Currently in the Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Region

“‘Substantial’ El Nino event predicted”

It has be reported by Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology that the drought and flooding capabilities of an El Nino effect could happen in the next few months. The storm is not yet fully developed but is expected to have substantial effects on the Australian area. It is predicted that this will happen around September. The full strength of the El Nino will be able to be calculated once it is more fully developed.

Birggs, Helen. (2015).’Substantial’ El Nino event predicted. BBC News: Science – Environment. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32704506

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Major Ecological Issues in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand…Etc.

The Oceania area has a wide variety of issues it faces. One of the most obvious of these problem is over fishing in the area. There is also toxic waster problems from the US Bikini Island nuclear test, which leeks into the ocean and surrounding area.The French Polynesia is especially bad, and has been used for this purpose many times, making the area toxic.

Deforestation is also a problem, as habitants have cleared the forest for farming and herding. Coral reef bleaching also affected many of the diversely populated underwater environments this area holds. There is also a large problem with invasive species, especially in Australia where many settles brought over foreign plant/ animals.

Another notable problem is pollution of trash in the ocean. The pacific area around here holds the ‘great pacific garbage island’ which is not only gross, but threatened the environment and the species the the surrounding waters.

thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch_51eff7d49055a.png

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Political Traits and Gender Roles in Oceania, New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific

Although not much data is known about the political structure of some of the small island chains in the Pacific, most of this region has rather successfully democratic systems in place. New Zealand is supposedly on the of the top 5 democracies in the world, and Australia has a long established democracy as well.

Because nearly all of these countries are rather liberal and democratic, gender roles do not play that big of a part, except for in indigenous tribes that still hold traditional standards (which vary).

http://www.nayler.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/YM-2011-Constitution-Handout-International1.jpg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/democracy-index-2013-economist-intelligence-unit_n_2909619.html

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Cultural Traits in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands

Many of the islands in the Pacific have managed to maintain isolation from the world for a long time, but there is also mass colonialism in this region. Because of this there is a combination of European culture, which is fully dominate in Australian cities, and traditional tribal culture.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Danse_des_femmes_dans_les_iles_Sandwich_(National_Library_of_New_Zealand).jpg

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Language and Religion in Oceania (Etc.)

The most spoken language in the area is English, because of the settlement of Australia by the English. That being said there is an extremely large variance of languages spoken in this region, especially in some of the island chains. A common one is pidgin which is a combination of languages used for trading.

Religion in this region is dominated by Christianity, but there is still heavy number of indigenous religious traditions and practices.

(Language variation just near Papua New Guinea)

http://www.muturzikin.com/cartesoceanie/imagesoceanie/papou1.png

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Climate in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific

The Climate in this region rather large degrees of variance. The islands North of Australia are all tropical in climate, but as you travel south into Australia the climate becomes dry steppes, and then turned into dessert. There is a temperate climate on Australia’s Eastern coast, and in most of New Zealand, which is were most of the population is located.

This region also sees a lot of the same things that South America does, which is a major effect of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and year of ‘El Nino’ in which the climate and moisture is backwards.

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Major Physcial Features of Oceania, New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Islands

This region is a collection of many small islands, a few medium size ones, and the largest land mass of Australia. Major and notable landformations in this region are the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea, the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Victorian Desert, the Great Dividing Range, and King Leopold’s Range all in (or around) Austrailia. There is also the Southern Alps in New Zealand and the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea.

Major rivers include the Murray and the Darling in Australia, and the Clutha in New Zealand.

http://www.ezilon.com/maps/images/Oceania_phy1.gif

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Map

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/islands_oceans_poles/oceania_pol_97.jpg

Currently in Southeast Asia

“Myanmar Rohingya migrants trapped without supplies”

Migrants aboard a boat in Myanmar have called an activist reporting that there is 350 of them trapped on a boat that the whole crew has abandoned. Apparently the crew left them all on the boat after the engine stopped working. They have now been at sea for two months. The local countries of Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia have been cracking down on illegal immigration, and are refusing to help. More than 2,000 migrants have arrived by sea in Indonesia and Malaysia on Sunday and Monday alone. Many boats have also been turned away. It is believed a lot of these migrants are ‘Rohingyas’ which are an ethnic group of Muslims (mostly living in Burma) that are undergoing extreme persecution at the hands of the regime.

No Author. (2015).Myanmar Rohingya migrants trapped without supplies. BBC News: World – Asia. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32718238

Major Ecological Issues in Southeast Asia

One of main continued ecological problems that is seen in this region is the problems surrounding flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. This region is extremely susceptible to these problems and often devastated by them.

Also, they have some serious environmental issues including extreme deforestation, pollution by chemicals in the soil, air pollution from emissions and bad rice production, and problems with slash and burn farming.

A lot of these problems has also had an affect of animal species in the area like the orangutan, which is now endangered.

Pulsipher, L.M. & Pulsipher, A. A. (2014, Jan 6). World Regional Geography Without Subregions: Global Patterns, Local Lives. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.