Physical Geography

Physical Geography and the Tools Geographers Use

• Introducing Geography
• Spheres, Systems, and Cycles
• Physical Geography, Environment, and Global Change
• Tools in Physical Geography
• Maps and Cartography
• The Global Positioning System
• Geographic Information Systems
• Remote Sensing for Physical Geography
• Earth Visualization Tools

The Earth as a Rotating Planet

• The Shape of the Earth
• Earth Rotation
• The Geographic Grid
• Map Projections
• Global Time
• The Earth’s Revolution around the Sun

The Earth’s Global Energy Balance

• The Ozone Layer—Shield to Life
• Electromagnetic Radiation
• Insolation over the Globe
• Composition of the Atmosphere
• Sensible Heat and Latent Heat Transfer
• The Global Energy System
• Net Radiation, Latitude, and the Energy Balance
• CERES—Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System

Air Temperature

• Carbon Dioxide—On the Increase
• Surface and Air Temperature
• Temperature Structure of the Atmosphere
• Daily and Annual Cycles of Air Temperature
• World Patterns of Air Temperature
• Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation

• Acid Deposition
• Water in the Environment
• Humidity
• The Adiabatic Process
• Clouds
• Observing Clouds from GOES
• Precipitation
• Types of Precipitation
• Thunderstorms
• Tornadoes
• Air Quality

Winds and Global Circulation

• El Nino
• Atmospheric Pressure
• Local Wind Patterns
• Cyclones and Anticyclones
• Global Wind and Pressure Patterns
• Winds Aloft
• Ocean Circulation

Weather Systems

• Cloud Cover, Precipitation, and Global Warming
• Air Masses
• Midlatitude Anticyclones and Cyclones
• Tropical and Equatorial Weather Systems
• The Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission
• Poleward Transport of Heat and Moisture

Global Climates

• Drought in the African Sahel
• Factors Controlling Climate
• Temperature and Precipitation Regimes
• Climate Classification
• Low-Latitude Climates (Group I)
• Midlatitude Climates (Group II)
• High-Latitude Climates (Group III)

Biogeographic Processes

• Human Impact on the Carbon Cycle
• Energy and Matter Flow in Ecosystems
• Ecological Biogeography
• Ecological Succession
• Remote Sensing of Fires
• Historical Biogeography
• Biodiversity

Global Biogeography

• Exploitation of the Low-Latitude Rainforest Ecosystem
• Natural Vegetation
• Terrestrial Ecosystems— The Biomes
• Forest Biome
• Savanna and Grassland Biomes
• Desert and Tundra Biomes
• Climate and Altitude Gradients
• Mapping Global Land Cover by Satellite

Global Soils

• Global Change and Agriculture
• The Nature of the Soil
• Soil Development
• The Global Scope of Soils

Earth Materials and Plate Tectonics

• Minerals and Rocks of the Earth’s Crust
• Major Relief Features of the Earth’s Surface
• Plate Tectonics

Volcanic and Tectonic Landforms

• The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004
• Volcanic Landforms
• Tectonic Landforms
• Earthquakes
• Landforms and Rock Structure

Weathering and Mass Wasting

• The Madison Slide
• Weathering
• Mass Wasting
• Processes and Landforms of Arctic and Alpine Tundra

Fresh Water of the Continents

• The Aral Sea
• The Hydrologic Cycle Revisited
• Ground Water
• Surface Water
• Streamflow and Floods
• Lakes
• Surface Water as a Natural Resource

Landforms Made by Running Water

• Slope Erosion
• The Work of Streams and Stream Gradation
• Fluvial Landscapes

Landforms Made by Waves and Wind

• Global Change and Coastal Environments
• The Work of Waves and Tides
• Types of Coastlines
• Wind Action
• Sand Dunes and Loess

Glacial Landforms and the Ice Age

• Ice Sheets, Sea Ice, and Global Warming
• Glaciers
• Alpine Glaciers
• Ice Sheets and Sea Ice
• The Ice Age