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Introduction To Geography: People, Places, and Environment

Geography is the study of the Earth and its features. It examines physical characteristics, human activities and populations, and cartography. Geography asks questions about location, distribution, and relationships between people and places. It uses tools like remote sensing, GIS, and mapping to analyze spatial data and environmental changes over time. Geography provides insights into human-environment interactions and influences decision making through a spatial understanding of the world.

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Merie Grace Rante
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124 views29 pages

Introduction To Geography: People, Places, and Environment

Geography is the study of the Earth and its features. It examines physical characteristics, human activities and populations, and cartography. Geography asks questions about location, distribution, and relationships between people and places. It uses tools like remote sensing, GIS, and mapping to analyze spatial data and environmental changes over time. Geography provides insights into human-environment interactions and influences decision making through a spatial understanding of the world.

Uploaded by

Merie Grace Rante
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to

Geography
People, Places, and Environment,

Prepared by: Merie Grace N. Rante


What Is Geography?
 Geography is from two Greek words, Geo –
Earth, and Graphien – to write.
 It is simply the study of the earth, and
everything that goes on, on it.
 Geography is the one of the oldest and most
diverse fields of study.
Geography Today

 Association of American Geographers


 www.aag.org
 55 topical specialties (page 5)
 Geography asks these questions: Where?,
What?, When?, Why?, and Why there?

 Spatial analysis – has to do with the


distribution of a phenomenon in
“space” (this doesn’t refer to outer
space). Very Geographical concept.
Geography
 Physical – this makes it a natural science. These are the physical
xteristics of the envir.

 Human & Cultural – these make it a social science. Human groups and
our activities.

 Cartography – All kinds of mapping.

 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – using computers to help make


and display maps and analyze data. A sub-branch of Cartography.

 All these fields are interrelated (see table on page 5). That is
Assignment #2. Geography is very useful.
History of Geography

 Classical Western World


 Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.). This is actually Egypt (Africa), he worked in the
library of Alexandria. See pg 3. He believed the world was round.
 Hipparchus (180-127 B.C.) – 1st to draw grid lines.
History of Geography
 Non-European World
 Isaiah (40:22) believed the world was round
too! – 700 B.C.!
 Al-Edrisi(1099-1154)
 Ibn-Battuta (1304-1378)
 Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406)
 The Tribute of Yu
 Kangnido, see map on pg 4 (read)
 Africans traveled a LOT – e.g. Timbuktu (pg 9),
Queen of Sheba, Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8), East
Africa, etc.
“The information that any citizen needs
in order to make an informed decision on
an important question of the day is
largely geographic.”
Regions

 A region is an area that shows similar characteristics.

 Does not have abrupt boundaries. E.g. climate, culture, etc. It


slowly/ gradually goes into the next region.
Spatial Analysis & Movement

 Distribution of things. E.g.


 Density – the number of phenomena (e.g. people,
houses, trees, etc) per sq. mile.

 Distance
 Measurements
 Absolute
 Time
 Cost

 Distance Decay Effect


 As distance increases, importance of a particular
phenomena decreases
 Ex. Newspaper circulation, radio signals, TV reception
Three Types of Diffusion

 Diffusion is the spread of ideas, etc.


There are 3 main kinds:
 Relocation diffusion – e.g. immigration
 Contiguous diffusion – e.g. disease
 Hierarchical (leapfrog) diffusion – e.g.
fashion in cities
 Barriers to diffusion
 Cultural barriers e.g. political boundaries
or differences, cultural differences
 Oceans, deserts, distance, time
4 Physical Systems

 Atmosphere (air) e.g. Chapter 2 –


weather & climate
L
 Lithosphere (Earth’s solid rocks) e.g.
Chapter 3 - landforms B
A H

 Hydrosphere (water) e.g. Chapter 4


- Biogeochemical Cycles Interacting
spheres

 Biosphere (living organisms) e.g.


Chapter 4 - Biogeochemical Cycles
and the Biosphere
Human-Environmental
Interaction
 Natural landscapes
 One without evidence of human activity. E.g.?
 Cultural landscapes
 Reveals how humans modify local environment. E.g.?
 What about Central Park? Pg 20
The Geographic Grid

 Longitude - See Greenwich Photos & next


slide
 Measures distance east to west around the globe
beginning at the Prime Meridian
 2 most important lines of longitude: Prime
Meridian & the International Date Line
 0-180 degrees East or West

 Latitude
 Location on the Earth’s surface between the
equator and either the north or south pole
 Also called parallels
 0-90 degrees North or South
U.S./Canada Time Zones
Map Making

 Called Cartography
 Scale
 Fraction 1/24,000
 Ratio 1:24,000
 Written statement “1 inch equals 1 mile”
 Bar style
0 1 2 3 4
 Detail and area
 Small scale map = less detail, large
denominator (1:1,000,000)
 Large scale map = more detail, small
denominator (1:100,000)
Seattle, WA
Projection

 Scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface


to a flat map (“orange peel” concept). See Appendix on pg
591 (Goode’s Interrupted Projection).

 4 types of distortion – see maps on next slide.


 Relative size and distance (Mercator). Here, shape is
fine, but size is not, esp. at the poles. So the scales are
different (see Greenland). Also called “conformal” maps.
Pg 26

 Shape and direction (Equal Area projection). These are


maps that distort shape but preserve size.
See pg 26
Geographic Information
Technology
 Automated cartography
 Conversion of paper to digital formats
 Includes Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD)

 Sophisticated, specialized digital cartography systems

 Easier,cheaper editing. Manual techniques are


expensive and time-consuming, esp. when changes had
to be made to maps (e.g. Warren County Courthouse)
Remote Sensing
Acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a
satellite orbiting the planet or from high-flying
aircraft
Satellites

 Landsat
 1972; 1999
 Sensors measure radiation of colors of visible light
 Uses:

 Weather satellites – for hurricanes,


etc.
 GPS – uses longitudes & latitudes
(pg 33).
 More uses are found on next slide.
Uses of Remotely Sensed Data
& GIS Spatial Analysis
 Human activities (see next slides)
 Changes in plant growth
 Drainage patterns (rivers)
 Monitoring environmental changes with satellite images, e.g.
Lake Chad, pg 1
 Counting lakes, pg 36
 Erosion associated with agriculture
 Analyzing changes in food production and land use
 Logging and forest management
 Wetland monitoring
 Wartime applications
 Calculating densities and distribution of population

**GIS means Geographic Information Systems


Reddest
areas
are most
recent
tree cuts
Changes in land use in China
GIS

 Database software for digital information


 Contains same information as regular database
 Storesspatial characteristics such as boundary
information or coordinates and addresses.
 Layers
 Information with specific characteristics
 Soils, hydrology, land ownership, etc.
 Can be combined into layers for analysis. Same
concept is used for making globes (see next
slide).

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