fossil fuel bubble stimulated the economic growth, the class structure was hierarchical. The priests and military leaders occupied the upper class, and for that reason, they enjoyed all privileges and controlled other people. The middle class were the merchants and artisans, who had valuable skills for growth and development of the communities.
The lowest class included the farmers, who had the biggest population, and in most cases, served other groups of the society. The specialization in agricultural activities led to production of farm surpluses, which allowed economic growth. Through surplus production, the agricultural revolution led to increase in population and emergence of class structures, which enhanced profitability due to specialization in the entire economy.
The level of status and prestige attributed to an individual during the economic growth was essential since conflicts between communities were common, and for that reason, the conquerors enslaved other classes (Robbs 1). The specialization in trade also enabled the successful classes to be profitable, which enhanced their control and influence. At the same time, the military leaders and priest played a significant role in resolving conflicts and protecting the artisans and farmers.
World population growth since 1650
The growth of world population is influenced by productivity intensity and accessibility of food. During 1650, the population was estimated to be 500,000 million. In the 17th century, a timeline of 1600 – 1699, which was a time of changes in philosophy and science, population drastically rose.
By 1900, the population had risen to 1.6 billion, which marked a three times increase in comparison to the previous stage. This was facilitated by the civilization and technological advancement of the world. In the year 2000, the population had still risen to 6.1 billion after a century. The population of humans was big, and as such, it had negative impacts on other species.
During the 2010 statistics, the global population was estimated to be 7.0 billion. The enlargement in the growth rate of human population is attributed to the improvement of standards of living. Consequently, labor has become cheap while business cycles continue to influence economies. However, the governments are also involved in the regulation and management of industrial activities. The population growth since 1650 to 2010 is shown on the table below.
During the 20th century, the population growth was very high. Population grew because of the food availability while the surplus was directed to trade. Essentially, trading centers had high population density. In the last decade, labor reduction and high standards of living has stabilized the population. However, initiatives are still needed to control the growth rate of population.
Fossil fuel bubble and its relationship to the Industrial Revolution
Fossil fuel bubble is the excessive accumulation of fossils beneath the earth surface for over millions of years. Some of these fossil fuels include coal, oil and the natural gases, which are created as the earth’s rocks rest on the remains of death plants and animals. The inflating time of fossils cannot be measured but it is estimated to be over a thousand of years.
The fossil fuel was essential for the industrial revolution since they were a major source of energy. In the 21st Century, the population growth is very high and industrialization is crucial in the entire world. Most sources of energy are coal, oil and the natural gases. For this reason, fossil fuels increases productivity, which leads to low costs of production and improved standards of living.
Over time, fossil fuels have been utilized in industries to meet the needs of people. It is known that coal energy has been significant in the replacement of wood fuel. On the other hand, oil and natural gases have contributed immensely to the depletion of natural resources since they are highly demanded in the world.
These forms of energy form a crucial component of the economy since it influences productivity. In the 21st Century, the consumption of the fossil products has reached its peak because most industries rely on them. However, it is crucial to reduce their impacts on the environment (Robbs 1).
Relationship between the fossil fuel bubble and climate change
Fossil fuel bubble was used in the industrial growth period to produce energy for production processes. The utilization of the source of energy had some impacts on earth with respect to climate change, land destruction, and depletion of natural resources.
Before the introduction of fossil fuel, wood fuel was used to produce energy through burning. The destruction of forests caused shortage in rainfall, and thus, caused climate change. For this reason, people were forced to look for alternative sources of energy to meet their ever-rising needs.
Prior to industrialization, humans utilized their physical strength and animals to undertake agriculture and transportation activities. On the other hand, wood, wind, and water were later harnessed to produce energy required for economic activities.
These energy sources were readily available to meet the needs of a relatively small population. The sources of energy could be regenerated in a short period. However, Industrialization led to the consideration of fossil fuels as an important source of energy. Initially, coal was adopted since it was an effective source of energy compared to wood in the economy.
Wood was needed for homes and transportation especially for sea vessels and trains. Although there was adequate coal for exploitation, the ground water limited the capacity to mining it. Consequently, people were forced to look for alternative sources of energy that were locally available and friendly to the environment. As a result, it led to the development of steam energy.
The utilization of fossil fuel causes emission of greenhouse gases, which leads to climate change. The long-term solution to the climate change is alternatives sources of energy such as solar energy, geothermal, hydroelectric or wind energy, which are renewable and environmental friendly.
In the western civilization, it is vital to incorporate the alternative sources of energy to minimize global warming. On the other hand, the alternative sources of energy are affordable and sensible in utilization of natural resources. As a result, the environment would be protected while the economic activities would flourish. At the same time, the negative effects of energy through radioactivity can be minimized.
The implications for the future of western civilization
The western civilization represents the educative time that altered the traditional practices and infrastructure. Through use of creativity and innovation, new technologies have been developed for industrial growth. The first source of energy that was used in the industry was coal.
However, steam engines were later incorporated, which drove the turbines to produce energy. The world civilization in the 21st century set stage for invention of the nuclear energy. Despite the energy producing safe carbon dioxide, the future risk of poor storage of the energy will lead to radioactivity, which is very dangerous to the whole world.
Although nuclear energy is environmental friendly due to lack of greenhouse gases emission, it presents many problems, which indicates that it is not a sensible alternative to fossil fuels. Over time, there have been chief events that clearly portrayed nuclear energy is not a safe source of energy. Some of incidents that portrayed its disastrous consequences include the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, the hydrogen explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear facility in Russia, and the interruption of the Japan by a tsunami.
The lack of proper storage of nuclear energy in the western civilization can lead to catastrophic radioactive emissions. Energy is an important element in all aspects of life, and for that reason, there are different types of energy in the history of the world, which have been salient since industrialization to the civilization of the world.
The fossil fuel bubble was the important source of energy in the evolution of the world activities. In this regard, they have been significant sources of energy for over thousands of years that have not been fully exploited.
Works Cited
Robbs, T. “Fossil Fuel Bubble .” Sources of Energy 1 (2011): n. pag. Web.