Details

<p><b>Introduction</b><b> 1</b></p> <p>About This Book 2</p> <p>Foolish Assumptions 2</p> <p>Icons Used in This Book 3</p> <p>Beyond the Book 4</p> <p>Where to Go from Here 4</p> <p><b>Part 1: Getting Grounded: The Geographic Basics</b><b> 5</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 1: Geography: The Why of Where and Why You Should Care</b><b> 7</b></p> <p>Geography: Making Sense of it All 8</p> <p>From ancient roots 8</p> <p> To modern discipline 9</p> <p>Exposing Misconceptions: More Than Maps and Trivia 11</p> <p>The Geographic Advantage 11</p> <p>What is the capital city of Indonesia? 12</p> <p>Why is Jakarta the capital of Indonesia? 12</p> <p>Getting to the Essentials 13</p> <p>Where things are in the world: The world in spatial terms 14</p> <p>What locations are like: Places and regions 15</p> <p>Why things are the way they are: Physical systems 16</p> <p>Giving that human touch: Human systems 16</p> <p>Interacting with the world around us: Environment and society 17</p> <p>Putting geography to use: Uses of geography 18</p> <p><b>Chapter 2: Thinking Like a Geographer</b><b> 19</b></p> <p>Changing the Way You Think — Geographically 20</p> <p>Case Study #1: Where Something is Located 21</p> <p>A fraction of its former self 22</p> <p>Where lions hang out 23</p> <p>What gives with grasslands? 23</p> <p>Extinction made easy 24</p> <p>Fewer lions? So what? 25</p> <p>Summing up 26</p> <p>Case Study #2: Where Something Should be Located 26</p> <p>Summing up 27</p> <p>Looking ahead 28</p> <p><b>Chapter 3: Lining Up Locations</b><b> 29</b></p> <p>Welcome to Gridville 29</p> <p>Feeling Kind of Square 30</p> <p>Telling Someone Where to Go 31</p> <p>Relative location 31</p> <p>Absolute location 32</p> <p>The best location to use 32</p> <p>The Global Grid: Hip, Hip, Hipparchus! 32</p> <p>Avoiding gridlock 33</p> <p>The naming game 34</p> <p>Getting Lined Up 36</p> <p>Latitude 36</p> <p>Longitude 38</p> <p>Graticule 39</p> <p>Minutes and seconds that don’t tick away 40</p> <p><b>Chapter 4: Truthiness in Mapping</b><b> 41</b></p> <p>Seeing the Light: Map Projections 42</p> <p>Realizing Exactly How Flat Maps Lie 44</p> <p>Singapore, please And step on it! 45</p> <p>Wading through lies in search of the truth 47</p> <p>Isn’t there a truthful map anywhere? 48</p> <p>The one and only honest map: The globe! 49</p> <p>Honesty is the best policy, except 49</p> <p>Telling the truth, but telling it skewed 50</p> <p>Different Strokes for Different Folks: A World of Projections 51</p> <p>All in the (map) family 52</p> <p>Five noteworthy liars 53</p> <p>Mapping a Cartographic Controversy! 57</p> <p><b>Chapter 5: Telling a Spatial Story</b><b> 59</b></p> <p>Why We Need Tal(l) Dogs 60</p> <p>Taking It to Scale 61</p> <p>Going the distance 61</p> <p>Comparing Earth at different scales 62</p> <p>Showing the Ups and Downs: Topography 65</p> <p>Spot heights 65</p> <p>Contour lines 66</p> <p>Shading or Color 66</p> <p>Using Symbols to Tell the Story 67</p> <p>Point symbols 68</p> <p>Line symbols 68</p> <p>Area symbols 70</p> <p>New Ways of Seeing: How Technology has Changed How we Make and Use Maps 72</p> <p>Geographic Information Systems 72</p> <p>Global Positioning Systems 74</p> <p>Remote sensing 75</p> <p>Making Maps Yourself! 77</p> <p><b>Part 2: Let’s Get Physical: Land, Water, and Air</b><b> 79</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 6: Shape-shifting Earth</b><b> 81</b></p> <p>Starting at the Bottom: Inside Earth 82</p> <p>Moving Continents: Big Pieces of a Big Puzzle 84</p> <p>Where have you gone, Gondwanaland? 85</p> <p>Alfred Wegener, mover and shaker 85</p> <p>Puzzle solved! 