World
Regional Geography
Spring 2005
Chapter 2 Human Development and World Regional
Geography: Notes
Understanding Global
Disparities
Human Development: process
of enhancing human capabilities to enable each person live a respected life of value. Often measured by economic
development. Sustainable human development- economic
growth that does not deplete the earth's renewable resources.
Human Rights: Freedom from/to/of:
§
Discrimination
§
Want
§
Fear
§
Injustice
§
Develop one's potential
§
Obtain decent work
§
Thought and Speech
Issues of People and Land
Population
continues to receive priority attention by many of the world's major regions.
The demography (or number), density,
growth or decline and migration of people vary widely from place to place.
Globally the developing or poorer regions of the world, such as
Global
population increase per year = 80 million
Growth rates > 2% are
considered to be too high
The major world issue:
Human population growth and its impact.
Population
Distribution
Components
included in the study of demography include: annual births per 1,000
population, fertility rates, death rates, infant mortality, migration, and the
process of demographic transition as many countries move from developing to a
more affluent status. Based upon,
"Do births exceed deaths?" and immigration.
Population
densities:
number of people per given area (i.e., square mile.) These numbers must be given this way to
compare densities.
Earth surface: 29% land
Highest
densities:
Growth to
2050: 97%
will be in larger, denser and poorer countries (35 % in
Largest Cities (1990):
Check out this web site for world city populations:
http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html
Check out NASA work with GIS and remote sensing:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/feature/2003/1212globalcities.html
Important Trend:
Soon cities in developing countries will surpass
·
Population Densities
·
Urban Infrastructure (provision and funding)
·
Public Services (Education, Transportation, Security)
·
Health Care (as well as control of diseases)
·
Growth of Slums
·
Civil Unrest
Population Dynamics
Demography: study of population
structure and development
Demographic
Transition:
Model relating stages of demographic development based upon relationships
between birth/death rates and economic development.
Four Stages
of Demographic Transition
§
Stage One: longest (98% of history),
high birth rate and high death rate. Need high birth rate for labor intensive
economies. High death rate linked to
high infant mortality.
§
Stage Two: Rapid population growth,
with high birth rate and lower death rate due to medical technology and lower
infant mortality.
§
Stage Three: Death rate continues to
decline at low pace and big drop in birth rate.
Linked to urban-industrial society.
§
Stage Four: Low birth rate and low
death rate. Slow rates of population
growth (zero population occurs when lines converge.) Requires a highly urbanized and shift to
post-industrial economy
Population
doubling:
a 1% increase leads to doubling in 70 years
Earth's Population will double in 50 years at present
rate.
Countries with highest %
labor in agriculture is least able to produce sufficient food:
§
Subsistence agriculture
§
Low levels of technology
§
Inefficient agricultural methods
§
Scarcity of additional arable land
Point-Counterpoint:
HIV/AIDS (READ THIS FOR HOMEWORK)
World
Bank data: http://www.worldbank.org/data/
World
AIDS Day: http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
(Figures from UN AIDs web site.)
Describe the HIV trends in
HIV/AIDS
Infection:
90% occurs in poor countries where health care resources are already spread
thin.
How Many People Can Earth Support?
Malthus: predicted that population growth is so much greater than
food production that famine must offur to curb world populations. If all countries consumed resources at the
Reasons
Malthusian ideas have not panned out:
§
Role of technological change
§
Control of epidemics (better medical technology)
§
Birth control
§
Higher standard of living has not led to faster population
growth
Issues of Economic
Inequality
Economic
Geography:
looks at spatial patterns/relationships of economic activities- the production,
distribution and consumption of good/services.
Large number of poor people- biggest economic
challenge (
The Wealthy (0.0012%): control 2/3 of world
wealth. 425 billionaires- 274 in US
Economic Worlds
A free-market capitalistic system (See capitalism
notes from Chapter 1.) dominates the world economy. Based upon individual economic freedom, but
actually has a great deal of government intervention. Consider how a wealthy government can provide
infrastructure (roads, power, security, sanitation, water, etc.) compared to
what a poor country can provide. This
impacts competitiveness. Trade barriers
limit access to markets and allow producers with government subsidies to
out-compete those without (look into
Global
Economic Organizations: World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund
(US-based), loan money to countries for economic development and to open
markets. The World Trade Organization works to reduce import and export duties
and promote free trade.
