The sea is also history
- batepapocomnetuno
- 27 de mar.
- 7 min de leitura
By Alynne Almeida Affonso
English edit by Carla Elliff
Illustration by Silvia Gonsalves.
It is very common to find oceanography divided into four main areas: Physics, Chemistry, Geology and Biology. This approach can be quite relevant when we consider practical and efficient methodologies for studying complex sciences, such as Oceanography. Segmenting knowledge also facilitates the production of knowledge, research, and teaching, since it is a way of classifying and organizing large volumes of information.
However, the question remains: does everything related to Marine Sciences fit into this division into four major areas? Since Oceanography is a very multi- and interdisciplinary science, it is almost natural to assume that many subjects related to the ocean end up being left out of this classic division. This is the case of Human Oceanography. We don’t often think of Marine Sciences as a human science, but the seas and ocean do have a significant component in the social sciences. This makes a lot of sense if we stop to think about the coastal zone and the current and past influence that the sea has had on society.
Research in Human Oceanography is not always classified as Oceanography per se, and this is possibly due to the better suitability of many topics studied in oceanography as “hard sciences” – that is, rigid in their theoretical foundations and in their predictive capacity. Hard sciences strictly follow what, in science, is known as the Scientific Method, which is the collection and observation of quantifiable data, application of mathematical models, and use of controlled experiments, producing results with a high degree of accuracy. Human and social sciences, on the other hand, are classified as “soft sciences”, concerned with investigating human and social behavior. These subjects can be quite subjective, based on complex interactions that do not fit into the study approach envisaged by the Scientific Method, since it becomes very difficult to establish such solid analysis criteria for such abstract topics.
Social sciences can cross paths with marine sciences in many ways. Research at the interface between oceanography and human sciences is largely focused on understanding the dynamics between coastal communities and the environment, the use of coastal resources, the use and occupation of coastal territories, environmental conflicts and valuation. But does anyone care about studying the ocean in its historical component? After all, history is one of the foundations of human and social sciences. The past, after all, is the key to the present.
And the answer is: YES! There is an entire science dedicated to the subject. Environmental History is a relatively recent discipline, it is true, which emerged in the United States during the environmentalist wave of the 1960s and 1970s, and is defined by OOSTHOEK (2005) as:
“Environmental history is studying the interaction between humans and the environment in the past. To study the relationships between humans and the surrounding world, we must try to understand how the interaction between the two works”
Environmental History examines the role of nature in influencing human activities and how humans shape the environment over time.
Coastal zones are susceptible to sudden and rapid changes in their configuration, induced by both natural processes and anthropogenic pressures – in fact, for many coastal zones around the world, the human component is the main form of alteration of the coastal space. Historical knowledge, through an interpretation of natural issues, allows us to observe the historical perception of environmental changes. It is possible to assimilate the relationships between the human species and natural factors and investigate the interactions between culture, nature, and interactions between man and the coastal zone in the past and throughout human time. Understanding the past is essential to model and predict the future, and therein lies the great importance of environmental history.
Historical interpretation of environmental issues allows for the connection between physical geography, topography, coastal geomorphology, climatic, oceanographic, and biological factors, combined with a political, economic, and sociological perspective. However, it is important to analyze interpretations of human actions on the natural world in the past and the changes associated with these phenomena very carefully, because problems that occur in the present can influence our perception of the past and how we interpret past events.
Environmental History, however, is much more than just pointing out the harmful interactions between society and nature. It deals with historical interpretations of environmental problems, incorporating changes that are based on the plurality of natural and cultural dimensions related to human activities and the different ways of perceiving the environment and its relationship with life in society.
A very efficient method that has been frequently applied to the study of Environmental History is the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). HGIS (or Historical Geographical Information System) is an efficient tool because the use of georeferenced historical maps (i.e., associated with spatial information such as geographic coordinates) and digitized maps is a visual, qualitative and quantitative way of observing environmental changes over time, and is widely used by researchers in Environmental History.
An example of a digitized historical map inserted into a Historical Geographic Information System (HGIS). Taken from RUMSEY & WILLIANS (2002).
Through HGIS, it is also possible to store, display, and analyze past data related to the environment and correlate historical spatial data with quantitative information such as censuses and social surveys carried out by city halls, public agencies and universities. This information allows, in addition to the reconstruction of past environments, the observation of changes in parameters over time.
