Geography Exam 3

What is today’s global population? (to the nearest billion )

8 billion people

Globalization

Increasing interconnectedness through common processes of economic, environmental, political, and cultural change/ processes

Trasnational/multinational corporation

Corporation with operations in multiple countries

Supranational Organization

Individual states that work collectively toward political and economic objectives.

Three Views on Globalization

Hyperglobalist, Skeptical, Transformationalist

Hyperglobalist View Globalization

More people, more global connections equals more prosperity. Generally optimistic. 

Skeptical View on Globalization

Globalization is nothing new. “We have all been here before” Often, but not necessarily pessimistic.

Demography

Study of the characteristics of human populations

Census

Count of people in a nation, region, city. Used to apportion legislative seats, redistribute taxes to fund schools, occurs every 10 years in the US

Population Distribution

Description of the spatial arrangement of people, including where large numbers of people live closely together (clustered) and where few people live (dispersed).

5 Factors Impacting Population Distribution

Accessibility, Environment, Resource  Availability, Culture, Political and economic situation 

Crude Birth Rate

Ratio of the number of live births in a single year for every 1000 people in a population

Total Fertility Rate

Average number of children women will have during their lifetimes

Ways of Discussion Population Density 

Crude (arithmetic) density, Physiologic density, agricultural density, health density, 

Population Compostion

Structure of a population in terms of age, sex, and other properties such as marital status and education.

Dependency Ratio 

Economic impact of the very old and very young on the more economically productive members of the population 

Stationary Population level

achieved if the world reaches zero population growth as some demographers predict

Vectored Infectious Diseases

Transmitted by an intermediary vector. Disease with the most victims in human history. Example Malaria and Mosquitos

Non vectored Diseases 

Transmitted by direct contact with the host (person to person) Example: HIV/AIDS 

Chronic & Genetic Diseases

Chronic or degenerative diseases are primarily afflictions of old age. Most common are heart disease, cancer, and stroke

Natural Resources

Things that we utilize from our environment in order to survive.

Renewable Resources 

Can be replenished in the (relative) short term. Examples: sunlight, wind energy, etc. 

Nonrenewable

Formed more slowly than we use them, leading to potential depletion. Examples: fossil fuels and minerals

Anthropocentrism

Having a human- centered view of our relationship with the enviornment

Biocentrism 

Ascribes intrinsic value to non- human living things 

Ecological Imperialism

Introduction of exotic plants and animals into new ecosystems

Environmental Philosophies of the 1700s and 1800s

Romanticism and transcendentalism

Traditional Ecological Knowledge 

• Reciprocity and respect define the bond between members of the land family 

• One’s relationships to the land is shaped by something other than the economic profit 

Ecofeminism

• Argues that the domination of “nature” is linked to the domination of women in patriarchal societies, and that both forms of domination must be eradicated.

Deep Ecology

Two Key components-

• Self- realization: humans must understand their role in the natural world and not see themselves as outside of it.

• Biospherical egalitarianism: all components of nature deserve the same respect and care.

Ecotheology 

Focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature and the ways that various religious traditions view their responsibilities for the earth. Often brings together science and faith in order to understand our impacts on, and responsibility to, to the natural world. 

Environmental Justice

Considers the unevenness of pollution & environmental degradation and sees that some people and places are more impacted than others. Concerned with the fair distribution of environmental quality among social groups,

David Schlosberg’s Three Forms of Justice that run through the environmental justice movement

• Distribution: Spatiality and proximity of pollution

• Recognition: need for acknowledgment and respect

• Participation: degree to which affected communities can contribute meaningfully to the regulatory process.

Cultural Ecology

The study of how human society has adapted to environmental challenges 

Political Ecology

Stresses that human- environment relations can only be understood by relating patterns can only be understood by relating patterns of resource use to political and economic forces.

Ecological Footprint

• Ecological footprint- a measure of the human pressures on the natural environment from the consumption of resources and the production of pollution

Biocapacity

The capacity for the earth to produce the resources that we use.

Weather

Mix of events that happen each day in our atmosphere. Weather is different in different parts of the world and changes over minutes, hours, days, and weeks

Climate 

Describes what the weather is like over long period of time in a specific area. To describe the climate of a place, we might say what the temperatures are like during different seasons, how windy is usually is, or how much rain or snow typically falls. 

Climate Change- Natural Causes

Changes in the earth orbit, tilt, amount of solar radiation; volcanic eruptions

Impact of climate change

• Potential agricultural losses

• Islands and coastal areas lost to sea level rise

• Species extinction and ecosystem collapse

• Increase in disease incidence- mosquito vectors

Political Geography 

Study of ways in which space is organized into political units 

Geopolitics- Concerned with :

• The control of space or territory

• Power to shape foreign policy and international political relations

• States and boundaries

State

Politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory and a government.

Feudalism 

Hierarchical society in which the Crown bestows lands to the nobility in exchange for allegiance and military service, vassals are the tenants of the nobles, 

Peace of Westphalia

• Series of peace treaties signed in 1648

• Ended the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War

• Initiated a new system of political order based on the concept of the sovereign state

Territory

• Area claimed by or dependent upon a sovereign power

• Geographic space of the state or nation

Sovereignty 

• Supreme power, self-governance 

• Legal right to control a territory 

• The struggle for sovereignty is one of the major causes of world conflict 

Colonization 

Action of settling and establishing control over an area 

Colonialism

The ideology, policy, and practice of acquiring that territory and exploiting the land and its peoples for primarily economic gain.

Micronation

Political entity whose representative claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by sovereign states.

Juan Linz 

Defined authoritarian political systems based on 4 key qualities- 

1. Limited political pluralism 

2. Basis for legitimacy is emotion 

3. Minimal social mobalizaiton 

4. Informally defined executive power 

Territorial organization

A system of government formally structured by an area, not by social groups