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What is geography?
Geography literally means 'writing about the Earth'. It is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments.
Key points
- Geography can be split into three areas: human geography, physical geography and environmental geography.
- Human geography is the study of societies, cultures and economies.
- Physical geography is the study of landscapes and environments.
- Environmental geography is the study of how humans impact the Earth.
Human and physical geography
Video: What is geography?
Learn about geography
What is Geography?
When you step out of your front door, what do you see? The world is an amazing place. There’s so much going on all the time. Geography can help us make sense of what is happening and why. Geography involves the study of people (human geography) and the natural environment (physical geography) and the relationship between the two.
Human geography is everything to do with human activity. For example, how is the population changing? And where does our food come from? While physical geography explores everything that occurs naturally. For example, how is the land shaped by rivers and the sea? And why do earthquakes happen?
Together, physical and human geography help us to understand the world.
The study of places and people and the relationships between people and their environments. is the study of the world, but as the world is a large and complex place, the subject is divided up into two main areas - human geography and physical geography. The study of the relationship between these two main areas is called environmental geography, which can be considered the third area of geography.
Human geography
The branch of geography dealing with human activity. relates to the people who live on our planet, Earth. In this area of study, geographers might explore the following things:
- The number of people living in a certain area. - how the number of people in the world is growing and why
- The movement of people from one permanent home to another. - why people make the choice to move
- Relating to towns and cities; built up areas, the opposite of rural. patterns - where people live and what these places are like
- societal changes - development, globalisation, resources and conflict
Physical geography
The branch of geography dealing with the Earth’s natural features. relates to the natural world around us. In this area of study, geographers might explore the following things:
- how our The visible features of an area of land that can be viewed at one time from one place. is created and changes over time
- how rivers and glaciers change the environment around us
- why areas experience the weather and climate they do
- different The living organisms in a particular area (such as plants and animals), together with the non-living components of the environment (such as rocks and soil). and A large region of Earth that has a certain climate and certain types of living organisms like a large-scale ecosystem eg. a tropical rainforest. of the Earth
- the hazards humans face from volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms
These lists are not exhaustive and cover only a small part of what geographers investigate.
Question
Are earthquakes studied as part of human geography or physical geography?
Earthquakes are studied as part of physical geography because they occur in the natural world. However, the effects of earthquakes form part of human geography because they impact on the people that experience them.
Quiz: Human and physical geography
Environmental geography
The study of interactions between humans and the physical world is known as The branch of geography dealing with how human activity and the Earth’s natural features impact on each other. . This can be considered the third type of geography.
A physical process, such as an The shaking and vibration of the Earth's crust due to the movement of the Earth's plates (plate tectonics)., will affect the human geography of a country, destroying A place where people live. and disrupting development. Just as physical processes impact upon humans, humans also impact upon the Earth.
In this area of study, geographers might explore the following things:
- pollution
- the destruction of habitats
- climate change
Although humans only appeared on Earth around 200,000 years ago, we have made enormous changes to our environment. We have cleared forests to farm and build settlements. Most scientists agree that human action such as the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of the rainforest is contributing to When atmospheric conditions, such as temperature and rainfall, change over time. Currently, our climate is becoming warmer over time and this is called global warming..
Question
What is the name of the type of geography which studies our impact on the natural world?
Environmental geography is the study of the impact of humans on the natural world and how physical processes impact upon humans.
The three types of geography
Question
In which part of geography would climate change be studied?
Human activity contributes to climate change. Therefore it would be studied under The branch of geography dealing with how human activity and the Earth’s natural features impact on each other. .
Quiz: Environmental geography
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