Measuring Wealth, Poverty, and Human
Development
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP): total value of goods and services produced by a country in
a year
Figure 2.9
(Page 36)
Making Development Happen
Sectors of the
economy (activities):
Primary- Resources
Secondary- Manufactoring
Tertiary- Markets and Sales
Quaternary- Services (largest/fastest
growing sector)
The Global Economy
Characteristics
of globalization:
1.
Capital is globally mobile
2.
Markets are less regulated
3.
Multinational firms are principal agents of change
4.
Nation-state are weaker than many multinational firms
5.
Trends of homogenous global conditions and power of place as
localities strengthen their uniqueness.
Technology (communications and transportation) is
shrinking distance- information, money, people and goods move faster
(instantaneous.)
Multinational
firms: Top
100- 50 in
Role of
Multinational Corporations
Reach far beyond the scope and power of most
governments.
Positive:
1.
Investment capital
2.
Jobs
3.
Technology transfer
4.
Improved balance of payments
Negatives
1.
Resource exploitation
2.
Sudden pullouts and local impacts
3.
Neutralization of national economic policies
4.
Modification of cultures
5.
Focus on outside production, not inside development
Nongovernmental
organizations (NGO): any group or people involved in collective action of a
noncommercial, nonviolent manner, that is not directed
on behalf of a government.
Global City-Regions
Concentrations of high-salaried people, high-end
technology and business services with a growing underclass of low paid, support
workers. Prime cities are 1)
Growth of
Cities Illustrated:
§
Changes in the urbanization processes
§
Shift from manufacturing to service industries
§
Emergence of quaternary sector
§
Information as the basis for urban growth
§
Changing orientation from regional to global economic
systems
Key city
success factors:
§
Multinational Corporate Headquarters
§
Centers of Higher Education, Research and Development
§
High-technology Activities
§
Communications Infrastructures
§
Business Services
§
High Quality of Life
Issues of Cultural Freedom
and Discrimination
Culture: Language, religion- codes
of acquired beliefs, becomes an attitude towards life. Includes technology, art,
music, architecture and design. A system of social relations which includes ethnicity, class,
gender and age.
Languages
Most important factor in geographic diversity. Globalization is marginalizing some languages
and promoting others. Official UN
languages include, English, French, Russian, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese. Major driver of the spread of some languages
was the European colonial period.
English is the terra lingua.
Religions
An organized set of practices, involving a system of
values and worship of a divine being/beings. Important role in
transferring cultural values and practices.
Major World
Religions:
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism (universalizing religions) and Hinduism (ethnic
religion)
Great
Monotheistic Religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam- All built from Judaistic heritage.
Abraham is founder of all with Moses and Jesus as prophets in Muslim
tradition.
Christian
Splits:
Roman Catholicism (60%) (
Muslim
Splits:
1/5 of world population is Muslim. Sunni
the orthodox; constitute at least 80% of all Muslims in the world today. Shi'a - Partisans
of Ali. Ninety percent of all Shi'a Muslims today are
found in
Race, Class, and Gender
Status is inherent through
family, wealth, politics, media prominence or sport performance. Class
comes for a stratification of society based upon religious, economic and social
criteria. Wealth, education and birth are a common
basis for class distinction.
Gender: cultural implications of
one's own sex. Makes dominate most
societies, denying woman full rights. In
many poor countries, women comprise 80% of the labor pool.
Cultural
Fault Line (Shatterbelts): Where cultures meet. Often areas of intense and
lasting conflict. Usually
religious, but are also cultural, linguistic, economic, etc.
Issues of Political Freedom
Political
Geography:
study of how governments and politics influence world human geography.
Countries: Basic political
unit. Different from a
nation (which is tied to an ethnic/cultural group of people.) Countries levy taxes to provide public services
(includes defense) and encourage social and economic welfare. During the 1900’s the percentage of a
country’s wealth taken by government rose from 10% to 40%. This includes infrastructure, defense,
education and other spending. In 1998
there were 193 countries. In 2002,
Nations: an ethnic group, a
cultural grouping of people, usually linked to an area of land, such as the
Palestinians, Kurds, Scots, etc.
