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What is the etymology of the word "Geography?"
From what language was it derived from and what does it mean?
It was derived from Greek and can be broken up into two components: (1) Geo" = the earth (2) Graphein = to write. Together, geography means writing the earth. It is the why of where. It is similar to history in that it focuses more on perspective rather than time.
What is geography the study of?
Geography is the study of and the mapping of phenomenon both physical and human on the earth's surface - the explanation of why these things occur where they do.
What are the locations on earth where Projections of Global Temperature Increase by 2080 is expected to be the greatest?
location: Russia
-positive feedback: longer growing season (warmer)
-negative: melting of permafrost (area underground, frozen water) causes methane → more warming
location: arctic
-positive: arctic amplification: longer growing season & plants take up more carbon stronger bc arctic won't return to previous conditions
-negative: white ice melts → dark open water exposed & absorbs more heat → more ice melt; permafrost thaw → frozen plants & animals decay → release CO2 and methane → more warming
What are the positive and negative feedbacks that will occur in Russia, and which of these are considered to be the strongest?
LOCATION: RUSSIA
An increase in global temperature will result in a positive feedback of a longer growing season as it is warmer.
And a negative feedback of melting of permafrost, which is frozen water underground. This causes methane to be released causing more warming.
SUMMARY:
Positive Feedback: longer growing season (warmer)
Negative Feedback: Melting of permafrost (area underground, frozen water) causes methane --> more warming
What are the positive and negative feedbacks that will occur in the arctic, and which of these are considered to be the strongest?
A positive feedback from increasing global temperatures in the arctic would be arctic amplification, which is a longer growing season, allowing plants to take up more carbon. This is stronger because the arctic will not return to previous conditions.
On the other hand, a negative feedback from this would be white ice melting, allowing dark open water to be exposed to absorb more heat. This would lead to more ice melting; permafrost thaw --> frozen plants & animals decay --> releasing CO2 and methane --> more warming
What are reasons why the current era has been named as the Anthropocene?
This era has been dominated by human activity and transformation: beginning with the Industrial Revolution. The Anthropocene references the leading rule humans are playing in changing the Earth system. .
Differentiate the two definitions of weather and climate.
weather: what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, daily or weekly occurrence of temperature & rainfall
climate: temperature and rainfall patterns for a given region for a long period of time (>20 yrs), how the atmosphere "behaves" over long periods of time
difference: time
What is the time of the year when the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?
Equator: March & September (vernal equinox: March 20, autumnal equinox: September 23)
Tropic of Cancer: June (21, summer solstice)
Tropic of Capricorn: December (21, winter solstice)
What time of the year do the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Equator?
Equator: March & September (vernal equinox: March 20, autumnal equinox: September 23)
What time of the year do the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Tropic of Cancer?
Tropic of Cancer: June (21, summer solstice)
What time of the year do the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Tropic of Capricorn?
Tropic of Capricorn: December (21, winter solstice)
What is the vernal equinox? When is it?
When the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Equator. The vernal equinox is on March 20th
What is the autumnal equinox? When is it?
When the sun's rays hit Earth most directly and focus the greatest solar energy at the Equator. The vernal equinox is on September 23rd
What is the summer solstice?
Longest day of the year - greatest solar energy at the Tropic of Cancer
June 21st
What is the winter solstice?
Shortest day of the year = greatest solar energy at Tropic of Capricorn. December 21st.
What is the ITCZ?
The Intertropical Convergence Zone, is the area encircling the earth near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds come together
What are the causes of the ITCZ and the directions that it moves throughout the year?
It is caused by hot air rising, creating cloud formation and precipitation.
It moves north during the northern hemisphere summer and south during the northern hemisphere winter.
What are the two countries that produce the most oil currently?
US and Saudi Arabia
What are the two countries with the largest reserves of oil?
Venezuela and Saudi Arabia
What was silver used for?
What happened to the demand for it, and why did it change?
Silver was used in photography in 1999 as a resource.
Demand: 93 million ounces were used out of a global total of 267 million, but it is now less than 9% of the global market and it is still dropping.
