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Exam 2 Review

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ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Population Distribution between Urban


Second Midterm Exam and Rural Areas

• Worth 80 pts.
• The same structure as before: 18 multiple- Urban Area: town or city (including adjacent suburbs)
choice Qs & 3 short answer questions with population of more than 2500
• Topics: Urbanization, Water, Soil + discussion 3
• Use the study guide as a guideline for the Degree of Urbanization: percentage of a region’s
topics/concepts that can be on the exam population that lives in urban areas
• Study buddies?
• Don’t forget to complete HW#3 and the two Urban Growth: rate of increase of urban
dynamic study modules populations

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Why is urban population growing? Why is urban population growing?

Pop growth = births - deaths + immigration - emigration Over the recent years, urbanization has
slowed in MDCs and growing rapidly in
natural increase net migration LDCs.
Causes (for net migration):

• Pull factors - higher income jobs, education, health-


In developing countries, growth in
care, cultural opportunities urbanization is a consequence of ecological
degradation, industrialization, low availability
• Push factors - farm mechanization, government of jobs in rural areas, wars, and conflicts.
policies

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Exam 2 Review Handout 1


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Urbanization in the United States Urbanization in the United States


More than
• 82.46% of the population lives in urban areas, Current general migration patterns: 50% of US
occupying 3% of land (2019 data, World Bank) • from central cities to suburbs & small cities population
• from the North & East to the South & West is
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS suburban
https://www.statista.com/statistics/269967/urbanization-in-the-united-states/ • from urban areas back to rural areas
• Almost half of the population lives in metropolitan
areas containing 1 million or more people
Major improvements: better work conditions,
medical care, & environmental quality since 1920

Remaining problems of big cities:


• inner-city poverty, crime, infrastructural decay
• road congestion & auto pollution, disappearing open-
space

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Sprawl Urban Sprawl & Its Characteristics


• Sprawl is the spread of low-density urban, Urban sprawl
suburban, or exurban development out from Causes: A combination of cheap gasoline, plentiful
an urban center. land, & a network of highways produces dispersed,
automobile–oriented cities with low population density

Other characteristics
• single family housing - high cost of insulation
• limited (or non-existent) public transportation -
residents must drive to work, services, & recreational
facilities

Consequences
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• increased congestion, loss of open-space, pollution,
global warming, & nonrenewable resource use

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Exam 2 Review Handout 2


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Urban Sprawl & Its Characteristics Urban Sprawl & Its Characteristics

Impacts of sprawl in more detail Impacts of sprawl in more detail


• Transportation – you need to own a car, more traffic • Land use – less left for forests, fields and farmland
accidents, dependence on non-renewable resources which provide vital resources, recreation, beauty,
such as petroleum wildlife habitat, air and water purification
• Pollution – carbon dioxide emissions from cars (global • Economics – use tax money for infrastructure for new
warming), nitrogen and sulfur air pollutants (smog and developments and not for making existing cities more
acid rain), runoff of polluted water (affects soil and beautiful and livable
waterways), motor oil and salt (risks to ecosystems)
• Health issues – increased physical inactivity (increase
obesity and high blood pressure)

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Means of Transportation Which mode of transportation has lower


operation and roadway costs?
Individual transit
• includes cars, motorcycles, bicycles, walking
• in U.S., cars are used for over 90% of travel to work

Mass transit
• includes subways, trains, buses, airplanes
• constitutes 5% of travel in U.S., 15% in Germany, 47%
in Japan

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Exam 2 Review Handout 3


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Mass Transit in the U.S. City and Regional Planning

Some government tax policies that favor cars Regional Planning – broader geographic scale,
may coordinate work with multiple municipal
• 70% of federal gas tax goes to highways
governments
• parking expenses incurred by employers are tax
deductible • Zoning – a key tool for planning
Classifying areas for different types of
Possible ways of favoring mass transit development and land use – residential,
• higher taxes on cars (or gasoline) commercial
• road-pricing (see Economist article “Living with the • Setting urban growth boundaries (UGBs) – reduce the
Car”) costs of infrastructure compared with sprawl –
estimated 20% savings for taxpayers; preserving
• greater subsidies for mass transit, less for cars farms and forests (increased urban density)
• more public investment in mass transit

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“Smart” Growth Environmental Effects of Urban


Areas
• Set UGBs
Principles • Resource usage: Cities and towns are sinks for resources –
• Mix land uses
“import” almost everything they need (food, water, timber,
Greenways and greenbelts fiber, ores, fuels, etc.) and need land for water and air
• Encourage compact building design purification, waste disposal, nutrient cycling

• Create walkable neighborhoods (“new urbanism”) • Efficiency – concentration of people allows for more
efficiency
Nearly 600 such communities in the US – transit-oriented
development, bicycle transportation • Consumption – cities take only 2% of the world’s land but
consume over 75% of its resources (might be related to
• Provide variety of transportation choices wealth)
• Preserve open spaces, farmland, natural beauty • Land use – preserves land
• Strengthen and develop existing communities • Pollution – air , water, noise, light, urban island heat effect
• Encourage shared decision-making

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Exam 2 Review Handout 4


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Uses of Fresh Water


Availability of Fresh Water
Worldwide
• Freshwater is only a small fraction of all water on earth • 70% agriculture (60%–80% of this not used by crops)
• Even less freshwater is readily available for human use • 20% energy production & industry
• 10% domestic & municipal use
Arid countries use more water for agriculture
Developed countries use more water for industry

