Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Sustainable Practices
Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
Appeal: “Resources” is what humans get from nature to meet their needs. As available, we can distinguish between:
- Renewable resources: Limited quantities that may end.
- Non-depleting renewable resources: For example, the sun. These resources regenerate.
- Potentially renewable resources: Found in nature, but if overused, they can become exhausted. For example, fishing.
What is Sustainable Development?
Sustainable development meets present needs without compromising
Read MoreUnderstanding Vegetation, Soil Types, and Climate Patterns
Vegetation
In botany, vegetation refers to a classification of plant species characterized by a particular physiognomy that, in turn, determines a characteristic landscape. The basic types are forest, scrub, meadow, and steppe. There are three types of forest: deciduous, sclerophyllous, and Canary laurel. The forest represents the climax vegetation as the final stage in the evolution of plant formations. Secondary vegetation consists of species developed after human intervention, either through controlled
Read MoreEarth’s Interior: Structure, Dynamics, and Geological Processes
Methods of Studying the Earth’s Interior
Direct observation of the Earth’s materials provides very limited information. The rocks extracted are comparable to those that emerge on the surface of the Earth.
- Study of mines: 2,000 m deep.
- Polls: 7,000 m deep.
Indirect observations provide more data on the Earth’s interior.
- Erosion of mountains brings out rocks that originated in depth.
- Lavas emitted by volcanoes are made of materials originating at depths of up to 100 km.
- Meteorites fallen on Earth are considered
Essential Glossary of Geographic and Atmospheric Terms
Temperature Range
The temperature range is the difference between the highest and the lowest temperatures in a place or area during a certain period.
Anticyclone
An anticyclone is a high-pressure air zone, where the atmospheric pressure (corrected to sea level) is higher than the surrounding air.
Aridity
Aridity is drought, a lack of moisture.
Bay
A bay is an entry in a sea, ocean, or lake, surrounded by land except for an opening, usually wider than the rest of the inland penetration.
Barlovento
Barlovento
Read MoreBuilding Materials: Properties and Classification
Item 34: Introduction to Building Materials
1. Introduction
Building materials, understood as such since primitive architectural constructions appeared, are still true architectures with which humans tried to solve a fundamental building problem: to cover and close a space protected from nature. The Industrial Revolution entailed, among other things, the provision of large quantities of building materials, and even new building materials at low prices, with more uniform quality and even higher than
Read MoreGeography of Spain: Landforms, Climate, and Regions
What is Geography?
Geography is the science of human relationships with the environment in which they live. We can differentiate between economic, human, and physical geography.
Cartography
Cartography is the discipline that studies and produces maps. We can differentiate between general and thematic cartography.
Projections
Projections are based on the shadows of the meridians and parallels of a sphere left on a surface and can become flat with some deformation (cylindrical, conical, azimuthal, polar,
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