Geography Chapter 1- Introduction PDF

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Geography Chapter 1- Introduction 1. Geography and Science i. Geography- “Earth description” ii. Includes specialized disciplines, such as geology, meteorology, economics, and biology. b. Studying the World Geographically i. Two branches of Geography 1. Physical Geography- natural in origin, often referred to as environmental geography. a. Landforms b. Rocks and Minerals c. Water d. Weather and Climate e. PLants f. Animals g. Soil 2. Human Geography- geography of human endeavor including cultural geography, economic geography, political geography and urban geography. a. Population b. Economic activities c. Languages d. Religions e. Political Systems f. Settlements g. Food ii. Geography is interdisciplinary 1. One cannot understand x w  ithout y . iii. Important themes throughout natural geography 1. Global Environmental Change- the human induced and natural occurrences changing the environmental trends on Earth. 2. Globalization- the continued development of connections and developments throughout the world (economies, political systems, and cultures.) c. The Process of Science i. Scientific Method 1. “Observe the phenomena that stimulate a question or problem.” 2. “Offer an educated guess-- a hypothesis-- about the answer.” 3. “Design an experiment to test the hypothesis.” 4. “Predict the outcome of an experiment of the hypothesis is supported and if the hypothesis is not supported.” 5. Conduct the experiment and observe what actually happens.”

6. “Draw a conclusion or formulate a simple generalized “rule” based on the results of the experiment.” d. Numbers and Measurement Systems i. Mathematics is generally very important within the science of geography. 1. English System- miles, pounds, and degrees Fahrenheit. 2. International System- kilometers, kilograms, and degrees Celsius. 2. Environmental Spheres and Earth Systems a. Earth’s Environmental Spheres i. Lithosphere- the solid, inorganic portion of Earth 1. Contains the Earth’s crust, mineral matter, and bedrock. 2. Made up of different landforms above and below the sea.’ ii. Atmosphere- the gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth 1. Contains a “complex mixture” of atmospheric gases vital in sustaining life on Earth. 2. The atmosphere is most dense at sea level and thins as one goes higher in the atmosphere. iii. Hydrosphere- Represents water in all of its form (solid, liquid, gas.) 1. Cryosphere- snow and ice iv. Biosphere- contains all living things on earth. b. Earth Systems i. Closed Systems- “self-contained systems which are therefore isolated from outside influences.” 1. Earth itself is a closed system ii. Open Systems- Both matter and energy are exchanged across the systems 1. Includes inputs and outputs iii. Equilibrium- When the conditions within a system remain the same consistently. iv. Interconnected Systems- systems which interact and overlap with other Earth systems (i.e closed, open and equilibirum.) v. Feedback Loops- Systems which produce outputs that “feed back” into the system, reinforcing change. 1. Positive feedback loops- change within a system communicating in one direction a. The decrease of arctic temperatures reduces the absorption of solar radiation and reinforces a cooling trend. 2. Negative feedback loops- inhibit a system from changing a. An increase in air temperature causes water on the earth’s surface to evaporate and condense into clouds, preventing the Earth’s temperature to increase. b. Have a threshold in which eventualfly change will be caused. 3. Earth and the Solar System

a. Solar System i. Origins 1. Generally accepted that the universe began with the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago due to a condensation of energy. 2. Our solar system began as a nebula, or a “huge, cold, diffuse cloud of gas and dust” 3. The protostar was our sun 4. All planets revolve around the sun ii. The Planets 1. Terrestrial Planets- Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars a. “Smaller, denser, and less oblate” 2. Jovian Planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune a. ,More massive, less perfectly spherical b. The SIze and Shape of Earth i. The Size of Earth 1. -ii. The Shape of Earth 1. -4. The Geographic Grid--- Latitude and Longitude i. Latitude and Longitude- “a system of accurate location…. A grid system consisting of two sets of lines that intersect at right angles, allowing the location of any point on the surface to be described by the appropriate intersection.” ii. Plane of the Equator- “an imaginary plane passing through Earth halfway between the poles and perpendicular to the axis of rotation.” iii. Great Circles 1. “Any plane that is passed through the center of a sphere bisects that sphere and intersects the surface of a sphere.” 2. Largest circle that can be drawn on a sphere 3. A path between two points along the arc of a great circle is always the shortest route between those points. b. Latitude i. “A descripton of location expressed as an angle north or south of the equator.” 1. Expressed in degrees, minutes, seconds 2. Parallel- a line connecting all points of the same latitude 3. NEED TO KNOW a. Equator, 0° b. Tropic of Cancer, 23.5° N c. Tropic of Capricorn, 23.5° S d. Arctic Circle, 66.5° N e. Antarctic Circle, 66.5° S f. North Pole, 90° N

