What Is the Human-Environmental Interaction in Paris, France?

One human-environmental interaction in Paris, France, involves the Seine River as a source of water and a trading route. The human-environmental interaction is the way that people interact with, affect and use the environment. This also includes environmental modifications.

Humans interacted with the environment of Paris as far back as the third century BCE when the Parisii Gauls chose to settle the area because of its location on the now-named Seine river. Not only was the river critical for water, but it also served as a trading route to help the new settlement grow and thrive. The river provided strategic protection for the city until the Romans moved in and occupied it. The Romans built baths in the area, piping in water from the underground Bievre river.

Not only did people take from the environment, but they also gave back and modified it. For instance, in 1852, Prefect Haussman oversaw the planting of 90,000 trees and the construction of a 5,000-acre woodland preserve. However, the environment has also interacted with people, on the few occasions that the Seine flooded the city.

Some of the human-environment interactions were not benign, such as the air pollution that resulted from transportation and manufacturing during the time of the industrial revolution.