Throughout the history of the world, humans have made an incredible impact on their environment. As one of the most complex and different species on the planet, we’ve made our mark on the Earth in more ways than we can count. Not only that, but Earth and its geography have played a major role in how we conduct ourselves, feed ourselves, and introduce new ideas. People have studied the ever-changing characteristics of Earth and its inhabitants for centuries. Almost any time you study geography, you can come back to the Five Themes of Geography. Also known as movement, place, location, region, and human-environment interaction. These five themes can be tied into almost any historical event. Don’t believe me? In the 19th century, one of …show more content…
This was a method of battle, where soldiers dug miles upon miles of trenches in the soil on the battlefield to protect themselves from the opposing country’s ammunition. If the soil in Belgium and France hadn’t been so malleable and penetrable, such trenches wouldn't have been possible. Not to mention the frequent showers of rain that flooded the trenches and sometimes froze to ice during especially cold nights. Say the soldiers were fighting in Southern Africa or Antarctica. They would have to use another method of battle due to the compact soil/ice. Place played a large role in the conditions the soldiers endured during the war and the style of battle they used. Often confused with place, location is the third geographical theme. People often think of the two words as interchangeable, but not when it comes to geography. Location is a particular place or position. Most of the time, people use relative location, by describing the location by using its relationship to another location. However, people also use absolute location, in which they give exact coordinates for the address. Coming back to world history, in World War II, during Adolf Hitler’s reign, he first took on the countries of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. If you look at a map of Europe you can see that these countries were Germany’s direct neighbors. Their location endangered them to Hitler’s wrath, because they
The opposing armies were in a deadlock and trenches had become a dominate feature of the war (Page 63, 2nd paragraph). Some trenches were from 5 feet deep to 30 feet deep; they caused a stalemate that was almost impossible to break. If you break into their lines there is another one waiting for you. The trenches were hundreds of miles long, constantly fighting. Also they were filled with rats and frogs. Trenches were always in repair, they were reinforced with sandbags, with sheets of corrugated
2. Locations – Refers to the significance of where one thing is in relation to another. The study of location is basically how many physical characteristics (harbours, riviers, fertile plains, and mountaineous terrain) affect human settlement, and the way places are used.
We all know that earth was changed through the ages. We’ve gone from nothing to dinosaurs, humans, and wars. We’ve, as a race have used and adapted to our environment to meet our needs, such as food and water. We started farming, using domestic animals, and storing the food. The lives of people of the ancient world were shaped by the geography of their region because it affects the amount of food produced, the accessibility to water, and their ease at which to find shelter.
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the word geography, is “land.” However, there is much more to geography than this one singular word. Geography is the study of land on Earth, its physical features, and its atmosphere. Geography is how humans affect the environment. It is what carved and shaped history, and can alter the future in just a snap of the fingers. Geography is a way to travel around the world, multiple times without even having to leave your seat. It is the ultimate difference between many subjects, such as winning or losing, happiness and sadness, or even the common difference between life and death. To many people, geography is a part of everyday life, even though we don’t seem to notice it. We use geography to get to school and work. We use it to find the nearest McDonalds, and to even find out about the weather forecast of the day. Yet, for others, geography is what they live and breathe. Tim Marshall falls into that category as the author of “Prisoners of Geography,” who dedicates much of his time to further analyze the intricate study of geography. In his bestseller, Tim explains to us the allure of ten different regions in the world, while also bringing light to the little harmful events in each region, which could potentially lead to world calamity.
Life in the trenches was very difficult and often very dangerous. They were often kept in the confined and small trenches for long periods of time. “Soldiers were bound to trenches, enduring long stretches of inactivity, suffering the random bombing or sniper attack, then undertaking terrifying charges” (Showalter). Trenches were often dug deeply underground and served as protection from incoming artillery. The idea and formation of these trenches were a result of France’s flat terrain. With flat terrain, soldiers were more prone to be killed from bullet fire. “Opposing forces dug deep trenches into the earth; from the trenches soldiers could safely lob explosives at their enemies” (Kreibohm). Trenches also spanned many miles and connected to other trenches. The most popular trench that spanned 475 miles was located between the Belgian coast and Switzerland called the Western Front, where most of the fighting took place. “The majority of the war was fought...stretching 475 miles between the Belgian coast and Switzerland...called the Western Front” (Kreibohm). The Central Powers and the Allied Powers both participated in this idea of trench warfare and elaborated on the complexity and the conformity of them. To protect the front line of the trench, machine guns were positioned in the front. Trenches were also protected by barbed
Geography is a main factor that has heavily influenced the course of human history. With the theory of environmental determinism in mind, geographical factors had the strongest influence towards the beginning of human civilizations when there was less technology powerful enough to challenge Mother Nature. As time passed and new technological advancements took place, nature began to have a bit less effect on what we, as humans, could or could not do, and thus the more flexible theory of possibilism came to light. Geographical elements such as rivers, mountains, and climate have changed our culture and history in ways that we often overlook. Where societies formed and flourished, why Europe seeked world domination, how countries survived invasions,
Through reading How the States Got Their Shapes and Guns, Germs, and Steel I would define human geography as the study of how different factors such as culture, lifestyle, geography, and environment dictate where humans live and migrate. Both books are able to connect how the latter factors influence the pattern of human activity and movement.
