GRG Test 3 QUESTIONS

how much have people increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial era (in percentage terms)?

45%

what are the major stakeholder groups in the US that are promoting conflicting perceptions about climate change?

corporations/political groups/people invested in fossil fuel or non-renewable energy.

what is meant by the "right to the city"?

it's the notion that all urban residents, not just the privileged, should be able to access city spaces and have a voice in how the city is shaped and used. not just the private sector who has a voice.

how do ideas of new urbanism, downtown revitalization and densification offer some hope of slowing and reversing sprawl?

making this new condensed and multifaceted space. containing people. what's reversing sprawl as well is the opportunity for public transit.

a significant portion of China's CO2 emissions are tied to American consumption habits. Explain.

manufacturing in China is for the consumer base in the US and so the pollution they are creating is tied to the US and its imports. International Division of Labor.

what is urbanization and how urbanized is the human species at this point?

urbanization is people moving to highly dense areas (metropolitan). the human species is very urbanized at this point, as more people live in urban areas vs. not urban areas. more people live in urban areas than rural (54%).

what were some of the forces in American society and government that have driven the process of urban sprawl? (name specific laws, policies, values, and practices)

Availability of transportation services increased. Highway acts (FAHA). GI Bill (housing market/education) zoning purposes; suburbanization; smart-growth; residential areas & retail/commercial/CBD combine. economic reconstruction: move away from manufacturing and into tertiary/quaternary sectors

what can ordinary people in wealthy countries do about the problem indicated in the previous question?

be conscious about what they purchase; consumption matters, Fair Trade. check for greenwashing and super pacs when voting.

how are labor conditions different in the parts of the world where our clothing is made?

their labor rights aren't enforced and sweatshops exist. low pay/long work weeks/dangerous working conditions/labor is considered disposable.

how do mental maps shape activity patterns of an individual, and how do a person's activity patterns shape their mental maps?

(Lecture) you are able to find your way around your urban environment because your head is holding a mental map. This representation is not like a visual map; it emphasizes certain places that are important to you. it has huge gaps in places where you never go. it is multi-sensory rather than just visual, including sounds, smells, and tastes. it evolves through time as your daily routine changes. it's full of likes, dislikes, and other emotional attributes. in addition, it includes some very un-map-like rules like "get coffee at Starbucks unless the line is too long" or "stay on the I-35 frontage road if traffic is backed up on the freeway." Above all, it is a mental structure that situates you in the world.

In terms of per capita CO2 emissions, how do Americans compare with the Chinese?

Americans, as individuals, produce more CO2 emissions. as a whole, because of China's larger population, the nation produces more CO2 than America

how much of the atmosphere consists of CO2 (in percentage terms)?

Around .04% (according to Google)

why is CO2 different from other important gases in the atmosphere (nitrogen and oxygen) and why does the increase in CO2 change the Earth's ability to shed heat?

CO2 traps heat in the earth by absorbing infrared radiation to reach earth's surface. it absorbs short waves and blocks long wave heat radiation. creates a thermal imbalance.

which country is currently contributing the most CO2 to the atmosphere per year?

China

what theory was developed by W. W. Rostow and why has it been critiqued and largely rejected by geographers?

Development Theory. rostow put countries' economies on a single path with the US leading and other countries trying to catch up but disregarded the ways poor countries are prevented by the rich countries from following paths already taken by the wealthy countries. does not match reality.

what are some elements of early urbanism - that is, the factors that came together in humankind's earliest cities?

Food production (agricultural surplus) emergence of powerful god-kings and various social ranks under them (social stratification) imperial expansion responsible for dispersal of cities. religious ceremonies + aligned in north-south & east-west directions for harmony/order (cosmomagical cities) environmental engineering (irrigation) record-keeping and taxation conquest and empire

What parts of the world have a high GDP per capita? low GDP per capita?

High GDP: US, Western Europe, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Low GDP: Central and Southern Africa, Thailand, Nepal, South America.

what organization compiles findings of over 250 scientists on climate change and publishes the results on a regular basis? what is their current assessment of the state of the world's climate.

IPCC. CO2 emissions increases water vapor, methane, etc. thanks to humans; they warm the earth and absorb infrared radiation. greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached unprecedented levels and humans are the main cause of this.

explain what is meant by landmark, node, path, edge, and district according to Kevin Lynch'a idea of the urban image.

