Global heat budget, plate tectonics and climatic change

For the past 2000 Ma, the temperature of the Earth's surface has fluctuated around a mean similar to that of today, although individual locations have undergone long-term changes of ∼30°C at different times in different places. Water bodies absorb at least five times as much solar radiation as land surfaces, and ocean currents transport the excess heat absorbed in the tropics towards the poles. Changes in the distribution of land and sea due to plate tectonics explain the major temperature fluctuations (>25°C) around the globe in the last 350 Ma, and are first-order controls. Large-scale changes in ocean currents and thermohaline circulations are probably second-order controls (15–25°C). The Milankovitch orbital cycles are third-order controls producing variations in air temperature of the order of 10°C, while massive volcanic eruptions and changes in carbon dioxide are amongst the fourth-order controls producing minor perturbations (<5°C). The major climatic fluctuations are continuous but regional in effect and not global. Extraterrestrial factors may not cause major changes in climate when viewed from a geological perspective.     

The global rainforest mapping project JERS-1:a paradigm of international collaboration for monitoring land cover change

The Global Rainforest Mapping (GRFM) project was initiated in 1995 and, through a dedicated data acquisition policy by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), data acquisitions could be completed within a 1.5-year period, resulting in a spatially and temporally homogeneous coverage to contain the entire Amazon Basin from the Atlantic to the Pacific; Central America up to the Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico; equatorial Africa from Madagascar and Kenya in the east to Sierra Leone in the west; and Southeast Asia, including Papua New Guinea. To some extent, GRFM project is an international endeavor led by NASDA, with the goal of producing spatially and temporally contiguous Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data sets over the tropical belt on the Earth by use of the JERS-1 L-band SAR, through the generation of semi-continental, 100m resolution, image mosaics. The GRFM project relies on extensive collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC) and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) for data acquisition, processing, validation and product generation. A science program is underway in parallel with product generation. This involves the agencies mentioned above, as well as a large number of international organizations, universities and individuals to perform field activities and data analysis at different levels.     

The Space That Race Makes

This essay is a revision of a paper prepared for an NSF workshop on race and geography. Participants in the workshop were asked to offer their views on the topic and our suggestions for further research. This contribution explores some aspects of the relationship and relevance of geography to the question of race in North America. It touches on three “places” that constitute the discipline: the place of research, the place of teaching, and the workplace. With respect to research, it suggests some promising lines of inquiry. Among these are studies of the relationship of scale to the politics of identity and studies of “passing” in connection with studies of geographies of experience and geographies of power.     

The Spaces of Conservation and Development around Lake Nakuru National Park,Kenya

Geographically or sociologically defined resource management units, such as buffer zones or community resource management territories, seek to harmonize local land–use practices with protected–area management objectives. The geographically restricted nature of these models often results in simplistic representations of society–nature relations over time and space. Conservation areas are misrepresented as ecologically and socially homogeneous, as well as politically neutral. This study examines the limits of a spatially defined conservation and development project designed around the physical geographical unit of the watershed at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. It argues that politically motivated violence that has plagued the area since the early 1990s has severely undermined the suitability of such narrowly defined conservation territories. Specifically, the case study points to the permeability of the Lake Nakuru watershed to national and regional political forces that ultimately constrain participation in conservation activities. The spaces of conservation and development must be enlarged to include these extralocal arenas and processes if environmental problems are to be effectively addressed.     

Luxury Tourism and Regional Economic Development in Mexico

This article argues that little attention has been paid to the territorial and socioeconomic impact of consumer–service globalization on Third World countries. It specifically examines the economic role of tourism in Mexico and its limited effect on the country's regional development. Despite governmental support in order to enhance economic growth, currency receipts, and employment, tourism contributes less than 5 percent to the gross domestic product, and the majority of tourism–related jobs are precarious and low–skilled. The promotion of luxury resorts in coastal areas has led to highly concentrated and fast–growing enclaves of mainly foreign investment. However, this strategy has failed to stimulate productive links between tourist centers and their hinterlands and has led to large–scale urbanization characterized by a considerable lack of basic services for the resident population.     

山东省省际边界地区发展研究

省际边界地区有其自身的发展特点，对于区域的发展起着特殊的作用。文章分析了山东省省际边界地区的特点，并根据康维斯（P.D.Converse)断裂点理论，对山东省及周边中心城市的引力范围进行了计算，比较分析了目前山东省省界城市和省内城市吸引范围及竞争力差异，提出了山东省发展省际边界地区的相应对策。     

区域经济整合发展研究--以上海市南汇区为例

文章从区域经济一体化和经济全球化的角度出发，分析了区域经济整合发展的动力来源、基本过程及遵循的原则，并以实例阐述了区域经济整合的主要内容为：城镇体系、产业结构、市政和基础设施及区域经济运行环境等，归纳出了5种典型的整合类型，即领土主权变动、国家重大政策推动、行政归属调整、重大工程启动及城市扩展整合等，最后通过上海市南汇区的实例进行了相应的论证。     

我国制造业集群分布现状及其发展特征

目前，在我国很多地区，例如长江三角洲和珠江三角洲，以个别市、县、镇或村为范围，集中某种产品的生产所形成的制造业集群表现出极强的活力和竞争力。集群中的很多企业根据不同技术能力，纷纷进入了全球价值链，已经使中国成为跨国公司控制之下的“世界工厂”。文章从目前局限性的资料出发，将这一现象的分布现状进行了分析，并对其发展特征进行了描述。认为，在新型工业化道路中，企业只有在本地舍作和结网，加强创新，才能有效地插入全球价值链，参与国际竞争。为此，需要通过政策的支持，鼓励合作的信用环境，使价值链上的各级企业以及利益相关者进行合作。     

中国劳动力资源配置区域差异分析

区域经济发展和经济结构调整的关键在于劳动力资源的合理配置。中国各省市区劳动力资源的产业和行业分布具有显著的地域差异，在空间分布上东、中、西部具有差异，西部地区的西南和西北地区也存在差别，这种规律反映了我国经济发展和产业结构高级化的区域差异。根据劳动力行业配置的区位熵排序结果，将各省市区分成4种类型：大都市型、沿海高工业化水平型、中等工业化水平型、中下等工业化水平型。这些类型具有自东向西有规律性的分布，与我国的经济发展格局和工业化水平的东西差异相应。