Wednesday, October 15, 2014

North America's Environmental Setting

Have you ever wondered what the landscape, natural vegetation, weather, and climate of Boston is? In this segment i will attempt to answer these questions. However, let me first begin by introducing and defining a few important terms. The definitions of these terms can be found in the textbook "The Geography of North America", by Hardwick, Shelley, and Holtgrieve, in Chapter 2.
Topography is the nature and description of local landforms that are both natural and human-made.
Physiographic provinces are the interrelated patterns of landforms, vegetation, soils, and hydrology.
Weather is the day-to-day atmospheric conditions.
Climate is the long-term pattern of weather and atmospheric conditions on the earth's surface.
Natural vegetation is the vegetation that occurs spontaneously without regular management or maintenance and that generally has a strong component of native species.

The landscape of Boston as been greatly affected by glaciation. Its coastlines features "larger beaches, spits, bay barriers, and lagoons." (21) The physiographic province of Boston Massachusetts is the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, which is "a lowland area...characterized by some of the flattest terrain on the continent that gently slopes toward the sea."(24)  Boston's posses a type of soil known as spodosols. It is part of the eastern forest. Its natural vegetation consist of broadleaf deciduous forest. this type of vegetation is due to the type of climate experienced in Boston, Massachusetts. This climate is known as a continental mid-latitude climate. In this type of climate boston is more likely to experience warm summers, and "frost-free period of at least three months and less precipitation than the humid hot summer climates or the mesothermal climates." (34)  Boston Massachusetts is affected by the Maritime tropical (mT). During the month of January Massachusetts experiences two different levels of precipitation. The western side experiences 2-4 inches of rain while the eastern side, closer to the coast, experiences 4-8 inches. During july for example, these distinctions disappear, as the state as a whole, experiences about 2-4 inches of rain. The first level ecoregion is eastern temperate forest, and its level two ecoregion is mississippi alluvial and southeast USA coastal plains.
Hardwick, Shelley, and Holtgrieve,"The Geography of North America", Prentice Hall; 2 edition, 2012 
This video focuses on the landform of Boston, Massachusetts, i hope you guys enjoy it. 
Freedom Trail & Historic Boston - Guide to its Unique Geography and Changing Landscape

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Megalopolis


Boston, a city first established by the religious group known as, the Puritans. The Puritans  first migrated from England to North America in the 1630's. Boston was established as a port city, and remains one of the most influential cities of Megapolis. By the year 1790, boston had a population of 18,320 residents. In 2010, however, things had drastically changed as it house 4,588,680 people. Major factors that have contributed to the success of Boston are, dominant and diverse financial, commercial, and political centers. It is important to note that these factors have been possible due to the increase in private and public education systems, such as colleges and universities. By possessing educated people, Boston is able to provide high skill laborers, which then enabled Boston to become a leading center in technology and medical advances.


(The Geography of North America, by Hardwick, Shelley, Holtgrieve. Second edition, Chapter 7)