Europe is the second smallest continent on Earth and extends from Iceland (west) to Russia (east), and from Norway (north) to islands of Greece (south). The most distinctive feature of Europe is the diverse landscape. While geological changes that occurred over millions of years have enriched the geological and biodiverse system of the continent, the human interaction with nature over the centuries from emigration to vegetation, industrialization, and urbanization has continued to form a contrasting pattern of physiographic regions in Europe. While there are vast areas with no human presence, much of the diversity of the continent is attributed to the socio-economic and cultural affiliations that are distinctive and localized to geographical …show more content…
Alpine Region consists of four major areas, namely: Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Scandes, and the Carpathians. Geographical features such as slopes, snow pockets, wind-blasted crags, and uneven rock screens are noticeable due to the mountain-formation that occurred about 50 million years ago. Because of the steep gradient, the rugged mountain range creates different micro-climate zones and rapidly altered life zones. High altitudes of the Alpine System increase the temperature drop, making it relatively colder. The forest composition declines with the elevation and gradually give way to grasslands and scrub-lands. At the rocky summit, the vegetation is limited to only a few number of plant species that are able to tolerate harsh weather conditions. These geographical and climate changes explain why the Alpine system has a rich and a diverse ecosystem. The Alpine claims two-thirds of the plant species exist in Europe and supplies the continent with much of its freshwater resources. In the spring and summer, the major Alpine rivers Rhine and Po play a vital role in supplying freshwater for agricultural development and human consumption. The highest peak - Mont Blanc stands15,781 ft. in height on the border of France and Italy. The Brenner Pass, the Simpson Pass, the Saint Gotthard Pass, and the Great Saint Bernard Pass have made transportation possible across the rugged mountain range. The glacial deposit belts in the broad valleys of Alps provides rich soil for farming. The highly maintained diversified cultural landscape of the alley is attributed to the agricultural operations. Also, the warm summers and cool, wet winters support the cultivation of seasonal crops such as olives, citrus fruit, figs, apricots, and grapes.
The Hudson plains are in parts of Ontario and Manitoba. Their area is about 350 000 km squared. The west edge of the Hudson Plains is around Churchill in north Manitoba, the eastern edge is around Fort Rupert, the northern edge borders Hudson Bay and James Bay and the southern edge is near Kapuskasing, Manitoba. Moosonee and Churchill are major cities in the Hudson Plains area, and lesser known cities include Attawapiskat, Fort George, Eastmain, Fort Albany, Lake River, Winisk, Fort Severn, and Shamattawa.
The main ideas presented in “Why Geography Matters…More Than Ever!” revolve around what exactly geography is, and the implications of the subject. Geography is the study of the physical world and human actions, it also covers the affects of human actions. Geography influences a plethora of topics and geographers do research on numerous subjects. “Geographers do research on glaciations and coastlines, on desert dunes and limestone caves, on weather and climate, even on plants and animals”(7). The author stresses how underrated geography is the present times, and how the introduction of social studies have doomed the subject of geography for future generations. In a section detailing the teaching of geography
Chapter 1: Regions of Canada describe regionalism and how it divides countries, specifically Canada, naturally into six regions: British Columbia, Western Canada, Territorial North, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. These regions have been divided in a manner that correlates ‘like spaces’ in regards to human and physical geography (Bone, p.6) along with Canada’s historical development. The second key feature of chapter 1 describes Canada’s faultlines and they’re affects on Canada’s regional divide. There are four faultlines within Canada that reciprocate tensions that are mostly solved by being “soft” through negotiation and discussion (according to John Ralston Saul, Bone, p. 10). Bone places a great focus on these faultlines, which include: centralist/decentralist, Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal, French/English Canadians, and newcomer/old-timer. “Canada’s heterogeneous nature often forms the basis of regional quarrels” (Bone, p. 11) particularly for the centralist/decentralist faultline. English/French speaking Canadians focus on Quebec and sovereignty, while the Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal faultline deals with land claims, settlement and colonized peoples. Newcomers/old-timers refer to immigrants and settlers of Canada. The core/periphery model is a key concept that is commonly referred to throughout the text. It depicts the core as concentrations of power/wealth/population, with the periphery/hinterland as the weakly developed, resource based area.
Palaeogeography deals with the reconstruction of physical geographical conditions for the eras of the Earth's history. The term comes from the Greek παλαιός (palaiós) meaning ‘old’ and γεωγραφία (geōgraphía) meaning ‘a description of the earth’ and seems to have been introduced in the Earth sciences vocabulary as ‘Palaeo-Geographie’ by Ami Boué (1794‒1881), a French‒Austrian geologist, in his publication Einiges zur palaeo-geologischen Geographie (Boué, 1875, p. 2). Palaeogeography focuses on the distribution of land and sea, the spread of mountains and volcanoes and the expansion of glaciations, among others. The results are presented in geographic depictions called palaeogeographic maps. A special kind of palaeogeograpahical map is palaeobiogeographical maps depicting the distribution of
Rowntree les, Martin Lewis, Marie Price, and William Wyckoff. Globalization and Diversity Geography of a Changing World. 4th ed. Pearson, 2013. Print.
Valley Region of the Appalachian Mountains and Subsequent Karst Regions in the State of Virginia
...t montane regions have high species diversity due to allopatric and parapatric speciation favored by topographic complexity and climatic zonation (Kozak and Wiens, 2010). Two hypotheses gas been put forward in an attempt to explain
Stott, Anne. "Europe 1700-1914: A Continent Transformed." europetransformed.blogspot.com. University of London, 7 March 2011. Web. 30 November 2013.
But look at the stark contrast in Northern Europe. The scarceness of food, the cold, the extreme Alpine landscapes of Sweden, Finland, and Germany. The birthplace of the Nordic Aryan, and a completely different type of place than Africa. Here you had to be on your toes, you had to think fast in order to survive.
Knox, P. L., & Marston, S. A. (2012). Human geography: Places and regions in global context (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Romania is a country with rich biodiversity (ecosystems, species and genetic diversity) and a high percentage of natural ecosystems 47% of the land area of the country is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The natural integrity of forest ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna, including 60% and 40% of all European brown bears and wolves, respectively. Europe’s largest wetland, the Danube Delta, also lies predominantly in Romania. Major grasslands, caves, and an extensive network of rivers, add to the ecosystem richness. Important for Romania as well as for all Europe, is that the territory of Romania is a confluence point between biogeographic regions between arctic, alpine, west and central European, pannonic, balkanic, sub Mediterranean and even eastern colchic. The high level of geographic diversity in Romania and the consequence of its location as a biological confluence place have produced a floral diversity that includes over 3,70...
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.
Murphy, A.B. 2006. ‘The May 2004 Enlargement of the European Union: View from Two Years Out’. Eurasian Geography and Economics. Vol. 47 (6). Pp 635-646.
Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people. In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The ancient Greeks created the word "geography" from the roots "ge" for earth and "grapho" for "to write." These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).
Hart, Diane. Geography Alive! Regions and People. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2006. Print.