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KULIAH 1

PENGANTAR PERSEKITARAN FIZIKAL: SATU PENGENALAN

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Introduction

What is physical geography?

Physical Geography is a sub-discipline of two much larger fields of study - Geography and Earth Sciences. The main purpose of Physical Geography is to explain the spatial characteristics of the various natural phenomena associated with the earth's hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere.

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Introduction • Physical geography is a discipline that is part of

a much larger area of understanding called geography.

• Most individuals define geography as a field of study that deals with maps. This definition is only partially correct.

• A better definition of geography may be the study of natural and human constructed phenomena relative to a spatial dimension.

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Introduction• The discipline of geography has a history that stretches

over many centuries.

• Over this time period, the study of geography has evolved and developed into an important form of human scholarship.

• Examining the historical evolution of geography as a discipline provides some important insights concerning its character and methodology.

• These insights are also helpful in gaining a better understanding of the nature of physical geography.

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Scope of Physical Geography

• We have now learned that physical geography examines and investigates natural phenomena spatially. In the previous section, we identified some of the key elements studied by physical geographers.

• Combining these two items, we can now suggest that physical geography studies the spatial patterns of weather and climate, soils, vegetation, animals, water in all its forms, and landforms.

• Physical geography also examines the interrelationships of these phenomena to human activities. This sub-field of geography is academically known as the Human-Land Tradition.

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Scope of Physical Geography• This area of geography has seen very keen interest and

growth in the last few decades because of the acceleration of human induced environmental degradation.

• Thus, physical geography's scope is much broader than the simple spatial study of nature. It also involves the investigation of how humans are influencing nature.

• Academics studying physical geography and other related earth sciences are rarely generalists. Most are in fact highly specialized in their fields of knowledge and tend to focus themselves in one of the following well defined areas of understanding in physical geography.

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Scope of Physical Geography• Geomorphology - studies the various landforms on the

Earth's surface.• Pedology - is concerned with the study of soils.• Biogeography - is the science that investigates the

spatial relationships of plants and animals.• Hydrology - is interested in the study of water in all its

forms.• Meteorology - studies the circulation of the atmosphere

over short time spans. • Climatology - studies the effects of weather on life and

examines the circulation of the atmosphere over longer time spans.

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Scope of Physical Geography• The above fields of knowledge generally have a primary

role in introductory textbooks dealing with physical geography. Introductory physical geography textbooks can also contain information from other related disciplines including:

• Geology - studies the form of the Earth's surface and subsurface, and the processes that create and modify it.

• Ecology - the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.

• Oceanography - the science that examines the biology, chemistry, physics, and geology of oceans.

• Cartography - the technique of making maps.• Astronomy - the science that examines celestial bodies

and the cosmos.

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Major subdisciplines of physical and human geography.

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 Physical Geography  Human Geography

 Rocks and Minerals  Population

 Landforms  Settlements

 Soils  Economic Activities

 Animals  Transportation

 Plants  Recreational Activities

 Water  Religion

 Atmosphere  Political Systems

 Rivers and Other Water Bodies  Social Traditions

 Environment  Human Migration

 Climate and Weather  Agricultural Systems

 Oceans  Urban Systems

Table 1: Some of the phenomena studied in physical and human geography.

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Geography as an Environmental Science

• Webster's 9th Collegiate Dictionary defines Environment "... as the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (such as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determines its form and survival".

• Both human and physical geography provide an important intellectual background for studying the environment. Many environmental studies/science programs offered by Universities and Colleges around the world rely on the information found in various geography courses to help educate their students about the state of the environment.

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Future Trends in Physical Geography

The following list describes some of the important future trends in physical geography research:

(1). Continued development of applied physical geography for the analysis and correction of human-induced environmental problems. A student of applied physical geography uses theoretical information from the field of physical geography to manage and solve problems related to natural phenomena found in the real world.

