Portal:Geography

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Geography studies the location, extent, distribution, frequency and interaction of all significant elements of the human and physical environment on the Earth's surface, particularly its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity. The word geography derives from the Greek γη (ge) or γαια (gaia) ("Earth") and γραφειν (graphein) ("to inscribe"). Physical geography focuses on Earth science (and is sometimes called Earth System Science). This provides an understanding of the physical, meteorological and ecological patterns of the Earth. Human geography includes economic, political and cultural geography and focuses on the social science or the non-physical aspects of the world. It examines how human beings adapt themselves to the land and how they impact the physical world. Geographers not only study the human and natural features of the Earth but also its place in the Solar System and the Universe and how this effects the Earth features (e.g. climate, sea currents and tides).

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Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the western states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world and covers 3,845 square miles (8879 km²), mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The park is famous for its various geysers, hot springs, supervolcano and other geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. It is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet. The world's most famous geyser, the Old Faithful Geyser, is also located in Yellowstone National Park.

Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the Western U.S., much of the Midwestern U.S., Northern Mexico and some areas of the Pacific Coast. The eruption dwarfed that of Mount St. Helens in 1980 and left a huge caldera 43 miles by 18 miles (70 km by 30 km) sitting over a huge magma chamber (see Geology section and Yellowstone Caldera). Yellowstone has registered three major volcanic eruption events in the last 2.2 million years with the last event occurring 640,000 years ago. Its eruptions are the largest known to have occurred on Earth within that timeframe, producing drastic climate change in the aftermath (See also:Supervolcano). (read more...)

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The Lena River delta has a size of about 45,000 km².

Photo credit: NASA, Landsat 7, February 27, 2000

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Did you know...

Waterfall at Sugarloaf Mountain, headwaters of Sonoma Creek

...that Sonoma Creek (pictured), a California-designated critical coastal watershed, drains the acclaimed Sonoma Valley Wine Country, and provides a home to many endangered species?

...that the Namibian city of Otjimbingwe was the capital city before the modern capital, Windhoek, replaced it in 1891?

...that a circumferentor was an important tool to surveyors for mapping the North American frontier?

...that Piscataway Park was created to prevent development and protect the view across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon?

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