GEOGRAPHY 178FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

General Information:

  • The Final Exam will have a map as well as multiple choice / matching questions
  • Know real-life examples of terms and concepts!
  • The Final Exam is CUMULATIVE and will cover all elements of the course since Day 1
  • In addition to the materials from lecture / class discussion, also be sure to know the issues / concepts, etc. from:
  • All 3 exercises
  • All assigned articles
  • All videos and readings
  • Current events since Exam II

INTRODUCTION: CHAPTER 1

Why does geography matter?

HUMAN POPULATIONS: CHAPTER 9

Conservation of the Environment

  • Definition
  • Differences between Gifford Pinchot and John Muir
  • Others’ Roles / Contributions toward Conservation:
  • Aldo Leopold
  • Gaylord Nelson
  • Rachel Carson

Study of Environmental Science

  • When did it generally begin?
  • What prompted its creation?
  • Where do most environmentalists come from in the world and within the U.S.?
  • Science vs. Politics

World Population

  • Current world population estimate
  • Impact of last ~100 years in terms of population
  • Issues related to this population growth
  • “The World Village”
  • What is it?
  • What are some general observations about the World Village?
  • “80 / 20 Rule”
  • Ratio of rich to poor
  • Ratios of ownership / consumption vs. actual population
  • Percentages of income / income of women and girls
  • United States percentages of consumption, pollution, vs. population
  • World Divisions
  • “Global North vs. Global South”
  • Core, Periphery, and Semi-Periphery
  • “Rich” vs. “Poor” countries / MDC’s vs. LDC’s / Developed vs. Developing Countries
  • First World, Second World, Third World, Fourth World
  • Who exploits whom and is this good or bad?
  • “Golden Rule” economic system around the world
  • World Demographics
  • General global trends of Birth Rate, Death Rate, IMR, Life Expectancy, etc.
  • Rate of Natural Increase
  • Doubling Time and the “Rule of Seventy:” Can you calculate the Doubling Time using the “Rule of Seventy?”
  • Why does “doubling time” matter?
  • Where is the world’s population growing the fastest?
  • J-curve vs. S-curve: why might this change?
  • Overpopulation Theorists / Theories
  • Thomas Malthus
  • Theory: population growth will outpace food production
  • Impacts: Famine, Disease, War
  • Paul Ehrlich and his theory
  • How can overpopulation be a symptom of poverty? (as opposed to the other way around)

CLIMATE, ATMOSPHERE, AND ENERGY: CHAPTERS8 and 3

Energy and Matter

Where does most of Earth’s energy come from?

Biosphere (Ecosphere):

  • Lithosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Atmosphere

1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics

Material Cycles:

  • Hydrological Cycle
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Since we know matter cannot be created or destroyed, how can more carbon now exist in the atmosphere than in the past?

Components of the Ecosphere (Biosphere)

  • Abiota vs. Biota and examples
  • Autotrophes vs. Heterotrophes (definitions)
  • Types of Heterotrophes
  • Detritivores vs. Decomposers

Ecosystem: Definition

Ecology: Definition

Climatological Regions: Frigid, Temperate, Torrid

Impacts on Biomes

  • Sunlight
  • Latitude

Biome vs. Climate

11 Biomes / Ecosystems: Know descriptions, locations on a map, examples

  • Altitude: Altitudinal Zonation—and how it affects plants / animals:
  • Tierra Caliente
  • Tierra Templada
  • Tierra Fria
  • Tierra Helada
  • Snow Cap

Case Study: Deforestation: The Amazon

  • What is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon?
  • Why does a decline in deforestation in the Amazon not necessarily indicate “progress” in terms of better conservation practices?
  • Cerrado: Definition and Location
  • What type of biome is the Cerrado?
  • What are the biggest threats to the Cerrado?
  • Why is the Cerrado arguably at more risk than the Amazon?

General Economics vs. Environment questions and issues:

  • Is the destruction of the environment a supply or a demand issue?
  • How is environmentalism related to the “Golden Rule?”

