Southeast Asia: Climate, Cyclones and Agriculture

• The monsoon causes wet and dry conditions in most parts of Southeast Asia, with tropical rain belts adding rainfall.
• Seasonal changes are associated with rainfall and rarely with temperature in the region.

Cyclones

• Cyclones (hurricanes) can be very destructive to densely populated coastal areas.
• Storm surges, which are rising sea levels, cause flooding along the coast.

Work and Agriculture

• Southeast Asia was essential to the world trade system before European contact.
• Spices like pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger developed in the region.
• Agriculture is the main activity in most Southeast Asian countries except Singapore and Brunei.
• Over 60% of Laos and Cambodia's workforce is employed in agriculture.
• Rice, cassava, corn, and pulses are the main crops.

Mainland and Maritime Southeast Asia

• The mainland is characterized by mountain ranges separated by river deltas and valleys.
• The Tian Shan mountain range extends from China to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
• Maritime Southeast Asia, also known as Nusantara, the East Indies, or the Malay Archipelago, includes the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, Indonesia, East Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
• Maritime Southeast Asia is characterized by island chains.
• The Indonesian Archipelago is the world's largest archipelago and is volcanically active.

Climate

• All of Southeast Asia experiences a warm, humid tropical climate characterized by monsoons and plenty of rainfall.
• Mountainous regions of Myanmar and Laos, as well as Northern Vietnam, experience a subtropical climate.
• The region receives at least 1,500 mm of rainfall annually, with mainland areas getting the bulk between May and September due to southwest monsoons.
• Most of the region's average annual temperature is close to 80 °F, except for northern Vietnam.

General Information about Asia

• Asia is the largest continent, covering about 30% of the land on Earth.
• The Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world
• It consists of the countries of Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Approximately 2,300 different languages are spoken in Asia.
• The Asian population is about 60% of the world's population (as of 2019).

Southeast Asia Geography

• Southeast Asia consists of islands, peninsulas, and coastal areas, lying within the tropics.
• The region was once heavily forested, but great cities have emerged.
• Southeast Asia is one of the power houses of the modern world along with China.
• Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia.
• The landscape features many volcanoes and high mountains.
• The Philippines is another island nation where typhoons are sometimes a hazard.
• Southeast Asia sits on two fault lines, making it prone to tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
• Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as Indochina, includes Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Logging

• Global demand for wood and paper has encouraged people to cut down trees.
• Loggers sometimes remove special trees (e.g., teak), which destroys the forest.

Roads and Mines

• More remote areas are becoming accessible by roads and highways.
• Mining has polluted land in some places.
• Dams have flooded large areas.

Importance of Rainforests

• People are realizing they are losing a unique habitat as the rainforest is cleared.
• Once the rainforest is lost, it is lost forever.

Issues with Rainforest Destruction

• Many plants and animals in the Amazon are becoming extinct before they can be studied,
• People who live in the Amazon are losing their homes as trees are cut down.
• Trees in the Amazon put water into the air from their leaves, and cutting down too many could cause climate change.

Amazon River and Rainforest

• The Amazon River is over 6,400 km long, rising in the Andes and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, with many tributaries.
• The river basin covers a large part of South America with around 1,100 tributaries.
• The Amazon is on the Equator and has a wet and warm climate.
• A vast variety of plants, animals, and insects has developed over thousands of years.
• About 10% of the world's living species are found in Amazonia, with native Indian communities.

Data about Amazonia:

• Amazonia is nearly the same size as Europe.
• There are about 400 tribes in the Amazon, each with its own language, culture, and land.
• About three-quarters of the food we eat originally came from the rainforests, including rice, bananas, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Reasons for Clearing the Rainforest

• Soybean farming now covers 8 million hectares of Amazonia, used for food for humans and cattle.
• Land is cleared to grow soybeans.
• More people want to eat meat which is encouraging people to clear the rainforest to make grassland for cattle raising.