Geography of Europe

1. Geography of Europe Chapter 12

2. Landforms and Resources Section 1

3. Peninsulas and Islands • Europe is a Large peninsula with many small peninsulas, so it is said that it is a peninsula of peninsulas • Northern Peninsula • Scandinavian Peninsula is occupied by Norway and Sweden • Jutland Peninsula is directly across & occupied by Denmark • Southern Peninsula • Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) • Italian Peninsula • Balkan Peninsula • Islands • Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland • In Mediterranean: Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete

4. Mountains and Uplands • Mountain Chains • Alps • Arcs across France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Northern Balkan • Pyrenees • Blocks France From Spain • Apennine • Divides Italy (runs along longitude) • Balkans • Divides Balkan Peninsula from rest of Europe • Uplands: Large area of hills or eroded mountains • Kjolen (Scandinavia) • Scottish Highlands • Low mountain areas of Brittany & France • Meseta (central plateau of Spain) • Massif Central (1/6 of France)

5. Rivers: Europe’s Links • Used to transport goods between inlands and coastal areas • Danube and Rhine are two of major rivers that have been used for centuries • Rhine runs 820 from central Europe to North Sea • Danube runs 1771 miles east to west and touches 9 countries • Throughout history rivers have also served to connect Europe to other cultures help them exchange ideas

6. Fertile Plains: Europe’s Bounty • Northern European Plain • France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Poland • One of most fertile plains in the world • Relatively flat for such a large plain • Provided vast quantities of food over the centuries • Also allowed armies and invaders to be mobile throughout history • Smaller plains used for farming in Sweden, Hungary, and Lombardy, in northern Italy

7. Resources Shape Europe’s Economy • Europe has abundant supplies of coal and iron ore • Energy • Much oil beneath North Sea (discovered in 1959) • Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Denmark pump oil form off shore rigs as far as 400 miles out. • Major source of oil for much of the world • Agricultural Land • About 33% of land is suitable for agriculture (world average is 11%) • Gains, grapes, olives, cork, lumber

8. Resources Shape Life • Shapes the food people eat, the jobs people have, their houses and culture • Distribution creates regional differences in Europe • Ireland lacks energy resources, so they burn peat • Partially decaying plant matter that is cut from bogs and is rich and combustible.

9. Climate and Vegetation Section 2

10. Western Winds Warm Europe • Marine west coast climate in much of Europe • Mild climate with warm summers and cool winters • North Atlantic Drift: a warm water current that is picked up by winds and blown across much of Europe with little blockage from mountains • Alps create a harsher climate at an elevation of 5,000 feet • Forests to Farms • Much of Europe was once covered with forests that have been cut away to make land for farming

11. Harsher conditions inland • Parts of Europe that are inland do not receive benefits of westerly winds • Includes Sweden, Finland and Eastern parts of Europe • Snowy winters with hot or warm summers, depending on latitude • Adequate rainfall & coniferous forests

12. The Sunny Mediterranean • Special Winds • Mediterranean coast is not blocked by mountains, allowing specific winds to effect climate • Mistral: cold dry wind from north that hits France in the winter • Sirocco: hot, steady wind blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean and across southern Europe. • The Climate Attracts Tourists • Grows shrubs and short trees as well as citrus, fruits, olives, grapes, and wheat • Sunny, sandy beaches attract tourists

13. Land of the Midnight Sun • Tundra climate along northern Scandinavia, which borders the Arctic Circle • Usually in state of permafrost, meaning the subsoil remains frozen and very little vegetation grows • Far north regions experience winter days where the sun never rises and summer days where the sun never sets

14. Human-Environment Interaction Section 3

15. Polders: Land From the Sea • Polders: Areas of land in Holland that used to be covered by sea, but was reclaimed as farmland • Seaworks: Implements used to create Polders • Dikes: Earthen banks erected to block the sea out from certain types of land • Terpen: High, manmade earthen plateaus serving as safety during floods and high tides • Transforming the Sea • Zuider Zee was an arm of the north sea • Altered by Dutch into manmade, fresh water lake by a series of dikes and drainage • Took from 1667-early 1900’s

16. Waterways for Commerce: Venice’s Canals • An Island City Grows • Venice: An largely populated and commercial island that was began by people fleeing invaders by taking shelter on an inhospitable island in a lagoon • Building of the Islands • Built by submerging large amounts of wood pilings cut from Northern Italy and Slovenia • Weight of buildings are so great that wood and land have become compressed • Problems Today • Venice is sinking due to weight of buildings as well as rising sea levels • Also face severe pollution • Erosion has damaged the foundation of many buildings

17. A Centuries-Old Problem: Deforestation • People have been clearing the forests of Europe for various reasons since ancient times • Wood for fuel, building materials for ships and houses, land for farming • Intensified during industrialization • Acid Rain Strips Forest • Europe’s factories cause high amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen emissions • Winds carry these emissions to other parts of Europe, until they are rained out on trees, stripping them