Geography 11-1-2018
Today s Chunks of Learning: Chunk 1 Patterns of Globalization in Central and South America (continued). Chunk 2 Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Chunk 1: These countries have struggled with high technology, communication, energy, and transportation costs and have had difficulty developing in a way that doesn t harm their fragile ecosystems.
The island nations of the Caribbean are referred to as Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
In the Caribbean, the SIDS have formed the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, aimed at promoting economic integration and cooperation among its member countries.
Some countries, particularly those in the Caribbean, have advanced their economies through offshore banking.
Offshore banks are located outside a depositor s country of residence and offer increased privacy and little or no taxation.
When the wealthy utilize offshore banks, they can thus avoid paying taxes on income that would be otherwise taxable in their home country.
The Cayman Islands is one of the world s leading offshore banking locations.
Around $1.5 trillion in wealth is held in the Cayman Islands and the British territory has branches for 40 of the 50 largest banks in the world.
How does offshore banking work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46w5msk-nbk
As countries throughout Middle and South America have increased their development, there have been some significant environmental concerns, particularly deforestation.
When urban areas expand, forests are often cleared to make room for new housing and industry.
As agricultural lands expand and commercialize to feed growing populations and produce crops for export, it often leads to deforestation.
Around 75 percent of Nicaragua s forests have been cut down and converted to pasture land.
The Amazon rainforest, which amazingly holds around 10 percent of the entire world s known biodiversity, is down to around 80 percent of its size in 1970.
Deforestation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ijzcxcmsfw
Despite attempts to grow economically, Central and South America are not as powerful as Europe, North America and East Asia.
Some argue that it is to the advantage of countries like the United States to keep this region in the periphery, as it allows them to import cheap products.
Dependency Theory says that resources flow from the periphery to the core, and thus globalization and inequality are linked in the current world system.
Chunk 2: Our new and last unit Sub Saharan Africa!
Physical Geography of Africa. The Basics. Africa is considered the cradle of humankind.
The Basics. What does this mean: cradle of humankind. Let me show you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skofpzcodqc
The Basics. Our early ancestors, homo erectus, meaning upright man, first walked in East Africa between one and two million years ago.
The Basics. From Africa, humans moved into the rest of the planet.
The Basics. Africa is the second-largest continent after Asia.
The Basics. It is the only continent that is crossed by both the Tropic of Cancer, located 23 degrees north of the Equator, and the Tropic of Capricorn, located 23 degrees south of the Equator.
The Basics. These tropics are areas of high atmospheric pressure creating dry conditions.
The Basics. The Sahara Desert lies along the Tropic of Cancer in the north.
The Basics. The Namib Desert is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn in the south.
The Basics. The Sahara Desert stretches across much of northern Africa creating a formidable barrier and dividing Africa between a Muslim, Arab North and traditional African cultural groups in the south.