Vol. 40, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2002- "Geography and Environment"
MICROENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN GLACIAL RECESSION: A STUDY OF THE MORTERATSCH GLACIER
(pp. 3 - 14)
Charles H. V. Ebert
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Department of Geography
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Abstract
Climate change is one of the processes which occur on our planet, and the present global warming threatens our environment including a world-wide retreat of glacial ice. This writer studied the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland, and field work revealed that local environmental factors influence the melting rate and melting pattern of this glacier. Should the present rate of ablation persist, only one quarter of the glacier's surface will remain by the year 2035. At this time there is no indication that the rate of melting is slowing down. The general retreat of glaciers will have a dramatic effect on the alpine ecology as well as on tourism which is the main economic income source of Switzerland.
VARIATION IN HIGH ANDEAN VEGETATION AT A SITE IN SOUTHWESTERN ECUADOR
(pp. 15 - 35)
Philip L. Keating
Department of Geography
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
Kenneth R. Young
Bloomington Department of Geography
University of Texas, Austin
Austin, Texas
Blanca Leon
Museo de Historia Natural
Lima, Peru
Abstract
This article concerns the species composition, life forms and community ecology of tropical alpine vegetation at a site adjacent to Cajas National Park, southern Ecuador. We sampled plant communities located between 3700 and 3970 in elevation in an upper montane basin. Twenty-one plots were inventoried, and several quantitative techniques were utilized to determine how plant community patterns vary with elevation, slope and various terrain characteristics. One hundred and thirty vascular plant species were found within the study area. The plant community patterns and distribution of life forms differed significantly between valley bottoms and hill slopes, presumably due to soil changes and topography. Additionally, valley bottoms include numerous locally rare plant species and important wetland habitats that may be susceptible to trampling; the slopes appear to be particularly vulnerable to burning. These concerns need to be addressed if this park is meant to protect native plant diversity.
MODERN LAND CLAIM AGREEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS IN THE WESTERN ARCTIC OF CANADA
(pp. 36 - 55)
James C. Saku
Department of Geography
Frostburg State University
Frostburg, Maryland
Abstract
Within the past three decades, the Canadian north has experienced a significant change in the environmental review process. The change is characterized by a shift in unilateral responsibility of the federal government to a multilateral environmental review process. The new multilateral approach emerged through the achievement of Modern Land Claim Agreements (MLCAs). In the western Arctic of Canada, the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA) in 1984 changed the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in this region. Two agencies, namely, the Environmental Impact Screening Committee (EISC) and the Environmental Impact Review Board (EIRB) were created when the IFA was achieved to deal with environmental impact assessment. This paper examines the institutional structures of the environmental review process within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR).
THE GREEN PARTY VOTE IN CALIFORNIA: AN EXAMINATION OF RACE, RELIGION, AND WEALTH FROM 1996 TO 2000
(pp. 56 - 81)
John Heppen
Department of Geography and Mapping Science
University of Wisconsin, River Falls
River Falls, Wisconsin
Abstract
This article will examine where the Green Party enjoys the greatest amount of electoral support in California. It is theorized that racial diversity and place in the world-economy contribute to creating a sense of place where voters find the Green Party a viable political alternative. This paper will analyze presidential and senatorial voting returns, Green Party registration, and Greens holding elected office at the county level. In order to examine the regional support of the Greens, this paper will employ global and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation, cluster analysis, and regression analysis. The findings indicate Green support in Northern California, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles County. Places which are wealthy and less racially diverse are places where the Green Party has enjoyed the support of a greater number of voters. This indicates that white, wealthy, and environmentally conscious urban and rural areas constitute the hub of Green Party support.
ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY IN MICHIGAN
(pp. 82 - 100)
Abhijit Banerjee
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware
Barry D. Solomon
Department of Social Sciences
Michigan Technological University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Abstract
In this article we analyze the distributional pattern of several types of hazardous or polluting facilities at the county level in Michigan. It is often alleged that minorities and low-income groups bear a disproportionate burden of pollution due to their proximity to hazardous or polluting facilities, raising questions of environmental equity. Though the cause is not always certain, there is mounting evidence on the distribution patterns of such hazardous sites. Several socioeconomic and demographic variables were correlated with the number of hazardous facility sites through ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, and the findings were tested for statistical significance. It was found that race rather than income was the more significant explanatory variable in predicting the distribution of hazardous facility sites in Michigan, though the number of manufacturing units was also significant. The results agree with several other (though certainly not all) environmental equity analyses conducted in Michigan and elsewhere.