Landmark: highly noticeable features of the landscape that are reference points for navigation. Paths: ways to get from here to there. Nodes: places where paths come together and people gather. Districts: areas with relatively similar characteristics throughout. Edges: visible or invisible lines defined by the meeting of two districts. Lynch was an author and an urban planner.

what are some examples of New Urbanist development in Austin?

Mixed-use development (retail, services, and residential development). Waller Creek Project. Mueller Development - urban spaces incorporate different land uses; available dense and walkable urban space. Austin Commuter Rail - public transit upgrade. 2nd street.

list the earliest urban hearths and their locations.

Nile River Valley (Egypt) Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) Indus River Valley (Pakistan) Yellow River Valley (China) Mesoamerica Andean Highlands and coastal areas of Peru

explain the nature of gentrification and indicate its positive and negative aspects.

Positive: urban infill, densification, slow urban sprawl, and neighborhood improvement. Negative: kicks out native inhabitants, drastically raises living costs, broken social ties, extra travel time to and from work, demographic displacement, and sense of place changes.

What region(s) of the world currently have a high-consumption, resource-intensive lifestyle?

US, Europe, Japan, Australia.

what is rural-to-urban (or simply rural-urban) migration and why is it happening?

Wide-scale/most notable source of urbanization occurred hand in hand with industrialization. in the US, rural-urban migration occurred when large cities such as Chicago grew, the same can be observed in more recent city developments like Mumbai and Tokyo. in China, rural-urban migration was illegal until the 1970s, when many people then began to move to the urban hotspots like Beijing and Shanghai in search of jobs and an opportunity in the booming industrial cities. mainly for purposes of economic and social purposes or conditions in rural/countryside are dismal.

what is meant by "unpaid work" when referring to the livelihoods of women around the world?

all of the labor performed by women in the home is done for free. the reason we have "paid work" is because someone at home is taking care of the unpaid work. Ex. child care, meal preparation, in-home health care, cleaning, etc.

what is the "international division of labor" and why hasn't it disappeared over time?

an outcome of globalization, it is the spatial division of labor which occurs when the process of production is no longer confined to national economies. it benefits the wealthy countries so they continue to pursue it. transfer some of the types of jobs from more developed to less developed countries; outsourcing is a lot cheaper than domestic labor

explain some of the indications of an overall warming trend affecting the planet - be as inclusive as possible.

climate change means it is getting wetter, hotter, colder, drier, in places where that is not the norm. Melting ice. Most of the 10 hottest years have been after 1998. Precipitation change. disrupting tourism, agriculture, human health, animal populations, weather in general.

why is the term "climate change" more accurate than "global warming"?

climate change refers to the changing of heat and cold and not just the severity of warming climates. global warming leaves out other climate changes. it includes more unnatural changes.

how does economic restructuring play out in urban spaces and in particular what kinds of places were created in certain American cities in association with the decline of manufacturing?

disinvest of some industries and those places are replaced or turned into.. Repurposed brownfields, TOADs economic reconstruction poorer/minorities then concentrated in these areas gentrification

making all of the products used in a wealthy country like the US causes a lot of pollution. Why don't we experience this pollution first hand?

goods are produced in factories overseas and are shipped to the US so we don't have as much of the environmental effects. 85% from 21 countries.

How are the terms "developed world" and "developing world" misleading and what are alternative ways to say the same thing?

many countries termed "developing" have pockets of urbanized and innovated global networks and vice versa for developed countries. the terms assume that "developed" countries have reached a finished state and that "developing" countries are moving in their direction. alternatives: low-income and high-income, third world and first world, not industrialized and industrialized, Global South

defend the argument that people do not inhabit the city shown on familiar street maps but actually inhabit their peculiar mental maps.

mental maps are more personal to a particular person to navigate through places + easier to remember certain places that are specific to your liking/routes.

why are the leading measures of economic prosperity of a country - GDP and GNP - not very satisfactory when it comes to measuring people's economic well-being or security in various countries?

monetary resources are not all that societies need to improve the well being of their populations. GDP does not take into account income distribution. development is about enhancing the individual and societal quality of life. Human Development Index (HDI) is a better measure, a traditional measure of how well people's basic needs are being met

How is climate change expected to effect the frequency and severity of storms?

