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The etymology of the word 'Geography', the language it derived from and its meaning. The 3
minors offered by the Geography department here at Rutgers.
Etymology
Geo = "earth" (in Greek)
Graphein = "to write"
Geography = "writing earth:
Minors
Minor in Geography
Minor in International or Global Studies
Minor in Environmental Studies
The location(s) on the earth where Projections of Global Temperature Increase by 2080 is
expected to be greatest. The positive and negative feedbacks that will occur in this region, and
which of these are thought to be strongest (see supplementary exam readings on Sakai). Find
(Wikipedia is fine) the definition of 'albedo' and understand how this relates to the feedback
loop occurring in the Arctic.
Locations: North Pole and Arctic Ocean
Positive and Negative:
Arctic amplification: when the sea melts and absorb sunlight and cause more ice to melt
Permafrost: when ice thaws, dead animals begins to decay and releases carbon dioxide and methane
albedo: the proportion of the radiation that is reflected by a planet's surface
3. The reasons why the current era has been named as the Anthropocene.
An era dominated by human activity and transformation.
Concept not universally agreed upon but broad consensus that we are entering a new era.
In August, International Geological Congress declared we entered a new geological epoch
.
Human activities so bad that we're pushing Earth into planetary terra incognita. Earth is becoming less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, probably wetter and stormier state
4. The definitions of Weather and Climate, and the difference between them.
Weather: Daily/weekly occurrence of temperature and rainfall described by events. Weather is a snapshot
Climate: temperature and rainfall patterns in a given region for a long period of time (>20 years). Climate is driven by the relationship between different locations on the Earth and the radiation received from the Sun.
5. 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 and September 21 (Vernal and autumnal equinox)
Tropic of Cancer: June 21 (Summer Solstice)
Tropic of Capricorn: December 21 (Winter Solstice)
6. The causes of the ITCZ, and the directions it moves throughout the year. The relative
pressure at the ITCZ location, relative to sub-tropical areas. The relationship between the ITCZ
and rainfall patterns at the equator, the subtropical high and the areas in between throughout
the year
Causes: Result of intense solar heating at the equator. Where hot air meets and rises, causing cloud formation and precipitation. Forms where two hadley cells meet.
Directions: Moves north and south of the equator with the seasons and the angle of the Sun. The ITCZ follows the Sun in the position it varies seasonally. It moves North in the Northern Hemisphere summer and south in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Therefore, the ITCZ is responsible for the wet and dry seasons in the tropics.
7. The two countries that produce the most oil currently, and the two countries with the largest
reserves of oil
Produce Most Oil: United States and Saudi Arabia
Largest Oil Reserves: Saudi Arabia and Venezuela
8. The example of silver as a resource, what happened to demand for it, and why did that
change.
In 1999, 93 million oz of silver used in photography
It is now less than 9% of the global market and still dropping
People don't print as many photographs; more digital now and online
9. The various means by which both producers and consumers can affect the price of a resource
(see Lecture 6 slide)
consumer: recycle, more efficient use, develop substitutes
producer: more exploration, lower-grade resources utilized, lower cut-off grades in existing mines
10.The range of threats (the types of sector) that climate change will impact (Lecture 4 slides).
What are the worst case scenarios?
Projected Impacts of Climate Change
Food: falling yields in many developed regions
Water: Sea levels rise threaten many coastal cities
Ecosystems: Rising number of species face extinction
Extreme Weather Events: Rising intensity of storms, forest fires, droughts, flooding, and heat waves
Risk of Irreversible Changes: Increasing risks of abrupt large-scale climatic shifts
11.The two different definitions of the word 'environment' - how do they contradict?
1. the surrounding or conditions in which a person, animal, or planet live or operates
2. the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity
12.The organization that recently declared that we were officially in the Anthropocene. The
epoch that we were in before the Anthropocene.
Organization: International Geological Congress
Epoch: Holocene
13.Some of the geological indicators that mark the coming of the Anthropocene - in what ways
are human activities leaving a geological trace
More human activities, nuclear weapon, mass extinction; less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer and probably wetter and stormier state
14.The two different possible future scenarios suggested by the Astronomer Royal of the UK
"The darkest progress for the next millennium is that bio, cyber, or environmental catastrophes called foreclose humanity's immense potential, leaning a depleted biosphere"
"Human societies could navigate these threats, achieve a sustainable future, and inaugurate eras of post-human evolution even more marvelous than what's led to us"
15.The drivers of the Earth's climate system and the principle of continentality. The examples of
Yakutsk and Murmansk given in class
-Earth-Sun relations
-Distance from the equator
-The inter-tropical convergence zone
-Continentality
-Altitude
16.The broad locations on Earth where you get a tropical wet climate, tropical dry climate, arid
climate, and polar climate
tropical wet climate - Equatorial latitudes
tropical dry climate - Subtropical high
arid climate - Mid latitudes
polar climate - polar latitudes
17. Study the readings from Lecture 4-5 carefully. Pay particular attention to the attributed
causes of climate change, the role of human activity in this, the mitigation options to keep
warming below 2 degrees Celsius, future climate risks and impacts. Also, understand the reasons
why the military is taking an increased interest in climate change.
