Geography is a method not a body of knowledge action of describing Chapter 1 Essentials of Geography Science of Geography Greek term Geo Earth Graphien to write planet Interconnection of Natural systems Geographic areas Society Cultural activities Vary across space Geographers use spatial analysis Spatial characteristics of physical space its measurement distribution of things within Five Spatial Themes Location where Region not static Movement Human Earth relationships resource exploitation hazard perception Place tangible and intangible characteristics what makes it unique environmental pollution Method governs these themes not a body of knowledge Spatial Analysis Synthesizes all the physical elements and processes Processes mechanisms or sets of actions Very important in geographic analysis Examples Surface atmosphere processes weather Continental crust movements earthquakes Physical geography Spatial analysis of all physical processes that make up the environment Any subject can be examined geographically road signs water Geographic Continuum Geography is eclectic bottles Continuum Earth Systems Concepts Systems theory Physical and life sciences on one end human and cultural sciences at the other Impacted by each other figuring out relationships and interconnections between the two System any ordered set of interrelated components and their attributes can be made up of sub systems Things relate to each other Open systems Not self contained inputs outputs of energy and matter Most systems are open Sunlight rainfall if it rains on you then you re an open system Closed systems Some things that relate to space No external influences shut off from surroundings The Earth nothing randomly floats out to space System feedbacks outputs that influence the system to discourage or encourage further outputs Negative feedbacks Opposite direction as what you intended Positive feedbacks Keeps going in direction you intended Ice sheets Changes color uniformity if it gets warmer the surface melts and looks darker High Latitude Meltponds Positive Feedback warming caused melting causing it to absorb more get warmer and continue to melt warming gets worse and worse and melting gets worse and worse keeps flowing in same direction so positive feedback System equilibrium average conditions Most systems are in equilibrium their conditions fluctuate around Steady state equilibrium really no change but fluctuates just a little bit no long term change If there is a trend over time Dynamic equilibrium fluctuates around constant conditions but conditions are changing over time Abrupt changes and tipping points do occur volcanic eruption Meta stable equilibrium What are Earth s Systems Four spheres interact across 500 million km2 Atmosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere First Three are Abiotic non living Biosphere Biotic living Location and Time on Earth Dimensions Latitude Longitude Prime Meridian and standard time time zones The Battle of the Bulge Shape Oblate ellipsoid Cause Rotation Polar diameter 7900 miles 12 714 km Equatorial diameter 7926 miles 12 756 km Latitude and Longitude direction Degrees minutes seconds D some sort of compass Degrees 0 180 lon or 0 90 lat Minutes 00 59 Seconds 00 59 D N S E W What is the location of MPHY 205 30 N 96 W Latitude Angular distance north or south of the equator measured from the center of the Earth Run east to west on maps globes Parallel to the equator 0 Increase northward and southward North Pole 90 N South Pole 90 S Latitudes are parallel Lines of equal latitude are called parallels Arctic 66 5 N Antarctic 66 5 S Equatorial and tropical 23 5 N to 23 5 S Longitude Angular distance east or west of a point on the Earth s surface measured from the center of Earth Measure relative to the prime meridian 0 Arbitrarily designated to be Greenwich England Run north to south on maps globes Always run through poles lines curve Meridians are NOT parallel to each other intersect at poles Meridians make right angles with parallels Lines of equal longitude are called meridians Latitude and Longitude 1 degree latitude always around 69 mi 1 degree longitude varies 0 69 mi Prime Meridian and Standard Time Prime meridian also serves as the standard for time Greenwich Mean Time GMT Universal Time Earth rotates 360 in 24 hours 360 24 hours 15 hour 1 time zone covers 15 longitude Time zone extends 7 5 on either side of a central meridian National political boundaries distort the time zones International Date Line Where each day officially begins and sweeps westward Opposite the prime meridian West side is always one day ahead later No matter what time of day you cross it the date changes Samoa and Tokelau changed to other side of the dateline in 2011 for easier trade Maps Scales and Projections Map generalized view of an area seen from above and reduced in size Scale ratio of map units to ground units No set unit Graphic scale how much difference on a scale corresponds to distance in the real world Do have to worry about units on graphic scale Projection process of transforming spherical Earth to flat map Introduces distortions Don t have distortions with globes aside from the size Flattened globe cut along latitude lines to flatten out errors because big holes are left Map projection Mercator projection cylindrical Continents have correct shapes but wrong sizes Greenland Distortion minimized along equator Projections Can fit 18 countries in Africa Equal area or true shape Can t have both on the same map If you want to have equal area Have to stretch and sheer parallels and meridians that are no longer at right angles If you want true shape Scale actually varies from region to region across the map Correct projection depends on the intended use Road trip hiking Cylindrical Projection True shape Right angles But midlatitudes and polar areas are vastly exaggerated in size not equal area Mercator projection Standard line is always that one line where there is no distortion equator in this case Planar projection Conic projection Lay flat on paper and just trace over it Lower latitudes end up being most distorted Much closer to equal area map but land features look strange Roll up piece of paper into cone place over globe Albers equal area conic projection two standard parallels Combo of equal area and true shape Remote Sensing physical contact Gathering of information about objects surfaces that are not in direct Aircraft spacecraft satellites buoys ships etc snapchat taking a picture from