GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Strategically, Ukraine matters much more to Russia than it doesn’t the EU, which is why Russia is flexing there muscles.  Russia’s major market for their natural gas are linked through these key pipelines.  

I certainly wouldn’t argue that trees create economic inequality, but there appears to be a strong correlation in between high income neighborhoods and large mature trees in cities throughout the world (see a scholarly reference from the Journal, Landscape and Urban Planning). Why is there such a connection? In terms of landscape analysis, what does this say about those who have created these environments? Why do societies value trees in cities? How does the presence of trees change the sense of place of a particular neighborhood? Click here for more Google images that show the correlation between income and trees.

I was recently flying over New York City and I was stunned at the vastness of this metropolis and amazed at the arrogance we take when we assume we ‘understand’ a place with millions of people and complex networks.  The geographic enterprise is remarkably ambitious and even if we can’t fully understand everything about our planet, we strive towards that goal…then I read this article and the magnitude of the universe simultaneously overwhelmed and inspired me.  8.8 billion earth-like planets!!  The only reason anyone could ever be bored is if they have stopped being curious about all that surrounds us.  

This NPR article highlighted this video and research that shows that a basic understanding of climate change is missing in our society (which opens up room for naysayers to think that all opinions are equally valid in a scientific discussion).

Regions are fluid constructs that we use to think about places.  The region that we think of today as “Latin America” would not have been a discrete region 600 years ago since historical events have shaped the geographic evolution of the attributes of the region and the borders of world regions will continue to be redrawn.  Some have recently argued that since the end of the Cold War, the monikers Eastern and Western Europe are less meaningful in an economic context.   This map shows this old division can still be seen in this cultural/political context.  Some have argued that Russia’s recent move against gay rights is a geopolitical strategy to differentiate themselves from the West. 

Tags:  Europe, regions.

Earlier in the semester we discussed how difficult it is to establish a new country in a region with political and economic instabilty.  This is only further complicated by the presence of factional rivalries.  It’s a tragedy that these problems are being played out.  

Tags: South Sudan, political, Africa, states.

This podcast highlights the political governance issues surrounding urban agriculture.