关键词: 人地关系, 信息时代, 全球环境变化, 区域可持续发展, 环境伦理

Abstract:

Man-land relationship includes human dependent upon nature and human activity to nature. Contents of man-land relationship are changed with development of human society. Man-land relationship research is the basis for development of modern geography. Various schools of geography such as determinism, possibilism, cultural landscape and human ecology are focusing studies on man-land relationship. The earth system science should carry out interdisciplinary studies between natural and human sciences, to reveal interaction between man and nature as well as the corresponding countermeasures. Developments of information techniques and knowledge economy bring about new opportunities and challenges for human society. Characteristics of man-land relationship in information era differ from those in industrial era. The way and intensity of interaction between human activities and nature will be obviously different. The understanding to nature will be systematically deepened, and ideas of time and space are changing in information era. Knowledge and techniques are becoming main driving forces for social and economic development. Owing to the entirety of the earth, the complexity, protracted nature and potentiality of the interactions among various spheres of the earth, many global environmental issues, such as climate warming, ozonosphere depletion, environmental pollution, etc., are becoming the foci of the countries and public concern throughout the world. The realities impel us to learn lessons and experience accompanied with the traditional development models and to explore new development models for human society. Man-land relationship research covers extensive domains. The hotspots of both global environmental change and sustainable development are closely related to man-land relationship. Global environmental changes have been arisen from slow accumulation process of human impact, and sustainable development is a new development model, which has been obtained by self-examination to development course and model of the human society.The main frontiers of man-land relationship research include the following issues: global environmental change and its regional response, regional sustainable development and mechanism regulation of man-land relationship, studies on social ecological and environmental ethics, etc.

Key words: man-land relationship, information era, global environmental change, regional sustainable development, environmental ethics