Chapter 34 Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica Today Section 1 “Living in Australia, Oceania, and...
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Transcript of Chapter 34 Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica Today Section 1 “Living in Australia, Oceania, and...
Chapter 34Australia, Oceania, and
Antarctica Today
Section 1“Living in Australia, Oceania, and
Antarctica”
Agriculture (pages 833-834)
• by far the most important economic activity in the South Pacific
Australia & New Zealand export large amounts of farm products
Australia is the world’s leading producer of wool
New Zealand is known for dairy products, lamb, beef, and wool
• 5% of Australians work in agriculture
much of the country’s land is devoted to raising livestock (mostly sheep & cattle)
Some Australian ranches/large farms, called stations, are as large as 6,000 square miles (size of Hawaii or Connecticut)
• only 10% of Australian land is suitable for growing crops
wheat is grown in the dry Central Lowlands; sugarcane thrives on the wetter northeastern coast
• about 50% of New Zealand’s land is used for agriculture
graziers, NZ ranchers that raise sheep, beef, dairy cattle, and red deer
NZ has 25 times more farm
animals than people
NZ farmers grow wheat, barley, potatoes, and fruits
kiwifruit is the most unique-a small, green-fleshed fruit named for its resemblance to the kiwi, the flightless bird that is NZ’s national symbol
• in Oceania, the lack of quality soil limits commercial farming
subsistence farmers grow root vegetables and raise chickens & pigs; fishing adds to the food supply
• islands with rich soil produce a variety of crops, such as tropical fruits, sugarcane, coffee, and coconut products for export
the major South Pacific cash crop is copra: dried coconut meat
Mining and Manufacturing (pages 834-835)
• Australia is a leading exporter of diamonds, gold, bauxite, iron ore and opals
high transportation costs hamper their ability to mine them
there is much public debate over mining Aboriginal land, where many minerals are found
• New Zealand has a large
aluminum smelting industry
• Papua New Guinea has rich deposits of gold & copper
Mining in Antarctica (pages 834-835)
• Antarctica has enormous supplies of mineral resources, such as petroleum, gold, iron ore, and coal
the Voluntary Protocol on Environmental Protection, signed by 44 nations in 1991, prohibits mining on the continent
Manufacturing (page 835)
• food processing is the most important manufacturing activity in Australia & NZ
b/c of the cost to import and set-up machinery and raw materials, Australia & NZ generally manufacture products for use at home
manufacturing in the islands of Oceania is limited to things such as textiles, clothing assembly, and craft items
Service Industries (pages 835-836)
• most people in Australia & NZ make their living in service industries
few countries in Oceania are large enough to support any service industries but tourism
Nauru has begun to attract international banking & investment companies
Tourism (page 836)
• the expansion of air travel has boosted tourism in Australia & Oceania
• South Pacific attractions include unique wildlife, geographic features (rain forests, geysers, glaciers, beaches, reefs), and indigenous cultures
Global Trade Links (page 836)
• modern transportation & communications have increased South Pacific trade
countries in Oceania export copra, timber & wood products, fish, vegetables, and crafts
spices (such as black pepper, ginger, vanilla) are exported all over the world
many South Pacific islands must import food to supplement subsistence farming
• for most of the 1900s, Australia & NZ traded almost exclusively with the UK & USA
recently, they have increased trade with Japan, Taiwan, and China
b/c of limited natural resources, some South Pacific islands are dependent upon outside investment or foreign aid
Transportation and CommunicationsLand Travel (page 836)
• Australia & NZ have the region’s best road & rail systems
• the coastal areas have well-maintained highways & subway systems are found in major urban areas
• few roads are found in the isolated Outback
Air and Water Travel (page 837)
• cargo ships & planes move imports & exports to and from remote Pacific territories
commercial airlines & cruise ships bring tourists
• water & air also provide personal transportation
pacific islanders began
using outrigger canoes
thousands of years ago
icebreakers, ships with
reinforced bows, carry
people & supplies to Antarctica
in Australia’s Outback almost
every station or farm has at
