Introduction to Geography

Introduction to Geography

• Geography originated from the Greek words 'geos' (Earth) and 'logos' (to describe/write)
• Geography means the description of the Earth
• Geography studies the Earth as people’s home
• Geography studies the features of the Earth and its connection to people and the environment

Branches of Geography

• Physical geography studies the environment's structure, including climate, landforms, and natural patterns.
• Human geography studies the effects of human behavior on the environment on cultural, economic, and political levels

Basic Geographic Concepts

• Location is expressed nominally, with absolute coordinates or relative area/site and situation
• Distance refers to the absolute physical measure (km, m, cm), relative measure (time, cost), and cognitive distance (based on personal judgement)
• Tobler's first law of geography states that everything is connected, but near things are more related than distant things
• Friction of distance means that distance requires effort, time, money, and energy to overcome
• The distance decay function describes that the farther away you are, the less likely you are to travel and/or interact with it
• Space has no connections for a human being: mathematical (points, lines), topological (degree of connectivity), socioeconomic (sites and situations), experiential/cultural (common ties, feelings, beliefs)
• Accessibility refers to the services rendered/offered, distance, costs, and time consumed
• Accessibility is a measure of friction of travel between locations considering proximity, connectivity, and economic, social, and cultural factors

Spatial Interaction and Traditions

• Spatial interaction includes all movements and flows involving human activity
• Complementarity is the exchange of goods and ideas
• Transferability is the feasibility of movement of goods, services, and ideas
• Intervening opportunities form a pattern of movement
• Spatial diffusion is how things spread through space
• Time-space convergence means places become "closer" with a decrease in friction of distance
• Expansion is a "wavelike" spread of ideas without regard to hierarchies (e.g., KPop culture, memes)
• Hierarchical diffusion means major trends or ideas leapfrog from one important authoritative person/urban center to another e.g., fashion trends
• The spatial tradition involves in-depth analysis of a place with mapping/GIS, spatial analysis and patterns, densities, aerial distribution, and movements/transport
• Event -> Christmas -> how is it being celebrated in different countries?
• 1. Where: Location (Country): PH. 2. Why?: 80 - 85% are Christians. 3. How?: Traditions (parol, simbang gabi, etc.)
• Area studies define, describe, and differentiate areas from other regions or areas and includes characteristics, nature of places and differentiation
• World regional geography studies the relationship between humans and the environment they live in
• Environmental determinism means the environment shapes human cultures and politics
• Possibilism shows the impacts of people on their environment

Earth Science and Maps

• Earth Science studies natural phenomena from a spatial perspective
• Includes four spheres of the Earth: biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, and how they impact people, along with physical Geography
• Maps are symbolic representations of a place on a flat surface
• Maps are important sources of data and analysis that serve as navigation, information, and communication; they are also "social products" influenced by political and economic factors
• Maps accurately portray spatial relationships between features, are drawn to scale, emphasize and omit certain features, and are usually two-dimensional with a reference system
• Map elements include title, author, legend, date, orientation, grid and scale/source
• Map scales express the relationship between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground
• Map scales can use words or a special ruler - fraction that is a ratio where one unit on the map equals a specific number of the same unit on the Earth's surface (e.g 1: 50,000)

Map Projections

• Maps are laid out on a flat surface, and distort shape, size, distance, and direction as they are squeezing the globe
• Projection provides different ways to visually represent the Earth on a flat surface
• The Mollweide projection shows equal area with a pseudocylindrical projection with true relative sizes but distorted shapes
• The Mercator projection is a cylindrical projection with true compass directions and shapes of land masses but distorted relative sizes
• The Gall-Peters projection is a rectangular, equal-area map projection with distorted shapes of land masses
• The Robinson projection is the most commonly used pseudocylindrical map with distortions in distance, shape, direction, and area, but good compromise
• The Azimuthal Projection preserves both distance and direction from the central point, but direction, area, and shape are distorted as distance from the center increases

GIS and Spatial Data

• GIS system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and display all types of geographic data
• GIS is used for identifying problems, monitoring change, managing and responding to events, performing forecasting, setting priorities and understanding trends
• Spatial data has assigned geographical aspects (i.e., coordinates, address, city, postal or zip code) connected directly or indirectly to a location on Earth
• Vector data is a dataset depicted by geometry or points, lines or polylines, and polygons with defined coordinates (e.g., locations of wells, rivers, lakes)
• Raster data represents geographic data as grid cells containing values representing various information; including continuous (elevation, temperature) discrete grid values (land cover type, soil type)
• Scanned maps, digital maps and other image formats can be stored in raster format

The Physical Environment

• Physical Geography: studying the Physical Environment entails: stability and change, how physical changes configured biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) world
• Physical geography investigates features of the Earth and how and why the Earth's surface changes
• The surging of volcanoes in the Philippines is due to location with active tectonic plates and the Pacific Ring of Fire
• The four realms of the earth are hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), lithosphere (stone), and biosphere (life)
• The branches of physical geography include climatology (climate patterns), geomorphology (Earth's surface), coastal and marine geography (coastlines and shorelines), and biogeography and soils geography
• Biogeography focuses on spatio-temporal patterns of flora and fauna.
• Soils geography deals with properties of soils and distribution of soil types, and soil formation.

Key Perspectives and Concepts

• Spatial Perspective is understanding and explaining spatial variations of the Earth's surface
• Physical Systems is seeing the Earth as a complex interspace where subsystems of the environment meet and interact
• Environmental Perspective deals with both the physical and human processes that shape the Earth and its interactions
• Spheres are the Earth's subsystems: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere
• Systems have relations and interactions forming an organized whole including interconnected flows and storage of energy and matter
• Cycles are natural systems that may undergo periodic and repeating changes over time
• Closed systems are self-contained and isolated from outside influences
• Open Systems: matter and energy are exchanged across the Earth's system
• Equilibrium in systems is when inputs and outputs balance over time, and the conditions within the system remain the same
• Feedback loops are when systems produce outputs that "feedback" into the system, which causes change
• Positive feedback loops encourages change in the system, causing instability and snowballing conditions if unchecked
• Negative feedback loops discourage change in the system, saying that the system regulates itself

Change, Disturbance, and Succession

• Change is a norm in the physical environment
• Changes in the physical landscape are also brought by disturbances which are usually short lived
• Disturbance: Short-lived events that shape long-term patterns (e.g., wildfires, floods)
• Disturbance regimes include the timing, frequency, intensity, and extent of regular patterns of disturbance
• Species of plants and animals adapt to a specific disturbance regime
• Disturbance leads to partial destruction of ecosystems and the existence of some species
• Gradual changes in ecosystems over time: Communities proceed through predictable, step-by-step process of change over time
• Primary succession occurs in lifeless areas
• Secondary Succession happens where life existed but was disturbed (for example, forest fires)
• In a causal loop diagram, a direct effect means increase demand results to increase activity
• Example: Increase in population (+) results to greater demand on land for residency (+)
• In a causal loop diagram, an indirect effect means increased demand results to decrease activity
• Example: Increase demand on land for residence use (+) results to deforestation (decrease on numbers of trees) (-)