Change: The demand for it dropped because the silver used in photography was replaced by digitalization.
What are the various means by which both producers and consumers can affect the price of a resource?
Economic growth is correlated with an increase in fossil fuels.
Less labor means higher prices.
On the other hand, less health/safety requirements means lower prices.
Consumers can affect the price of a resource through resource availability. Recycling can affect resource availability by using substitutes (hemp bags instead of plastic bags make the bag last longer)
Producers can affect the price of a resource through different technology or digging methods.
What did the Guardian article say about the Green New Deal and what did it consist of?
goal: make the US carbon-neutral (0 emissions) in 10 years & helping poor, POC, indigenous populations; upgrade infrastructure; give a job with benefits, free higher education, housing, access to basic human needs
doesn't end use of coal/oil/natural gas but offsets it
What does the second Guardian article sat about the International Green New Deal?
US isn't enough—International Green New Deal needed to improve based on countries' needs rather than means
3 reasons: production: cooperating countries can have a 0-carbon world based on renewable energy from specific regions; innovation: worldwide funding necessary; reparation: overexploited regions deserve justice and protection
funding can come from global minimum corporate tax or public investment banks
What are the three reasons for the International Green New Deal?
(1) Production: cooperating countries can have a 0-carbon world based on renewable energy from specific regions
(2) Innovation: worldwide funding necessary
(3) Reparation: EXPLOITED REGIONS DESERVE JUSTICE AND PROTECTION
How does the International Green New Deal provide reparation?
EXPLOITED REGIONS DESERVE JUSTICE AND PROTECTION
Where can funding come for the International Green New Deal?
Funding can come from global minimum corporate tax or public investment banks
What are the two different definitions of the world environment?
surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives and operates
the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity
What organization recently declared that we were officially in the Anthropocene?
International Geological Congress
What was the epoch that we were in before the Anthropocene?
Holocene (11,500 years)
What are some of the geological indicators that mark the coming of the Anthropocene?
population growth, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion
What are the two different possible future scenarios suggested by the Astronomer Royal of the UK?
(1) Either bio, cyber, or environmental catastrophes kill humanity
OR
(2) Human societies navigate threats, achieve a sustainable future, create a nicer world, and expand beyond Earth
What are the drivers of the Earth's climate system?
(1) Earth-Sun Relations: - earth rotates on a tilted axis 23.5 degrees from vertical → northern and southern hemisphere have diff max tilt and sun access
(2) Distance from equator: more rain at ITCZ, colder from equator
(3) ITCZ: precipitation
(4) continentality: ocean or lack of ocean makes land climate more or less extreme
(5) altitude: climates vary
How does the ITCZ drive the Earth's climate system?
Distance from equator - there is more rain at the ITCZ and it gets colder from the equator
How does continentality affect climate?
ocean or lack of ocean makes land climate more or less extreme
What are the causes of climate change?
Human activity: economic and population growth
What are the future risks and impacts of climate change?
Decrease in cold temperature extremes
Increase in warm temperature extremes
Increase in sea levels and precipitation
More often and longer heat waves
Intense and frequent precipitation
Warm and acidified ocean (Rising Sea)
What are the mitigation options to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius?
To keep warming below 2 degrees C, we can restrict emissions to 1 trillion tons of CO2.
Mitigation: reducing to near 0 emissions by end of century → technological, social, institutional challenges
Why is the military taking an increased interest in climate change?
climate change = high-risk regions (drought & food shortage can set off political unrest in ME and Africa, adapt to violent storms)
war games and rethinking movement of supplies
What are the temperature trends based on distance from the equator?
equator: warm most air, hot and wet
30 latitude up or down: dry air, hot and dry
ITCZ: hot air meets & rises → cloud formation and precipitation, moves throughout the year
Where is there warm, moist air, hot and wet temperature trends?
equator
Where is there hot, dry air as temperature trends?
30 degrees latitude up or down
What is the temperature trends near the ITCZ?
hot air rises, resulting in cloud formation and precipitation that moves throughout the year
What is the rate at which sea levels are rising in Atlantic City, NJ?
