North America: Review and Self-
1. Environment: North America’s intensive use of resources has an enormous impact on the environment. Although home to only 5 percent of the world’s population, North America produces 26 percent of the greenhouse gases released globally that are related to human activity. North American lifestyles have major environmental impacts, including the depletion and pollution of water resources and fisheries and the destruction of huge amounts of habitat for wild plants and animals.
What aspects of North American lifestyles have increased emissions of greenhouse gases? What efforts have been made to control these emissions?
How does urban sprawl influence the average North American’s consumption of gasoline?
How might the livable city movement and smart growth affect greenhouse gas emissions? What are some responses to reducing greenhouse gases that you would be willing to take part in yourself?
What activities in North America are major contributors to water pollution and water scarcity, and what are the resulting impacts for simple water use and beyond?
What effect do green revolution agriculture techniques have on aquatic ecosystems?
2. Globalization and Development: Globalization has transformed economic development in North America, reorienting employment toward knowledge-
How has globalization transformed the North American job market, including in the steel industry?
How did fair trade principles lead to NAFTA goals, and what has been the effect of NAFTA on manufacturing jobs and immigration in North America?
What are some exceptions to U.S. support of free trade principles?
3. Power and Politics: North America has relatively high levels of political freedom, though in recent decades many of its residents have become disillusioned with the political process for a variety of reasons. While Canada plays a relatively modest political role abroad, the United States has enormous influence on the global political order, although its status as the world’s predominant “superpower” is increasingly being challenged.
What role does the urge to spread democracy play in the foreign policy of North America?
How does Canada’s approach to foreign relations differ from that of the United States?
What role did the ideal of democracy play in justifying the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?
To what extent is the allocation of U.S. foreign aid linked to U.S. strategic military interests?
How do Canada and the United States differ in their support for government programs that help low-
4. Urbanization: A dramatic change in the spatial patterns of cities and suburbs has profoundly affected life in this very urbanized region. Since World War II, North America’s urban populations have increased by about 150 percent, but the amount of land they occupy has increased by almost 300 percent. This is primarily because of suburbanization and urban sprawl, which are companion processes to urbanization.
What role has car ownership played in suburban growth?
How does urban sprawl impact farmers?
What is smart growth?
5. Population and Gender: Women’s participation in North America’s economy is beginning to rival that of men, contributing to more than two centuries of declining fertility rates as women delay childbearing to pursue education and careers. Declining childbirth rates play a major role in the aging of North American populations, which may slow economic growth.
How do education and work opportunities for contemporary women affect the North American population—
What are factors that have created an aging North American population, and how do those factors connect with immigration and household types in Canada and the United States?
What are three ways in which you personally are likely to be affected by the aging of North America’s population?
What is the connection between single-