Longwood University

Geography is the science of place and space. Geographers ask where things are located on the surface of the earth, why they are located where they are, how places differ from one another, and how people interact with the environment.

There are two main branches of geography: physical geography and human geography. Physical geographers study patterns of climates, land forms, vegetation, soils, and water. They forecast the weather, manage land and water resources, and analyze and plan for forests, rangelands, and wetlands.

Human geography is concerned with the spatial aspects of human existence--how people and culture are distributed in space, how they use and perceive space, and how they create and sustain the places that make up the earth's surface. Human geographers work in the fields of urban and regional planning, transportation, marketing, real estate, tourism, and international business. Many human and physical geographers have skills in cartography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and remote sensing.

Geographers also study the linkages between human activity and natural systems. Geographers were among the first scientists to sound the alarm that human-induced changes to the environment were beginning to threaten the balance of life itself. They are active in the study of global warming, desertification, deforestation, loss of bio diversity, groundwater pollution, and flooding.

Source: Association of American Geographers