Group items tagged

This article discusses the drought in California and how people are causing the natural disaster to increase. California has increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. This change in air temperature helps to remove water from the soil, and allowing it to be absorbed into the air. Global warming is creating the drought in California, as well as excessive well pumping from aquifers. As the water becomes absorbed into the air, lasting effects such as crop failure and fires can result, changing the state of the physical environment. The theme of nature culture is exhibited throughout the article to display the different impacts of the drought. For example, as people burn fossil fuels and shrink aquifers by pumping water, the environment is changed by having less water for the people who inhabit the land. What can the citizens do to reduce the drought? How can water be restored back into the soil?

This article talks about the issue of the build-up of people waiting at the Greece-Macedonia border to gain access into Macedonia. Most of these people are fleeing from Syria, trying to avoid being caught in the middle of the civil-war in their country. The migrants are stuck at this border because the Macedonian police are denying passage into the country. They are having trouble processing all of the people attempting to come in and keeping everything organized. Macedonia simply does not have a place for all of the refugees trying to gain their access into the country. Coming with these migrants is also their problems, which brings me to my theme which is mobility. Macedonia does not want the problems of the war or problems of the people to overwhelm their country, and that being said, they are not allowing everyone to come in. These migrants are very poor as well, having little to no food or money with them. Where are the migrants going, or what will they do if they do not receive access to Macedonia? How will they obtain basic materials to meet their needs of survival?

This article describes the struggles of migrants as they try to cross Macedonia's border to escape conflicts such as war in Syria. Recently, thousands of the refugees and migrants have forced their way across the border and are closer to the safety which Europe can offer them, away from their war-ravaged homes. The migrants had faced challenges with police as many poured into Greece and tried to move further into Europe, spending, "...days in the open with little or no food or water after Macedonia on Thursday declared a state of emergency and sealed its borders to migrants..." (Reuters). The geographical theme of mobility is shown here because of the diffusion of the migrants from their homes, in areas such as Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq, to Greece and other areas of Europe. With the rising issues and struggles of the migrants, questions arise. Why are the migrants receiving no help or care from other countries to remove them from the war zones they had escaped from. What will Macedonian police do in response to the continually rising amount of migrants coming through their protected borders?

Why do your teachers ask you to text mark, annotate, etc. while you read? Check out this article. 

They want us to be able to analyze what we read - not to just place it in the context of the story, but to make connections, look for symbols, etc. Thar way, the text gains a deeper meaning instead of 'we're reading this just because it's a book we were told to read', it's we're reading this because it's an excellent example of symbolism and character development - which you might not pick up on unless you were analyzing the text. Suddenly, a book you were told to read has more meaning because now you know why you are reading it and why it is important to your education. Like how we have to look for the themes of geography in our books. If we were just reading the book, I would be done faster, but I would wonder why, exactly, was this book going to be important for my continuing education. This makes me pay attention to details and make connections to the textbook section you gave us. Education fascinates me because it is so important, yet people have so many different views on how everything should be done and whether or not the current system works.

Thank you for your insight, Maddie. I agree! Reading with a purpose helps build our framework as to what should be gained from the book. Annotations help document thoughts and ideas on our mind so we don't forget, too. Happy reading to all.

There has recently been a huge outcry over the brutal death of Cecil the lion. Cecil and his pride were the big attraction at a local Zimbabwe national park, with Cecil being the dominant male and local celebrity. Recently, Cecil was lured out of the park with food and shot by an arrow by a Minnesota dentist, who had funded almost $50,000 for the hunt. Sadly, that's not the end of it, as Cecil was then hunted down, shot in the head, skinned, and decapitated. Why would someone do this? Well, it's all for a trophy. Trophy killing is a very common sport, especially in these African countries. So much so that African lion populations have dropped 60% in the last 3 decades. This is a prime example of the theme of nature-culture, as Cecil's death damages his pride and possibly our whole ecosystem. Without their dominant male, Cecil's pride is put at risk to rogue lions and other dangerous threats. Sadly, we have ourselves to blame, as the majority of lions killed for sport are shipped to America to be turned to trophies, and these aren't the only animals we're losing because of this. How has hunting for sport damaged our ecosystem? How much have human beings destroyed nature? Are we doing more harm to the planet than good?

