Question 1
Geography is unique since it is the most basic and essential science. The creation of the field of geography is through human curiosity concerning the atmosphere and the environment in the world. It becomes unique because it is both a social and natural science. The core unifying factor between human and physical geography is the environmental determinism concept which argues that the natural environment directly influences human beings’ moral, mental and physical habits. Both depend on each other while on the earth’s surface since a majority of human’s activities are through the exploration of physical activities.
Question 2
The geographical study is important since it is helpful in understanding the daily operations and the effects of our daily actions on the world around us. In education, it helps the students in identifying the locations of different countries by using the maps. Politically our world is shaped by varying political climate in various places globally. Geography is critical in understanding the politician’s mindset by examining their country’s present geography.it is crucial in developing the culture of a given community since some traditions and customs have an association with the aspects of borders and terrain for jurisdiction. Various industries use geography in understanding the weather in different locations of the world so that they can function efficiently. It is also helpful to humans in predicting the weather patterns which influence how the society can create and harvest produces within a given period. It is critical in identifying the best location to start a business since it has the potential for profitability and growth (Coop 103).
Question 3
Tropical wet has the characteristics of consistently high temperatures which range from 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Its annual, monthly temperature is 3 Celsius while the monthly temperature is 24 to 30 Celsius. The region lies within the inter-tropical convergence zone effects all along the year. There are high maritime humidity and convergence which creates thunderstorms and cumulus clouds almost daily. The areas experiencing it include Andagoya in Columbia and Iquitos in Peru. The tropical wet and dry climate region is found in areas like Calcutta in India, Cuiaba Brazil and Darwin in Australia. The regions have distinct dry, wet periods. The migration of inter-tropical convergence zone results to the seasonal pattern of moisture. The rainy season has the convergence zones’ presence while the dry season is due the stable airs. Subtropical desert and steppe is another climate region in approximately 12% of the continent. The regions have high wind velocities, monthly high temperatures, high mean annual temperatures, cloud cover and low relative humidity, the amount of precipitation and low frequency. The temperatures vary annually and diurnally. The regions include Berbera in Somalia, Alice Springs in Australia and Monterrey in Mexico.
The major factors influencing North America’s climate patterns are the subtropical high-pressure masses over north Pacific and north Atlantic oceans and their seasonal positional shifts which determine the rain bearing location and the large-scale patterns of wind circulation. The second factor is Andes’s orographic barrier which produces vast rain shadow in a greater part of the northern continent. The third is the presence of the cold ocean currents which causes an effect on the precipitation and air temperatures on the Pacific coast.
Question 4
North Americas’ environmental challenges include climate change and air pollution. There are greenhouse gas emissions which warm the region and also create smoggy conditions in their cities thus endangering the public health. Deforestation is another challenge which threatens humans and animals relying on the forests to sustain themselves. Loss of biodiversity where people are encroaching the wildlife habitats causing biodiversity loss this threatening the population’s health and food security. The Northern American countries highly contribute to the world environmental problems because of global warming and other climate changes. Human activities have a high impact on the natural environment. People apply herbicides and pesticides, generate waste from the processing industries which depletes the soils’ nutrient leaving it lifeless. The industries’ effluences run off if fertilizers and oil spillages damage the fragile ecosystems such as fish. Human burns toxic gasses and fossil fuels in factories which cause air pollution threatening the inhabitant’s health.
Question 5
The south shifted into being a Republican stronghold because the American politicians applied the southern strategy. The approach was appealing to racism against the American citizens who are Africans. The introduction of the voting rights act in 1965 and the civil rights Acts back in 1964 motivated the southern American citizens to support the Republican Party. There was no legal segregation like in the previous years. The African American in the areas of the south gave much support to the Republican candidates and later the white American began helping them.