United States
• 41% agriculture
• 38% energy production (power plant cooling) & 11%
industry (49% total)
• 10% domestic & municipal use

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Aquifer Depletion
Human Activities Affect Waterways
• Aquifer depletion (or groundwater overdraft) occurs when
• Water is crucial for human health as well as farms and water withdrawals exceed recharge
factories
• Water is a limited but renewable resource • Groundwater in southern Great Plains and southwestern U.S.
• Withdrawal of water in most of the world is unsustainable is being withdrawn much faster than its replacement rate
– We are depleting many sources of surface water (e.g.
Aral Sea) and groundwater • Aquifer depletion is also a serious concern in other parts of the
world - e.g., southern Europe, Middle East, northern Africa,
– One-third of the world’s people are affected by water
India, northern China
shortages

• Fresh water and human populations are unevenly • Examples: Ogallala aquifer - withdrawals from the world’s
distributed across Earth largest aquifer exceed recharge rates by 8-10 times in many
• Fresh water is also unevenly distributed in time places

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Exam 2 Review Handout 5


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Possible Consequences of Aquifer Economics of Aquifer Depletion


Depletion
• Large depletable aquifers are typically common-
• Water Scarcity property resources
• Aquifer Subsidence - land sinks when water is
withdrawn • Over-exploitation occurs if users do not bear the full
social cost of extraction
• Saltwater Intrusion
• Need for government intervention depends on extent
of market failure
• Various policies can be designed to encourage water
conservation - taxes, quotas, other guidelines and
incentives

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Management of Surface Water Scarcity

Surface water scarcity may be alleviated by:

• modifying local water allocation laws (or


doctrines) & creating incentives for conservation
• making regional water treaties & transfers
• building reservoirs and dams

Possible Advantages & Disadvantages


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Exam 2 Review Handout 6


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Reservoir Sedimentation and Its


Solutions to Depletion of Fresh Water
Consequences

• Reservoir storage capacity has decreased over • Our use of fresh water has doubled over the last 50 years.
time due to sedimentation We can either increase supply or reduce demand
• Consequences: less reliable water and power • Increasing supply through intensive extraction is only a
supply, shorter life of dams, lower economic temporary fix
benefits (hydropower, irrigation, flood control, – Diversions increase supply in one area but decrease it
municipal water supply) elsewhere
• Solutions: • Reducing demand is harder politically in the short term
• Prevention – International aid agencies are funding demand-based
• Removal (flushing, dredging, hydrosuction, solutions over supply-based solutions
trucking) – Offers better economic returns
• Structural accommodation (sediment traps, – Causes less ecological and social damage
expansion of storage) (see your lecture notes for more details)

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Soil Horizons Soil Texture & Chemical Properties


O horizon (surface litter) - mostly fresh leaves,
animal waste, fungi and other organic materials Soil texture (porosity, permeability) helps determine
suitability of soil for agriculture (water & nutrient
A horizon (topsoil) - porous mixture of humus holding capacity, water infiltration capacity,
(partially decomposed organic matter) and inorganic workability)
minerals
Loam is soil with roughly equal parts of clay, sand,
E horizon (eluviated) – leaching layer (minerals and silt and humus - loam is ideal for growing most
organic matter tend to leach out of this horizon crops

• B horizon (subsoil) & C horizon (weathered parent • Uptake of soil nutrients by plants is reduced in
material) - mostly inorganic matter, with varying acidic soils (pH value below 5.5)
mixture of silt, sand, clay, and gravel

• R horizon – rock parent material

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Exam 2 Review Handout 7


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Soil Erosion & Its Consequences Types of Soil Erosion Caused by Water

• Soil erosion is the movement of soil components, • Sheet erosion - uniform layers (sheets) of soil are
especially litter & topsoil, from one place to another peeled off across a field
• The agents of erosion are wind and/or flowing
• Rill erosion - fast flowing water cuts small
water channels in soil
• Losing topsoil makes soil less fertile & less able to
hold water • Gully erosion - extreme form of rill erosion in
• Sediment is also a major water pollutant which small channels merge and become deeper to
form gullies and ditches

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Desertification Soil Erosion - Solutions

• Desertification of • Land reclamation


arid & semi-arid
lands results when reforestation, gully reclamation
land productivity • Prevention
drops by at least
10% take vulnerable lands out of production,
practice soil conservation
• moderate: 10 - 25%
• severe: 25 - 50%
• very severe: more
than 50% The process by which fertile land becomes
desert, typically as a result of drought,
deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

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Exam 2 Review Handout 8


ARE 1110, Emma Bojinova

Soil Conservation Measures


• Conservation–tillage farming minimizes soil
disturbance (leaving previous year crop residue)
incl. no-till farming
• Crop rotation – rotating crops - restores nutrients
and also reduces soil erosion
• Terracing protects steep slopes
• Contour farming follows natural land contours on
gentle slopes
• Strip cropping or intercropping maintains strips of
different vegetation between crops
• Windbreaks or shelterbelts protect against wind
erosion
(see your lecture notes & text for more details)

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Other Problems of Irrigation: Soil Salinization &


Waterlogging

• Soil salinization -
irrigation water carries
salts which may build
up to levels that
decrease yields or
prevent cultivation
• Waterlogging -
excessive irrigation
water raises the water
table & lowers crop
productivity

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Exam 2 Review Handout 9

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