Download Introduction to Geography

Introduction to Geography
People, Places, and Environment, 4e
Edward F. Bergman
William H. Renwick
Chapter 1: Introduction to
Geography
Victoria O. Alapo, Instructor
Geog 1010
What Is Geography?
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Geography is from two Greek words,
Geo – Earth, and Graphien – to write.
It is simply the study of the earth, and
everything that goes on, on it.
Geography is the one of the oldest and
most diverse fields of study.
Geography Today
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Association of American Geographers
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www.aag.org
55 topical specialties (page 5)
Geography asks these questions: Where?,
What?, When?, Why?, and Why there?
Spatial analysis – has to do with the
distribution of a phenomenon in “space”
(this doesn’t refer to outer space). Very
Geographical concept.
Geography
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Physical – this makes it a natural science. These are the physical
xteristics of the envir.
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Human & Cultural – these make it a social science. Human groups
and our activities.
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Cartography – All kinds of mapping.
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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – using computers to help
make and display maps and analyze data. A sub-branch of
Cartography.
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All these fields are interrelated (see table on page 5). That is
Assignment #2. Geography is very useful.
History of Geography
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Classical Western World
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Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.). This is actually
Egypt (Africa), he worked in the library of
Alexandria. See pg 3. He believed the world
was round.
Hipparchus (180-127 B.C.) – 1st to draw grid
lines.
History of Geography
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Non-European World
Isaiah (40:22) believed the world was round
too! – 700 B.C.!
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Al-Edrisi (1099-1154)
Ibn-Battuta (1304-1378)
Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406)
The Tribute of Yu
Kangnido, see map on pg 4 (read)
Africans traveled a LOT – e.g. Timbuktu (pg 9),
Queen of Sheba, Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8), East
Africa, etc.
“The information that any citizen
needs in order to make an
informed decision on an
important question of the day is
largely geographic.”
Regions
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A region is an area that shows similar
characteristics.
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Does not have abrupt boundaries. E.g.
climate, culture, etc. It slowly/
gradually goes into the next region.
Spatial Analysis & Movement
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Distribution of things. E.g.
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Density – the number of phenomena (e.g. people,
houses, trees, etc) per sq. mile.
Distance
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Measurements
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Absolute
Time
Cost
Distance Decay Effect
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As distance increases, importance of a particular
phenomena decreases
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Ex. Newspaper circulation, radio signals, TV reception
Three Types of Diffusion
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Diffusion is the spread of ideas, etc. There
are 3 main kinds:
Relocation diffusion – e.g. immigration
Contiguous diffusion – e.g. disease
Hierarchical (leapfrog) diffusion – e.g.
fashion in cities
Barriers to diffusion
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Cultural barriers e.g. political boundaries or
differences, cultural differences
Oceans, deserts, distance, time
4 Physical Systems
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Atmosphere (air) e.g. Chapter 2 –
weather & climate
Lithosphere (Earth’s solid rocks)
e.g. Chapter 3 - landforms
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Hydrosphere (water) e.g. Chapter 4
- Biogeochemical Cycles
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Biosphere (living organisms) e.g.
Chapter 4 - Biogeochemical Cycles
and the Biosphere
L
A
B
H
Interacting
spheres
Human-Environmental
Interaction
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Natural landscapes
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One without evidence of human activity.
E.g.?
Cultural landscapes
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Reveals how humans modify local
environment. E.g.?
What about Central Park? Pg 20
The Geographic Grid
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Longitude - See Greenwich Photos & next
slide
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Measures distance east to west around the
globe beginning at the Prime Meridian
2 most important lines of longitude: Prime
Meridian & the International Date Line
0-180 degrees East or West
Latitude
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Location on the Earth’s surface between the
equator and either the north or south pole
Also called parallels
0-90 degrees North or South
U.S./Canada Time Zones
Map Making
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Called Cartography
Scale
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Fraction
1/24,000
Ratio
1:24,000
Written statement “1 inch equals 1 mile”
Bar style
0 1 2 3 4
Detail and area
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Small scale map = less detail, large denominator
(1:1,000,000)
Large scale map = more detail, small
denominator (1:100,000)
Seattle, WA
Projection
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Scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s
surface to a flat map (“orange peel” concept). See
Appendix on pg 591 (Goode’s Interrupted Projection).
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4 types of distortion – see maps on next slide.
 Relative size and distance (Mercator). Here, shape
is fine, but size is not, esp. at the poles. So the
scales are different (see Greenland). Also called
“conformal” maps. Pg 26
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Shape and direction (Equal Area projection). These
are maps that distort shape but preserve size.
See pg 26
Geographic Information
Technology
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Automated cartography
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Conversion of paper to digital formats
Includes Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD)
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Sophisticated, specialized digital cartography systems
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Easier, cheaper editing. Manual techniques are
expensive and time-consuming, esp. when changes
had to be made to maps (e.g. Warren County
Courthouse)
Remote Sensing
Acquisition of data about
Earth’s surface from a
satellite orbiting the planet or
from high-flying aircraft
Satellites
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Landsat
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1972; 1999
Sensors measure radiation of colors of
visible light
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Uses:
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Weather satellites – for hurricanes, etc.
GPS – uses longitudes & latitudes (pg 33).
More uses are found on next slide.
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Uses of Remotely Sensed Data &
GIS Spatial Analysis
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Human activities (see next slides)
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Changes in plant growth
Drainage patterns (rivers)
Monitoring environmental changes with satellite images, e.g.
Lake Chad, pg 1
Counting lakes, pg 36
Erosion associated with agriculture
Analyzing changes in food production and land use
Logging and forest management
Wetland monitoring
Wartime applications
Calculating densities and distribution of population
**GIS means Geographic Information Systems
Reddest
areas
are most
recent
tree cuts
Changes in land use in China
GIS
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Database software for digital information
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Contains same information as regular database
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Stores spatial characteristics such as boundary
information or coordinates and addresses.
Layers
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Information with specific characteristics
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Soils, hydrology, land ownership, etc.
Can be combined into layers for analysis. Same
concept is used for making globes (see next
slide).