8 inches
What are the two NJ counties most vulnerable to future sea level rise (in terms of number of people expected to be affected by it)?
Atlantic and Ocean counties
What are the amount of days with flood events in Atlantic City, in the 1970s and the present day?
5 in the 1970s, almost 30 in present day
What are the total amount spilled (in barrels) from the Deepwater Horizon explosion?
BP estimated that ___4.7____ million barrels of oil leaked into the gulf as a result of the spill
Which company owned the Deepwater Horizon oil platform?
Transocean
Which company operated the Deepwater Horizon oil platform?
BP
John Hoffmeister was the former boss of which oil company?
Shell America
People who violate the safety zone around the booms are liable for a fine of
$40K
Describe the chemicals used to treat the oil spill, and some of the limitations of using them.
Corexit: disperses oil: turns oil into tiny droplets naked to eye, but it's still there, just distributed vertically, sinks until visible again, breaks down blood; kidney damage, liver damage, blood disorders, fetal toxin, 1200 meters down a lot of oil is found
Do you think it is acceptable to only remove pollutants visible to the naked eye? Why?
No bc oil still under sand-will it last forever? Is it toxic to people
Sinks and resurfaces
The former chairman of BP, who was forced to resign after the disaster, is?
Tony Hayward
Do you think thid disaster would have been reacted to differently in any other way if the oil company and its boss were American, rather than foreign (British)? Why?
More forgiving, government looks the other way, more friendly to americans, patriotism, don't want to be fault
The 33 deep water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are subsided by the American taxpayer to the amount of $?
%50 billion
The 33 deep water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are subsided by the American taxpayer to the amount of $50 billion. Does this seem like a good use of public funds? Give reasons for your answer.
No bc they aren't paying us back,
lmost half is deplete, other half is resting on super giant fields that won't be sustainable, only 2 fields met their design capacity
All basically commercial failures
Give some examples of how The Gulf Coast has recovered from the effects of the Deepwater Horizon leak, and some of how it hasn't.
Dead organisms: dark brown slime coating ocean floor 4cm deep, 200 heavily oiled miles of coastline -> 15 miles of heavily oiled remain
The former chairman of a major oil company compares the risks of wind power with that of drilling in the deep sea for oil. Do you think this is a fair comparison between two equally risky activities?
No bc oil spills = toxins = kills people, wind farms don't
Thousands of birds and dozens of sea turtles: 6100 birds, 600 turtles, 153 dolphins
Do you think the benefits of deep sea oil exploration outweigh the environmental and social risks? Give some reasons for your answer.
no
Which country in West Africa has a quarter of global aluminum resources?
Guinea
What is the concept of resource curse?
countries with abundant natural resources do not perform as well economically as those without
Who is the economist who said that, resources are not, they become?"
EW Zimmerman
The economist EW Zimmerman said that, "resources are not, they become". What does this imply for the supposedly 'fixed' finite nature of physical resources?
something only becomes a resource when valued or demanded by humans, 'fixed' finite nature isn't that fixed because other things can be used to do the same function
What is the concept of decoupling?
need to decouple resource use from economic activity and well-being (reduce the impact or resource use and decouple economic activity increase with resource use increase)
Relate the concept of decoupling with an example of a country in Europe that has achieved a degree of decoupling in the past 25 years
Sweden, 23% reduction in CO2 usage and 50% increase in GDP
How is silver important in explaining why quantities of natural resources are not permanently fixed and declining?
successful decoupling bc resource use decreased due to emergence of digital photography and advanced technology while GDP increased
but demand increase has increased for solar power
What are projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere in the geoengineer reading?
Solar Reflectance
(a) Stratospheric sulfur injection
(b) cloud whitening
(c) orbital mirrors and sunshades
Removing Carbon
(a) carbon burial
(b) ocean fertilization
(c) biochar production
(d) scrubbers
(e) artificial trees
What does globalization and regionalization refer to? How are they related? How do they operate together?
Globalization: Increasing integration of economies, culture, environmental governance on a global scale
Regionalization: Both the emergence of new regions and the process by which existing regions retain (or emphasize!) their unique features. These may be economic, cultural or environmental.
