Physical Geography Of The North East

Project 1: My Physical Geography

My name is Thomas and I Study Journalism at Uconn. What makes me unique is that I play the didgeridoo. What I would like to get out of taking this class is a better understanding of what the world is made of and how people live in there part of the globe. I am from Bedford, New York. Bedford is about an hour north of New York City.

2. Weather and Climate:

Bedford New York is located in North Eastern United States. The average temperature there is around 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer and around 25 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the winter. Bedford is located further inland than most other locations so temperatures do fluctuate, because of its distance from major oceans. Bedford though average temperature can be slightly higher though than certain regions because of its lower altitude in relation to sea level. This means that there are more atmospheres above it allowing for a greater greenhouse effect, making its temperatures more extreme, but not to the point of the land being inhospitable. Bedford is rural town even though it is located about an hour New York City, and unlike most of the some of the more urban parts of the USA, it doesn't have the effects of an urban heat island.

In Bedford it rains during the summer, and snows during the winter, much like the rest of the North East. Bedford isn't a rainy place, just as much it isn't a snowy place either. Typically during the summer it will rain maybe once every other week, on occasion more, but sometimes less. The humidity in the summer and hot summer sun, results in extremely hot and sticky days that last throughout mid to late summer. Sometimes though when it gets too hot during the summer occasionally thought which results in a thunderstorm, or a short lived rain storm. This is because of the convection process goes on too fast, where the water cannot evaporate and rise fast enough into the atmosphere, or because there are different temperatures of air above the newly rising mass of air. Not in Bedford but actually just recalling an event that could have likely occurred there when I was when I was ten years old a microburst occurred near my parents summer house, but just to see the power of it, and in that short time the tremendous power of it. I recall the sewer pipes not being able to take in all the rain water, and actually watch cars driving home on local roads get caught in the middle of the street submerged in water, from what seemed like flash flooding. It was quite a shock, watching all the down power lines, and the broken trees that lay everywhere like a bomb went off in a suburban community.

Wind isn't very noticeable in Bedford New York. There are some slight breezes in Bedford, but usually they are hardly powerful or even great. Wind in Bedford is due to the uneven heating of the landscape, Because of the moist and dry soils in the neighboring lands. This I believe would be comparable to a sea breeze, but at a much smaller scale Bedford is relatively flatter compared to the rest of New England, but there are a few gentle landscapes, but unlike most of New England it is relatively flatter, mostly because it is located on a flood plain, but I'll get to this later.

Weather in Bedford is typical of New England weather. We can get the occasion nor' esters during the winter. We often get a good blizzard or two during the winter, and during the winter we always receive the occasional snow shower. The summer in Bedford is hot, and humid, making working outside uncomfortable. Ironically the north east is due for a hurricane, but we haven't had a great hurricane in many years. Other things to mention, the Maritime Polar air masses give off most of the precipitation in my area. The air mass is cool and moist, but this is relative to the season and this helps us continue to have hotter humid summers, and snowier winters than the rest of the country.

The climate of Bedford is described as the text as a "mild, humid (mesothermal) climate. We are located at around 40o and -73o Latitude. We receive enough precipitation that allows us to store water in reservoirs that can last year round. The local area and surrounding towns contain several lakes which provide water for NYC and its boroughs. It is a rich surrounding in Bedford, that is largely rural, filled with deciduous trees making up small forests. I remember one year we grew pine trees, in the back yard, and I distinctly remember one Christmas going out and actually lopping off the top of one of those trees to put inside. This leads me to describe the area as relatively wooded, area that does show clear signs of human development there, but nothing as great as an urban center, but more just a light infrastructure.

3. Biogeography and soils

If I haven't already in subsequent chapters let me dive into the biological geography in this next paragraph. Bedford is a series of hardwood forests, followed by open grasses that are maintained by man. There does though leave a large amount of natural vegetation and wildlife. Bedford has mostly hardwood deciduous forests surrounding it. The ample amount of rain and the short winters allow for these forests to take place. The wildlife though, much like the forests are not of much noticeable variety, we don't have any large predators living near us, such as wolves, or coyotes. In fact I don't ever hear about bear sightings either. The most common animals that I see are the squirrels and the deer population. Granted on occasion you might see a raccoon, the even rarer chipmunk and sometimes some small field mice. The biggest predators this area is the occasional hunter, and or moving vehicle. As far as natural predators, there are a few hawks and the rare eagle. I recall seeing the seasonal Canadian geese, fly by, and even once a humming bird. Insects are not terribly diverse we have the normal honey bees, the wasps, and I remember the occasional paper wasps as well. We contain all sorts of spiders and I remember having a pet centipede named Oscar for a while. We do though have a surprisingly large population of insects where I live; this I believe is due to the wetlands, that the insects use as well suited natural breeding pool. This in turn helps support the local population of birds, and other wildlife that feeds off them. A cool fact about Bedford is that if you wanted to go fishing all you had to do was look under a rock, or dig a hole and you'll almost always find a earth worm, which was cool since there was a small pond in the back yard. There are no ancient forests here in this part of America, because of the glaciers that came