BIODIVERSITY AND THE ROLES OF SPECIES (CHAPTERS 3 and 11)

Temperature Effects on a Population

Biodiversity

  • Number of Species
  • Genetic Diversity of Species
  • Diversity of Ecosystems

Species’ Roles: Niche

Specialists vs. Generalists

  • Differences between them
  • Examples of each

Niche Overlap

  • Fundamental Niche vs. Realized Niche

Native Species vs. Exotic (Invasive) Species

  • Why do Exotic Species have such an advantage?
  • Examples
  • Asian Carp
  • Where are they?
  • What major city is the “last chance” to stop their spread
  • What is the biggest concern about them?
  • Role of the Illinois Sanitary and Shipping Canal in the possible future distribution of Asian Carp

Indicator / Keystone Species

  • What are they?
  • Why are they so important?
  • Example: Wolves—and their impacts
  • Wisconsin’s Wolf Recovery Act
  • Depredation
  • Issues with cause and effect

Case Study: Galapagos Islands

  • What makes the Galapagos Islands so unique?
  • According to Darwin, why is this the case?
  • Role / Impact of Exotic Species
  • Examples of exotic plants and animals
  • Role of humans as exotic species
  • Major threats to animal / plant life
  • Solutions
  • Sustainability: both economically and environmentally
  • How does one measure “sustainability?”
  • What are some of the issues of measuring / defining “sustainability?”
  • “Environmental Ethics”

“Cultural Sustainability:”

  • Sea Turtles and Catholicism
  • What’s the issue?
  • Where is it an issue—and why?

ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN IMPACT (CHAPTER8)

Natural vs. Human Modified Systems: what’s the issue?

  • Where do we find the greatest biodiversity?
  • Why does biodiversity matter?

Laws of Human Ecology:

  1. 1st Law:
  2. 2nd Law:

Ecosystem Complexity and Resilience (“Natural” Evolution)

Ecosystem Simplification (Human Impact)

  • Overuse of Pesticides
  • DDT: What’s the controversy?
  • Purpose / Impact of Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
  • Why is DDT used elsewhere in the world and in which parts?
  • Elimination of Predators (Keystone Species)
  • Impacts
  • Trophic Cascade
  • Example: Yellowstone National Park
  • Deliberately or Accidentally Introducing New Species
  • Over-Harvesting Potentially Renewable Resources
  • Examples and impacts
  • Species Response to Change
  • Homeostasis vs. Sustainability

•Stability and Resistance

-Inertia

-Renewal

-Constancy

  • Population Dynamics
  • Carrying Capacity
  • Dieback
  • Population Size Controls (examples)
  • Abiotic and Biotic
  • Idealized Population Change Curves Found in Nature
  • Stable
  • Cyclic
  • Irruptive
  • Interfering with the Normal Chemical Cycling and Energy Flows
  • Colorado River and Lake Mead
  • What is happening to the Colorado River—and why?
  • How was Lake Mead formed?
  • How can we tell something negative is happening?
  • Why is it dammed?
  • Role of Las Vegas in the damming of the Colorado River
  • What are the impacts if water levels drop significantly?
  • “Garbage Island”
  • What and where is it?
  • What is / are the main problem / issues with the disposal of plastics?
  • Photodegradable vs. Biodegradable

GLOBAL ISSUES I: MODERNIZATION (CHAPTER8)

Soviet Union (USSR) vs. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) vs. Russia

Russian Revolution:

  • Why did Russia want to industrialize / revolt against their government in 1917?
  • Role / Impacts of Josef Stalin on the USSR
  • Stalinization / State Socialism
  • Command Economy
  • Industrialization: Planned Cities:

•Type of industries

•Examples: Magnitogorsk, Bratsk, Chernobyl

  • Aral Sea: Cotton

•Kazakhstan

•What’s the problem and why is it happening?

•How do conservation and sustainability relate to the Aral Sea?

  • Chernobyl

•What happened at Chernobyl?

•What country did Chernobyl occur in?

•What country is it in today?

•Why does no country take responsibility for what happened?

  • Legacy of Stalinization

•Life Expectancy in the former USSR

•Was it worth it?

•Economics vs. Environment: Issues and Discussion

•How does Stalinization connect to many of the most polluted places on Earth today?