(2). Remote Sensing - Advances in technology have caused the development of many new instruments for the monitoring of the Earth's resources and environment from airborne and space platforms. The most familiar use of remote sensing technology is to monitor the Earth's weather for forecasting. See the following links for examples of remotely sensed images:

(3). Geographic Information Systems - A geographic information system (GIS) merges information in a computer database with spatial coordinates on a digital map. Geographic information systems are becoming increasingly more important for the management of resources.

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Pengenalan Disiplin Geografi• Penting kepada manusia – dapatkan maklumat

tentang segala fenomena yang terdapat di bumi – ‘mother of knowledge

• Guna pula pelbagai kemahiran untuk mengetahui fenomena2 yang wujud – membantu menyelesaikan pelbagai masalah manusia + alam sekitar

• Ilmu yang kompleks – ada ciri fizikal dan ciri manusia tetapi ianya saling berkaitan

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Unsur-Unsur Fizikal dan Manusia

Fizikal Manusia

Batuan/galian/mineralTanih

HaiwanTumbuh-tumbuhan

AirAtmosfera

Sungai/Sumber airAlam sekitar

Cuaca dan IklimLaut

PendudukPetempatan

Kegiatan EkonomiAktiviti rekreasi/pelancongan

Pengangkutan dan perhubunganAgama dan kebudayaan

Migrasi pendudukSistem pertanian

Urbanisasi dan pembangunan

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Samb…• Bagi menjelaskan unsur fizikal dan manusia, ahli

geografi akan mengkaji melalui konteks paling asas – apa, di mana, bila, kenapa, bagaimana

• Tujuan – membantu untuk meramal apa yang akan berlaku pada masa depan dalam konteks hub manusia + keruangan

• Kepakaran yang ada pada ahli geografi – memaklumkan dan memberikan kefahaman kepada umum tentang isu-isu geografi yang berlaku setiap hari di dunia ini

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Samb…• Paling asas – mengetahui tentang nama tempat – terus

berkembang dengan persoalan geografi yang wujud di sesuatu ruangan serta penyelesaian sesuatu isu yang berkait dengan persekitaran

• Definisi geografi – Eratoshenes – ilmuan Yunani – Geo (bumi) – Graphien (menulis atau menghurai/menjelaskan/menggambarkan)

• Disiplin geografi mengkaji pelbagai fenomena fizikal + manusia di sesuatu kawasan atau tempat + bagaimana interkasi antara kawasan atau tempat telah mewujudkan pelbagai bentuk dan mengatur ruang

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Geografi Fizikal

• Persekitaran fizikal – elemen2 di sekeliling manusia – atmosfera, air, tanih, tumbuh-tumbuhan dsb

• Lebih penting untuk dikaji + dianalisis – bagaimana elemen2 ini mempengaruhi atau dipengaruhi oleh kehendak + kemahuan manusia serta peranan manusia dilihat sama ada secara positif + negatif

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Pemahaman Terhadap Persekitaran Fizikal

• Alam persekitaran fizikal – sesuatu yang kompleks + memahami evolusi + sifat sesuatu landskap melibatkan pelbagai faktor

• Faktor pula tidak boleh dikaji secara berasingan kerana keadaannya yang berinteraksi antara satu sama lain

• Kepentingan antara faktor pula berbeza mengikut skala kajian

• Faktor manusia – penting dalam persekitaran fizikal – agen perubahan yang dijana

• Persekitaran manusia sentiasa berubah sama ada secara semulajadi atau gangguan manusia

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Definisi Geografi Fizikal• Bidang ilmu yang dinamik – sentiasa berkembang +

menggabungkan banyak bidang lain + sains tulen

• Meteorologi, geologi, hidrologi, biologi, fizik, kimia dsb

• Mempelajari geografi fizikal untuk mengetahui tentang pertalian manusia dengan persekitaran fizikalnya

• Cth- mengkaji kualiti air sungai perlu pemahaman dari segi kimia, aspek hidupan + tumbuhan (pengetahuan biologi) + pemetaan (pengetahuan matematik dan kartografi)

