Climatic Change

The methods of physical climatology are used to explain climatic variations during the contemporary epoch and in the geological past. Contemporary climatic change is found to depend to a considerable extent on variations in atmospheric transparency. These variations, which change the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface, are associated with the changeable level of volcanic activity. Climatic changes in the geological past are also explained in terms of variations in atmospheric transparency and the changing distribution of the earth's land and sea areas, which influenced circulation in the hydrosphere. On the basis of established regularities in past climatic change, the possible future trend of climatic evolution is suggested. Although the current cooling trend could conceivably lead to renewed expansion of glaciation, this is considered highly unlikely in view of the increasing amount of heat generated by man's growing use of energy. The additional heat may be sufficient in the long run to melt the polar ice and introduce a climate into the middle and high latitudes typical of warm interglacial epochs. Actually, even before this, technology may enable man to eliminate the polar ice artificially. The beneficial and harmful effects of such as step are briefly considered.     

A Territorial Model of Productive Forces

The author formulates conditions required for a territorial model of productive forces that is constructed out of regional units rather than the sectoral units of the national economy. The regional units themselves are delimited in the process of optimization of the regional structure of the national economy. The over-all model is constructed out of a system of four preliminary models. They are: a territorial model of a single-product industry, a model of transport flows, a model of a regional unit and a model of the division of labor among regional units. The author examines interactions between the models and the criteria of optimality of each of the four models as well as other formally stated assumptions.     

Mathematical Method for Determining Levels of Development of Urban Places within a System

A matrix technique is used to determine levels of development of urban places within a system. This classification of places is based on two criteria: (1) the degree of development of the city's production complex; (2) its role in the geographical division of labor, based on the extent of its external relations (local, regional, national, foreign). The city's production complex is analyzed in terms of energy-and-production cycles, which are groups of technologically interrelated industries (as defined by N. N. Kolosovskiy). Points are assigned to individual production cycles within a city on the basis of the level of development of the particular cycle and the extent of its external relations. The points assigned to each cycle are then added up for a total number of points for the city. The urban places are then arranged in increasing order of points. Threshold values are determined to separate the set of places into levels of development, ranging from rudimentary producers of raw materials to fully integrated polyfunctional cities with wide-flung external relations. A condensed explanation of the technique appeared parenthetically in Soviet Geography, September 1969, pp. 375–377     

The Present State and Basic Problems in the Study of Migration in the USSR

A review of Soviet migration research finds that only a modest beginning has been made despite some useful results. Further progress in this area requires broader migration studies, beyond the manpower-oriented approach adopted thus far; wider use of mathematical techniques and improved research methods; improvements in the statistical data base on migration, and the coordination of Soviet migration research through the establishment of a central research center in this field.     

The Freshwater-Supply Problems of Mankind

Four Soviet hydrologists stress the usefulness of the water-balance principle in estimating the volume of water resources available to mankind. They carefully distinguish between the stable subsurface component of runoff, which has been mapped for the USSR at 1:5 million (and is now being mapped at 1:2.5 million) and the surface runoff, or flood, component. Measures are recommended to increase subsurface runoff at the expense of the surface component. These measures include autumn plowing to reduce sheetwash of snowmelt waters in spring, snowpack management in winter and windbreak planting. Other meliorative measures are irrigation and swamp drainage, both of which need to be placed on a more scientific basis with properly worked-out principles and norms. In discussing the world water-supply problem, the authors rule out recourse to new water sources, such as seawater desalination and glacier melting, and insist that mankind must preserve existing water resources by curbing the discharge of waste waters into natural bodies of water. The proposed recycling principles would increase consumptive use for water-supply needs, but would substantially reduce total withdrawals below the level that can be expected if present water-use practices continue to be followed.     

The Present State and Future Tasks of Physical Geography

Progress in physical geography as a separate research and teaching discipline is reviewed, and unfinished tasks for the next few years are outlined. The discipline continues to focus on the study and mapping of landscapes or geosystems as integrated areal units of the earth's physical-geographic environment. Emphasis is being placed on the use of quantitative techniques and systems theory as well as field observations, particularly at permanent field stations. New areas of application of landscape research are found to be opening up in physical planning, design engineering, evaluation and prediction.     

Book Review

In the absence of Soviet statistics on commuting it is estimated that, as of the late 1960's, at least 10 million people commuted to work or study in the Soviet Union, or about 12 percent of the number of public-sector workers and students. Sample surveys have shown that commuting is found not only in the suburban zones of large cities, but also around small towns, and that it involves as many as 3 million residents of rural areas who travel to work in urban places. The maximum commuting radius in the Soviet Union appears to be about 50 km, with the number of commuters dropping off sharply beyond that limit. In terms of social composition, commuters tend to be mainly young men of relatively low skills. An assessment of commuting, from the Soviet point of view, lists both positive features, such as the fuller use of labor resources around a large urban center, and negative features, such as the unproductive loss of time involved in commuting over long distances.     

Medical-Geography Aspects of the Design of the Ust'-Ilimsk Industrial Node

The medical geography of the natural environment of the Ust'-Ilimsk hydroelectric station is examined and recommendations are made to lessen environmental impact on public health. The recommendations call for careful clearing of the bed of the reservoir before it is filled, separation of the residential areas of the new city from the proposed large timber-processing complex, provision of recreational zones on the shores of the future reservoir, and the provision of iodized salt and fluoridation of water to counteract iodine and fluorine deficiencies in the environment. Judging from the experience of Bratsk, to the south of Ust'-Ilimsk, annual losses due to sickness among workers may range around 73,000 rubles per 100 workers, including 8,000 rubles' sick pay, 5,000 rubles for treatment, and 60,000 rubles' shortfall in production.     

A Typology of Regional Production Complexes

Soviet regional production complexes at the level of major economic regions are classified on the basis of a combination of two criteria: (a) regional specialization in terms of the energy-and-industry cycles proposed by N. N. Kolosovskiy (coke-based metallurgy, energy-intensive industries, etc.); (b) the developmental stage of the regional economy, in terms of five developmental phases (pioneering, the formation of industrial nodes, the formation of industrial cycles, a reconstruction phase, and achievement of a complex structure). The typological classification is viewed as a possible basis for more detailed breakdowns below the level of major economic regions.     

The Water Balance of the World's Continents and a Balance Estimate of the World's Freshwater Resources

The results of several years of investigation of the water balance of continents and the world's freshwater resources are presented. Through the use of interpolation relationships to make up for data gaps, maps are compiled for the basic elements of the water balance of the world: total runoff, including its surface and subsurface components, evaporation, gross wetness (soil moisture) and the coefficient of subsurface alimentation of streams, which reflects much of the stable component of streamflow. Revised estimates for the water-balance elements are offered for continents on the basis of revised data. The per capita water supply of continents is calculated, with separate listing of the stable component of runoff, consisting not only of the subsurface flow to streams but also the portion of surface streamflow that is regulated through lakes and reservoirs.