g. South Pole, 90° S Descriptive Zones of Latitude 1. Low Latitude- generally between the equator and 30° N and S 2. Midlatitude- between about 30° and 60° N and S 3. High Latitude- latitudes greater than aboutt 60° N and S 4. Equatorial- within a few degrees of the equator 5. Tropical- within the tropics (between 23.5° N and 23.5° S) 6. Subtropical- slightly poleward of the tropics, generally around 25°-30° N and S 7. Polar- within a few degrees of the North and South Poles iii. Nautical Miles- the distance covered by 1 minute of latitude. c. Longitude i. Describes ease-west location on Earth 1. Also expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds ii. Measured both east and west of the prime meridian to a maximum of 180° in each directions d. Locating Points on the Geographic Grid i. “The network of intersecting parallels and meridians creates a geographic grid over the entire surface of the Earth.” 5. Earth-Sun Relations a. Earth Movements- daily rotation on its axis and yearly revolution around the sun i. Earth’s Rotation on Its Axis 1. Earth’s rotation assures the diurnal alternation (day and night) and influences “local temperature, humidity, and wind movement.” 2. “Brings any point on the surface through the increasing and then decreasing gravitational pull of the MOon and the Sun.” 3. Reinforces wind and ocean currents ii. Earth’s Revolution Around the Sun 1. It takes one tropical year, or 365 days, for the earth to revolve around the sun completely. 2. Ellipse- “the path followed by Earth in its journey around the sun.” 3. Perihelion- close to sun 4. Aphelion- far from sun iii. Inclination of Earth’s Axis 1. Plane of the Elliptic- “imaginary plane defined by Earth’s orbital path around the sun.” 2. Permanent inclination of the Earth is about 23.5° iv. Polarity of Earth’s Axis 1. No matter where the Earth is in its orbit around the sun, the axis always points in the same direction relative to the stars. a. Also known as parallelism b. The Annual March of the Seasons ii.

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The changing position of the Earth in relation to the sun creates variation in days and in turn, seasons. ii. “As we discuss the annual march of the seasons, we pay special attention to three conditions.” 1. The latitude receiving the vertical rays of the Sun, referred to as the declination of the sun. 2. The solar altitude at different latitudes 3. The length of the day at different latitutdes. iii. June Solstice 1. “Earth reaches the position in its orbit where the North pole is oriented directly at the Sun.” 2. Circle of Illumination- the dividing line between the daylight half of the Earth and the nighttime half. 3. Referred to as the Summer Solstice in the Northern half of the hemisphere 4. Refereed to as the Winter Solstice in the SOuthern hald of the hemisphere. iv. September Equinox 1. Autumnal equinox in the Northern hemisphere 2. Vernal equinox in the Southern hemisphere v. December Solstice 1. Earth reaches the point in orbit where the North Pole is oriented most diectly away from the sun. 2. Referred to as the WInter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. 3. Referred to as the Summer solstice in the SOuthern Hemisphere vi. March Equinox 1. THe relationship between the Earth and the Sun are virtually identical 2. VErnal equinox in the Northern hemisphere 3. Autumnal equinox in the southern hemisphere. c. Seasonal Transitions i. Latitude Receiving the Vertical Rays of teh SUn 1. Only received between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. ii. Day Length 1. The length of days on the equator is constant (12 hours a day) 2. Other portions of the Earth fluctuate in terms of how many hours of daylight there are. iii. Day Length in the Arctic and Antarctic 1. “Exactly at the North Pole, the sun rises on the March equinox and is above the horizon continuously for the next six month.” d. Significance of Seasonal Patterns

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“Short periods pf daylight in winter and long periods of daylight in summer contribute to seasonal difference in temperature in the mid and high latitude regions.” Accounts fro the lengths of seasons and weather condition differences in seasons.

6. Telling TIme a. Standard TIme i. Constructed because of travel and telegraphs… time zones became necessary. ii. Time zones are determined by longitude lones (each 15 degrees apart.) b. International Date Line i. Ferdinand Magellan’s exploratory voyage led to the creation of the International Date Line 1. A `space where there is no official time and the dates change. 2. `...