200 Years of Agriculture, Energy, and Environmental Change in Wayne County, Ohio
200 Years of Agriculture, Energy, and Environmental Change in Wayne County, Ohio
(37) 200 Years of Agriculture, Energy, and Environmental Change in Wayne County, Ohio - Greg Wiles, Department of Geology
2012 is the Bicentennial of Wayne County Ohio. During these last two hundred years the landscape has transitioned from prairie and forest to agriculture and a largely built landscape. The parallel history of energy began with mills and waterpower, and was followed by coal. Currently, a controversial shale oil and gas industry is burgeoning. Water, fossil fuels, sand and gravel, stone and clay, and timber and agricultural products significantly add to the economy and to the environmental, societal, and economic impacts on the region and the globe. How do we value the landscape, soil, and climate, and how are decisions made that seek to maintain the balance between preservation and human needs? With these questions in mind, we will examine the impact of resource development on communities and countries, and provide a context in which to examine oil and gas development in the Northeast United States.
Readings will include:
- Portions of 1491- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
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A Sand County Almanac, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
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A Thousand Barrels a Second
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Uranium
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Feeding the Fire
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Oak: The Frame of Civilizations
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Sand