52-58, energy &, mineral info by region

Physical Geography

• Maps
• Weather
• Climate
• Landforms
• Natural resources
• Human impacts on env't

Cultural Geography

• Population
• Culture (Introduction)
• Language
• Migration & spatial behavior
• Political geography
• Agriculture & food

Natural Resources (Nonrenewable and Inexhaustible)

Quiz Region: Middle East (p. 200-201 in your atlas). Know countries & major water bodies

Required

The New York Times has recently published a series of articles about mining so-called "rare earth minerals":

Read the Sept 1, 2009 article about China's reserve of "rare earth minerals."
Read the Sept 3, 2009 follow-up about China's change of position.
Read the Sept 9, 2009 article about Canada's increased exploration efforts.
Read the Sept 25, 2009 article about the U.S. role in rare-earth mining.

Read the article about solar power from the Sept 2009 National Geographic.

Read the article The Canadian Oil Boom from National Geographic.

This article is the source of the video clip shown in class. Pay special attention to the information regarding the amounts of energy in the proved reserve of the tar sands.

Read the National Geographic article Nuclear Comeback.

For historical background, you can also read about the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown and its aftereffects.

Read the National Geographic article Biofuels.

Read the entire article, and explore the information in the "Compare Biofuels" interactive feature. You should be familiar with these statistics.

Read the National Geographic article Powering the Future.

What are some of the pros and cons of solar power? Wind power? Biomass? Nuclear power?

Read a related Sept 30, 2009 NYT article about Denmark's efforts to achieve energy independence.

Key Terms

Resource

Any substance, quality, or organism that has use and value to a society

Proved reserve

the part of a resource that has been discovered, measured, and has a known commercial value

Potential reserve

the part of a resource that is as yet undiscovered (but inferred to exist)

Externality

some important consideration (e.g., pollution, human rights, recreation, aesthetics) that is beyond the basic market forces (e.g., supply and demand)

NIMBY

Acronym for "Not In My Back Yard"

Four key philosophies of resource mangement:

Exploitation – focus on immediate market values
Utilitarian (conservation) – use the resource, but make sure it will be available for use in the future as well
Ecosystem – balance commercial use of the resource with ecological functioning & amenity values
Preservation – prioritize environmental function values over markets

Additional Information

Here's the link to the Daily Show clip about the Cape Wind project off Nantucket.