Jerry T. Mitchell - Geography For Dummies

Geography For Dummies® 2nd Edition

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022931558

ISBN: 978-1-119-86712-8 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-86713-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-86714-2 (ebk)

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here

5 Part 1: Getting Grounded: The Geographic Basics Chapter 1: Geography: The Why of Where and Why You Should Care Geography: Making Sense of it All Exposing Misconceptions: More Than Maps and Trivia The Geographic Advantage Getting to the Essentials Chapter 2: Thinking Like a Geographer Changing the Way You Think — Geographically Case Study #1: Where Something is Located Case Study #2: Where Something Should be Located Chapter 3: Lining Up Locations Welcome to Gridville Feeling Kind of Square Telling Someone Where to Go The Global Grid: Hip, Hip, Hipparchus! Getting Lined Up Chapter 4: Truthiness in Mapping Seeing the Light: Map Projections Realizing Exactly How Flat Maps Lie Isn’t there a truthful map anywhere? Different Strokes for Different Folks: A World of Projections Mapping a Cartographic Controversy! Chapter 5: Telling a Spatial Story Why We Need Tal(l) Dogs Taking It to Scale Showing the Ups and Downs: Topography Using Symbols to Tell the Story New Ways of Seeing: How Technology has Changed How we Make and Use Maps Geographic Information Systems Making Maps Yourself!

6 Part 2: Let’s Get Physical: Land, Water, and Air Chapter 6: Shape-shifting Earth Starting at the Bottom: Inside Earth Moving Continents: Big Pieces of a Big Puzzle Getting Down to Theory Making Mountains Out of Molehills Experiencing Earthquakes: Shake, Rattle and Roll! Subducting Plates: Volcano Makers Categorizing Tectonic Processes Chapter 7: A Nip and a Tuck: Giving Earth a Facelift Getting Carried Away Changing the Landscape Chapter 8: Making a Splash on Earth Taking the Plunge: Global Water Supply Shaping Our World: Oceans Getting Fresh with Water Chapter 9: Warming Up and Chilling Out: Why Climates Happen Getting a Grip on Climate Playing the Angles Tilt-a-World: The Reasons for the Seasons Hot or Cold? Adjust Your Altitude Gaining Heat, Losing Heat Oh, How the Wind Blows Going with the Flow: Ocean Currents Living Under Pressure Chapter 10: Connecting Climates and Vegetation Giving Class to Climates Mixing Sun and Rain: Humid Tropical Climates Going to Extremes: Dry Climates Enjoying the In-between: Humid Mesothermal Climates Cooling Off: Humid Microthermal Climates Dropping Below Freezing: Polar Climates

7 Part 3: Peopling the Planet Chapter 11: Nobody Here But A Few Billion Friends Going by the Numbers Going Ballistic: Population Growth Checking Behind the Curve: Population Change Considering “Overpopulation” Chapter 12: Shift Happens: Migration Populating the Planet Choosing to Migrate Giving a Good Impression Chapter 13: Culture: The Way We Live Being Different Thousands of Times Over Spreading the Word on Culture Calling a Halt: Barrier Effects Getting Religion: How It Moves and Grows Getting in a Word about Language Creating a Single Global Culture Chapter 14: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors Drawing and Re-Drawing the Boundaries of the World Typecasting Boundary Lines Living with the Consequences Drawing Electoral District Boundaries

8 Part 4: Putting the Planet to Use Chapter 15: Takin’ Care of Business Categorizing Economic Activity Putting Economic Systems into Place Understanding Location Factors Chapter 16: Earth’s Resources: Always Hungry for More Defining Resources and Assessing Their Importance Differing Life Spans: Which Resources Are Here Today or Gone Tomorrow Trading-off Resources: The Consequences of Resource Use Chapter 17: Downtown to the ‘Burbs: Urban Geography Studying the Urban Scene Getting a Global Perspective Getting Started: Urban Hearths Finding Sites for Cities Getting Big: Urban Growth Looking Inside the City Leaving Downtown, Living Downtown Facing up to Environmental Issues Chapter 18: Only One Home: Impacts on the Environment Grasping the Basics — Environmentally Speaking Contributing Factors: Pollution on the Move Going Global: Environmental Issues Affecting Us All Taking on the Challenges of Tomorrow