Ignite Presentation

Rainforest Destruction - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Gapminder Screencast and Analysis

Video 1: As life expectancy increase, improved sanitation (all) also increase

Video 2: As GDP per capita rises, child mortality falls.

The first two factors I chose were Life Expectancy and Improved Sanitation (overall access). Life Expectancy is the measure of the average number of years a newborn child would live if current mortality patterns were to stay the same, which is measured in years. Improved Sanitation (overall access) is the percentage of people that have at least adequate access to excreta disposal facilities, which can prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta, this is measure in a percentage. Life Expectancy is important to look at because it indicates that people will either live a long or short time, which has to do with overall health and can show that some countries do not have the right economic levels to be healthy enough to live a long time. Improved Sanitation (overall access) is important to look at because once a country has a good economy, it can invest in infrastructure. Overall access is important because it is not just referring only to the wealthy people, but it is also referring to poor which shows overall well-being.

The second two factors I chose were GDP per Capita and Child Mortality. GDP per Capita stands for Gross Domestic Product per person. The inflation and differences in the cost of living between countries has been taken into account. It is measured in international dollars. This is important to look at because is shows how how much money a country makes and per capita is important because wealth is unevenly distributed and it shows how much an average person would make. Child Mortality is the probability that a child born in a specific year will die before reaching the age of five if subject to current age-specific mortality rates. This is expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births. This is important to look at because it shows how healthy a country is because children under the age of five can get sick easily so to survive they need to have a clean environment which can be obtained with a good economy.

Generally, the countries with the highest Life Expectancy and Improved Sanitation are in Europe and Central Asia, an exception is Russia. Generally the countries with the lowest Life Expectancy and Improved Sanitation are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of Mauritius, which is within the cluster of the highest countries. All the countries follow the same general pattern of the higher improved sanitation the higher life expectancy except war stricken countries, like Rwanda, that have a period of downwards movement. Overall, the MDCs have higher Life Expectancy and Improved Sanitation than LDCs.

Generally, the countries with the highest GDP per Capita and and lowest Child Mortality are in the Americas, Europe, Central and East Asia, and Pacific, but there is also a couple of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa including Seychelles. Also some countries in the Americas, including Haiti, are in the lowest cluster of countries. Mostly Sub-Saharan Africa is in the worst position of Child Mortality and GDP per Capita. Most of the countries follow the same pattern of higher GDP per Capita the lower amount of Child Mortality with the exception of some. In the 1950s Kuwait experienced a great increase of GDP per Capita, it is now still in the cluster of the top countries but not nearly as ahead as it was in the 1950s. Overall, the MDCs have higher GDP per Capitas' and lower Child Mortality than LDCs.

Some reasons for the patterns we see are because the world is getting more developed and safer to live in. Some reasons for jumps down in Life Expectancy, Child Mortality, GDP per Capita, and Improves Sanitation are, war, displacement, and economic recessions. Also, to support Jared Diamond’s theory, the regions and countries that are in the poorest conditions generally have hard climates to live in. Other reasons for disparities are countries becoming newly independent and bad investments.

Crossing the Line GIS Activity

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The boundary that I chose that is splitting up is Belgium, which would split into the Flemish speaking Flanders and the French speaking Walloons.  The new Flanders region would be in the north of the present Belgium.  Belgium now has access to the sea by it's northwest border, but because of the boundary split only the Flanders would have access to the sea.  Wallonia would be the south part of Belgium.  The border that I chose that is going to disappear is China and Siberia.  China would expand into part of Siberia.  The part of Siberia that China will take over is the southwest area also known as the area that touches the north part of China or Russia's east.

I believe that Belgium will split up because Belgium is divided by language.  Language is the major centrifugal force because the northern part is concentrated with Flemish speakers and the southern part is concentrated with French speakers.  Brussels is the only reason that Belgium has not split yet because most of the people that live in Brussels speak both Flemish and French which is why Brussels can be considered a centripetal force.  I believe that China will expand into Siberia because China is very populated and wants as many resources as possible.  I also believe that this will happen because some Chinese residents have already moved across the border and set up trading settlements.  Russia is trying to defend their sovereign territory, but Russia has a disadvantages and there might me economic shifts in China's favor.

I created the new Flanders and Wallonia boundaries based on the language differences in Belgium.  Using the cultural boundary between the languages of French and Flemish I successfully created accurate boundaries of the new split of Belgium.  The criteria I used to create the new Chinese border has to do with economics.  China is driven to gain as many recourse as possible so it is logical for them to expand into the north.  China's biggest reason for expanding into Siberia is for economic purposes, but it may also have to do with the simple need for land.

The split between Belgium will affect the Wallonia part the most because it will no longer have access to the sea, which will make Wallonia be landlocked and have bad economic effects. The reason China is taking over is because they want as many resources as possible so it will be economically helpful, but because of the cultural difference, there might be conflict. It might also speed up the devolutionary forces in Russia because there will be locational forces.

Cultural Geography Photo Collage

Census Data Mapper Map & Analysis - October 2013.

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       Family sizes are large (3.13 to 4.74) around large cities, South-West U.S., South U.S., and East United States. The large cities that have large families are, Minneapolis MN, Denver CO, Las Angeles CA, Houston TX, Chicago IL, Atlanta GA, Miami FL, Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, and Boston MA. In the cases of Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Washington, Boston, Chicago, and Miami, the large families are clustered around the city, not every where in that state. In the South-West U.S. the states I am referring to are California, half of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. When I say South U.S., I am talking about most of New Mexico, Texas, southern Louisiana, and most of Atlanta. In the East U.S. the parts with the largest families are, mid South Carolina, mid North Carolina, all of New Jersey, and the Eastern cities I have already named. Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico also have large families throughout their whole regions.
       Many factors contribute to family size across the United Staes. In some cases of large families around the cities could be that a lot of the time the people that are living around cities are wealthier and are able to afford having more children. Also it could just be that many people live in cities so there are more opportunities for large families to live there. In the cases of families in a not as populated farming areas, they could be large because the rely on their children for working on a farm or some sort of labor. Sometimes the families are small because they are popular retirement areas for the elderly, that would mean that the elderly do not have children living with them.
       There are many impacts of family size on a community. Some impacts of family size could be schools. If there were large families with many children clustered around a city, that city would have to build bigger or more schools to compensate for the load children. It could help some businesses in ways like children spending their money at popular malls or businesses. Also when thinking of the future, there would be many adults the need jobs at once so businesses could hire more people. This could also be a challenge because if many people need jobs and there are not enough to go around then some people would have to move or be unemployed. In places with small families businesses could focus more on popular adult companies. Families that are moving will consider what neighborhood they are moving to would be like. Families that have children would normally like having other children in their new neighborhood. That could also be true with smaller families, if a couple is retiring then they might want to be in a neighborhood with people of their own age. You could use all these factors to utilizes the best parts of the city the their advantage.

My Activity Space

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