GEOG 2400 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - World Population, Western United States, Water
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GEOG 2400
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
GEOG 2400—Introduction to Environmental Geography
Professor Buckley
MWF 9:40-10:35
[Type here]
8/28/17
What is environmental geography?
• The study of how humans interact with the environment→ study of people and the
environment
• Highly interdisciplinary, inclusive, holistic
• Integrates the social and physical sciences
o Trained in understanding climates, earth systems, etc. interested in people→ why
do different types consume and urbanize differently?
• Patterns, processes, ecologies, legacies→ interested in patterns that produce certain
products and how the patterns are conducted; the effect on the environment
o Decisions made in past have major effect today—decrease options/ close off and
open new doors= legacies→ decisions we make MATTER
• Relational: explores how world works at different scales (e.g. local, regional, global and
how those scales are connected)
Goals for GEOG 2400
• Provide an account of the nature and extent of changes humans have caused at various
scales
• Gain an awareness of processes driving these changes
• Review what is being done—or could be done—to address human impacts to the
environment
• Recognize our contribution to the environmental problems
• Recognize role we can play
“we are inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their acts”—Harold Nicolson
➔ It’s OTHER people who are messing up, NOT me
We are all consumers—ex. Filling up gas tank, oil is coming from somewhere else→ impact of
retracting resource? Food.
• Dependent today
• Less than 2% farmers—food production is high, capability to produce individually is
declined→ vulnerable
• With being consumers, we have established connections around the world
Ex. Rare Earth minerals—lithium→ batteries
• Everyday use→ Cars, phones, etc.
• Produce rarely in United States
• Most come from China
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
GEOG 2400—Introduction to Environmental Geography
Professor Buckley
MWF 9:40-10:35
[Type here]
8/30/17
Consumption and connections worldwide
• Food production—shipping water to locations i.e. American West → consumes energy
• Can’t grow it, have to mine it ex. Copper
o Extracted from rock, today is less pure and required to mine more to extract a
little
▪ Results in mining sites both surface and underground
• Coal production
• Commodity chains: show us components or ingredients for “everyday items” come from
all over the world
o Cast light on hidden geographies associated with production of many of our
consumer goods
o Labor and goods
o Commodity chain Nutella
▪ Sugar= Brazil
▪ Coco= Nigeria
▪ Palm oil= Malaysia
▪ Hazelnut= Turkey
▪ Consequences for producing more palm oil??
• Deforestation
• Must cut down rainforest and drain wetlands to establish palm oil
plantations
• Increasingly, we are encouraging on prime orangutan habitat.
Thousands killed annually
• Losing an important carbon sink too
o Nutella or orangutans?
o We are faced with these decisions everyday with the
products we buy—products consumed matter
o Unaware of impact we make on other continents on these
goods
o Commodity chain for gadgets found worldwide
• Tradeoffs
o There is a price to pay for our consumption. This is where a scale and
environmental justice becomes important
▪ Human health
▪ Clean air
▪ Clean water
▪ Biological diversity
▪ Stable climate
• What about jobs?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com