86</p> <p>Getting Down to Theory 86</p> <p>Making Mountains Out of Molehills 88</p> <p>Folding the crust 88</p> <p>Whose “fault” is it? 90</p> <p>Plate tectonics: A four-letter word! 91</p> <p>Experiencing Earthquakes: Shake, Rattle and Roll! 92</p> <p>Splitsville in California 92</p> <p>People at risk 93</p> <p>How earthquakes kill and maim 94</p> <p>A matter of magnitude 96</p> <p>Subducting Plates: Volcano Makers 98</p> <p>“The Ring of Fire” 98</p> <p>Subduction: Another four-letter word? 99</p> <p>Categorizing Tectonic Processes 102</p> <p><b>Chapter 7: A Nip and a Tuck: Giving Earth a Facelift</b><b> 103</b></p> <p>Getting Carried Away 104</p> <p>Weathering Earth 105</p> <p>Wasting away 108</p> <p>Changing the Landscape 109</p> <p>Staying grounded: Gravity transfer 109</p> <p>Going with the flow: Water 110</p> <p>The chill factor: Glaciers 115</p> <p>Making a deposit: Wind 117</p> <p><b>Chapter 8: Making a Splash on Earth</b><b> 119</b></p> <p>Taking the Plunge: Global Water Supply 120</p> <p>Those ice caps are really cool! 121</p> <p>Getting out: Oceans, seas, gulfs, and bays 122</p> <p>Coming inland: Lakes 123</p> <p>Shaping Our World: Oceans 124</p> <p>Going where the action is: The continental shelves 124</p> <p>Claiming ocean ownership 126</p> <p>Getting a rise out of oceans 128</p> <p>Getting Fresh with Water 129</p> <p>The stages of the water cycle 131</p> <p>Run-off: Going with the flow 132</p> <p>Infiltration: Out of sight, not out of mind 132</p> <p>Good to the very last drop 134</p> <p><b>Chapter 9: Warming Up and Chilling Out: Why Climates Happen </b><b>137</b></p> <p>Getting a Grip on Climate 138</p> <p>Playing the Angles 139</p> <p>Making hot and cold 139</p> <p>Making rain and snow 140</p> <p>Tilt-a-World: The Reasons for the Seasons 141</p> <p>Special lines of latitude 141</p> <p>Defining the seasons 142</p> <p>Special lines of latitude revisited 144</p> <p>Hot or Cold? Adjust Your Altitude 145</p> <p>Warming the atmosphere 145</p> <p>Weighty matter 145</p> <p>Seeing (and feeling) is believing 145</p> <p>The lapse rate 146</p> <p>Windward slope, leeward slope 147</p> <p>Gaining Heat, Losing Heat 148</p> <p>Afternoon versus evening 148</p> <p>Summer versus winter 149</p> <p>Oh, How the Wind Blows 150</p> <p>Going with the Flow: Ocean Currents 150</p> <p>Warm currents, cold currents 151</p> <p>Going against the norm: El Niño and La Niña 152</p> <p>Living Under Pressure 154</p> <p>Pressure belts 155</p> <p>Monsoons 155</p> <p><b>Chapter 10: Connecting Climates and Vegetation</b><b> 159</b></p> <p>Giving Class to Climates 160</p> <p>Mixing Sun and Rain: Humid Tropical Climates 162</p> <p>Tropical rainforest 163</p> <p>Tropical monsoon 165</p> <p>Savanna (tropical wet and dry) 165</p> <p>Going to Extremes: Dry Climates 167</p> <p>Desert 168</p> <p>Semi-desert (steppe) 169</p> <p>Enjoying the In-between: Humid Mesothermal Climates 172</p> <p>Humid subtropical 172</p> <p>Mediterranean 172</p> <p>Marine west coast 173</p> <p>Cooling Off: Humid Microthermal Climates 174</p> <p>Humid continental 175</p> <p>Subarctic 175</p> <p>Dropping Below Freezing: Polar Climates 176</p> <p>Tundra 176</p> <p>Ice cap 178</p> <p><b>Part 3: Peopling the Planet</b><b> 179</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 11: Nobody Here But A Few Billion Friends</b><b> 181</b></p> <p>Going by the Numbers 182</p> <p>Opportunity for livelihood 183</p> <p>Urban growth 185</p> <p>Going Ballistic: Population Growth 185</p> <p>Checking Behind the Curve: Population Change 187</p> <p>Dealing with births and deaths: Natural increase 187</p> <p>Increasing for a reason: The demographic transition model 189</p> <p>Making connections 193</p> <p>Considering “Overpopulation” 196</p> <p>Neo-Malthusians 197</p> <p>Cornucopians 199</p> <p><b>Chapter 12: Shift Happens: Migration</b><b> 203</b></p> <p>Populating the Planet 204</p> <p>Bridging