Thank you for your post, Eric. Great questions as well. I'm curious about what's being done to stop people from illegally killing animals in parts of the world. Many people exploit the world's fishing reserves in the ocean or at least in areas that are seen as international waters. Check out this interesting article about how a bunch of illegal fishing vessels were hunted down. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html?_r=0

In March of 2014, Malaysia Airlines' flight 370 disappeared without a trace on route from Malaysia to China. Just recently, debris was found on the French territory, Reunion Island, located off of the eastern coast of Africa. Despite searching for over a year, this discovery was the first clue of this airplane mystery. Many countries have collaborated in the search for the missing jet including France, Malaysia, Australia, and the United States. This relates to the globalization theme of geography because many countries are combining their resources and ideas towards the common goal of finding the plane and providing peace to the families affected. Due to modern technology and the ability to communicate almost instantly, countries that are thousands of miles apart are each able to offer something different to benefit the search and rescue effort. For example, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau led the actual search while the French conducted tests to confirm that the debris was in fact from the missing plane. What makes a country's government decide to help another country with a natural disaster or tragedy? How has technology improved connections between countries in times of crisis?

Thank you for sharing this article and providing an insightful post. Great questions, too. I do believe that countries (most) have a major duty to help humanity and struggling peoples. Citizens are for the most part supportive of their government spending money for these disaster relief. Some see the government as wasteful with taxpayer money. Flight safety and reliability is extremely important, too. Does anyone think that this event concerns any of the major world economic powers? How might it impact them?

On August 10th, 2015, a large amount of mine waste was accidentally spilled into the Animas River of Colorado. This spill released nearly one million gallons into the water turning it a rusty orange color. The effects of the spill could be detrimental to wildlife, thus, causing clean-up to be a priority. The main concern of the spill is the effect on fish because they are very sensitive to changes in water. After the spill, the contaminated water contains much higher levels of heavy metals like iron, zinc, and copper. This change in nature has sent Colorado Parks and Wildlife Officials to be quite frustrated with the mining industry. This spill relates to nature culture, a theme of geography, because it shows how humans' thirst for money can have large effects on nature. How will the mining industry develop better ways to prevent spills? How can spills be cleaned up more effectively with less damage to wildlife?

How have some our favorite music genres evolved and what folk cultures did they originate from?

I like how your website views on the preferences of multiple people and then gives a brief history on how that music diffused into pop culture.

I liked how your website was very organized and easy to navigate. I also liked how you talked about how the music genres diffused from folk culture to popular culture.

For those that read Nine Parts of Desire ... any connections with things you heard or saw in this video? How do these Sharia patrols impact the cultural landscape of this city?

This article is a great example of the theme mobility as it was found that seals came to the new world first, bringing tuberculosis with them and giving it to the humans that hunted them. Even though this is a great discovery, there is no one alive today with the same ancient strain, which means that they still don't know if it can be transmitted from human to human.

What are the economic factors behind the separatist movement? Who is funding the pro-Russian rebels? What does Russia have to gain? This relates to the theme of nature culture. Nature culture encompasses political, economic and social forces. The rebels have these interests with a strong Russian political backing, Russian economic ties supporting the movement, and the common Russian heritage that is shared due to the inclusion of Ukraine in the former Soviet Republic.

By attempting to stop the spread of Ebola, how will this change the spread of unrelated ideas such as new technologies and practices related to the theme of mobility?

Time to try out your Diigolet highlighter tool ... find at least one example in the article that shows how Rastafarian culture diffused across the globe. No problem, mon.

The theme of mobility is presented as the outbreak of Ebola causes the country of Senegal to close its borders with Guinea. This deadly and highly contagious disease has diffused throughout the population in Senegal and other countries. The pandemic has caused worldwide fear. Will closing the borders really be effective in blocking the spread of Ebola? Is Ebola able to be cured and, if not, are we trying to find a cure?

The area in the red box is about 25,000 square miles, slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The small red square shows the space required to meet German demand for energy. If only this one small area of land in the desert can power the whole world, why doesn't someone build it? This shows the conflicting interests of world powers and the theme of nature-culture

Many children are crossing the border to the US to have a better life, which will put a strain on the US budget. The theme of mobility is shown in this current event. The immigrants move from place to place bringing their ideas and practices, which will eventually change the culture.

Due to the close proximity of Ukraine and Russia, each country has a large influence on one another. The theme of mobility is seen through pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, who have been exposed to Russian ideas through diffusion. What effect will the Russian influence have in the future? Will the rebels be able to separate from Ukraine, or will the Ukrainian government be able to gain control over its country again?

Many countries, like Liberia, are closing borders to keep out and contain the Ebola virus forcing people to move and travel away from the country. How does this relate to the theme of mobility in human geography?

A few different themes can be picked out in this article depending on how you look at it. Ferguson, Missouri has experienced a great number of shootings and arrests throughout the past few weeks. Why isn't the federal government very involved in this situation?