Human Geo 11.3-11.4 Vocab

Question 1

Pollution

Answer 1

Concentration of waste added to air, water, or land at a greater level than occurs in average air, water, or land. Industry is a major polluter.

Question 2

Air Pollution

Answer 2

Concentration of trace substances (carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, etc) at greater level than occurs in average air. Earth’s average atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than 1% argon. The remaining 0.04% contains these trace gases. Most pollution is generated from factories/power plants/motor vehicles.

Question 3

Photochemical Smog

Answer 3

An atmospheric condition formed through a combination of weather conditions and pollution, especially from motor vehicle emissions.

Question 4

Acid Deposition

Answer 4

The accumulation of acids on Earth’s surface. The world’s principal industrial regions are especially affected by it.

Question 5

Acid Precipitation

Answer 5

Conversion of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides (emitted by burning fossil fuels) to acids that return to Earth as rain, snow, or fog. It damages lakes, killing fish, plants, gets in soil and injures plants and harms worms/insects, and causes marble and limestone to corrode. Geographers are interested in its effects because the worst damage isn’t experienced at the place where it was emitted. In the US, generators are in industrial states along the Great Lakes. However, the most severe effects are felt in several areas farther east.

Question 6

Ozone

Answer 6

A gas that absorbs UV solar radiation and is found in stratosphere (9 to 30 miles above Earth’s surface). If not for ozone, UV rays would damage plants, cause skin cancer, and disrupt food chains.

Question 7

Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs)

Answer 7

A gas used as a solvent, a propellant in aerosols, a refrigerant, and in plastic foams/fire extinguishers. When they leak, break down Earth’s protective ozone layer. In 2007, nearly all countries agreed to stop using CFCs by 2020 in MDCs and 2030 in LDCs.

Question 8

Nonconsumptive water usage

Answer 8

The use of water that is returned to nature as a liquid. Ex: most industrial and municipal uses of water, because the wastewater is primarily discharged into lakes and streams.

Question 9

Consumptive water usage

Answer 9

The use of water that evaporates rather than being returned to nature as a liquid. Ex. most agricultural uses, because water is used to supply plants that transpire it (it can’t be treated and reused).

Question 10

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Answer 10

The amount of oxygen required by aquatic bacteria to decompose a given load of organic waste; a measure of water pollution. If too much waste is discharged into water, it becomes oxygen starved and fish die. This occurs when bodies of water become loaded with sewage or waste, which can consume so much oxygen that plants/animals can no longer live there (creating a “dead” stream/lake).

Question 11

Point-source pollution

Answer 11

Pollution entering a body of water from a specific source (like pipe from wastewater treatment plant). Point-source pollutants are smaller in quantity and much easier to control. The two main point sources are manufacturers and municipal treatment plants. Fish adapted to cold water, might not be able to survive in warm water discharged back into a lake after use by factories. Major industrial water polluters: steel, chemicals, paper products, food processing.

Question 12

Nonpoint-source pollution

Answer 12

Pollution that originates from a large, diffuse area. They’re much harder to control. The principal nonpoint source is agriculture (fertilizers/pesticides are carried into rivers/lakes by irrigation or natural runoff, destroying aquatic life through pollution). Extreme instance of nonpoint water pollution: Aral sea in former Soviet Union.

Question 13

Sanitary Landfill

Answer 13

A place to deposit solid waste, where a layer of earth is bulldozed over garbage each day to reduce emissions of gases and odors from the decaying trash, to minimize fires and to discourage vermin. The most common strategy for solid waste disposal in the US (1/2 of waste). This strategy is the opposite of our disposal of gaseous and liquid wastes because we concentrate it in thousands of landfills.

Question 14

Recycling

Answer 14

The separation, collection, processing, marketing, and reuse of unwanted material. Involves the breaking down of components used to make plastics, papers, aluminum, and glass, and preparing them for future use. Many MDCs have programs to encourage recycling, though rates vary (65% of solid waste is recycled in Germany, but 19% in Japan). The recycling % in the US has increased to 34% today. Most LDCs lack recycling programs, but informal recycling is common. Pickers comb through landfills and resell their finds.

Question 15

Remanufacturing

Answer 15

The rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired, and new parts. The % of materials covered by recycling varies by product. Materials are made into new products that a market desires.

Question 16

New International Divison of Labor

Answer 16

Transfer of some types of jobs, especially those requiring low-paid, less-skilled workers, from more developed to less developed countries. Transnational corporations are aggressive with low-cost labor in LDCs. Low wages help them be profitable in LDCs. Operations requiring skilled workers is done in factories in MDCs.

Question 17

Outsourcing

Answer 17

A decision by a corporation to turn over much of the responsibility for production to independent suppliers. It has had a major impact on the distribution of manufacturing because each step in the production process is now scrutinized closely to determine best locations.

Question 18

Vertical Integration

Answer 18

An approach typical of traditional mass production in which a company controls all phases of a highly complex production process. It used to be regarded as a source of strength for manufacturers. Carmakers once made nearly all their own parts, but now, most of this operation is outsourced to countries that can make it cheaper and better.

Question 19

Maquiladoras

Answer 19

A factory built by a US company in Mexico near the US border, to take advantage of lower labor costs. Under US and Mexican laws, companies receive tax breaks if they ship materials from the US, assemble at a maquiladora, and finally export it back to the US. 1 million Mexicans work at maquiladoras.

Question 20

Right-to-work Law

Answer 20

A US law that prevents a union and a company from negotiating a contract that requires workers to join the union as a condition of employment. They make it more difficult for unions to organize factory workers, collect dues, & bargain with employers from positions of strength. This is a principal lure for many manufacturers that, coupled with government subsidies, has been the cause of US industry shifting from the Northeast to the South and West.