geopgraphy review Flashcards
Spatial Emphasis
Geography focuses on where things happen and why (the location) and what makes places special (place).
Example: Studying how cities grow and how they affect nearby land.
Human-Environment Relations
Looks at how people and nature interact. For example, farming depends on soil quality, and pollution affects ecosystems.
Regional Analysis
Examines specific areas and what makes them unique (e.g., studying deserts in Africa vs. rainforests in South America).
Movement and Process
Studies how things move (e.g., water in rivers, people migrating) and what processes cause these movements.
Systems Theory (A way to study Earth’s processes)
Think of a system as a part of the world with things that interact.
Example: A forest is a system with trees, animals, and sunlight.
Systems have:
Boundaries: Edges of the system (e.g., forest edge).
Components: Pieces of the system (trees, soil, animals).
Linkages: How the components work together (e.g., animals eat plants, plants need sunlight).
Open System
Stuff moves in and out. Example: A river (water flows in, flows out).
Closed System
Nothing enters or leaves. Earth is mostly closed (energy from the sun enters, but very little matter comes/goes).
Steady-State Equilibrium
Small changes happen, but things stay mostly the same. Example: A lake’s water level stays stable despite rain and evaporation.
Dynamic Equilibrium
Things change over time toward a new balance. Example: A glacier melting slowly over decades
Threshold
A tipping point where big changes happen. Example: If too much ice melts, it could cause major climate effects.
Sea Ice in the Arctic
Sea Ice: Frozen ocean water in the Arctic.
Seasonal Changes: More ice in winter, less in summer.
Decades of Change: Arctic ice is melting over time due to global warming, which impacts the environment and climate.
Why Maps and Projections Matter
The Earth is a sphere, but maps are flat. To show the curved surface of the Earth on a flat map, we use map projections.
When we project the Earth onto a flat map, it introduces distortions. Different projections balance these distortions in different ways
Cylindrical Projections
magine wrapping a piece of paper around the Earth like a cylinder.
Example: Mercator Projection (good for navigation but stretches areas near the poles, making Greenland look huge).
Planar Projections (Azimuthal)
Imagine placing a flat piece of paper on top of the Earth.
Best for mapping poles or small circular areas.
