FIGURE6 Port Douglas, 60 km north of Cairns, has always been a busy area, ýrst as a mining region and port and later as a tourist destination.
Environmental change can occur over short or long periods of time. Technology can result in rapid change — think of the explosions at a mining site that reveal mineral seams. The degree of change occurring can be used to predict, or plan for, actual or preferred futures. What is environment? People live in and depend on the environment. It has an important inþuence on our lives. The environment is the physical and biological world around us. It supports and enriches human and other life by providing raw materials and food, absorbing and recycling wastes, and being a source of enjoyment and inspiration to people.
SkillBuilder discussion Communicating 1. What environmental changes have occurred in the diagram? 2. Consider your environment. How is it changing?
FIGURE7 The process of shifting cultivation alters the environment that is being farmed.
A clearing is made by cutting and burning vegetation. This is known as ‘slash and burn’.
Crops are planted and grow well.
The clearing is abandoned as farmers move to a new area. As a result the clearing gradually recovers and returns to its natural state.
After 3–4 years the nutrients in the soil have been used up and the crops don’t grow as successfully.
TOPIC8 Geographical concepts and skills 233
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