least one plane
ranchers often use helicopters
to herd cattle over thousands
of acres
Communications (page 837)
• modern technology has helped increase contacts within Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica and with the rest of the world
some Australian cattle stations are large enough for their own post office & telephone exchanges
Chapter 34Australia, Oceania, and
Antarctica Today
Section 2“People and Their Environment”
(pages 838-841)
Managing Resources (pages 838-841)• the rich & diverse natural resources of
Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica have not always been well-managed
Australia’s Unusual Animals (page 839)• kangaroos, koalas, and wallabies are some of
Australia’s 144 species of marsupials: mammals whose young must mature in a pouch after they are born
koala wallaby
kangaroo
• the Australian island of Tasmania
gave its name to the Tasmanian
devil, a powerful meat-eating
marsupial about the size of a badger
• the strangest Australian wildlife may be the duck-billed platypus and the echidna, a spiny anteater-the only mammals that lay eggs
Duck-billed
platypus
echidna
• introduced species: nonnative animals introduced by humans threaten Australia’s unusual wildlife
these species include hunting dogs (called dingoes) sheep, cattle, foxes, cats, and rabbits
these animals have multiplied & taken over habitats of native wildlife
• some of Australia’s native species have become extinct & 16 kinds of marsupials are endangered
Forest, Soil, and Water (pages 839-840)• in Australia many woodlands have been
cleared for farms & grazing (=wind erosion)
soil conservation is linked to deforestation
countries with valuable timber resources include New Zealand and New Guinea
• drought, irrigation, and agricultural runoff threaten Australia’s freshwater sources
in the fertile Murray-Darling River Basin, the use of water agriculture & growing city populations has reduced the river’s flow
• in Oceania, agricultural runoff & inadequate sanitation cause pollution that threatens limited freshwater supplies on the small islands
the lack of clean drinking water keeps the standard of living low
• agricultural runoff, chemical fertilizers, and organic waste also threaten South Pacific oceans
toxic waste endangers the Great Barrier Reef & other Pacific coral reefs; tourists, boaters, and divers also stress the reefs
• pollution also effects marine life, including the tiny organisms that make up coral reefs
algae & plankton are key parts of the ocean’s food web: the interlinking chains of predators and their food sources in an ecosystem
as these things are destroyed, the larger plants & animals that rely on them for food also die off
The Nuclear Legacy (pages 84-841)• in the late 1940s and 1950s, the USA & other
countries with nuclear capability carried out aboveground testing of weapons in the South Pacific
in early 1954 the USA exploded a nuclear bomb (code name Castle Bravo) on Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Castle Bravo was about 1,000 times more powerful than each of the atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.
• the residents of Bikini Atoll had been moved, but those living nearby on Rongelap Atoll, which was downwind, were exposed to massive radiation (a Japanese fishing boat & US soldiers were also contaminated)
the explosion was 15 megatons (expected to be 4-6 megatons)
Atmosphere and Climate (page 841)• in the 1970s, scientists found a hole in the
ozone layer over Antarctica
• ozone layer: protective gases that prevent harmful solar rays from reaching the earth’s surface
• from 1975-1993, the ozone hole grew to cover more than 9 million square miles
in 1989, a similar ozone hole developed over the Arctic
• the loss of protective ozone may be behind the global rise in the rates of skin cancer and cataracts (caused by overexposure to UV rays)
increased solar radiation through the ozone hole could also lead to global warming
• climate & weather in the South Pacific are affected by El Nino-Southern Oscillation
causes droughts in Australia & powerful cyclones in the South Pacific
• these weather patterns are increasing in frequency & severity and may be linked to global warming
• global warming could be devastating for the South Pacific
if polar ice caps were to melt, many of Oceania’s islands would be flooded
rising ocean temps causes overgrowth of plankton & algae that grow in warm waters, choking out other life-forms
• diatoms: plankton that flourish in cold ocean waters would die if ocean temps rose, negatively affecting life-forms that feed on them