the oceans 204</p> <p>Voyaging afar 205</p> <p>Making colonial connections 206</p> <p>Forcing involuntary migration 207</p> <p>Choosing to Migrate 207</p> <p>Coming to America 208</p> <p>Migrating at home 210</p> <p>Relocating within America 211</p> <p>Giving a Good Impression 214</p> <p>Playing the mental game 214</p> <p>Getting an image adjustment 216</p> <p>Putting your best image forward 216</p> <p><b>Chapter 13: Culture: The Way We Live</b><b> 219</b></p> <p>Being Different Thousands of Times Over 220</p> <p>Counting cultural diversity 221</p> <p>Isolating people 222</p> <p>Adapting to new surroundings 222</p> <p>Spreading the Word on Culture 223</p> <p>Relocating one’s culture 224</p> <p>Coming down with culture 224</p> <p>Doing what the big boys do 226</p> <p>Calling a Halt: Barrier Effects 226</p> <p>Getting physical 227</p> <p>Socializing effects 229</p> <p>Getting Religion: How It Moves and Grows 230</p> <p>Putting diffusion to work 231</p> <p>Getting effects into action 232</p> <p>Creating local character 232</p> <p>Getting in a Word about Language 234</p> <p>Diffusing languages 235</p> <p>Checking the physical effects 236</p> <p>Playing the landscape naming game 236</p> <p>Creating a Single Global Culture 237</p> <p>Promoting cultural divergence 238</p> <p>Promoting cultural convergence 238</p> <p><b>Chapter 14: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors </b><b>239</b></p> <p>Drawing and Re-Drawing the Boundaries of the World 240</p> <p>Typecasting Boundary Lines 241</p> <p>Ethnic boundaries 242</p> <p>Natural (physical) boundaries 243</p> <p>Geometric boundaries 244</p> <p>Living with the Consequences 245</p> <p>Ethnic intrigues 245</p> <p>Positional disputes 248</p> <p>Functional disputes 250</p> <p>Resource disputes 251</p> <p>Land-locked states 252</p> <p>Questions of size and shape 254</p> <p>Drawing Electoral District Boundaries 256</p> <p>Gerrymandering: Rigging the outcome 257</p> <p>Meeting the letter and spirit of the law 259</p> <p><b>Part 4: Putting the Planet to Use</b><b> 261</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 15: Takin’ Care of Business</b><b> 263</b></p> <p>Categorizing Economic Activity 264</p> <p>Primary activities 264</p> <p>Secondary activities 265</p> <p>Tertiary activities 265</p> <p>Quaternary activities 266</p> <p>Activity distribution around the world 266</p> <p>Putting Economic Systems into Place 267</p> <p>Subsistence economies 267</p> <p>Commercial economies 268</p> <p>Understanding Location Factors 269</p> <p>Proximity to raw material(s) 272</p> <p>Proximity to market(s) 272</p> <p>Cost of labor 274</p> <p>Accessibility 275</p> <p>Cost of land/rent 279</p> <p>Taxes 279</p> <p>Climate 280</p> <p><b>Chapter 16: Earth’s Resources: Always Hungry for More</b><b> 283</b></p> <p>Defining Resources and Assessing Their Importance 284</p> <p>The central role of culture 284</p> <p>Culture change, resource change 285</p> <p>Resources and power 286</p> <p>Resources and wealth 287</p> <p>Differing Life Spans: Which Resources Are Here Today or Gone Tomorrow 288</p> <p>Non-renewable resources 289</p> <p>Renewable resources 294</p> <p>Perennial resources 295</p> <p>Trading-off Resources: The Consequences of Resource Use 298</p> <p><b>Chapter 17: Downtown to the ‘Burbs: Urban Geography</b><b> 301</b></p> <p>Studying the Urban Scene 302</p> <p>Getting a Global Perspective 303</p> <p>Getting Started: Urban Hearths 305</p> <p>Finding Sites for Cities 306</p> <p>Confluence 307</p> <p>Protected harbor 307</p> <p>Head of navigation 308</p> <p>Defensive sites 308</p> <p>Getting Big: Urban Growth 309</p> <p>Rural-to-urban migration 309</p> <p>Changing means of transportation 310</p> <p>Automobile ownership 311</p> <p>Low-cost fuel 311</p> <p>Home mortgage