(pp. 101 - 112)
Todd Grote
Department of Geology and Geography
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia
Christopher Woltemade
Department of Geography and Earth Science
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
Eight stream locations and two springs were sampled from January to July 1999 to assess stream water chemistry in the Burd Run watershed, south-central Pennsylvania. Bedrock and surficial geology were found to each play a significant role in controlling baseflow water chemistry. Waters are acidic throughout a large portion of the watershed due to the quartzitic nature of metasedimentary rocks in the headwaters and colluvium that covers the middle watershed. Only in the lower reaches of the watershed does the water change to an alkaline state with the introduction of carbonate charged groundwater into the stream. Chemical data collected throughout the watershed suggest that under dry climatic conditions as experienced in 1999, carbonate bedrock does not influence the water chemistry in middle watershed areas mantled by colluvium. The carbonate signature in the lower watershed is due to sub-surface weathering throughout the middle and lower portions of the watershed.
SOCIOECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS FACILITY LOCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA
(pp. 113 - 124)
Jeremy Mennis
Department of Geography
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Abstract
This study explores the spatial relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and the distribution of environmentally hazardous facilities listed in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database in Pennsylvania. Measurements of distance to, and density of TRI facilities were predicted using U.S. Census tract level variables indicating race, poverty, educational attainment, and manufacturing employment in analyses of the entire state and of the southeast Pennsylvania Philadelphia metropolitan area. Results indicate that at the state-wide level percent minority increases with proximity to, and density of TRI facilities. In southeast Pennsylvania high percent minority, poverty, and low educational attainment are associated with concentrations of TRI facilities. Manufacturing employment was not found to be significantly related to TRI facility location. This study suggests that urban versus rural land use and demographic patterns are key components in understanding socioeconomic inequity in the distribution of TRI facilities in Pennsylvania.
(pp. 125 - 156)
Mark E. Reisinger
Geography Department
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York
Abstract
The dimensions of local labor market adjustments are illustrated by chronicling the experience of the Pittsburgh labor market area (LMA), which experienced the pains associated with the downsizing of a key industry that for decades had been the foundation of its economy. Specifically, this paper examines the role of migration in the adjustment of the Pittsburgh labor market area for workers in particular occupations and industries between 1985 and 1990. It was expected that workers in the declining industries would have left the area for opportunities elsewhere, and those in growing industries would have moved to the region. This was not the case. The data analyses in this research show that workers in occupations and industries demanding relatively high levels of education and skills were leaving the area despite job growth and those in declining industries remained in the region.
THE EFFECTS OF GREENWAYS AND TRAILS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND PROPERTY VALUES IN PENNSYLVANIA
(pp. 157 - 175)
John E. Benham and Scott Davis
Department of Geography and Earth Science
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
The American landscape has experienced many changes throughout its history as Americans search for a better quality of life. A greenway and trail system preserves and protects the changing landscape as it connects corridors of open space. Greenways and trails include many types of routes and provide a community with recreation, transportation, and habitat protection. A greenway and trail network has proven to be an economic asset to communities nationwide as it increases property values and stimulates business development. Pennsylvania is a leader in trail development and its economic success is visible at the local level. South Middleton Township has adopted a comprehensive greenway plan and the system is currently being implemented in the form of a new park with a multi-use trail. The purpose of this study is to determine if the greenway and trail system increases property values adjacent to the trail.
(pp. 176 - 186)
Christopher Woltemade and Diane Stanitski-Martin
Department of Geography-Earth Science
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
Next Generation Weather Radar ("NEXRAD") estimates of storm total precipitation were compared to direct measurements from a network of 20 rain gauges. The study evaluated 31 storms with >0.30 in. total precipitation in the 51.8 km2Burd Run watershed, which drains a low mountainous area of south central Pennsylvania. Rain gauge measurements fell within the corresponding range of radar estimates in less than half (46.8%) of all cases. Departures between rain gauge and radar estimates were more common for large storms (total precipitation >-1.00 in.) than for smaller storms (0.30 - 0.99 in.).