What is Geography

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Introduction
Objectives to define geography, the coastal zone
or environment, and to understand the links
between the two, as a contextual setting

• What is Geography?
• What is the Coastal Zone?

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What is Geography?
Geography is defined as the

• Geography the bridge between the human and
  physical sciences
• Geography looks at the spatial connection
  between people, places, and the earth where

"spatial" refers to space on the earth's surface
and spatial phenomena are ones that may be shown
on maps
Geography thus is really a way of looking at
things...a point of view
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Other Definitions of Geography

• The purpose of geography is to provide "a view
  of the whole" earth by mapping the location of
  places. Ptolemy, 150
• Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of
  other sciences through the concept of Raum (area
  or space) Immanuel Kant, c. 1780
• Synthesizing discipline to connect the general
  with the special through measurement, mapping,
  and a regional emphasis Alexander von
  Humboldt, 1845
• Man in society and local variations in
  environment - Halford Mackinder, 1887
• "As a young man, my fondest dream was to become
  a geographer. However, while working in the
  customs office I thought deeply about the
  matter and concluded it was too difficult a
  subject. With some reluctance I then turned
  to physics as a substitute." - Albert Einstein
• How environment apparently controls human
  behaviour - Ellen Semple, c. 1911
• Study of human ecology adjustment of man to
  natural surroundings - Harland Barrows, 1923
• "The science concerned with the formulation of
  the laws governing the spatial distribution of
  certain features on the surface of the
  earth." - Fred Schaefer, 1953
• "To provide accurate, orderly, and rational
  description and interpretation of the variable
  character of the earth surface." - Richard
  Hartshorne, 1959
• "Geography is both science and art" - H.C.
  Darby, 1962
• "To understand the earth as the world of man" -
  J.O.M. Broek, 1965
• "Geography is fundamentally the regional or
  chorological science of the surface of the
  earth." - Robert E. Dickinson, 1969
• "Study of variations in phenomena from place to
  place." - Holt-Jensen, 1980
• "...concerned with the locational or spatial
  variation in both physical and human phenomena at
  the earth's surface" - Martin Kenzer, 1989
• "Geography is the study of earth as the home of
  people" - Yi-Fu Tuan, 1991
• "Geography is the study of the patterns and
  processes of human (built) and environmental
  (natural) landscapes, where landscapes comprise
  real (objective) and perceived (subjective)
  space." - Gregg Wassmansdorf, 1995

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What is the coastal zone ?
There are many definitions of the coastal zone
e.g.
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Why is geography important?

• Why is geography important in coastal zone
  management?
• Geography is a discipline that has much to add to
  CZM because it is about what, where, why and how?
  
• Geography is about processes across space and
  through time and is an integratory discipline.
• Essentially the coastal zone is an environment of
  objects, features and processes that interact and
  happen across space and through time. Geography
  is a spatial discipline, and coastal zone
  management, by definition, is spatial management
  (Fedra and Feoli, 1998).

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Data and the Coastal Zone
Sheehan (1994) has argued that datais the most
important part of the coastal zone management
system and furthermore, that for coastal zone
management to be management, data must be
organised and made available (p. 13.2.2). In
addition, this data relating to the coastal zone
must be integrated so that coastal managers are
presented with the full picture of the complete
coastal zone and not just the marine or the
terrestrial component. If this is not the case,
how can management itself be called integrated,
unless planners and managers are presented with
the information that show how the marine and
terrestrial areas interact in the coastal zone?
As Green and King (1999) have suggested while
distinguishing between the two surfaces (land and
water) for the purposes of scientific
investigation, data collection and analysis is a
convenience. In reality management of the
environment depends upon and requires a more
holistic approach, one which necessitates
integration of the data and information, not only
from different sources in a practical sense but
over a larger area in the spatial dimension (p.
4-5)
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Task
Define the following.
...On the worksheet