NORTH AMERICA

Home of Rugged Individualism

 

Themes for North America

•       Relationship between Climate Change Urbanization (ie Suburbanization) and Food Production

•       Economic and Geopolitical Impacts of Globalization on/by North America

•       Changing Population Composition and Distribution (driven by changes in internal and international migration, economic change, and changing gender norms).

•       Terms:

•       In the US, the book uses the term Native American (although tribes/individuals differ on preferred term) for the US and Aboriginal peoples for Canada (although some identify as First Nations).

 


Physical Patterns

•                      Landforms

•                   Continent is framed by Rocky and Appalachian Mountains

•                Both are tectonic features

•                Rockies are newer, steeper

•             Interaction of Pacific Plate and North American Plate

•                   Central Lowland is in between

•                Flattened by erosion, soil enriched by glaciers dropping minerals thousands of years ago

•                   Coastal Lowland along Atlantic and Gulf

•                Includes Mississippi Delta, which is enriched by silt

 

Physical Patterns

•       Climate

•       Has every climate but tropical wet all year

•       West Coast ranges cause rain

•       Rockies create steppe, desert in their rain shadow

•       Gulf of Mexico major moisture source for whole Eastern part of US

•       Large seasonal temperature variations b/c land mass is so large, much of it far from moderating effects of water.

 

North  America and Climate Change

•       US is both one of the absolute and per capita largest emitters of greenhouse gasses (and really most types of pollution).

•       Canada is a high per capita emitter compared to the rest of the world, although lower than the US.

•       In both countries, their automobile centric societies and low-density suburban living patterns are a major driver of these large per capita numbers

•       The areas most vulnerable to climate change are:

•       The low-elevation portions of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts (sea level rise)

•       Dry regions in the western part of the region (changing climate patterns)

•       Artic Canada (both low elevation and ice loss)

 

Environmental Issues

•       U.S. especially, lesser extent Canada, produces much more hazardous waste than rest of the world, as well as disproportionate amount of air pollution, due to high consumption levels.

•       Hazardous waste often disposed of in poor or minority districts, affecting health, water supply

•       U.S. produces 40 times more hazardous waste per capita than Canada

•       Smog, acid rain problems in U.S. urban areas

•       Smog worst in LA, where mountains keep it from escaping

•       Acid rain eats at building materials, damages historic structures

•       NA is 5% of world pop; 26% of greenhouse gasses

 

Yet More Environment

•       With suburbs and increasing industrial agriculture, there has been a huge loss of open space; small farms and most especially wetlands

•       Like the Everglades, wetlands everywhere are important bird breeding areas

•       Because we study our environment so well, we know many species are in danger

•       In the semi-arid Great Plains and West, most water comes from underground (called aquifer) and most used in irrigation

•       The big one is called Ogallala Aquifer

•       Aquifers being drained faster than being replaced (called depletion)

•       States, in the SW US (and even GA vs. FL, and along the Great Lakes), argue over water rights to rivers

•       Another big issue is fisheries; which because of changing diets and rise of Asia, is seeing collapse of some species in some areas

 

Environmental Issues

•       North American environments have changed tremendously since 1500, before which it was lightly populated

•       Perhaps biggest change is in forests, which formerly covered most of Rust Belt, Appalachia and still large chunks of the Pacific NW

•       Logging is a major export for that region, for both construction and paper

•       The big issues here are clear cutting (stripping an entire plot of land, which is cheap but destroys habitat) and protecting diverse, old growth forests (re-grown forests take 100 years to regain diversity)
•       There is now, once again, lots of forest cover in North America; but very little of it is diverse.

 

 

More environment

•      North America (along with China) are dependent upon cheap coal (and increasingly gas) for power

•      Strip mining for coal removes the surface and its diversity; mountain top removal blows up the tops of mountains and dumps them into valleys; cleaning coal produces dangerous slurry ponds, all of which cause tremendous water pollution in places like Appalachia

•      Not to mention the air pollution from still far from clean coal

•      Over the last ten years, advancements in oil/gas drilling have allowed access to once unusable sources

•      High prices made it affordable to mine Canada’s Alberta  tar sands – which produce impure, heavy, thick oil

•      Fracking (i.e. hydraulic fracturing, which injects water and chemicals deep under the surface to open up deep gas deposits in shale) is cropping up all over US

•      Many think it causes water well pollution and maybe earthquakes
 

Human Patterns over Time

•      The Peopling of North America

•      First waves of people came from Siberia across a land bridge during ice age (25,000-14,000 years ago)

•      Domesticated sunflowers in North America (many more crops in Middle, South America)

•      While most groups were small, there were a few large settlements like Cahokia, IL

•      Existed from 600-1250; had 30,000 people and , largest hand-leveled earthen plaza

•      These Native Americans/Aboriginal peoples were quickly decimated on European contact

•      Isolation from rest of world’s diseases and technology biggest factors (ie germs and guns)

•      Native population in North Am went from 18 million to 9 million 50 years after first contact, down to 400,000 by 1907