Question 6
Illegal migration to the U.S has both positive and negative impacts. The illegal migrants add value to the country’s economy because they come to look for better jobs. However, they deprive the value by weakening the national and legal security environment. They immigrants distort the law; create a cover for the criminals and terrorists and they distract resources. The measures to deal with illegal immigration involve biometrically identifying all the US’ guest workers. The government agencies should not have a right of micromanaging the migrant labor. The guest workers have to find their sponsoring employer, and there should be a punishment for the illegal immigrants who are not complying with the new laws. I think the DREAM Act is a good idea because the country will be able to assess the character of the individual and their productivity before they give them permanent residence.it will encourage openness because people will not be hiding in the new country.
Question 7
The United States and Canada are both democracies and both are federal states. The difference is that US’s official language is English while Canada’s official languages are French and English. The two countries have different styles of government. Canada’s constitution is a monarchy while the US is a republic. Both countries are developed primarily in their economies, and they are each other’s largest trading partners. The population of Canada is approximately 33,910,000 while that of US is approximately 313,232,000.The US has got 9.2 times more people. USA’s population growth rate is 17% higher than that of Canada. Canada has a higher life expectancy smaller obese population and lowers infant mortality rate despite having less expenditure on the health. The USA has a higher spending on their health systems, but they have a higher alcohol consumption rate (Schuetze 537). The national health policy of Canada is egalitarian while the US has an abundance of technologies and greater drug research. Both systems have drawbacks and benefits in their health.
Question 8
The United States and Canada enjoy a bilateral relationship that is unique. They have a healthy relationship because they share geography, common interests, similar values, powerful and deep connections and multi-layered economic ties. The most contentious issue between the two is economic differences. The political leaders have differing economic philosophies. There are personality clashes between the countries’ top leaders. In 2003 there were disagreements between Canada and Us when Canada refused to be part of the Iraq war when the US took part in that war. There was a public tension when the US ambassador gave negative comments about Canada and in return, the Canadian officials gave derogatory remarks about the president of the US.US stopped supporting war activities in Canada while Canada had a stand of not participating in the programs of the US of building a ballistic missile defense shield (Schuetze 531).
Question 9
Urban sprawl is the migration of different populations of the towns and cities which are populated to the residential developments with low density and even to the more rural lands. It is the commercial development of lands that are undeveloped (Brueckner 162). In the North American urban areas, there are greater connections between urban sprawl and the rising air pollution and the greater usage of gasoline. The higher usage of gasoline is because many people will start using cars and auto spares. There will be environmental issues such as air pollution because the number of industries will be high because of the increased populations and the increased usages of cars results in air pollution. The community can control the effects of air pollution and the greater usages of gasoline by adopting alternative methods that do not pollute the environment. They can plant more trees in different locations so that they can conserve the environment.
Question 10
Urban sprawl is the spread of land development to the rural and suburban areas outside the cities while smart growth is the antidote of the sprawl’s undesirable impacts. Smart growth has positive effects because it helps the community to overcome the effects of urban sprawl. Smart growth is a development policy that is beneficial to the US because people have been able to save time that they require to travel from one destination to another like from home to shopping. It has drastically reduced the public expenditures. The cities that have implemented the smart growth principles include Denver in Colorado, Davidson in North Carolina, and Arlington in Virginia, Minneapolis and Saint Paul of Minnesota.
Question 11
Canada and the United States have different approaches to treating individuals with various difficulties. There is the quality of life approach where they improve the mental and physical health of sick people like the elderly. They organize them into groups where they can receive the necessary treatment ay a subsided fee. The countries have a benefit based management approach where they employ governmental, therapeutic and nonprofit agencies which support the citizens that are facing different challenges. The governments have set specific locations where the residents can report their grievances.
Works Cited
Brueckner, Jan K. "Urban sprawl: diagnosis and remedies." International regional science review 23.2 (2000): 160-171.
Coop, Graham, et al. "The role of geography in human adaptation." PLoS Genet 5.6 (2009): e1000500.
Schuetze, Herb J. "Taxes, economic conditions and recent trends in male self-employment: a Canada–US comparison." Labour Economics 7.5 (2000): 507-544.
