Technological developments during the past years have given rise to a number of other specialties for scientists studying geographic techniques. The airplane made it possible to photograph land from above. Now, there are many satellites and other above-Earth vehicles that help geographers figure out what the surface of the planet looks like and how it is changing. Geographers looking at what above-Earth cameras and sensors reveal are specialists in remote sensing.
Pictures taken from space can be used to make maps, monitor ice melt, assess flood damage, track oil spills, predict weather, or perform endless other functions. For example, by comparing satellite photos taken from to , scientists from the U. Every year from to , about 45 feet per year of coast, mostly icy permafrost , vanished into the sea. Computerized systems that allow for precise calculations of how things are distributed and relate to one another have made the study of geographic information systems GIS an increasingly important specialty within geography.
Geographic information systems are powerful databases that collect all types of information maps, reports, statistics , satellite images, surveys, demographic data, and more and link each piece of data to a geographic reference point, such as geographic coordinates. This data, called geospatial information, can be stored, analyzed, modeled, and manipulated in ways not possible before GIS computer technology existed. Geographic information scientists study patterns in nature as well as human development.
They might study natural hazards, such as a fire that struck Los Angeles, California, in A map posted on the internet showed the real-time spread of the fire, along with information to help people make decisions about how to evacuate quickly.
GIS can also illustrate human struggles from a geographic perspective, such as the interactive online map published by the New York Times in May that showed building foreclosure rates in various regions around the New York City area. The enormous possibilities for producing computerized maps and diagrams that can help us understand environmental and social problems have made geographic visualization an increasingly important specialty within geography.
This geospatial information is in high demand by just about every institution, from government agencies monitoring water quality to entrepreneurs deciding where to locate new businesses.
Regional Geography Regional geographers take a somewhat different approach to specialization, directing their attention to the general geographic characteristics of a region. A regional geographer might specialize in African studies, observing and documenting the people, nations, rivers, mountains, deserts, weather, trade, and other attributes of the continent.
There are different ways you can define a region. You can look at climate zones, cultural regions, or political regions. Often regional geographers have a physical or human geography specialty as well as a regional specialty. Regional geographers may also study smaller regions, such as urban areas. A regional geographer may be interested in the way a city like Shanghai, China, is growing.
They would study transportation, migration , housing, and language use, as well as the human impact on elements of the natural environment, such as the Huangpu River.
Whether geography is thought of as a discipline or as a basic feature of our world, developing an understanding of the subject is important. Some grasp of geography is essential as people seek to make sense of the world and understand their place in it. Thinking geographically helps people to be aware of the connections among and between places and to see how important events are shaped by where they take place. Photograph by Poras Chaudhary , MyShot.
Gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographic dictionary. Gazetteers, which have existed for thousands of years, usually contain some sort of map and a set of information. Some gazetteers may contain a list of capital cities or areas where a specific resource is found. Other gazetteers may contain information about the local population, such as languages spoken, money used, or religious beliefs. He was scheduled to fly back to Long Beach.
Old Maps People have been making maps for thousands of years. One of the oldest known maps was found near the city of Kirkuk, Iraq. Most geographers say it dates from BCE. It is a palm-sized block of clay depicting an area with two hills and a stream. Some geographers think the stream is a canal made by people for irrigation. Geographers have identified one of the towns on the map. However, they are not sure exactly what the hand-held map represents. Ancient maps could also be quite large.
It is a map of a busy city, complete with crowded housing and even an erupting volcano. However, some scientists believe this "map" is decorative and not an accurate representation of what was there. The Earth is the only place in the known universe that supports life. United States Geological Survey primary source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment.
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You cannot download interactives. Search through these resources to discover more about unique landforms and landscapes around the world. Landforms are natural and distinctive features. Explore how they show up in various landscapes. These resources can be used to teach middle schoolers more about the natural world, its distinctive features, and landscapes. A political boundary is an imaginary line separating one political unit, such as a country or state, from another. Sometimes these align with a natural geographic feature like a river to form a border or barrier between nations.
Occasionally, two countries may contest where a particular border is drawn. These disputes might arise due to a natural resource both groups want, like in the case of Sudan and South Sudan, or in an attempt to gain more political power, as in the case of Pakistan and India in the Kashmir region. Use these resources to explore more about political boundaries.
One of the oldest tenets of geography is the concept of place. Location is the position of a particular point on the surface of the Earth. Locale is the physical setting for relationships between people, such as the South of France or the Smoky Mountains.
Finally, a sense of place is the emotions someone attaches to an area based on their experiences. As seen in the case study, defining regions can be tricky. So to make it easier, geographers divide the Earth into regions. Regions are areas that share common features. These features can be landforms, climate, economy, vegetation, or people. Geographers create these regions based on the information they want to study.
Region, Interaction, Variation Geographic regions are divided by variations in landforms, climate, and natural resources. Regions vary with regard to development of natural resources, art, architecture, literature, customs, religion, economics, and transportation. The characteristics of a region can change. For a short time during and after WWII, regional geography was a popular field of study within the discipline.
However, it was later critiqued for its specific regional knowledge and it was claimed to have been too descriptive and not quantitative enough. Since the s, regional geography has seen a resurgence as a branch of geography in many universities. Because geographers today often study a wide variety of topics, it is helpful to break the world down into regions to make information easier to process and display. This can be done by geographers who claim to be regional geographers and are experts on one or many places across the world, or by physical , cultural , urban , and biogeographers who have a lot of information to process about given topics.
Often, many universities today offer specific regional geography courses which give an overview of the broad topic and others may offer courses related to specific world regions such as Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, or smaller scale such as "The Geography of California.
Also, some universities today offer specific degrees in regional geography, which normally consists of general knowledge of the world's regions. A degree in regional geography is useful for those who want to teach but is also valuable in today's business world that is focused on overseas and long distance communications and networking. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
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