I had this essay written which is great, but it needs a couple revisions from what my professor pointed out. I have put in a PDF what should be revised. I also need the subheadings (they are in the instructions) included in the essay which was not put before. I think the paper just needs more organization, especially with the solutions! Please feel free to use the sources there or add more! Please ask me questions!
1. In many ways, cities are considered to be in a strong place to be leaders in sustainability. Describe why they can be seen in this way. However, there are serious challenges to cities taking sustainability actions as well. Also describe these challenges.
2. There is tremendous variation in the definition and approaches that cities in the US are taking towards sustainability. Why is this the case? How is both a challenge and an opportunity?
Write a short paper including all of the following-
What is desertification?
Choose a specific location currently affected by desertification to research (Not a location that has been a desert for a long time. Choose a location currently affected by desertification. Example, if you are looking at the Sahara, the location associated with it currently undergoing desertification would be the outlying Sahel.)
Where is it located
What climatic region is it associated with (Koppen system)
What type of climate was it associated with in the past (ie. what was the region like thousands of years ago, what changes has it gone through)
What is the proposed scientific reason for the desertification taking place here, what factors are contributing (ie. human, development, climatic, etc.)
Who/what is the encroachment affecting (ie. are there people living there, plant, animal, etc)
To what extent is the affect (ie. how badly are people/organisms affected, why is it a problem, how fast, etc. – good place to include some statistical analysis/numbers)
What steps, if any, are being done to deal with or combat the desertification process taking place, or how are the people coping with it?
Paper must be at least 3 pages (text) typed, double spaced, 12 font, MLA or APA format. Maximum 6 pages (text), may be more if pictures are included. You should use 4 or more legitimate sources of information. Legitimate sources include; scientific journals, academic sites usually ending in .edu, government sites like USGS or usually ending in .gov, news sources such as the BBC, etc. You should be able to discern good information, but if you are in doubt about using something feel free to ask. DO NOT copy information or cut and paste, avoid quoting and anything referenced should be cited in your ‘Works Cited’ section, even pictures. Be concise and make sure you hit all the key aspects above. I have supplied the grading rubric I will be using to grade them below.
Synthesis Assignment
Please recall that four ‘big ideas’ have run through all of the modules in this course:
Big idea 1: IDENTITY: Individual and group identities are created through dynamic and dialectic processes; identity is not static. Both individuals and groups perceive themselves as products of multiple rather than singular identities, although certain identities may carry more weight at particular moments in histories. Identity is formed by factors including geography, culture, language, history, mobility, technology, and economy. Identity is relational in nature.
Big Idea 2: DIVERSITY: The world’s regions are diverse in both their physical and cultural/economic geographies, and the identities of the people who live in each region are shaped by both historical and present geographies, languages, cultures, and economies. Characteristics of a place and people undergo constant change, and contain great diversity at scales as small as the household and as encompassing as the “world region.”
Big Idea 3: UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT & MARGINALIZED PEOPLES: Development of regions and the world has historically been uneven, with certain groups or areas gaining greater human well-being or economic advantage more rapidly than other groups or areas. This uneven development partly manifests itself in placing greater burdens of environmental damage upon those groups or areas with less power relative to others.
Big Idea 4: GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCIES: Geographic areas of the world depend upon one another for resources including natural, human, and technical resources. The relationships between certain geographic areas help to determine the degree to which areas are able to move in new directions of economic or social development. Path dependencies are created and transformed, generating opportunities and constraints for each world region and its peoples. Global production networks (or global value chains) are key forces shaping the nature of inter-regional interdependencies. GPNs/GVCs are driven by transnational corporations but strongly shaped by the role of the state and state-firm relations in the development process. The role of labor in this development process is highly contested and varies over space and time.
Please choose ONE of THREE options:
OPTION A: Marginalized Peoples, Uneven Development, and Scale
· Throughout the course, we’ve seen that different populations have drastically different economic opportunities, qualities of life, amounts of political power, life expectancies, literacy rates, etc. These disparities can be either amplified or reduced over time, depending on how societies and economies develop. We can look at uneven development at multiple scales of analysis, perhaps leading us to different conclusions. For example, trends (textbook pp. 25-30) of uneven development are visible between countries, regions, and even more broadly between the “global north” and “global south” (p. 28). While, at the global scale, the USA may be dominant, a country-level analysis of the USA would uncover communities within its borders that are marginalized.
In this paper, you will look at THREE world regions of your choice to reflect on uneven development and marginalized peoples at both regional and global scales. The Three Regions I have chosen for you are the Kurds of the upper Middle East, the Uyghurs of the Xinjiang province in northwest China, and the Romani people who can be found in numerous states across Europe. Who are the marginalized or underserved groups within these three regions, and in what ways are they marginalized? What commonalities and what differences do you see across the three regions? At a global scale, are the regions that you chose more politically and economically dominant or peripheral?
An ‘OPTION A’ paper should follow this general format:
Section 1: Introduction (~200-250 words)
Section 2: Comparing and contrasting your three regions’ INTERNAL patterns—regional or sub-regional scale—of uneven development and marginalization (~450-550 words)
Section 3: Comparing and contrasting your three regions’ relative power (politically, economically, culturally) on the global-scale (~400-500 words)
Section 4: Conclusion (~150-200 words)
Links of websites with good information:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kurd
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311356/china-uyghur-birthrate-sterilization-genocide
I have an example of a perfect assignment. I also add a template for every 10 articles you found in the New York Times. Please just follow the template for a better understanding.
one example like this
1. Rachel Knowles, Frances Robles, and Elisabeth Malkin, “In Bahamas, Hurricane Cripples Rescue
Efforts,” New York Times, September 4, 2019.
● How related to a geographical approach: The article, through its discussion of the impact of Hurricane
Dorian on The Bahamas, is related to “How physical systems affect human systems.”
● A few things that I learned:
○ Temporary sea rise (called a “storm surge”) is the main thing that will kill people in a hurricane.
○ The northwestern Bahamas were hit with up to 30 feet of water from the storm surge and waves.
○ Hurricane Dorian is one of the biggest hurricanes to hit The Bahamas.
1. You must base your assignment on the “Geography in the News” model below. Make sure to
number and put in
chronological order from first to last published.
2. The publication date of the articles must be between May 29, 2022, and July 21, 2022.
3. No more than one article per day of publication is allowed. This means, for example, that you
cannot find 10 articles published on June 21, 2022, and turn them in for credit.
4. AP/Reuters/Bloomberg News articles, Op-Eds, opinion articles, and editorials are not allowed.
5. You may apply the same geographical approach to no more than two articles.
6. In your “A few things I learned”: This should be IN YOUR OWN WORDS and related to
something that the reader can actually learn from the article.
Google Earth Short Essay: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the
GIS methods demonstrated in Google Earth to monitor outward expansion of the urban fringe and sprawl for the Chicago region. Zoom into
the innermost ring, and find evidence of residential condo development
or other features that would explain the regrowth of that ring. Then find
an example of declining landscapes or structures in the second or third
ring that would be symbolic of the population decline that has occurred
there in the last 40 years. Finally, explore the outermost ring for new suburban subdivisions or other growth elements that might be used to illustrate the recent population growth that the ring has experienced.
Compare and contrast these landscapes in your essay