These processes are happening simultaneously and shape the contemporary and future world.
What were the arguments of Thomas Malthus?
-humanity is hardwired to breed w/out restraint
-population is always going to be determined in the end by the natural world
-famine will keep the balance intact if social measures to control population fail
What is the definition of a Malthusian catastrophe?
point at which population growth exceeds food production-people die
What are the reasons why a Malthusian catastrophe was predicted to inevitably occur?
predicted to occur bc
:-population growth heading towards food production
-birthrate larger than death rate
-resource scarcity
What are the things that stop a Malthusian catastrophe from occurring (checks and balances)?
For example, Malthus considered warfare, disease, and famine to be positive checks on the population. He also described preventative checks, which he described as behavioral modifications that could be made to discourage people from reproducing.
Little things like birth control, abortion and voluntary abstinence can easily steer us away from the road to Malthusian Catastrophe.
What is the impact of the zebra mussel invasive species?
formed massive colonies and clogged underwater structures and have out-competed and reduced the population of native mussels
What is the impact of the Nile perch invasive species?
introduced to improve fishing; has contributed to the extinction of more than 200 local species which were relied on by local fishers
What is the impact of the bass in Gatun Lake invasive species?
reduced the number of other fish that feed on mosquito larvae, damaging local efforts to control malaria
What is the impact of a specific strain of cholera invasive species?
(vibrio cholerae) reported only in Bangladesh, arrived via ballast water in Peru 1991, killing more than 10,000 people over the following 3 years
What is the reason, both mathematical and biological, why Garrett Hardin thought population was an unsolvable problem?
- math: you can't maximize 2 things in an equation
- biology: you can't maximize population and individual calorie intake (have to choose only one)
What are the examples of a "tragedy of commons" type situation given in class?
- Fisheries based: The Grand Banks are fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland. For centuries, explorers and fishermen described this region as home to an endless supply of cod fish. In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in fishing technology allowed huge catches of cod. Following a few dramatically large seasons, the fish populations dropped, forcing Canadian fishermen to sail farther to maintain large catch sizes each season. By the 1990s, cod populations were so low that the Grand Banks fishing industry collapsed. It was too late for regulation and management; the cod stocks had been irreparably damaged. Since then, the cod populations have remained low, and some scientists doubt the Grand Banks ecosystem will ever recover.
- Maritime: The Gulf of Mexico has a dead zone because everyone along the Mississippi River shares the waterway without considering how each small contribution of nutrient and chemical pollution adds up to have dramatic results.
- Human: Public roads are an excellent example of common property shared by many people. Each of these people has his or her own interest in mind — typically, how to get to work as quickly and easily as possible. But when everyone decides that public roads are the best way to meet traveling needs, the roads jam up and slow down overall traffic movement, filling the air with pollutants from idling cars.Turning public roads into private roads or toll roads creates a different scenario. With a toll to pay (especially if the toll is higher during peak-use hours such as rush hour), drivers may consider a less-direct route or choose to drive to work at a different time.
"Tragedy of commons" fisheries based
The Grand Banks are fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland. For centuries, explorers and fishermen described this region as home to an endless supply of cod fish. In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in fishing technology allowed huge catches of cod. Following a few dramatically large seasons, the fish populations dropped, forcing Canadian fishermen to sail farther to maintain large catch sizes each season. By the 1990s, cod populations were so low that the Grand Banks fishing industry collapsed. It was too late for regulation and management; the cod stocks had been irreparably damaged. Since then, the cod populations have remained low, and some scientists doubt the Grand Banks ecosystem will ever recover.
"tragedy of commons" maritime
The Gulf of Mexico has a dead zone because everyone along the Mississippi River shares the waterway without considering how each small contribution of nutrient and chemical pollution adds up to have dramatic results.
