Transcript Chapter 34

Living in Australia, Oceania and
Antarctica
Chapter 34-1 Objectives
• 1. Describe how people in Australia, New
Zealand and Oceania make their living.
• 2. Discuss the role that trade plays in the
economics of South Pacific countries.
• 3. Identify the means of transportation and
communication that are used in the region.
Agriculture
• The most important economic activity in
the South Pacific is agriculture.
• Australia and New Zealand export large
amounts of farm products.
• Australia is the world’s leading producer of
wool.
• 5% of Australians work in agriculture.
• Most of the land is used to raise livestock.
• The dry climate forces ranchers to roam
over large areas to find enough vegetation
for the livestock herds.
• Some Australians ranches, called stations,
are as large as 6000 square miles.
• Because of the dry climate, only 10% of
the land can support crops.
• New Zealand uses about half of its land for
agriculture.
• New Zealand ranchers, known as grazers,
raise sheep, beef and dairy cattle.
• New Zealand’s fertile soil supports wheat,
barley, potatoes and fruits such as kiwi.
Kiwi Fruit
Kiwi Bird
• Much of Oceania lacks soil suitable for
farming.
• Most island farmers practice subsistence
farming.
• Many South Pacific people fish for food.
• Copra, or dried coconut meat, is a major
South Pacific cash crop.
Copra – dried coconut meat
Mining and Manufacturing
• Australia is a leading exporter of
diamonds, gold, opals and iron ore.
• There are two obstacles to mining in
Australia.
• Transportation costs are high.
• There are limits on where mining can
occur because of conflicts over Aboriginal
land rights.
Opals
• New Zealand has a large aluminum
industry.
• Antarctica has large mineral deposits, but
mining is prohibited by an agreement
signed by 44 countries in 1991.
• The most industrialized countries in the
South Pacific region are Australia and
New Zealand.
• Because agriculture is important in these
two countries, food processing is the most
important manufacturing activity.
Service Industries
• Most people in Australia and New Zealand
work in service industries.
• The expansion of air travel has boosted
tourism throughout the region.
Global Trade Links
• Most South Pacific countries export mining
products.
• Spices are a major export of Oceania.
• Many South Pacific countries import food
to supplement their subsistence crops.
Transportation/Communication
• Physical barriers, harsh climates and long
distances make land travel difficult in the
region.
• Cargo ships and planes move imports and
exports.
• Pacific islanders use outrigger canoes.
• In Antarctica, ships with reinforced bows
are used for breaking ice.
Outrigger Canoe
• Modern technology has increased
contacts within Australia, Oceania and
Antarctica and with the rest of the world.
• New technologies such as cellular, digital
and satellite communications and the
internet are common in developing areas.
Key Points
• Manufacturing in Australia and New
Zealand centers on food processing, and
the rest of the region engages in smallscale production of clothing and crafts.
People and Their Environment
Chapter 34, Sec. 2
Managing Resources
• Australia, Oceania and Antarctica have
some of the earth’s richest and most
diverse natural resources.
• Sometimes these resources have been
mismanaged.
• As a result, the region faces many
environmental challenges.
• Australia has many unique animal species,
including 144 kinds of marsupials.
• These are mammals such as kangaroos or
koalas whose babies live in a pouch until
they mature.
• Native animals have been threatened by
introduced species, or nonnative animals
that have been brought to the continent by
humans.
• The introduced species have taken over
natural habitats of many of Australia’s
native species.
• Some native species have become extinct
and others are endangered.
Marsupials – Koala
Wombat
Kangaroos
Blue Fairy Penguins
Wallaby
Dingo
Dingo Pup
Tree Frog
Tree Kangaroos
Cane Toads
• The protection of forest, soil and
freshwater resources is another
environmental concern in the region.
• In Australia, woodlands have been cleared
for farms and grazing lands.
• This deforestation causes soil erosion.
• Countries in the region, such as New
Zealand and Papua New Guinea, are
finding ways to harvest the valuable
timber resources without damaging the
environment.
• Drought, salt, irrigation and agricultural
runoff threaten freshwater sources in
Australia and Oceania.
• Lack of clean water keeps the standard of
living low in some countries.
• Toxic wastes, tourists, boaters, divers and
oil-shale mining endangers sea life in the
Great Barrier Reef and other coral reefs.
• Algae and plankton are key parts of the
ocean’s food web, an interlinking chain of
predators and their food sources in the
ecosystem.
• As the tiny food sources die, so do the
larger plants and animals that eat them.
Nuclear Weapons
• In the late 1940s and 50s, the U.S. and
other countries tested nuclear weapons in
the South Pacific region.
• This testing has caused radiation
exposure and environmental damage to
the region, leading to people’s deaths,
illness and genetic damage.
• In the 1990s the U.S. gave money to the
region to help clean up the environment.
Atmosphere and Climate
• Australia, Oceania and Antarctica face
challenges with atmosphere and climate
changes.
• There is a hole in the ozone layer of the
atmosphere over Antarctica.
• The ozone layer has protective gases that
prevent harmful solar rays from reaching
the earth’s surface.
• The loss of the protective ozone shield can
cause overexposure to the sun’s ultraviolet
rays.
• This overexposure can lead to skin cancer
and cataracts in the eyes.
• It can also contribute to global warming.
• Global warming may cause an increase in
the occurrence of El Niño.
• El Niño – climate change that is usually
caused by warm waters off the coast of
South America.
• Some scientists claim that global warming
could cause polar ice caps to melt and
warm ocean waters to expand.
• If this happens, many of Oceania’s islands
would be flooded by rising ocean levels.
• Rising ocean temperatures could cause
the overgrowth of certain types of algae
and plankton.
• It could also cause the death of diatoms,
plankton that grow in cold ocean waters.
Diatoms
End of Slide Show