•      During European settlement, Native groups pushed West, onto more marginal land

•      Reservations still lag economically, service provision, and health

•      Recently, more independence, along with some rich tribes from casinos and manufacturing

 

Human Patterns Over Time

European Settlements

•       The Mid-Atlantic and Southern Settlements

•       During 17th Century Plantation Economy developed

•       Plantations were large estates producing crops for export, owned by wealthy individuals

•      In North America, mostly cotton and tobacco, some sugar

•       Slaves were imported from Africa, became predominant plantation labor force (1/3 of population in Southern States)

•       Also large number of poor Europeans (many debtors or indentured servants) who practice subsistence farming (taking care of most family needs through farm with limited external selling) meaning large inequality even amongst Europeans

 

Human Patterns Over Time

The Northern Settlements (New England, Canada)

•       Farmers were largely subsistence, little export

•       Supplemented income with wood cutting (used in European ships and building) and pelts

•       Fishing lucrative in Newfoundland and Maine

•       Region changed with invention of water powered loom (falling river water used to power cloth making machines)

•       This led to industrialization in the North, something that didn’t happen in South until much later (and never on the same scale)

 

Human Patterns Over Time

The Economic Core

•       Started as Mid Atlantic (Pennsylvania and NY), later included Great Lakes, Ohio Valley

•       NY and PA favored because of deep harbors, more fertile soil, less harsh weather, access to the interior

•       Rivers, plus building of canals and railroads allowed movement of people and goods

•       Eventually led to food processing industry (esp. Chicago)
•        New waves of immigrants settled this region

•       Also close to coal in late 19th century (burned to power machines), became steel and industrial (esp. automobile) center

•      Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland

 

Human Patterns Over Time

The Great Plains (includes Canada)

•       Farming the drier grasslands was foreign to Europeans, initially European skipped the Plains to go to Far West

•       Steel plow made grain farming not only possible, but very lucrative

•       Now the “bread basket” where wheat, corn and cattle come from

Far West

•       Logging (and clear-cutting) was mainstay of economy for a long time in Oregon/British Columbia Country

Southwest

•       First Europeans were Spaniards from Mexico

•       In 19th century, California rose to agricultural prominence

•       Has dozens of microclimates (though few areas that freeze) to grow many types of fruit and vegetable crops

•       Now the irrigation-dependent Central Valley of California is the world’s most productive agricultural region

 

Regions Today

•       US now has far fewer industrial jobs than in the past (although still lots of industrial output)

•       That production is not packed into the core like it was in the past (although some regions still specialize, like chemicals near Houston)

•       The Southwest/Far-West (including Vancouver) has become the center of the high tech industry, while also benefitting from trade with Asia

•       Lots of white collar jobs have also transformed the major Southern cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville; Texas cities now amongst largest in the country.

•       New York’s dominance now in services/media/banking, not because of proximity to ag or industry.

•       Though there is a bit more  industry and farming near Toronto, it is very much the mirror of New York

 

Economy: Service and Technology

•       Service Sector dominates economy

•       A broad and varied service sector dominates the economy.

•       Low-skill, decently paid manufacturing jobs, which were the heart of the Post World War II economy in the economic core, are mostly gone, due to

•       Overseas for lower wages, health care and pension costs
•       Automation, where machines take the place of people
•       Thus fewer people manufacture almost as much stuff

•       The service sector is a bimodal sector, divided between high pay/skill jobs (in areas like information technology, medicine, and finance) and low pay/skill jobs (retail, clerical) with little in between

•       Fears of losing the middle class

•       Single male earner households becoming more rare

 

North America and Trade

•       United States is active member of WTO

•       Still has some tariffs and quotas on inexpensive foreign products like textiles and industries we like to protect (like tires)

•       Still has government subsidies payments that offset costs for businesses, farm ones being the largest

•       Also a member of North American Free Trade Agreement, with Mexico and Canada

•       Includes not just removal of barriers, but also the creation of pollution, safety regulations (esp. for Mexico)

•       That said, it certainly does not just simply “remove barriers,” it is an enormously complex agreement with many, many rules

•       Effects of NAFTA hard to see, has both created, cost jobs in all the countries

•       Problem is new jobs are often in different location, sector than old jobs

•       Growth of manufacturing in Mexico did not slow undocumented migration from Mexico until the 2007 recession (although have seen an increase from Central America).

 

Trade Continued

•       North America increasingly engages in trade activities with Asia.

•       Atlantic used to be focus of global economy – increasingly it is the Pacific

•       Japanese & Korean automakers have invested in the United States, especially rural areas with lower land/labor costs than established industrial areas

•       Now China is a major manufacturing force, actually hurting Mexico because China can make things even cheaper.

•       Waves of mechanization have hurt US manufacturing jobs as much as foreign competition

•       India especially is now destination for routine knowledge jobs  (programming, call centers, reading X-rays) which are outsourced

•       Education system in India is solid for those with access, English is widely spoken

•       Wages paid are good for India (where rent, food and transport are cheap), very low compared to US