Too much greenery and not enough food, the error of ferocity in humid tropical regions

Authors

  • WOLFGANG WEISCHET Universidad de Friburgo

Keywords:

tropical soils, tropical regions, ecology, socio-economic development

Abstract

One of the most discussed and at the same time most acute problems of our time is the marked gap in the state of socio-economic development between the industrialized nations and the peoples of the so-called Third and Fourth World. In the recent domination of this phenomenon as "the north-south gradient on earth", the geographical fact is revealed Ge that the relatively lower state of development is concentrated in the zone of the tropical countries. This sector of the world is referred to, sometimes with some justification, as the hunger belt of the earth. Explanations of how this contrast has come about are based in public opinion, with the exception of a certain circle of specialists, exclusively on social science interpretations. They argue that with sufficient internal effort and additional external support, the affected countries could recover what - for whatever reason - had not been achieved in the past. The tropics are a difficult part of the world to develop and their inhabitants have been affected by a natural handicap in the course of mankind's cultural development. The exuberance of natural formations leads to a false estimation of the yields of tropical soils. The widely spread 'shifting cultivation should be considered as an optimal response of the population after the clearing of the tropical native forest. In this sense, the ecological disadvantage of the tropics is analyzed, thus revealing the natural geographical basis of the north-south socioeconomic gradient, trying to do it in a concentrated way, based on substantive background.

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Author Biography

WOLFGANG WEISCHET, Universidad de Friburgo

Universidad de Friburgo, Rep. Federal de Alemania

References

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Published

1980-01-01

How to Cite

WEISCHET, W. (1980). Too much greenery and not enough food, the error of ferocity in humid tropical regions. Revista De Geografía Norte Grande, (6), 33–48. Retrieved from https://rchd.uc.cl/index.php/RGNG/article/view/39403

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Artículos