more destructive and more frequent. cost of disaster; everything sucks.

if winter storms in the Northern US get worse, would this prove that global warming is a hoax?

no, it means moisture is in areas that are usually dry and cold climates. Warmer water = more energy for tropical storms; rising water temperatures increase severity of storms.

why have many poor countries remained poor (as measured factors such as life expectancy and infant mortality, as well as by nutrition and literacy rates), contrary to the predictions of the development theory?

poor countries are prevented by rich countries to economically better themselves and the consequences of colonialism has led many poor countries to have export-based economies. rapid development in one place has often been made possible by slow development elsewhere. result of the "resource curse" generally, countries who are previously colonized are still dependent on other countries.

what causes the formation of built-up areas scattered beyond the edge of contiguous urban development (a.k.a. "leapfrog" or "checkerboard" development)?

some includes upscale housing driven by demand for a mansion with all the amenities including a swimming pool and a "view". some include inexpensive housing built in response to a lack of safe, affordable housing nearer to the center of the city.

describe some theories that explain the origin and diffusion of the earliest cities, both in terms of why they emerged and where they emerged.

some theories argue that cities stemmed from permanent agricultural villages developed about 10,000 years ago. cities need an agricultural surplus and a stratified social system to sustain themselves. Models for rise of cities: hydraulic civilization - argues that development of large-scale irrigation systems was the primary driver of urbanization. hydraulic civilization cannot be applied to every early settlement as some parts of Mesoamerica had no widespread irrigated agriculture. site and situation: the relationship between the city and the environment.

explain how american cities induce people to use the automobile whether they like car commuting or not. (in other words, what factors create automobile-dependency in american cities)?

spatial organization; work is away from home so they have to commute. the way cities are built now. no sidewalks and it's for more traffic. the emergence of suburbs away from a city. highway act and the government subsidizing highways. central business districts in center of city; people must access it by car and not walk.

what position has the US government taken in recent years with regard to global efforts to control carbon emissions?

the US is 1 of 2 countries to not sign the Paris Agreement which agrees to limit carbon emissions. The US agreed to the Kyoto Protocol back in 1997 but removed itself from the agreement for economic reasons. US backed out of global southern efforts. Created confusion amongst Americans and division among political parties.

why do media and politicians so often misrepresent this data when they come from states where companies could benefit economically from the development of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy?

the cost of implementing wind and solar energy is pretty hefty and the resources to maintain them as well. additionally, fossil fuel companies are active lobbyists and keep politicians in power. it is easier to stick to your business in the energy world. media has other things to cover.

"its up to Bangladesh to solve the problems with its dangerous textile mills." what is wrong with this position?

the dangers of the textile mills occur because of demand from other countries; there is a direct connection between places creating demand and those places supplying. the developed countries are making less developed countries dependent on them. there is corruption and lack of restrictions. it is a product of the legacy of colonialism and imperialism.

how much of the current climate change is predicted if anthropogenic greenhouse gases are included in a model versus in which they are not included?

the model without anthropogenic (caused by humans) greenhouse gases would have a significantly less amount of climate change reflected compared to the model that factors if anthropogenic greenhouse gases; they have a lot of negative effects.

what is the "resource curse" and how is it possible that the discovery of valuable resources can make things worse in a poor country rather than making things better?

the resource curse is when a valuable resource is discovered in a poor country and instead of helping the country, it hurts it more. makes things worse because foreign companies come in to extract the resource and shut out local and distant competitors. profits are mostly concentrated in the hands of the local elite and the sudden influx of money causes political conflicts. new market depends on success of the resource and hence it goes through cycles of activity and stagnation, creating unstable and temporary jobs. profits go to investors.

many of the poorest countries have economies that are based on the export of a few basic commodities (e.g coffee, palm oil, petroleum, tropical hardwoods, etc.). how does this affect their economies negatively?

they are more vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity markets. most of the profits are enjoyed in places far from the point of extraction. no diversity in market- nothing to fall back on if there is a bad season. double edged sword, environmental impacts. long term it can hurt the country.

how have celebrities become involved in the effort to promote economic development in the Global South?

they use their wealth, mobility, and cultural visibility to bring attention to events that otherwise people would not pay attention to. use fame to raise millions of dollars for development-related causes. criticism that they are just trying to make themselves look better or don't know enough of what they are talking about.