Causes of Climate Change
- The global temperature is rising the major mechanism is the emission of GHG's/human activity
- Agriculture, Industry, Transport, Energy Supply, Forestry, Water and Waste
Mitigation Options
- Option 1: Removing the trapped heat in the atmosphere
- Option 2: Increasing the reflecting of the atmosphere
Reasons for the military taking an increased interest in climate change
- Rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises
- Threatens naval coastal bases with rising sea levels
- Believes climate change can have an indirect cause of people joining extremist groups
18. Temperature trends based on distance from equator. Precipitation trends throughout the
world and how they vary annually (study animated precipitation map carefully)
Temperature trends: the farther from equator the colder
Precipitation trends throughout the world: Sept - January precipitation tends to move down. February-August precipitation tends to move up
19.The rate at which sea levels are rising in Atlantic City, NJ. The two New Jersey counties most
vulnerable to future sea level rise (in terms of number pf people expected to be affected by it).
The amount of days with flood events in Atlantic City, in the 1970s compared with the present
day.
The rate at which sea levels are rising in Atlantic City.
1970-2012 sea level rise: 8 inches (0.19 inches per year)
Two most vulnerable counties: Atlantic and Ocean
Amount of days with flood events in Atlantic City
- 1970s: 5 days
- 2010s: 30 days
20.The total amount spilled (in barrels) from the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The cost of
cleaning up. Read the Deepwater Horizon Primer.
Amount spilled: 4.9 million barrel (almost 5 mils)
The cost of cleaning: 62 Billion
21.The country in West Africa with a quarter of global aluminum resources. The countries that
dominate global Tantalum reserves. The definition of the resource curse, how far back the
notion dates, the continent most affected by the resource curse, the findings of the Sachs and
Warner paper.
Resource Curse:
- Dates Back to Adam Smith (1700s)
- Definition- countries with an abundance of resources do not perform as well economically as those without
Continent Most Affected: Africa
The country with quarter aluminum resources: Guinea
Countries that dominate global Tantalum reserves: Brazil and Australia
22.The economist who said that, "resources are not...". How does this view of resources
compare with the understanding of resources in the Limits to Growth?
EW Zimmerman: Resources are not a thing, they are what humans employ to service wants at a given time.
Compare with Limits to Growth: The claim says that we have a finite source of resources and we need to control our rate of consumption.
23.The Sudanese city located at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile
Khartoum
24.The country in the region that gets 97% of its water through DESALINIZATION. The story of
the rise in fall of Saudi wheat production.
Qatar
25.The percentage of global reserves of OIL AND NATURAL GAS that are located in the Middle
East and North Africa
60% of world's reserves of oil
40% of worlds reserves of natural gas
26.The country that uses most of the water in the River Nile - the reasons it is able to access
this much
Egypt
Reason: Egypt is completely dependent on the river
To secure its supply, Egypt signed an agreement with Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1929 which gave Egypt 48bn cubic metres of the Nile's total flow of an average 88bn cubic metres. Following independence, Sudan upped its share to 18.5bn cubic metres and Egypt got 55.5bn.
27. Study the reading on geoengineering carefully. Especially projects to remove carbon from
the atmosphere, and for increasing solar reflectance. Know these different proposals well. And
read the additional reading (in Unit 2) on new plans to slow the pace of glacier retreat.
Solar Reflectance
- stratospheric sulfur injection (formation of an aerosol layer of sulfur in the stratosphere
- Cloud whitening: tower spraying devices of pressurized seawater droplets and dissolved salts. Once evaporated salt crystals would remain
- Orbital Placement of several million small reflective objects beyond Earth's atmosphere
Carbon-Removal Proposals
- Carbon burial: put CO2 deep underground or in the deep ocean
- Ocean fertilization: increase uptake by using phytoplankton
- Scrubber and Artificial Trees: sodium and calcium hydroxide in the air to precipitate CO2 to be safely stored