China

  • Following the industrialization model of the USSR
  • “Industrialization at any cost”
  • Now leads the world in CO2 production
  • Who is #2?

Kyoto Protocol

  • What was it and what was its goal?
  • What is the only major industrial country that never signed it—and why not?

The Future:

  • Why might it be difficult for core countries to cut their CO2emissions?
  • What companies might resist cutting CO2emissions in the U.S.?
  • What is your and my role in cutting the U.S.’s CO2emissions?

GLOBAL ISSUES II: THE ROLE OF CULTURE (CHAPTER 10)

What is the U.S.’s single greatest pollutant?

What are the primary sources of this pollutant?

When did this become this way?

Automobiles:

  • Why are there so many cars in the U.S.?
  • How do we know that gas in the U.S. is relatively cheap?
  • How did most Americans travel prior to World War II?
  • The Great Streetcar Conspiracy:
  • What is it?
  • Who was behind it?
  • Why did it happen?
  • What were the results and do they still impact us today?

Railroads:

  • Why does every major core country except the U.S have a major passenger rail system?
  • Pros and Cons of passenger trains
  • Role of High-Speed Rail

Suburbs:

  • What is the connection between the rise of the automobile and the growth of suburbs?
  • Why did this happen after World War II?
  • What are the pros and cons of suburbs?
  • Urban sprawl
  • Types of pollution
  • Water shortages
  • Fastest growing region of the United States
  • Issues
  • Role of Hoover Dam

Why does nearly every major city in most core countries have a passenger rail link between its airports and downtowns, but yet this is far less common in the United States?

Legacy of the Auto Industry:

  • Pros: Independence, Individuality, Convenience
  • Cons: Environment, Economical, Safety, and Political Influence

Biofuels

  • Impact of Rudolf Diesel / Diesel Engine
  • Sources of Biofuels: Types, locations, pros and cons of each
  • Corn: why so commonly used in the United States?
  • Sugar cane: why so commonly used in Brazil?
  • Cellulosic Biomass: Definition and examples
  • Switchgrass
  • Blue Agave
  • Cellulosic Ethanol: Pros and Cons

Alternative Fuels:

  • Electric Car:
  • Pros and Cons
  • Current issue in Michigan
  • Hydrogen Car:
  • Pros and Cons
  • Current status

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

What can a “poor” college student do to make difference?

  • Reduce consumption
  • Impacts on landfills
  • Eliminate single-use / “disposable” items
  • Share resources
  • Reuse resources
  • Recycle
  • Get Involved

VIDEOS and ARTICLES:

“The Wilderness Idea”

  • When did the “Conservation” movement begin and why?

“An Inconvenient Truth”

  • Global Warming / Greenhouse Effect
  • How does it work?
  • What role does CO2play in Global Warming?
  • Relationship of CO2 to Earth temperature
  • If the total amount of carbon hasn’t changed over time, then how can Earth’s temperature be increasing?
  • Why do CO2 levels rise and fall every year?
  • Earth’s temperature has always cyclically ranged from colder periods to warmer periods over its entire history. Since this is true, what makes today any different?
  • What are the two “canaries in a coalmine?”

“Bag It!”

  • What is the issue with plastics?
  • What are plastics made out of?
  • Why is it better to use paper bags than plastic bags?
  • What is the connection between politics and the use of plastic bags, BPA, and phthalates?
  • What is the major difference in policy between Europe and the U.S. in terms of the testing of chemicals?
  • How much garbage does every American produce each year?

“Report from the Edge” (about Bratsk, Russia)

  • What happened in Bratsk?
  • Why do people tolerate it?
  • How is this reflective of what is happening in China today?

“Who Killed the Electric Car?”

  • Explain who killed the electric car according to the various perspectives:
  • Consumers:
  • Technology:
  • Big Oil:
  • Car Companies:
  • U.S. Government:
  • What is the connection between politics and the end of the electric car?

Article: “Frac Mining’s Pros and Cons?”

  • What state has the highest amount of fracking activity?
  • What is fracking?
  • What are the pros and cons of fracking?