What is Geography
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Geography
What Is Geography?
Contemporary Approaches in Geography
Area Analysis
Physical and Human Systems
Spatial Analysis
Human and Environmental Interaction
Describing Earth
Geographic Grid
Maps
GIS
Critical Issues for the Future
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Global-scale environmental change, including deforestation, soil degradation, increased
concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and decreased atmospheric
ozone levels.
Rates of population growth in some regions that will strain cultural systems, deplete scarce
resources, and produce environmental changes.
Increasing disparities in wealth and the threat of conflict between rich and poor countries and
within individual countries.
Systems of food production and distribution that do not meet the nutritional needs of many
people in developing countries.
Key Terms
Atmosphere
Diffusion
Human geography
Physical geography
Cartography
Distance decay
Prime meridian
Concentration
Distribution
International Date
Line
Contiguous
diffusion
Equator
Cultural geography
Culture
Density
GIS
Globalization
Hierarchical
diffusion
Large-scale map
Latitude
Longitude
Meridian
Parallel
Region
Relocation diffusion
Scale
Small-scale map
Topography
Chapter 2 – Weather and Climate
Energy and Weather
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Incoming Solar Radiation
Storage of Heat in Land and Water
Heat Transfer Between the Atmosphere and Earth
Heat Exchange and Atmospheric Circulation
Precipitation
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Condensation
Causes of Precipitation
Circulation Patterns
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Pressure and Winds
Global Atmospheric Circulation
Seasonal Variations in Global Circulation
Ocean Circulation Patterns
Storms: Regional-Scale Circulation Patterns
Current or Recent Storms
Climate
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Air Temperature
Precipitation
Climatic Map
Climate Change
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Climatic Change Over Geologic Time
Possible Causes of Climatic Variation
Global Warming
Key Terms
Adiabatic cooling
El Niño
Radiation
Tropic of Capricorn
Autumnal equinox
Front
Relative humidity
Typhoon
Cold front
Global warming
Vernal Equinox
Condensation
Greenhouse effect
Saturation vapor
pressure
Convection
Hurricane
Coriolis Effect
Insolation
Cyclone
Midlatitude cyclone
Storm surge
Tornado
Tropic of Cancer
Warm front
Winter solstice
Chapter 3 – Landforms
Plate Tectonics
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Earth’s Moving Crust
Types of Boundaries Between Plates
Rock Formation
Slopes and Streams
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Weathering
Moving Weathered Material
Ice, Wind, and Waves
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Glaciers
Impact of Past Glaciations
Effects of Wind on Landforms
Coastal Erosion
Key Terms
Alluvial fan
Divergent plate
boundary
Magma
Seafloor spreading
Mantle
Sediment transport
Meander
Sedimentary rocks
Seismic waves
Epicenter
Mechanical
weathering
Fault
Metamorphic rocks
Floodplain
Moraine
Groundwater
Outwash plain
Convergent plate
boundary
Igneous rocks
Overland flow
Delta
Landforms
Discharge
Longshore current
and transport
Plate tectonics
theory
Alpine glacier
Beach
Chemical
weathering
Composite cone
volcano
Continental glacier
Drainage basin
Earthquake
Sea level
Shield volcano
Terminal moraine
Tsunami
Volcano
Weathering