1. Climate, Vegetation and Human Environment Interaction Latin America

2. Varied Climate Climate is affected by three different things 1)The vast size of Latin America 2)Large changes in elevation across the continent 3)Warm currents from the Atlantic and Cold currents from the Pacific

3. Tropical Wet Rain Forests- form a distinct ecosystem, or a community of plants and animals, within Latin America (Amazon Rain Forest) More than 2 million square miles More than 2500 different types of trees and a vast amount of unique animals (anacondas, jaguars, piranhas)

4. Dry Climate Zones Semiarid- Dry areas with some rain. Mostly the grass covered plains of areas like Argentina and Uruguay Desert- Found in Northern Mexico, Peru Atacama Desert- Chile Argentina’s southern zone, Patagonia, also contains a desert.

5. Other climates Humid Subtropical- Buenos Aires, Argentina Mediterranean- Parts of Chile Marine West Coast- Parts of Argentina Highlands-Areas near the mountains

6. Slash and Burn Cutting trees, brush and grass and burning the debris. Provides nutrients to soil, but soil can become exhausted and overused Occurring in the Amazon

7. Terraced Farming Growing crops on hillsides or mountains slopes Used by the Incas in Peru and the Aztecs in Mexico

8. Urbanization Argentina, Chile and Uruguay have become very urbanized Large cities include –Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil –Buenos Aires, Argentina –Lima, Peru

9. Tourism Has become a dominant business in Latin America Problems with congestion and pollution have occurred because of this Many governments have run-up large debts trying to build resorts Income gap between the tourists and residents within the country