"tragedy of commons" human
Public roads are an excellent example of common property shared by many people. Each of these people has his or her own interest in mind — typically, how to get to work as quickly and easily as possible. But when everyone decides that public roads are the best way to meet traveling needs, the roads jam up and slow down overall traffic movement, filling the air with pollutants from idling cars.Turning public roads into private roads or toll roads creates a different scenario. With a toll to pay (especially if the toll is higher during peak-use hours such as rush hour), drivers may consider a less-direct route or choose to drive to work at a different time.
What is the solution that Hardin offered to solve the tragedy of the commons?
- "mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon"; we have to do what we can to protect these resources, and to do that we need to get rid of the commons to avoid tragedy- in the form of private property rights and inheritance, to avoid new commons forming
What are the implications of Hardin's solution to the tragedy of commons for the ownership of land?
As Hardin recognized, where property rights are well-defined and secure, the tragedy of the commons is less likely for each owner has ample incentive to act as a steward, caring for the underlying resource and preventing its overuse, both for themselves, and others who may value the underlying resource
What is the name of the Nobel prize winning economist who argued against the Tragedy of the Commons thesis?
Elinor Ostrom
What was the basis of Elinor Ostrom's argument?
the basis of her argument was to be sustainable, usage must be co-ordinated and regulated - but that does not mean government management or privatization are the only options. Ostrom's work demonstrated in meticulous detail that people can and do work together to manage shared resources sustainably - collective action
Know the demographic transition model well. Especially the birthrate and death rate, the balance between them, and how this changes as societies pass through varying levels of economic development. What does Hans Rosling identify as a critical indicator in explaining falling population growth rates.
- preindustrial societies are characterized by high death and birth rates (phase 1)in most societies, as the basics of "modernity" are - accessed the first change is a rapid fall in death rate (phase 2)
- this gap between death rate and birth rate = rapid population growth- historically, birth rates have begun to fall, but at a later date than death rates (phase 3)
- death rates and birth rates broadly equalize, at a much lower level than previously (phase 4)
- however total population number is much higher than previously- some countries entered phase 5
What does Hans Rosling identify as a critical indicator in explaining falling population growth rates?
Demographic Transition Model: used stats
What are the assumptions that are present in Malthusian thinking about how people are affected by natural laws of population growth and fall?
- a world that is already owned, divided, and has limited resources
- with more and more people, there are fewer resources to go around - scarcity - society is no longer able to reproduce itself in the manner accustomed
- the only solution is to restrict access to the feast - unlimited number can't be sustained
What are the arguments made by Boserup and others against Malthusian thinking?
Julia Simon: argued that population growth was a spur to innovation and technological change, rather than a harbinger of inevitable doom
Bjorn Lomborg: points out that global food supply per person per day increased 23% between 1960 and 2000
Boserup: took this approach to agriculture in the developing world and showed how increased population pressure encourage agricultural intensification and innovation (economic laws determine social activity)food production can and will increase to match the needs to the population based on simple economic principles
Study the population pyramids for Ghana and Kenya. Understand what the changing shape of the pyramid over time indicates, in terms of changing population growth rates.
Ghana and Kenya both had large bottoms, meaning in 1990 there were a lot of babies just being born. In 2010, the pyramids were not shaped like pyramids, as babies were not being born as rapidly and most of the people were in the age ranges from 10-30.
The relationship between poverty, education level, and rural/urban location, and the number of children had by women.
Higher chance of children from women living in poverty with no education. Urban areas have less fertility rates. Rural have higher rates along with no education, just primary education, and the poor.
The fertility rate in Africa in the middle of the 20th century, the present day, and the predictions for the end of the 21st century
The birth rate in the 20th century was 6.6The present day rate is 2.51The predictions for the end of the 21st century is a rate of 1.99
What does Ostrom identify as the critical component in the sustainable management of natural resources? Is it nationalization, privatization or something else?
(1) Clarity of the law
(2) Rules must be shared by the community - democratic and involves all who use resources
(3) Mechanisms of conflict resulting must be local and public
-users have incentive to check management
-users are the subjects that have the best info on how the resource can be used in an inapprop way
(4) rules must not conflict with higher levels of government
Understand the pattern of global population growth since 1800. Also understand the pattern of population growth rates over time, which are different. Both graphs can be found in the Lecture 9 slides
