Which countries have the highest forest cover? Ecological consequences of logging
Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. Find out about other features of the continent and the extreme points of Antarctica in our article.
Land of icy deserts
Antarctica was once called the “Southland” because the continent is the southernmost on the planet. Despite this, the continent is completely covered in ice. The coldest temperatures in the world are observed here. The record was set in 1983, when a temperature of -89 degrees Celsius was recorded.
Sunset and sunrise on the continent can only be observed once a year. In winter it does not rise at all, and the entire continent is plunged into darkness. In summer, the sun always shines, never completely falling below the horizon. It is extremely difficult to live in such conditions, so the only population on the continent are station workers, changing every six months.
Description of the continent Antarctica
The name of the continent is interpreted as “anti-Arctic”, that is, the opposite of the Arctic - North Pole. All extreme points of Antarctica are entirely located in the Southern Hemisphere. Antarctica was discovered in 1820 by Russian navigators Lazarev and Bellingshausen. They began to study the mainland much later, and it received its known name only in 1961.
The area of the continent is 14 million square kilometers. Its glaciers contain about 80% of the world's fresh water. Kilometer-long layers of ice hide the diversity of the continent's topography. In the central part it rises 4 kilometers above sea level and is the highest on the planet. Its mountain folds are a continuation of the South American Andes, and most of the territory is flat.
Extreme points of Antarctica
This cold ground quite distant from other continents. The closest to it is located South America, which is located at a distance of about 1000 meters. The continent is located in polar latitudes Southern Hemisphere. In this regard, all extreme points of Antarctica have one direction and can only be northern. Considering unique features continent, researchers identify only one extreme point - Cape Prime Head.
Unlike most of the mainland, the cape is located in front of the Antarctic Circle. Its coordinates: 63°13" S, 57°00′ E. It belongs to Graham Land - a disputed territory between Argentina and Great Britain. The climate in the Prime Head area is quite mild. In summer, the air can warm up to a temperature of + 10 degrees, so sometimes you can even find plants here.
ANTARCTICA – Answers
No. 1 Geographical dictation.
1. Extreme points of Antarctica. Northern - Antarctic Peninsula
2. Who discovered Antarctica? F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev
3. Area of Antarctica? 14 million km
Youth
to the state
6. Who reached the South Pole? Raoul Amundsen and Robert Scott
2000 m
highest continent of the earth
Mirny, Vostok, Pionerskaya4500 m
Summer
1. GP2. Powerful ice cover, reflecting 90% of heat
3. Lack of clouds, which leads to cooling of the area
No. 2 Fill in what was missing.
Antarctica, like others southern continents, was part of... (Gondwana). In the Western Hemisphere, in the Pacific sector of the continent, during the period of Alpine folding, mountain systems– continuation of the Andes of South America - ... (Antarctic Andes). Here is located highest point- ... (Vinson massif – 5140 m). On the islands in the sea... (Rossa) is active volcano... (Erebus). The most low temperature air on Earth was recorded in the area of the scientific station... (“Vostok” -89.3°C). Average daily temperature in summer - ... (-30°C), in winter - ... (-70°C).
The flora of Antarctic oases - ... (definition) (areas free from ice, and in summer from snow) is represented by mosses, ... (lichens, algae, some types of low grasses).
The coast of Antarctica is home to penguins, ... (petrels, cormorants, skuas, albatrosses).
Animal world ocean waters washing the continent are relatively rich and represented... ( blue whales, sperm whales, killer whales, seals, sea lions, elephant seals). Various minerals have been discovered in the depths of Antarctica: ... ( coal, iron ore, non-ferrous metals, traces of oil and natural gas were found).
ANTARCTICA
No. 1 Geographical dictation.
1. Extreme points of Antarctica.
2. Who discovered Antarctica?
3. Area of Antarctica?
4. The largest scientific station is located on the territory of Antarctica...
5. Antarctica does not belong to anyone...
6. Who reached the South Pole?
7. Average ice thickness...
8. Due to the thickness of the ice, Antarctica turned out to be the most...
9. Polar explorers and scientists Somov and Treshnikov built several scientific stations in Antarctica..., ..., ...
10. Maximum thickness of the ice sheet...
12. What time of year is it now in Antarctica?
13. The ice sheet contains most of all fresh water Earth - ...
14. Why is the climate of Antarctica more severe than the climate of the Arctic? (3 reasons)
No. 2 Fill in what was missing.
The flora of Antarctic oases is ... (definition) represented by mosses, .... Penguins live on the coast of Antarctica, .... The fauna of the oceanic waters washing the continent is relatively rich and represented .... Various minerals have been discovered in the depths of Antarctica: ...
ANTARCTICA
No. 1 Geographical dictation.
1. Extreme points of Antarctica.
2. Who discovered Antarctica?
3. Area of Antarctica?
4. The largest scientific station is located on the territory of Antarctica...
5. Antarctica does not belong to anyone...
6. Who reached the South Pole?
7. Average ice thickness...
8. Due to the thickness of the ice, Antarctica turned out to be the most...
9. Polar explorers and scientists Somov and Treshnikov built several scientific stations in Antarctica..., ..., ...
10. Maximum thickness of the ice sheet...
12. What time of year is it now in Antarctica?
13. The ice sheet contains most of all the fresh water on Earth - ...
14. Why is the climate of Antarctica more severe than the climate of the Arctic? (3 reasons)
No. 2 Fill in what was missing.
