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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Postindustrial economy |
Where human geographies are shaped by modern technology, innovative information services, & a popular culture that dominates both North America and the world beyond |
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Urban heat island affect |
In which development associated with cities often produces nighttime temperatures some 9 to 14°F warmer in metropolitan areas than those of nearby rural areas |
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Acid rain |
Industrially produced sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere that damage forests, poison lakes, and kill fish |
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Sustainable agriculture |
Where organic farming principles, a limited use of chemicals, and an integrated plan of crop and livestock management combine to offer both producers and consumers environmentally friendly alternatives |
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Renewable energy sources |
Hydroelectric, solar, wind, and geothermal resources are likely to fundamentally rework North America's economic geography in coming years |
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Boreal forest |
Coniferous evergreen forest which dominates the Continental interior |
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Tundra |
A mixture of low shrubs, grasses, and flowering herbs that grow briefly in the short growing seasons of the high latitudes |
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Prairie |
Dominated by tall grass lands in the East and by short grasses and scrub vegetation in the West |
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Megalopolis |
The largest settlement cluster in the United States, includes Baltimore/Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston |
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Nonmetropolitan growth |
Pattern in which people leave large cities and move to smaller towns in rural areas |
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Urban decentralization |
Settlement landscapes of North American cities in which metropolitan areas sprawl in all directions and suburbs take on many of the characteristics of traditional downtown |
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Edge cities |
Nodes of activity that have fewer functional connections with the central city than they have with other suburban centres |
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Gentrification |
Process involving the displacement of lower-income residents of central-city neighborhoods by higher-income residents, the improvement of deteriorated inner-city landscapes, and the construction of shopping complexes, sports and entertainment attractions, and convention centers in selected downtown locations |
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New urbanism |
And urban design movement stressing higher-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-scale neighborhoods where residents can walk to work, school, and entertainment |
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Ethnicity |
Concept in which people with a common background and history identify with one another, often as a minority group with a larger society |
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Cultural assimilation |
The process in which immigrants were absorbed by the larger host society |
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Cultural homeland |
A culturally distinctive settlement in a well-defined geographic area, and its ethnicity has survived overtime, stamping the landscape with an enduring personality |
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Spanglish |
A hybrid combination of English and Spanish spoken by Hispanic Americans, also illustrates the complexities of North American globalization |
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North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) |
A free trade agreement that extended an alliance to Mexico |
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Federal states |
The United States and Canada. Both nations allocate considerable political power two units of government beneath national level |
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Unitary states |
Nations such as France where power is centralized at the national level |
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Connectivity |
How well the region's different locations became linked with one another through improved transportation and communications networks |
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Sectoral transformation |
Refers to the evolution of a nation's labor force from one dependent on the primary sector (natural resource extraction) to one with more employment in the secondary (manufacturing or industrial), tertiary (services), and quarternary (information-processing) sectors |
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Location factors |
The varied influences that explain why an economic activity is located where it is. Many influences, both within and beyond the region, shape patterns of economic activity |
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Gender gap |
Differences in salary, working conditions, and political power due to gender |
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World Trade Organization (WTO) |
157 member states are dedicated to reducing global trade barriers |
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Group of Eight (G8) |
A collection of economically powerful countries ( the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia) that regularly meets for discussions on key global economic and political issues |
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Outsourcing |
A business practice that transfers portions of a company's production and service activities to lower-cost settings, often located overseas |
