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Significance of physical geography
Physical Geography and Human Geography
Physical Geography and Human Geography
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Geography in essence is the study of the physical and human world. Physical and human geography share similarities while also maintaining some notable differences. Physical geography is the study of the natural world and its processes, whereas human geography is the study of the people inhabiting the earth, their languages and culture. Everything it means to be a human is studied in Human Geography. Both forms of geography serve to benefit and help the world in their own ways by facilitating the people who live in it make sense of why things are how they are. Human geography is important to understanding people in many ways. It lends an explanation as to why people speak a language, why they worship a particular god, or why they are nomadic …show more content…
This subject is interesting because it is key to gaining knowledge and an understanding of the natural world. Physical geography can help answer questions like; why are there mountains, trees, lakes, and volcanos, or what causes a wildfire to roar out of control going up a hillside? All of these can be answered by physical geography of the natural world. The most fascinating thing as a wildland firefighter is sitting in class and learning how everything is connected. From the rock cycle to the water cycle, everything is connected and fits together cohesively, making sense of the world. It is interesting to be able to associate things that one can witness in the field and be able to understand the breadth of the scientific interactions involved in the processes. Being able to understand the physical world is something that could mean surviving to see your family again, or not making it home. Understanding both human and physical geography and how they interact goes beyond the need to make sure that you and your coworkers make it home safe, though. It involves understanding a single piece, or multiple pieces of history that have been around since before humans …show more content…
Wildfires burn through areas that may or may not be populated. Thus, residing anywhere within the state of California comes with an inherent risk. Fires can move through the saddles of Beverly Hills, burning through blocks and blocks of homes and yet people are still eager to reside within California. People are always going to be interacting with the physical world and changing it to fit their will despite an increased danger level, and it is easy to figure out why people continue to build in these high risk areas using human geography. The areas that people wish to inhabit for a multitude of reasons tend to be highly developed and in areas with a specific climate that makes them more desirable. This more desirable climate, however, mixed with the high population density makes for the perfect fire storm. This is only one example of both human and physical geography interacting with one another that is incredibly
Malibu and Yosemite share similar ecosystem, which encourages wildfires and periodic firestorms. In his book Ecology of Fear, Mike Davis argues that Malibu should burn because wildfires are a part of its history. To illustrate his point, he relates numerous historical events from the first settlement of the region to modern days. Despite the high frequency of wildfires in Malibu, humans have continued to settle there in droves. Those settlers have fought the fires, which has done nothing but augment their intensity. Unlike Malibu, with its populated areas that have been damaged by wildfires, Yosemite benefits greatly from wildfires. Yosemite’s ecosystem has evolved with wildfires; indeed, without wildfires, Yosemite would lose its uniqueness. Also, Yosemite is not as heavily populated as Malibu, so fires in Yosemite would not affect humans to the same degree that they do in Malibu.
Fire plays a huge role in natural forests. The let it burn policy allows natural fires to burn unless, they threaten people, property, or endangered species. This policy allows the years and years of kindling that has fallen and piled up on the forest floor to burn up in smaller fires, instead of having huge devastating fire like the ones that burning for months in 1910 and 1988. When the west was first settled, forests were thinned by lumber companies that logged the trees and burned the logging debris, and by ranchers looking to increase pasture land. The last herder coming out of the mountains would set a fire to ensure good forage for the next year.
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
Fire played a very important role in the lives of the early Fond du Lac pioneers. It provided people with heat, light, and a means to cook. Almost every home in Fond du Lac had some sort of stove or fireplace. If a fire got out of control, that house and surrounding homes were in danger of burning down. As the town’s population grew larger and larger, the number of fire sources went up as well. The chances of a fire getting out of control were growing quickly. People soon began to fear the inevitable.
For example, how the Spaniards conquered the Inca because geography was on their side. They received information/ technology from their neighbors, had books, writing, forging techniques, etc. When the Inca had limited resources, no form of writing, books, only had the llama, and were sheltered from the world. How germs, animals, steel, and writing separated these societies from one another because of how geography “raised” these people for over centuries. The world is unequal because of the exposure everyone has to different geography. Some civilizations have more to offer than other civilizations because they would make use of what they have. Being able to make use of things handed to us in our face helped to create things that allowed us to prosper. Geographic luck and exposure have separated people for centuries, and it has shown through the technology some of us have today compared to the late and undeveloped
The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate to and from as well as through their new environments. Over Time the explorers began to discover the relationships within their environments and original occupants of the lands as well as the regions in which they now occupied.
The question that I will be answering for my coursework is which is best at protecting the Northumberland coastline – groynes or beach nourishment. I will be going to Blyth beach also I will be visiting Newbiggen beach I am investigating the Northumberland coastline as part of my geography coursework also because I live in the UK and I want to see how safe the people of the UK are with the safety of the coastline and its defences against coastal erosion. We will be visiting the Northumberland coastline on Thursday the 15th of May 2014.
Geography is the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by it, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries. Environmental influences, such as cost, changing weather, climate patterns, their potential impacts, and the threat of spreading diseases, are of increasing concern. Geography allows us to participate and enjoy our planet. It gives us a sense of reference to where we live and where we may be going in relationship to where we have been, and the appreciation of the world we live in. Anthropology is the study of human kind and culture, everybody wants to know where and how humans came to be. Our daily lives such as family, friends, co-workers and the under...
Human activity has major effects on geography. When studying the earth you can come to several conclusions about the geography of any particular civilization. Distribution of life in the civilization allows you to analyze whether their geography is their own destiny. Do people control their own destiny? Is geography something that people can control? Technology is really the key to why geography can be overcome by any people.
So what exactly is a geographical perspective, well according to Penn state “A geographic perspective is a way of looking at and understanding the world. When
Domosh, Mona, Roderick Neumann, Patricia Price, and Terry Jordan-Bychkov. The Human Mosaic: A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. 11thth ed. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2010. N. pag. Print.
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.
Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people. In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The ancient Greeks created the word "geography" from the roots "ge" for earth and "grapho" for "to write." These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).
Geography is a branch of science that seeks to learn about the physical aspects of the earth, and how human activity is having an impact on it. War, on the other hand, is a militaristic conflict between two opposing parties, where violence and strategic thinking plays a big part. War relies on several aspects in Geography to help win battles such as using maps to have an overview of a battlefield, understanding how the land can be used to a commander’s advantage, and so on. Wars or other kinds of militaristic conflicts can sometimes occur due to the nature of Geography in many ways: expanding the territory of a country, conquering another nation for its resources, or for other reasons. Geography matters very much in warfare because the types