Ruben Chapter 1
Ruben Chapter 1
Thinking Geographically
Contemporary Tools
GIS Remote sensing GPS
Fig. 1.1: Most of the area of New Orleans flooded after Hurricane Katrina was majority African American. Physical and political geography intersect in analyzing the impacts of the natural disaster
Fig. 1-2: National political boundaries are among the most significant elements of the cultural landscape
Scale Differences
Maps of Washington State
Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Washington State. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)
Washington State
(1:10 million scale)
Western Washington
(1:1 million scale)
Seattle Region
(1:100,000 scale)
Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians & east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in northwest Mississippi & topographic map of the area.
The Tallahatchie River is located in the southeast and southwest quarter-sections of Section 32, T23N R1E.
The topographic map of the U.S. Geological Survey has a scale of 1:24,000
Layers of a GIS
Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.
A Polynesian stick chart depicts patterns of waves on the sea route between two South Pacific islands. Modern maps show the locations of these Marshall Islands.
Site:
Lower Manhattan Island
Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to the area over the last 200 years.
Situation: Singapore
Downtown Singapore
Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. The prime meridian ( 0) passes through Greenwich, England.
Fig. 1-9: The worlds 24 standard time zones each represent about 15 of longitude. They are often depicted using the Mercator projection.
Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county & state illustrate differences in regional voting patterns.
Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.
Vernacular Regions
Fig. 1-12: A number of features are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.
Fig. 1-13: Death rates from cancer in the US, Maryland, and Baltimore show different patterns that can identify associations with different factors.
Fig. 1-14: The modified Kppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.
Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in the Netherlands.
Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.
The canal has carried water with agricultural runoff and pollution into Lake Okeechobee
Fig. 1-17: The Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan, but it has regional headquarters and other facilities in North America and Western Europe.
Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern (of houses in this example) may vary in an area or landscape.
Fig. 1-19: The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates the differences between density and concentration.
Fig. 1-19: Baseball teams were highly concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest in 1952.
Fig. 1-19: By 2007, U.S. baseball teams were much more dispersed than in 1952, and their number and density at a national level had increased.
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the earth, illustrate how transport improvements have shrunk the world.
Fig. 1-21: Continental Airlines, like many others, has configured its route network in a hub and spoke system.
Fig. 1-22: New AIDS cases were concentrated in three nodes in 1981. They spread through the country in the 1980s, but declined in the original nodes in the late 1990s.