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Samb…• Ada tiga sub bidang yang utama – diberi

perhatian + saling berkaitan iaitu kajiiklim/kajicuaca (elemen iklim/cuaca); biogeografi (tanah/hidupan/tumbuhan); geomorfologi (bentuk bumi, batuan, lembangan sungai/pinggir pantai)

• Asas penting dalam geografi fizikal dibentuk oleh lima komponen utama yang wujud atau dikenali sebagai sistem bumi – saling berkaitan dan memerlukan di antara satu sama lain

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Geomorfologi• Kajian saintifik tentang bentuk bumi – melibatkan

penganalisisan terhadap bentuk + menganalisis dari segi proses2 hakisan + pemendapan yang bertindak pada bentuk bumi + evolusinya melalui masa

• Banjaran gunung, benua + lembangan lautan – aspek geologi telah digunakan – jenis batuan, ciri batua, usia batuan dsb – sebagai angkubah yang mempengaruhi keberkesanan tindakan angin, hujan, proses luluhawa terhadap bentuk bumi

• Perkembangan pesat dalam bidang geomorfologi – wujud pengkhususan – fluvial, pinggir pantai, tropika, kawasam gersang, glasier – kajian sesebuah kawasan menjadi lebih terperinci

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Klimatologi/Meteorologi• Penganalisisan iklim atau cuaca dan proses-proses

cuaca di sesuatu kawasan bumi

• Pengetahuan mengenai lapisan-lapisan atas atmosfera – dibantu dengan kemajuan dalam bidang satelit dan penderiaan jauh – membantu memantau perubahan2 yang berlaku di persekitaran atmosfera bumi

• Bukan deskriptif mengenai fakta iklim sesuatu tempat tetapi aspek yang lebih dinamik – penganalisisan pola edaran atmosfera, ciri arus udara + sistem cuaca

• Interaksi atmosfera + permukaan bumi –aspek yang menarik + diminati

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Samb…

• Kajian dilakukan di lapangan – aspek klimatologi tempatan, bersifat lokal – klimatologi gunaan – iklim bandar, pencemaran udara dsb.

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Biogeografi• Kajian mengenai tumbuh-tumbuhan + haiwan terutamanya dari segi

sebarannya

• Ahli geografi ada perlu ada pengetahuan asas bidang botani dan zoologi terutamanya ekologi

• Ekologi – pertalian di antara tumbuhan + haiwan serta persekitaran fizikalnya merupakan topik dalam pengkajian biogeografi

• Peri mustahak untuk mengetahui bagaimana keseluruhan biosfera berfungsi

• Kesedaran kemerosotan kualiti alam sekitar – penyahhutanan – peningkatan suhu, pengurangan bahan makanan – ganggu rantaian makanan – ganggu kehidupan manusia

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Pengaruh Alam Sekitar Fizikal Terhadap Manusia

• Manusia cuba mengadaptasi diri mereka ke dalam lingkungan alam sekitar – bina petempatan di tepi sungai – jalan air, sumber air

• Bencana alam – manusia hanya boleh meramal kejadian bencana + ambil tindakan awal bagi menyelamatkan nyawa + harta benda

• Pengaruh alam sekitar atau bencana alam sekitar yang berlaku spt tanah runtuh, hakisan tanih, jerebu, banjir kilat – mungkin semulajadi tetapi banyak disumbang oleh kepelbagaian aktiviti manusia kini.

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Pengaruh Manusia Terhadap Alam Sekitar Fizikal

• Bergantung kepada bentuk dan cara campur tangan manusia ke atas alam sekitar

• Campur tangan boleh terarah kepada perubahan positif + negatif

• Berlaku pengeksploitasian –beri kesan negatif kepada alam sekitar

• Timbul kesedaran untuk mengurus alam sekitar dengan baik + menjamin pembangunan berterusan

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Renung-renungkan…

• Geografi – menyediakan pengetahuan asas kejadian + ciri-ciri alam sekitar dalam bidang geografi fizikal, geografi manusia yang akan melengkapkan pengetahuan kita tentang tindak tanduk manusia terhadap alam sekitar