Geography is the study of the Earth's landscapes, environments, places and people and this captivates me. Ever since I was young, I have been inspired to understand the world around us. When I was only four, my family visited the Scottish Highlands and I saw the landscape around me with majestic mountains and exquisite lochs and felt a feeling of awe. Then when I was seven, I began to understand the world more and my parents took me to China - the emerging superpower and this sparked my fascination even more. I wanted to learn about the changing environment of the country, the contrasting provinces, the rural-urban differences, the natural disasters that destroyed people's lives and China's development. From a young age, I knew I wanted to solve the world's problems as a geographer, such as tackling imminent issues of volcanoes and earthquakes and to grasp how people shape the planet we live on.
Guns, Germs, and Steel is a well written book by James Diamond exemplifying the true meaning of human geography. One of the essentials to fully understand geography is to know about human geography, sometimes also known as cultural geography. Human geography or cultural geography, is the study of why people are where they are. Human geography is also the relationship of cultures around the world and how they relate to their origin. Throughout the book, Diamond examines the conflict of the book: why are some societies more advanced than other societies?
Much of my passion for Geography is derived from the fact that it depicts relevance to all aspects of society. It is dynamic in a sense that my perception and understanding is constantly evolving with the growth in understanding and perception. What intrigues my further pursuit of geography is how Geography unlike other subjects has direct links to both human and physical attributes. By further pursuing geography at a higher education level, I wish to enrich my understanding of the wider significance of issues being faced and how it affects society on a local and global level. It is important to identify and understand the interconnecting aspects of the world around us and apply such knowledge towards a more sustainable future. Geography
Compare & Contrast the Impact of Geography on the civilizations of Ancient Egypt & Ancient Mesopotamia While rivers, mountains, deserts, and coasts don’t affect us much today, because of our water systems and new technology allowing us to be able to adapt almost anywhere, it actually used to be a huge deal back when the first civilizations were beginning to form. These aspects of physical geography affected civilizations like the Ancient Mesopotamia, and the Ancient Egyptian residents. However these aspects affected mostly Ancient Mesopotamia because they had a larger number of physical features, while Ancient Egypt was mostly dependent on the Nile River, and the coasts. The geography that actually affected the way people lived ware the deserts, rivers, coasts, and the mountains nearby. The ways that geography could have impacted civilizations are by mountains creating natural boundaries, and providing some food like goats, sheep, and some edible plants and fruits.
Throughout the movie Wall-E, many advanced topics with direct links to geography are shared with the audience. These themes relate to resource management and sustainability on planet earth. In this response, I will highlight the major messages and link to them to both human and physical geography.
Trench warfare was a largely used tactic for fighting in WWI, 1914. Trenches are long, deep, narrow holes made in a complex, “zigzag” pattern, resembling that of a deep, elongated bunker (McCrackin). With trench warfare being so widely used, their growth allowed them to reach hundreds to thousands of miles all throughout Northern Europe. They were essentially a shield made from dirt walls reinforced with anything from sandbags to steel. They were usually protected by barbed wire and landmines.
Human geography is defined as “The study of interrelationships between people, places and environment and how these vary spatially and temporally across and between locations” (Castree, Kitchin and Rogers, 2013). It looks at how society shapes the environment and vice versa. Although physical geography and human geography are separate fields they both concentrate on spatial processes; physical geography more on the natural and physical sciences and human geography on the way in which human lives are shaped by processes in nature (Castree et al., 2013). A key principle of
Maybe some people will think human geography has no relation between physical geography. But I think human geography has a great effect on physical geography, and physical geography has a great effect on human geography too.