deductibility 312</p> <p>Looking Inside the City 312</p> <p>The central business district (CBD) 313</p> <p>Residential areas 314</p> <p>Leaving Downtown, Living Downtown 317</p> <p>Moving out of downtown 317</p> <p>Moving back downtown 319</p> <p>Facing up to Environmental Issues 320</p> <p><b>Chapter 18: Only One Home: Impacts on the Environment</b><b> 323</b></p> <p>Grasping the Basics — Environmentally Speaking 325</p> <p>Contributing Factors: Pollution on the Move 326</p> <p>Making an impact 326</p> <p>Spreading the mess 326</p> <p>Focusing on food chains 329</p> <p>Going Global: Environmental Issues Affecting Us All 332</p> <p>Deforestation 333</p> <p>Biodiversity loss 333</p> <p>Soil degradation 333</p> <p>Ocean acidification 334</p> <p>Overfishing 335</p> <p>Acid precipitation 335</p> <p>Climate change 339</p> <p>Taking on the Challenges of Tomorrow 342</p> <p><b>Part 5: The Part of Tens</b><b> 343</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 19: Ten Organizations for Geography in Action </b><b>345</b></p> <p>American Association of Geographers (AAG) 345</p> <p>American Geographical Society (AGS) 346</p> <p>National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 346</p> <p>National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) 347</p> <p>National Geographic Society (NGS) 347</p> <p>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 348</p> <p>Population Reference Bureau (PRB) 348</p> <p>Royal Geographical Society (RGS) 349</p> <p>United States Census Bureau 349</p> <p>United States Geological Survey (USGS) 350</p> <p><b>Chapter 20: Ten Interesting Career Paths for Geographers</b><b> 351</b></p> <p>Area Specialist 351</p> <p>Educator 352</p> <p>Environmental Manager 352</p> <p>GIS Technician 353</p> <p>Health Services Planner 353</p> <p>Location Analyst 353</p> <p>Market Analyst 354</p> <p>Remote Sensing Analyst 354</p> <p>Transportation Planner 355</p> <p>Urban Planner 355</p> <p><b>Chapter 21: Ten Things You Can Forget</b><b> 357</b></p> <p>The Bermuda Triangle 357</p> <p>Cold Canadian Air 358</p> <p>“Coming Out of Nowhere” 359</p> <p>“The Continent” 359</p> <p>The Democratic Republic of 360</p> <p>The Flat Earth Society 360</p> <p>Land of the Midnight Sun 361</p> <p>“The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain” 361</p> <p>The Seven Seas 362</p> <p>Tropical Paradise 362</p> <p><b>Chapter 22: Ten Great Places for Online Geography</b><b> 365</b></p> <p>Any County/Local GIS Department 365</p> <p>Geocaching 366</p> <p>Geoguessr 366</p> <p>Geoinquiries 367</p> <p>Google Earth 367</p> <p>Google Lit Trips 368</p> <p>Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection 368</p> <p>World Bank Open Data 369</p> <p>World Factbook 369</p> <p>Your State’s Geographic Alliance 369</p> <p>Index 371</p>

<P><B>Jerry T. Mitchell, PhD, </B>is Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina and an avid world traveler.</P>

<p><b>See this globe of ours in a whole new way</b></p> <p>There’s a lot riding on geography—imports and exports, resource use, climate change predictions, and even where we decide to build fire stations. <i>Geography For Dummies</i> maps it all out for you, literally. You’ll figure out longitude and latitude, learn how to interpret complex maps, and discover fascinating stuff about the world you live in. Let us teach you how to think geographically. Global climate, local land use issues, GPS, and predicting the future (a little bit)—it’s all covered in this friendly Dummies resource. <p><b>Inside…</b> <ul><li> Why geography matters</li> <li>How maps tell stories</li> <li>The geography of climate</li> <li>Migration and borders</li> <li>Resources and the environment</li> <li>Population growth issues</li> <li>Key geopolitical concepts</li></UL>

US