Digitized historical map to which points with non-visual quantitative information (in table form) were added through HGIS. Taken from RUMSEY & WILLIANS (2002).
This is what authors such as DONAHUE (2007), CUNFER (2006), and TUCCI (2010) have done, to name just a few. DONAHUE (2007) and CUNFER (2006) used historical mapping and land use statistics to assess environmental conditions and long-term changes in the landscape induced by agricultural activities in the North American territory. TUCCI (2010), through the analysis of historical maps of Milan, Italy, monitored changes in the urban landscape and in socioeconomic parameters, representative of specific historical periods, and compared them with current characteristics in order to detect patterns of evolution of the urban fabric over time. Some authors such as DeBOER & CARR (1969), CHARDON (1982), CLUTTON (1982), LLOYD et al. (1987), and HESSLER (2005), in addition to the young researcher who writes to you here, have chosen the coastal zone as the target of studies in Environmental History. These authors reconstructed, through historical maps and statistics, the coastal areas targeted by their studies and compared them with current maps and indexes, in order to monitor the evolution of the landscape and human behavior in relation to the environment.
Coastlines from different historical periods, digitized in HGIS and compared with a current coastline. Taken from LLOYD & GILMARTIN (1987).
There are many methods for performing temporal analyses of past environments, which are generally quite complex. It is rare for an author to repeat the methodology of another step by step, since the peculiarities of the study areas and research objectives force researchers to adapt the methodologies to their realities. In my master's research, for example, I evaluated the changes in the landscape of Baixada Santista (state of São Paulo, Brazil) over the course of 4 centuries. I developed my own analysis methodology, since most of the authors I researched, being from outside Brazil, did not offer solutions that I could fully utilize. I adapted techniques from many authors to, in the end, develop something that worked for the coast of São Paulo and for what I sought to understand.
And that is the topic of my next article for Chat with Neptune! I will explain how this historical analysis is done using old maps, the curiosities and peculiarities of historical cartography, and show what I found for the region of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo. Stay tuned!
References:
CHARDON, R. 1982. A Best-fit Evaluation of DeBrahm's 1770 Chart of Biscayne Bay. The American Cartographer. 1982, Vol. 9, pp. 47-67.
CLUTTON, E. 1982. Some Seventeenth Century Images of Crete: A Comparative Analysis of the Manuscript Maps by Francesco Basilicata and the Printed Maps by Marco Boschini. Imago Mundi. 1982, Vol. 34, pp. 48-65.
CUNFER, G. 2006. On the Great Plains: Agriculture and Environment. Environmental History. 1, 2006, Vol. 11, pp. 142-144.
DeBOER, G. & CARR, A. P. 1969. Early Maps as Historical Evidence for Coastal Change. Geographical Journal. 1969, Vol. 135, pp. 17-39.
DONAHUE, B. 2007. The Great Meadow: Farmers and the Land Colonial Concord. Yale : Yale Publisher Press, 2007.
HESSLER, J. 2005. Warping Waldseemüller: A Cartometric Study of the Coast of South America as Portrayed on the 1507 World Map. MAGERT Ala Map and Geography Roundtable. [Online] 2005. http://purl.oclc.org/coordinates/a4.pdf accessed in 01/06/2016.
LLOYD, R. & GILMARTIN, P. 1987. The South Carolina Coastline on Historical Maps: A Cartometric Analysis. The Carographic Journal. 1, 1987, Vol. 24, pp. 19-26.
OOSTHOEK, K.J. 2005. What is Environmental History? ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY RESOURCES. [Online] 03 de January de 2005. [Citado em: 17 de 05 de 2016.] https://www.eh-resources.org/what-is-environmental-history/.
RUMSEY, D., WILLIAMS, M. 2002. Historical Maps in GIS in Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History. Ed KNOWLES, A.K. ESRI Press, pp.2-18.
TUCCI, M., GIORDANO, A. & RONZA, R. W. 2010. Using Spatial Analysis and Geovisualization to Reveal Urban Changes: Milan, Italy, 1737-2005. Cartographica. 1, 2010, Vol. 45, pp. 47-63.
About the author:
Alynne Almeida Affonso, 32 years old, is an oceanographer from the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo and holds a master's degree in Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing from the University College Cork (Ireland). After studying geological oceanography, marine sedimentation, coastal systems and processes, coastal management and learning how to make all kinds of maps and interpret satellite images, she is always searching for a career at the interface between exact sciences, humanities, and sustainability.
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