An Enduring Issue And Terrace Farming
Throughout history many conflicts have been debated throughout time, this is known as an enduring issue. Many societies have attempted to address an enduring issue with varying degrees of success. Some examples of important issues are scarcity, population growth, desire for power, and inequality. A major enduring issue is when humans began to modify and adapt to their environment with technology. The reason behind this is that it helped improve civilizations, as demonstrated by terrace farming, irrigation systems and etc. It was once said by Marianne Vos that, “I like to sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee on the terrace and read a book. I like to travel the world - and I'm lucky to see so much through cycling. ”
Terrace farming affected the lives of many civilizations. Like said by Vos it made many people’s lives easier and gave more time for relaxation. Instead of having to worry if crops had been fully destroyed from landslides and avalanches people had less worries and more time to relax. In addition, in Ancient China farmers had to find ways to grow enough crops to sustain life in their civilization. Back then the land in China was “very dry and mountainous, so therefore it was difficult to have vegetation and grow any crops” however, this soon changed when the Chinese learned about terrace farming. Terrace farming is the process in which people would, “cut ledges into the side of a hill or mountain” giving them a flat strip to grow crops. Not only did this reduce erosion but, it prevented run off from gaining momentum (when going down a slope) and lastly, helped reduce flooding in the valleys. Therefore terrace farming supports the enduring issue since the Chinese adapted to their environment and created a “technology” to help sustain life.
It can also be said that irrigation played a significant role in the development of civilizations. The “elaborate irrigation system was developed to irrigate more land”. Which on other hand allowed people to have more land, get water to their crops easier, and produce a food surplus. This allowed them to pursue jobs, develop new skills, build technology, record keeping, form governments and laws, advance their cities and, it helped to get an easier trade route with other civilizations. In Mesopotamia irrigation systems were crucial because, their land wasn’t fertile. Their main water sources (the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers) consisted of canals, gated ditches and levees, that helped protect Mesopotamia from flooding and as a bonus provided “extra water for their crops”.
Overall humans’ ability to adapt to their environment is a significant enduring issue because it helped benefit civilization over time. By them modifying according to their needs. They helped develop the environment around them.
