geo 1

two main branches of geography

physical and human

cartography

the study and practice of making maps

nature-society relations

how nature and society are complexly interconnected, and how their modes of interaction shape human and nonhuman aspects of the world

mercator projection distortions

• greenland takes as much area on map as Africa

• Alaska and Brazil same size

• antarctica appears as biggest continent

north-south divide

a social, economic, and political division that exists between wealthier, developed nations (the “North”) and poorer, developing nations (the “South”)

produced space

space that has been altered, usually by human activity

space as material support

space contains the substances necessary for supporting human life

differences between a space and a territory

a space becomes a territory only when it is delimited in some way

historical dimension of territory

expressed in laws and modes of governance that seek to protect/expand a territroy’s power and influence

political dimension of territory

exerts control over space adn harnesses its resources

territoriality

territories are not fixed, can change overnight

place

combines location, locale (material setting, the way the place looks), and sense of place (emotional attachment)

pluralism

power should be dispersed among a variety of econ and ideological groups, not a single elite

4 qualities of authoritarianism

1. limited political pluralism

2. political legitimacy based on appeals to emotion

3. minimal political mobilization

4. ill-defined executive powers

tragedy of the commons

selfish actions of individuals result in the complete collapse of the resource over which they are competing

features of successful common resource systems

• clear boundaries

• reliable monitoring

• balance of costs and benefits for participants

• resolution of conflicts

• punishments for cheaters

population control

conveys a particular pattern of injustices that benefits elites and harms specific targeted groups of people, often in the name of ‘all humans’

demopopulationism

the knowledge processes and politics that call for intervening in human populations to produce ‘optimal’ population size and compositions

eugenics

applied ‘science’ or bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population

nature-society dualism

the modern assumption that human society is not an inherent party of nature due to particular qualities attributed to humanity (like self-consciousness)

anthropocentrism

interpretation of reality exclusively in terms of human values and eperience

human-environment geography

humans play a role in modifying environments and these environments, in turn, influence human actions

eco-centrism

non-human nature not only matters, but organisms are agents of change, change humans, and deserve consideration and special focus

social constructivism

nature or the environment is constructed (mentally) by humans and human concepts of nature are culturally, temporally, and politically changing

environmental determinism

the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards certain econ or social developmental paths

sustainable development

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs

misinformation

incorrect or misleading info (no malicious intent when spreading it)

disinformation

deliberately deceptive/false and propagated information

IPCC

• intergovernmental panel on climate change

• body of UN

• created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessment on climate change and provide solutions

Three working groups of the IPCC

• group I — aims at assessing the physical scientific basis of the climate system

• group II — vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, options for adapting to climate change

• group III — focuses on climate change mitigation, assessing methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

CO2 concentration typical range and current level (ppm)

typical range 170-330 ppm

current level 428.41 ppm

holocene

geological era we’ve been living in for the past 12,000 years, warm and habitable climate

anthropocene

new global environmental condition resulting from the cumulative impacts of an industrialized humanity

Agriculturalization

• proposed origin of Anthropocene

• generating human waste at greater volumes

• tending methane-emitting livestock

• generating animal waste at greater volumes

• burning seasonal grass biomass

Orbis spike (1610)

• proposed origin of anthropocene

• noticeable decrease in atmospheric CO2

  • decrease attributed to massive die off of 50 million Native Americans throughout 16th century

  • rapid and significant depopulation led to reforestation of farmlands (greater CO2)

• coterminous with emergence of global trade markets, imperialism, mass enslavement, and genocide

industrialization

• proposed origin of anthropocene

• substantial increases in human population

• devel of tech capable of massive pollution

• spike in release of CO2 in atmosphere

nuclearization (1945)

• proposed origin of anthropocene

• stratigraphic presence of radionuclides

• artificial radioactivity from nuclear bomb tests is easily measured

the great acceleration (1950)

• proposed origin of anthropocene

• post ww2 social and econ acceleration

• human activity, predominantly the global econ system, is now the prime driver of change in the Earth system

Malthusianism

as human populations grow out of proportions to the capacity of the environmental system to support them, there is a crisis for humans and nature

neo-malthusianism

continuation of malthusianism logic, but works through neo-colonialist, racialized, and gendered frameworks

anthropogenic

that which is caused or influenced by human beings

sociogenic

that which is caused or influenced by particular socio-technical and econ configurations

capitalocene

in an era of capitalism, way of understanding capitalism as a connective geographical and patterned historical system

biodiversity

refers to all organisms, species, and

3 levels of biodiversity

1. genetic diversity

2. species diversity

3. habitat/ecosystem diversity

biodiversity hotspot

• biogeographic region that is a significant reservoir of biodiversity and is threatened with destruction

the 6th extinction

• this extinction is progressing at a much higher rate than previous ones

the ending

a species ceases to exist only when the last surviving member dies

sacrifice zones

expendable places that can be forfeited for the sake of sustaining developed- world lifestyles

climate grief

the emotional response to increasing visibility of climate change, rising emissions, bleak scientific reports, the future

solastalgia

the pain or distress caused by the loss of one’s home environment

7 blocked responses according to Macy and Johnstone

1. I don’t believe its that dangerous

2. It isn’t my role to sort this out

3. I don’t want to stand out from the crowd

4. this info threatens my commercial or political interests

5. it is so upsetting that I prefer not to think about it

6. I feel paralyzed. I’m aware of the danger, but I dont know what to do

7. there is no point in doing anything, since it won’t make any difference

The great turning point

the transition from a doomed economy of industrial growth to a life-sustaining society committed to the recovery of our world

green guilt

guilt about how our consumer habits are destroying the planet, not doing enough, etc

lifeboat ethics

since global resources are finite, the rich should throw poor people overboard to keep their boat above water

projected impacts of a 2 degree C increase

• water scarcity

• food production decline

• extinction rates increase

• heatwaves and extreme weather

what is required to keep global temps below a 1.5 degree C threshold

• half as many people affected by water scarcity

• food scarfity less frequent

• smaller rises in ocean acidity

what fraction of the totalt CO2 releases occurred between 2007-2018

¼ of the 1600 billion tons humans have released since the industrial revolution

cartogram

map projection that uses purposeful distortion to represent some terrestrial phenomena on a geogrpahic map

GSSP / golden spike

internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on teh geologic time scale

• global marker of an event in material indicates changes to the earth system

The great turning

involves the transition from a doomed economy of industrial growth to a life sustaining society committed to the recovery of our world