Antarctica, like other southern continents, was part of... In the Western Hemisphere, in the Pacific sector of the continent, during the period of Alpine folding, mountain systems were formed - a continuation of the Andes of South America - .... The highest point is located here -…. On the islands in the sea... there is an active volcano.... The lowest air temperature on Earth was recorded in the area of the scientific station.... The average daily temperature in summer is ..., in winter - ....
Forests are a source of structural materials and raw materials that have multiple purposes; source of biological resources.
World forest resources are characterized, first of all, by indicators of forest cover, forest area and standing timber stock.
The forest area indicator reflects the size of the area covered by forests, including per capita. Forest cover shows the ratio of forest area to common territory countries. Standing wood reserves are usually determined by multiplying the average amount of wood (in cubic meters) per 1 m2 by the area occupied by forests.
The total forest area in the world is 4 billion hectares. Largest area forests have been preserved in Eurasia. This is about 40% of all world forests and almost 42% total stock wood, including 2/3 of the volume of wood most valuable species. Australia has the least forest cover. Since the continents vary in size, it is important to consider their forest cover. According to this indicator, South America ranks first in the world. At economic assessment forest resources, such a characteristic as wood reserves is of paramount importance. On this basis, the countries of Asia, South and North America are distinguished. Leading positions in this area are occupied by countries such as Russia, Canada, Brazil and the USA. Bahrain, Qatar, Libya, etc. are characterized by a virtual absence of forests. Most of forested area accounts for the countries Latin America(930 million hectares), CIS (810 million hectares), Africa (720 million hectares), North America (680 million hectares) and foreign Asia (540 million hectares). Here in some places (Asian part of Russia, Canada, tropical countries South and South-East Asia, equatorial Africa, Amazon countries and Central America) forests are located in huge continuous tracts (forest cover is very high and sometimes reaches 75-95%).
IN overseas Europe forests occupy a relatively small area (160 million hectares) and are located mainly in its northern part (France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway). The most wooded of European countries Finland (59%) and Sweden (54%). The forested area of Australia and Oceania is also small - 160 million hectares. This region of the world has the most minimum indicators forest cover of the territory (20%).
The forests of the world form two huge forest belts - northern and southern. The northern forest belt is located in the temperate zone and partly subtropical climate. It accounts for half of all forest areas in the world and almost the same share of all timber reserves. The most forested countries within this belt are Russia, the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. The southern forest belt is located mainly in the tropical and equatorial climate. It also accounts for about half of the world's forests and total timber supply. They are concentrated mainly in three areas: the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia.
IN Lately happens catastrophically quick mixing tropical forests. They are under threat complete destruction. Over the past 200 years, the forest area has decreased by at least 2 times. Every year, forests are destroyed on an area of 125 thousand km 2, which is equal to the territory of countries such as Austria and Switzerland combined. The main causes of forest destruction are: expansion of agricultural land and deforestation for timber use. Forests are being cut down due to the construction of communication lines. The green cover of the tropics is being destroyed most intensively. In the majority developing countries Deforestation is carried out in connection with the use of wood as fuel, and forests are also burned to obtain arable land. Forests in highly developed countries are shrinking and degrading from air and soil pollution. There is a massive drying out of tree tops due to their damage by acid rain. The consequences of deforestation are unfavorable for pastures and arable land. This situation could not go unnoticed. The most developed and at the same time forest-poor countries are already implementing programs to preserve and improve forest lands. Thus, in Japan and Australia, as well as in some Western European countries, the area under forests
remain stable, and depletion of the forest stand is not observed.
The forest has great value for life on Earth, is a source of raw materials in various industries economy (construction, woodworking, hydrolysis, pulp and paper industries, etc.) Wood is widely used both as fuel and in everyday life.
The forests of Russia, the world's leader in reserves (81.6 billion m3 or over 23% of world reserves) and area (771.1 million hectares) of forest resources, cover almost half (45%) of the country's territory. Prevail conifers(larch, pine, spruce, cedar, fir), which account for 82% of all timber reserves in the country, 16% are soft-leaved (aspen, birch, alder) and 2% are hard-leaved (oak and beech) species. Forests are mainly concentrated in the eastern regions - about 80% of their reserves fall to Siberia and Far East. Particularly rich in forests Krasnoyarsk region And Irkutsk region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky territories, Amur region. Forests in these areas are not only large in reserves, but also have high high-quality composition(larch, pine, cedar, rare broad-leaved species).
In the rest of Russia, the European North stands out for its forest resources (the Komi Republic and Karelia, Arkhangelsk and Volgograd regions) and the Urals (Perm and Sverdlovsk region). In all the above-mentioned areas, active forest development is underway. Russia is also ahead of many countries in the world in terms of forest area per capita. This figure here is 3 hectares, while in the world as a whole it is 0.8 hectares, in foreign Europe - 0.3 hectares, in foreign Asia - 0.2 hectares, in Africa - 1.3 hectares, North America- 2.5 hectares, Latin America - 2.2 hectares, Australia and Oceania - 6.4 hectares. Russia also stands out in terms of the size of timber harvesting and transportation.
In Russia, as in countries Northern Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Africa, forests suffer greatly from deforestation (currently, in the world as a whole, the volume of harvesting approximately corresponds to the annual growth of wood -3.6 billion m3) forest fires, acid rain and other phenomena. As a result, the forest area on Earth is decreasing annually (up to 0.6% per year), which creates real threat their complete destruction.