Wednesday, September 25. 2019

Today's schedule is BADC

B Block Human Geography - Today we'll examine the Key Issue "Why Does Development Vary by Gender"? From the UN HDI GII...

"Gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. Girls and women have made major strides since 1990, but they have not yet gained gender equity. The disadvantages facing women and girls are a major source of inequality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, education, political representation, labour market, etc. with negative consequences for development of their capabilities and their freedom of choice".

UNICEF USA: Towards Gender Equality from UNICEF USA on Vimeo.

The GII measures gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development:

1. Reproductive health; measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates;
2. Empowerment; measured by proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with at least some secondary education and
3. Economic status; expressed as labour market participation and measured by labour force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years and older.

And from the World Bank:

Better educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn higher incomes, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and enable better health care and education for their children, should they choose to become mothers. All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and nations out of poverty. According to UNESCO estimates, 130 million girls between the age of 6 and 17 are out of school and 15 million girls of primary-school age—half of them in sub-Saharan Africa— will never enter a classroom. Poverty remains the most important factor for determining whether a girl can access an education. Studies consistently reinforce that girls who face multiple disadvantages — such as low family income, living in remote or underserved locations, disability or belonging to a minority ethno-linguistic group — are farthest behind in terms of access to and completion of education.

While looking deeper into the topic, I'll have you work on three questions for me:

1. Based on the world maps included in Key Issue 2, which two of the nine world regions appear to have the highest levels of inequality? Do these two regions have high or low HDIs?
2. What has been the trend in gender inequality since the 1990s?
3. Review the major economic, social, and demographic characteristics that contribute to a country’s level of development. Which indicators can vary significantly by gender within countries and between countries at various levels of development? Why?

A Block Physical Geography - Today, you'll work on your Day 16 assignment (define anticline & syncline, and work on questions 4 - 5 from page 412 in your Geosystems text). We'll watch a bit of Geologic Journey to understand the craton of North America (focusing on the Torngat Mountains of Labrador) and to understand the Wrangellia Terrane (focusing on the Mg rich Karmutsen Formation that formed on the ocean basin 230 mya and arrived on the west coast of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii about 100 mya) along with folding (the Rockies). The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks (geological shield) that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent (the North American Craton or Laurentia). Some of the rocks in the Canadian Shield are over 3.96 billion years old, and Laurentia has been together in its present form for the last billion years.
FMI:
Behind the Canadian Shield
Geological History of Canada
Sweet!




D & C Blocks Environmental & Social Sciences - Today we start with Young (in room 115). We are going to take a look at the population changes that have occurred in the US Southwest over the last 80 years (since the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936). We'll try to discuss the role of water in America's expansion during the 18th and 19th centuries by looking particularly at the geography of major cities, specifically we are going to look at Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada (just the cities and not the metropolitan areas). Phoenix (city) has a 2018 population of  1,660,272 people but the metropolitan Phoenix population is 4,857,962 people. Las Vegas (city) has a 2018 population of 644,644 people but the metropolitan Las Vegas population is 2,227,053 people. I'll have you graph the populations of these two cities for ten year intervals starting in 1930 up to last year (2018).

Check out this super sweet interactive map of Las Vegas' population growth and water use. Also
this awesome interactive How much longer can the Colorado River sustain us? or this one that asks how long Las Vegas can keep growing with the water it gets from the Colorado River Also, check out this great article, In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water

You'll have some questions to answer for me:

• What do these two cities have in common?
• Why do you think these cities were so populated and were able to grow so quickly?
• Why is access to water important economically?
• What role do you think access to waterways and fresh water plays in the expansion of the population in the Colorado Basin throughout 1900s?
• How are these cities surviving where water is not easily accessible? From where does their water come?
• What are some of the new technologies that allow for water to be transported long distances? Are these really "new" or are they carried over from the ancient cultures?
• Is a high quality of life sustainable in harsh climates?
• What is the cost of this life population shift on both the environment and on the demand for fresh water?

With Benton (in 145), you'll look at how the ecology of the Colorado River is changing? First we'll study adaptations and the status of endemic/endangered fish populations and secondly we'll look at Tamarisk, an introduced species, to see effects on the river and riparian zone. (What is the value of biodiversity?) From Discover Moab

Riparian lands in the Western U.S. have been severely impacted by many human-related actions, but none so much as the introduction of tamarisk, an invasive and non-native plant. Tamarisk plants hoard light, water and nutrients, and can impact natural systems and destroy native wildlife habitat. The Colorado River Corridor is an ecosystem that has been out of balance for several decades, and now the tamarisk has spread to such an extent that it has effectively altered the natural functions and processes of the ecosystem. The issue is widespread and complex, and there are no easy answers or solutions. 

For more on the Tamarisk check out:
The Battle Over the Tamarisk Tree: Ecologists seek balance as one non-native species eradicates another.
Photos: Colorado River battle against a serious enemy -- invasive tamarisk
NPS Grand Canyon Exotic Tamarisk Management