1. Unit 4: Europe
Physical Geography

2. Landforms and Resources

3. Peninsulas and Islands
Northern Peninsulas
Scandinavian Peninsula: Norway and Sweden
Carved out by glaciers
Fjords-steep valleys that connect to the sea
Jutland Peninsula: Denmark and a little bit of Germany

4. Peninsulas and Islands
Southern Peninsulas
Iberian Peninsula: Spain and Portugal
Italian Peninsula
Balkan Peninsula
Islands:
Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland

5. Mountains and Uplands
Mountain Chains
Alps
Pyrenees
Apennine
Balkan

6. Mountains and Uplands Uplands
Hills, low mountains, contain ancient mountain ranges
Meseta
Massif Central

7. Rivers Used to transport goods and people
Danube and Rhine have been a highway for centuries
Historically, these rivers have connected Europe to other parts of the world

8. Plains Northern European Plain stretches across:
France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Poland.
Great agricultural area
Has been a detriment in the past due to it being easy to invade

9. Resources Energy Agricultural Land Oil and natural gas North Sea
33% is suitable for agriculture
Grains
Grapes
Olives
Cork
Timber

10. Climate and Vegetation

11. Westerly Winds Marine West Coast Climate
North Atlantic Drift-current of war water from the tropics, flows near west coast
Westerlies (wind) blow west to east, pick up warmth from North Atlantic Drift and carry it over Europe

12. Conditions Inland
Westerlies do not benefit those living farther inland
Sweden, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary have a humid continental climate
Cold, snowy winters
Warm, hot summers

13. Mediterranean Southern Spain through Italy and Greece
Summers are hot and dry, little rainfall
Winters are moderate, rainy
Mistral-cold, dry wind from the north
Sirocco-hot, steady wind from the south

14. Land of the Midnight Sun
Along the Arctic Circle
Tundra climate
Winter nights are extremely long, but so are summer days
Sometimes in winter: sun never rises
Sometimes in summer: sun never sets

15. Human-Environment Interaction

16. Polders Land reclaimed by diking and draining
Because Dutch needed more land for growing, they reclaimed land from the sea

17. Polders
Seaworks-structures used to control sea’s destructive impact on humans
Dikes-hold water back
Terpen-earthen platforms, used as a way to go for safety if there was flooding

18. Polders Zuider Zee Arm of the North Sea, now a freshwater lake
Ijsselmeer
Land around the lake was drained, creating more polders and hundreds of sq. miles of land

19. Waterways as Highways Venice, Italy and the Canal System
Originally the city was created for those escaping invasion
On the Adriatic Sea, so good for a shipping port

20. Waterways as Highways Building the city:
Required unique building strategies: sinking pilings to help support the structures above
Weight of buildings is actually causing the city to slowly sink

21. Deforestation
Humans have destroyed and damaged much of Europe’s forests due to expansion and other factors
Acid rain and other pollutants are harming the remaining forests