Definitions Flashcards
An indigenous inhabitant of Australia
Aborigine
A harmful form of precipitation high in sulfur and nitrogen oxides
- Caused by industrial and auto emissions, this damages aquatic and forest ecosystems in regions such as Eastern North America and Europe
Acid Rain
The rate a moving air mass cools or warms with changes in elevation, which is usually around 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1000 feet or 1 degree Celsius per 100 meters
- Contrasts with environmental lapse rate
Adiabatic Lapse Rate
The forced removal of Africans from their native area and their resettlement throughout the world, especially in the Americas
African Diaspora
A mostly political body that has tried to resolve regional conflicts
- Founded in 1963, the organization grew to include all the states of the continent except South Africa, which finally was asked to join in 1994
- In 2004, the body changed its name from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union
African Union (AU)
A popular but controversial strategy to redistribute land to peasant farmers
- Throughout the 20th century, various states redistributed land from large estates or granted title from vast public lands in order to reallocate resources to the poor and stimulate development
- Occurred in various forms, from awarding individual plots or communally held land to create state run collective farms
Agrarian Reform
The practice of large scale, often corporate farming in which business enterprises control closely integrated segments of food production, from farm to grocery store
Agribusiness
A fan shaped deposit of sediments dropped by a river or stream flowing out of a mountain range
Alluvial Fan
The largest intermountain plateau in the Andes, which straddles Peru and Bolivia and ranges in elevation from 10,000 to 13,000 feet (3,000 to 4,000 meters)
Altiplano
The relationship between elevation, temperature, and changes in vegetation that result from the environmental lapse rate (average 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet [6.5 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 meters])
Altitudinal Zonation
A wide variety of tribal religions based on the worship of nature’s spirits and human ancestors
Animism
An adjective for human caused change to a natural system, such as the atmospheric emissions from cars, industry and agriculture that are causing global warming
Anthropogenic
A landscape heavily transformed by human agency
Anthropogenic Landscape
The policy of racial separateness that directed the separate residential and work spaces for white, blacks, coloureds, and Indians in South Africa for nearly 50 years
- It was abolished when the African National Congress came to power in 1994
Apartheid
A regional political and economic organization focused on Arab unity and development
Arab League
A series of public protests, strikes, and rebellions in the Arab countries, often facilitated by social media, that have called for fundamental government and economic reforms
Arab Spring
The geographic term for description and analysis of how physical or human traits differ within a spatial unit or area on the surface of Earth
Areal Differentiation
The geographic term for description and analysis of how different places or points on Earth interact with each other
Areal Integration
A regional organization designed to encourage economic development in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin
Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation Group (APEC)
A supranational geopolitical group linking together the 10 different states of Southeast Asia
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Protection for refugees who are victims of ethnic, religious, or political persecution in other parts of the world
Asylum Laws
A low, sandy island made from coral
- Often oriented around a cultural lagoon
Atoll
A language family that encompasses wide expanses of the Pacific, insular Southeast Asia, and Madagascar
Austronesian
Minor political subunits created in the former Soviet Union and designed to recognize the special status of minority groups within existing republics
Autonomous Areas