Earth's Climates, Environments, and Human Systems

Earth's Climates

Climates are categorized into three main types:

Cold Climates

• Polar Climate: Cold all year; low temperature and precipitation.
• Mountain Climate: Cold winters and cool summers; precipitation increases with altitude.

Warm Climates

• Tropical Climate: Mild winters and warm summers; precipitation is scarce.
• Tropical Wet: High temperature and abundant precipitation.

Temperate Climates

• Mediterranean Climate: Dry summers and mild winters; characterized by estival drought.
• Oceanic Climate: Mild winters and cool summers; constant precipitation.
• Continental Climate: Cold winters and warm summers; maximum precipitation in summer.

Global Environments

Warm Environments (4 types)

• Forest: High temperature and abundant precipitation all year, located throughout the Equator.
• Tropical Forest: High temperature and precipitation with two seasons (wet and dry warm), located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
• Savanna: Characterized by long dry seasons in the tropics.
• Deserts: Located in the tropical zone.

Cold Environments (3 types)

• Polar Desert: Located at the poles.
• Cold or Taiga Forests: Located in the Northern Hemisphere in cold climates.
• Tundra: Located at the edges of the North Pole.

High Mountain Environments

Found in the highest mountain chains in the world.

Other Environments

Include temperate grasslands and steppes.

Nation, State, and Capitalism

Nation and State

The capacity to govern and a well-defined territory form a nation.

The state is the mode of political and juridical organization of a nation. It exercises legitimated sovereignty over a bounded territory, called the national territory.

The nation-state is an internationally recognized political unit, characterized by:

• A political organization (authority over its population and state administration).
• A legal organization (rules permitting the state's operation).
• An area (a bounded surface area).
• Sovereignty (exercised over its territory and recognized by other states).

Capitalism

Capitalist systems are characterized by:

• Private ownership of the means of production.
• The search for individual benefits.
• The accumulation and reinvestment of productive surpluses.
• Competition between businesses.
• Social and territorial division of labor.

Capitalism has four stages:

• Commercial Capitalism: Based on the production and exchange of goods.
• Industrial Capitalism: Based on the rapid transformation of raw materials.
• Monopolist Capitalism: Based on world series production.
• Global Capitalism: Characterized by interconnections between countries worldwide.

Population Studies: Demography

When speaking of the global population, one must take into account the relationship between the inhabitants, the territory, and the sociocultural world.

Demography is the discipline that studies population characteristics in all their aspects. It considers two aspects: a static aspect and a dynamic aspect.