Geography%20and%20Geographic%20Information%20Systems%20(GIS):

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Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
Dr. Barry Wellar, Professor (ret.), University of
Ottawa, and Media Program Director Geography
Awareness Week Canadian Association of
Geographers Materials for a presentation at
GIS Day 2006 University of Ottawa Department
of Geography and Environmental Studies
University of Ottawa November 15,
2006 University Centre
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• Overexploitation risks survival of planet?
• Rainforests Their destruction a worldwide
  problem
• Oils black death takes terrible toll
• Coastal waters being used as toxic dump

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• 100,000 eastern lakes hurt by acid rain
• Cocktail of toxins threatens lake
• More PCB-laced oil spills in river feared
• Its not cool to kill the ozone
• A warning on warming

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• 1989 one of the hottest years
• A warning on warming
• Heres a crash course on the Greenhouse effect
• Greenhouse effect starts to make Washington sweat
• British cities could drown
• US drought becoming a threat to our water

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• Dirty air threatens one billion
• Metro choking on auto fumes hearings warned
• Mexico City population now irreversible
• Air pollution killing Europeans secret report
  says

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• Third world becomes toxic dumping ground
• State looking for candidates to store toxics
• Garbage Viable disposal plan an elusive
• goal after 20 years

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• Destroying a habitat a threat to Hawaii
• Saving the wetlands
• A shrinking nesting ground
• The death of open spaces
• A shrinking parkway
• Open space plan called skimpy

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• Urban sprawl Many cities fight back
• Plaza site permits let dozers roll
• Fighting the concrete jungle
• Choking on success
• Auto-maker dont let cars destroy our cities
• Neighbours fight towering development

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Makings of The Doomsday Map?

• New Jerseys folly could teach us a lesson
• LA pays price for poor planning
• City pan called recipe for disaster
• Groups pan Ottawas new official plan
• Battle looms over future of downtown
• Development in state carefully planned

Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Images from the Doomsday Map Project Ecological
Disaster and Local Response
The Geographers Lament
With too many wrong things In too many wrong
places, We have just about ________ All
our life support spaces
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Geography and Geographic Information Systems
Combining to Create a Spatially-Aware
Information Society
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Figure 1. Geography, the Media, and the Pursuit
and Application of Data, Information and
Knowledge to Create a Spatially-Aware Information
Society (1) Components  
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Figure 2. Geography, the Media, and the Pursuit
and Application of Data, Information and
Knowledge to Create a Spatially-Aware Information
Society (2) Connections 
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Figure 3. Geography, the Media, and the Pursuit
and Application of Data, Information and
Knowledge to Create a Spatially-Aware Information
Society (3) The Typology of Stories
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Table 1. Terms and Concepts Which Underlie the
Work of the Geographic Community, and Indicate
the Potential for Creating A Spatially-Aware
Information Society
Parcel Partition Path Pattern Pedshed Perimeter Pe
riphery Place Plain Plane Point Pole(ar/ity) Polyg
on(al) Proximity Quadrangle Quadrant Region Relati
on(ship) Right-of-way Route Rural Scale Segregate(
ion) Shape Shed
Site Situation Slope Somewhere Space Spatial Spher
e Sprawl Spread Strip Structure Surface System Ter
ritory Topographic Topology(ic) Urban(ex/sub) Vect
or Walkshed Ward Warren Watershed Where YIMBY Zone
Landscape Latitude Line Link Locality Location Loc
al(ization) Longitude Map Margin(al) Meridian Mig
ration Morphology Movement Nation(al/ization) Near
(ness) Neighbor Network NIMBY Node Nowhere Object
Orientation Origin Overlay
Concentric Connect (ion/ivity) Contiguous Continen
t(al) Conurbation Coordinates Core Correlation Co
untryside Density Diffusion Dimension Disperse(ion
) Distance Distribution Edge Effect Elevation Encr
oach(ment) Environment Everywhere Extrusion Far Fi
eld Fjord
Flow(s) Form Fringe Function(al/ity) Geocode Geode
tic Geofactor Geographic Geomatic Geometric Geopol
itical Georeference Geospatial GIS/GISSc Global(iz
ation) Grid Gridlock Habitat Hinterland Interactio
n Intersection Intrusion Island Isolate(ion) Land
Accessible (ity) Adjacent(cy) Agglomerate
(ion) Aggregate(ion) Along(side) Amalgamate(ion) A
nywhere Arc Area(polygon) Around Association Block
Border Boundary Buffer Cause(al/ity) Center Centr
ality Circle Close(ness) Clump Cluster Coastal Com
mutershed Concentrate(ion)
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Table 2. Ten of the Most Critical Geographic
Terms and Concepts Underlying GIS Applications
that Advance Canada as a Spatially-Aware
Information Society
Accessibility Causality Connection Density Functionality Interaction Linkage Pattern Relationship System
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Figure 4. The Data-Information-Knowledge Transform
Process Simple Model
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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How Are Geographers and the GIS Community
Helping Canada to Advance as a
Spatially-Aware Information Society?
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society
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Check Out the Following Sources
http//www.cag-acg.ca/en/ www.gisday.com www.geo
matics.uottawa.ca/gisday http//www.ccge.org/ccge
/english/Newsletter/symposium_june 2005.asp
References For information about the sources
used for this presentation contact B. Wellar at
wellarb_at_uottawa.ca
Geography and Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) New Realities of Canada as An Emerging
Information Society