Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Figure 8.1: Answers will vary according to location.

Figure 8.2: Low-technology methods may be better for soil conservation and productivity per unit of land than large-scale machinery.

Figure 8.3: The work is hard to mechanize, especially in terraced fields on steep slopes like these. Mechanization would allow farmers to be freed for other occupations.

Figure 8.4: Rice is dominant in southern China, which is hillier than northern China, restricting the land available for fields. The common placement of the line would be between the large areas of orange and the large areas of blue, although the two crop systems are intermixed in some areas. There are also outliers of rice, not shown here, in northeastern China.

Figure 8.5: The mounds help to provide drainage around the plants’ roots and avoid rotting of the developing sweet potatoes.

Figure 8.6: If the relations were really so harmonious, there would be no need for a sign to say so.

Figure 8.7: Whether the government should or should not have prevented this displacement, the government stood to collect taxes on the tea raised on the plantation, whereas the grain and livestock farmers were subsistence, with little of their production or income entering the formal marketplace.

Figure 8.8: The western Great Plains and the intermountain region of the United States are arid regions with climates unsuited to the large-scale production of crops for commercial markets.

Figure 8.9: The huge numbers of cattle produce huge amounts of waste, which must be disposed of. Raising cattle in such confined quarters also encourages the spread of disease. Food must be brought in, leading to the “carbon footprint” of the transportation system.

Figure 8.10: Monoculture produces ideal conditions for the spread of plant diseases. It also obliterates the natural biodiversity. Economically, if the one crop fails, there is no other product to provide an income.

Figure 8.11: Long-term problems include the exhaustion of the soil from continuous heavy cropping, the disadvantages of monoculture, the huge amount of fuel consumption in the machinery and the fertilizer, and the vulnerability to soil erosion. The system is also extremely expensive, leaving the farmers vulnerable to market fluctuations in price and to heavy debt. On the other hand, it has been enormously productive with a small labor force, enabling the United States to feed not only itself but much of the rest of the world while freeing many to pursue other occupations.

Figure 8.12: If population grows too much, there may be insufficient pasture, and herds may return to the same pasture before it has a chance to regrow. Drought may also dry up pastures so that they are insufficient.

Figure 8.13: In areas with fresh or salt water, mariculture produces cheaper protein, assuming that it is turned to food for humans rather than animals. However, it has ecological problems of its own and may not be suitable for dry areas.

Figure 8.14: China has a huge population, which until recently has had insufficient protein in its diet because there is little land to devote to pasture and meat is expensive. China also has a comparatively short coastline, and many of its rivers are badly polluted. Chinese people like fish, but transporting it inland has been difficult with poor transportation systems.

Figure 8.15: Answers will vary, but you may suggest that EEZ limits can overlap where countries or island territories are close to one another. Additionally, viable shipping lanes may cross EEZ territories of states that are not politically cooperative. Further, historical claims by indigenous groups to maritime rights in certain regions may conflict with contemporary EEZ claims for these same areas.

Figure 8.16: Southwest Asia became overpopulated and overused, and soil was not conserved. Salinization (deposition of salts on the surface from improper irrigation techniques) brought down some of the early kingdoms of Mesopotamia, for example.

Figure 8.17: Climatic conditions, soil types, and terrain in many equatorial and mid-latitude regions of the globe led to greater diversity in plant life in these areas in ancient times. Climatic factors also contributed to greater ease in cultivating crops during longer growing seasons in these regions.

Figure 8.18: The chili pepper was one of the food crops to be brought back to Europe in the Columbian Exchange, the great movement of food crops that resulted from the voyages of Christopher Columbus and other European explorers beginning just before 1500. Besides adding flavor to rather bland foods like tofu and rice, it contains important vitamins, especially Vitamin C.

Figure 8.19: In the immediate area, the ants probably just spread out into areas of compatible environments. Since the ants are a tropical species, a barrier to diffusion could be climatic: cold weather. They probably also hitched rides on truckloads of suitable products like nursery stock headed inland, creating the outliers as they established themselves in suitable environmental pockets. This is cultural diffusion because people created the conditions suitable to fire ants and moved products in which they could hide.

248

Figure 8.20: The climate of the southeastern United States is much less arid than that of the American West and Midwest. Therefore, the tumbleweed’s ability to detach, dry, and roll easily across the southeastern landscape may be inhibited by higher moisture levels in the soil and groundcover vegetation.

Figure 8.21: Level land is less likely to suffer from severe gully erosion.

Figure 8.22: Countries extracting water from source rivers feeding the remains of the Aral Sea may begin to clash politically over rights to ever-shrinking water supplies for agriculture. Debates over responsibility for resulting environmental impacts outside these countries’ borders will also likely result.

Figure 8.23: Steep slopes would be less attractive to farmers and would be permitted to remain forested.

Figure 8.24: With rising populations, people expand cropland and pasture more animals on marginal land. Plant life is killed off, leaving the land barren. Recurrent droughts also kill plant life, creating more desertlike conditions.

Figure 8.25: Concentric circles illustrate best the comparative distance from the market in the center.

Figure 8.26: The more intensive agriculture is closest to Montevideo, and the least intensive agriculture is farther away. Anomalies might be caused by soil quality and transportation lines.

Figure 8.27: The areas with the highest proportion of malnourished people are Africa south of the Sahara and secondarily Asia and South America. These are areas of rapidly growing populations, and especially in the case of Africa, considerable corruption, mismanagement, and warfare.

Figure 8.28: Scientists are unsure about the effects of genetic modification on human and animal health. There is also a risk of losing indigenous strains of plants, which would be needed to replenish agriculture if the genetically modified varieties were wiped out by some disaster.

Figure 8.29: Depending on the situation, quarantine might have prevented the spread of the disease. Societies can set up procedures to handle such outbreaks so that they can be controlled without causing a major crisis. Raising animals in less crowded conditions can help control the spread of diseases.

Figure 8.30: Each farmer can farm fields on a variety of soils. Living close together in a village enhances mutual aid. However, fragmentation limits mechanization, and farmers spend a lot of time commuting to their fields.

Figure 8.31: Land parcels are easy to describe for purposes of ownership, reducing the likelihood of conflicts and empty spaces. However, they take no account of environmental conditions or topography, encouraging farmers to ignore these environmental factors, too.

Figure 8.32: Although interstate highways have modified life to some extent, country roads and lines of communication tend to be in compass directions. Municipalities and counties often follow these lines, regardless of local terrain or natural corridors like rivers.

Figure 8.33: Each farmer gets some of each kind of land as well as road access.

Figure 8.34: Boundaries of municipalities and counties often follow property lines, as do roads.

Figure 8.35: In rural areas, there are fences to keep livestock and cropland separate and to keep livestock from wandering away. There are also fences in urban areas: for privacy, for keeping out trespassers, and for keeping pets and children confined. Styles and construction vary greatly.