Ch. 21-2: Climate and Vegetation of SW Asia

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Ch. 21-2 Climate and Vegetation of SW Asia
Objective Identify the impact of the deserts,
oil, and scarce water on SW Asia
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Desert World

• SW Asia is extremely arid
• Fresh water is crucial for survival
• Reduces travel
• Limits interaction

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Desert Limits Movement

• Rub al-Khali is known as the Empty Quarter
• Size of Texas
• Located on the Arabian Peninsula in the South

Map of Empty Quarter (German)
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Vegetation Map of Asia
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Ch. 21-3 Human-Environment Interaction

• Water-the most critical resource
• Dams and irrigation systems
• (Think Aswan High Dam)
• (What happens when a river crosses into another
  country?)
• Drip irrigation

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Oil!

• SW Asia-50 of worlds petroleum reserves
• Stored in pores of rocks NOT in pools under the
  ground

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Transporting Oil

• Unprocessed petroleum is called crude oil
• Pipelines send the crude oil to tankers or to
  refineries
• Refinery-converts crude oil into useful products

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• Oil refinery
• Oil tanker

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• Al-Shaybah oil field, southeastern Saudi Arabia.

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A Different Kind Of Oil Field
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Oil Spills
Beirut, Lebanon