EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Mountains 101
Zac Robinson, University of Alberta
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Why do Mountains Matter? Notes taken on March 27, 2017 by Edward Tanguay |
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why mountains matter
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important in almost every country
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compose one quarter of the world's surface
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one quarter of the world's population live in or close to mountains
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mountain ecosystems
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almost all world's major rivers have their head waters in mountains
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more than half of the world's population relies on the fresh water that collects in mountainous regions
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drinking water
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domestic use
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industry
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transportation
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hydro power from mountain water sheds make up nearly 20% of the world's entire electricity supply
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mountain forests
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provide millions of timber and other products
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capture and store rainfall and moisture
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maintain water supply
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regulate river flow
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reducing erosion and down stream sedimentation
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geological forces
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raised mountains up
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concentrated assemblages of minerals
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mountain mines are a major source of the worlds ores and precious metals
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hot spots for biodiversity
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provide habitats that support and sustain a large variety of different species
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increasing altitudes create a dense juxtaposition of differing ecological communities
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can range radically from dense tropical jungles to hard glacial ice with just a few kilometers
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many mountains can be thought of as islands
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rise above the vast plains of human transformed landscapes
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many plants and animals are endemic to mountain regions
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evolved in isolation over millennia to inhabit specialized alpine environments
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function as biological corridors connecting isolated habitats or protected areas
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allowing species the critical space they need to migrate and thrive
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Western Canadian Rocky Mountains
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provide the large wild spaces
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support grizzly bears and other large carnivores
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provide sanctuaries for plants and animals long since displaced from the transformed lowlands
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volcanoes of the Virunga Mountains along the border of Rwanda in East Africa
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the last of the mountain gorillas live, numbering fewer than 300
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biological diversity is link to cultural diversity
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of the 1,054 languages spoken in New Guinea, 738 originate in the New Guinea highlands
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these mountains cover 30% of the South Pacific island
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the home of many indigenous peoples
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Quechua people of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru in the South American Andes
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the Southern Tuchone First Nations of the southern Yukon in Canada
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Nakhi and Yi people of Hunan Province, China
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Sherpa peoples in the Mr. Everest region in Nepal
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world's most important food staples were domesticated in mountains
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potatoes
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wheat
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corn
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beans
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many of these systems are still in use today, e.g. in Asia
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mountains are a major draw for global tourism
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tourism is one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries
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adventure
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sports and recreation
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scenic beauty
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solitude
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meet and interact with people who live there
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influx of visitors can provide
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positive
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funds to promote sustainable development
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negative
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too many people on fragile mountain ecosystems
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loss of traditional cultural values
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cultural significance
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places of national embodiments
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places to be exploited and developed for their natural resources
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sites to be managed and controlled
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places to be feared
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testing grounds
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places for salvation, embodiments of divine serenity
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home
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a destination to visit
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sites of exclusion
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poverty
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debilitating poverty
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places on society's margins
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where communications are poor
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where infrastructure, jobs, and services are sorely lacking
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unique natural disasters such as floods and avalanches compound issues related to poverty
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wealthy
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gentrified playgrounds for the urban rich holiday goers
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locals are realizing they are unable to afford the very places where they grew up
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foreign investment and hyperdevelopment