Example: The country of the
Political Worlds
The end of the Cold War shifted political alignments
as the distinction between First (
Country Groupings for Defense or
Trade
Need to know: NATO and the EU
Environmental Issues
Physical
Geography:
study of natural environment and their distribution
Influences
upon human behavior: growing season, water, soil type and minerals
Impact works both ways between the natural world and
humans
Natural
Processes
·
Circulation of atmosphere and oceans (hydrosphere) (produce
weather and climate)
·
Earth’s interior, includes rock cycle, tectonics, etc. (lithosphere)
·
Geomorphology: study of the interaction
of atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
·
Actions of living organisms (biosphere)
Climatic
Environments
Climate: long term average of
local weather conditions and extreme events for a region. Determined by energy (heat)
and moisture transfers around the globe.
This is powered by insolation (incoming solar radiation), which strikes the earth directly at a right angle at the equator and at more oblique
angles as you move north or south.
This changes the amount of heat delivered and
creates energy imbalances which cause winds and currents. The surface of the earth and oceans
Absorb and then re-radiate energy.
Equatorial
areas: Energy
(heat) surplus
Polar Areas: Energy (heat) deficit
This imbalance is compensated by flows of air and
water between the regions.
The rotation of the earth causes a coriolis effect- causing currents to be
deflected (right in Northern Hemisphere and left in Southern Hemisphere.)
Figure 2.24 (Page 55)
Climate
regions:
basic classification components of climate are temperature and rainfall. Based upon redistribution of energy, atmospheric and ocean
circulation movement of water from oceans across water.
Figure 2.26 (Page 57)
Shaping Earth’s Surface
Earth's surface: 71% covered by ocean % 29% by land.
Relief
(height and slope of land): developed internal (endogenic) and external (exogenic) system
activity such as the tectonic (endogenic), rock (endo/exo-genic) and weathering (exogenic)
cycles.
Interior Forces: Energy provided by earth's internal
heat. Plate movements produce major
features of earth's surface (mountain systems and continents.) (Divergent
plates move apart- creating trenches and new oceanic crust.) Convergent plates collide (creating mountains
from recycled subducted materials.) Earthquakes and volcanoes occur along plate
boundaries. Transform faults move
horizontally against each other (
Rock Cycle: Process (endogenic and exogenic) of
building new rock materials from volcanic, mineral and organic sources, under
the forces of heat and pressure.
Weathering: Process of breaking down exposed rock through
mechanical and chemical means. Process of wearing down and sculpting the surface of the earth (as
a counterbalance to tectonic action which builds up/creates surface features.
Processes of
weathering:
Erosion (weathering), transport (runoff, streams and rivers) and deposition
(sediment, alluvial plains and deltas.)
Plants, Animals, and Soils in
Ecosystems
Ecosystem: Total environment
including plants, animals, minerals, nutrients, water and climate.
Biome: Largest scale ecosystems-
reflect major earth climates. Forest,
grassland (much of this biome is developed through human fire action), desert,
polar and ocean (richest biome- fueled by nutrients brought to the surface by
deep ocean currents- West Coast of North America.)
Soil: Results from interaction
of broken rock matter, weather, plants and animals. These processes, interacting with climate,
create conditions that enable human agriculture.
Human Impacts
Humans impact rates of erosion,
vegetation and pollution
Human habitation: dependent upon local
weather, rocks, minerals, landforms, water, vegetation, animals and soils.
Modern
Impacts:
Factories concentrate waste in water and atmosphere. Landfills leach pollutants into soil (and
groundwater.) Urban landuse
causes more runoff, erosion and moves urban pollutants.
Atmospheric
Pollution: Carbon dioxide content of atmosphere is
rising- and probably causes global warming.
Ozone depletion has created a "hole" in the ozone over
Desertification: destruction of land's
productive capacity- by removal of vegetation, topsoil, overgrazing, etc.
Resources and Hazards
Natural resources include soils, water and minerals
as well as plant and animal resources.
Renewable resources are those that will be replaced through natural
cycles (water, wood, fish, even soil.) Nonrenewable resources include fossil
fuels and minerals. Given the demand for
resources, many renewable resources are becoming nonrenewable.