*Chapter 13: Europe Today

*Section 1: Living In Europe

Terms to Know:

*European Union (EU)

*Maastricht Treaty

*Heavy industry

*Light industry

*Mixed farming

*Farm cooperative

*Collective farm

*State farm

*Genetically modified food

*Organic farming

*Changing Economies

*Economies – diverse and changing

*World’s major manufacturing & trading regions

*European Union (EU) unites western Europe into one trading community

*Greater volume of trade than any single country in world

*Former communist countries of eastern Europe – building free market economies

*The European Union

*European unity – western Europe struggled to rebuild after WWII

*1950 – France proposed closer links among Europe’s coal and steel industries

*1st step toward united Europe

*More steps taken

*1990s – agree that goal could be reached

*1992 – European governments met in Maastricht (Netherlands)

*Signed Maastricht Treaty

*Set up European Union (EU)

*The European Union

*Set up European Union (EU)

*Aimed to make Europe’s economies competitive with rest of world

*No more restrictions on movement of goods, services and people across members’ boarders

*Single European currency, central bank and common foreign policy

*Worked to boost trade and economies more efficient/productive

*Control government spending for social welfare programs

*Europeans – oppose scaling down welfare state

*Believe step would increase hardships on people during times of rising unemployment

*Extend membership to include additional countries (eastern Europe)

*Eastern Europe

*40 years after WWII – communist governments ran command economies of eastern Europe

*Loyal to Soviet Union

*Government planners made decisions about goods to produce and how to produce

*Employed more workers and managers then needed

*Factories lacked modern technology

*Fall of communism – 1989

*Moving away from command economies to market economies

*Overcome outdated equipment and inefficient production methods

*Retrain laid-off workers

*Lost social “safety net” – provided by communist system

*Free health care, child care, lifetime jobs et al

*Result: death rates high for newborns

*Life expectancy declined

*Adjusting to new way of life

*Industry

*Industrial revolution = birthplace of modern industry

*Large-scale manufacturing centers across Europe

*Produce from computers to cell phones

*Transportation equipment to packaged goods

*Manufacturing

*Development of industry – supply of raw materials

*1800s – large deposits of coal and iron ore

*Led to heavy industry – manufacture of machinery and industrial equipment

*Today – industrial centers are:

*Germany: Ruhr & Middle Rhine districts

*France: Lorraine-Saar district

* Italy – Po basin

*Poland – Upper Silesia-Moravia district

*Vast mineral deposits – U.K., France, Germany

*Leaders in manufacturing

*Light industry – making textiles or processing food

*Countries lacking industrial raw materials

*Netherlands & Denmark

*Service & Technology Industries

*Employ large percentage of workforce

*60% of workers in western Europe

*Top service industries – international banking & insurance

*Switzerland & U.K.

*Belgium – HQ for lots of international companies

*Tourism – large service industry

*Esp. United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland

*High-tech industries – growing part of western Europe

*Ireland – leading manufacturer of computer products & software

*Agriculture

*Has fertile farmland

*Earn living from farming – more than any other single economic activity

*% of farmers in country varies widely

*50% Albania’s workers

*U.K. (industrialized) – 2%

*Crops vary from area to area

*Warm Mediterranean – olives, citrus fruits, dates and grapes

*Cooler plains region – wheat, rye and other grains plus livestock

*Denmark & Netherlands (Northern countries) – dairy products

*Scandinavian – supply fish

*Farming Techniques

*Western Europe

*Use advanced technology to make use of limited agricultural space

*Mixed farming – raise several kinds of crops and livestock on same farm

*Most farmers own land – average farm 30 acres

*Denmark – farm cooperatives

*Organizations in which farmers share in growing and selling products

*Reduce costs and increase profits

*Farming Techniques

*Eastern Europe

*Changes to farming – after fall of communism

*Communism – farmers worked on government-owned collective farms

* Received wages plus share of products and profits

*State farms – not sharing in profits by getting wages like factory workers

*Outdated equipment and lack of incentive – low crop yield

*Move to democracy – private ownership of land and food production risen

*Expected to increase yields and profits

*Use modern equipment and fertilizers

*Agricultural Issues

*New farming methods – many criticize

*Genetically modified foods – foods with genes altered to make them grow bigger/faster or more resistant to pests

*Con: safety of food not known

*Consumers avoid foods grown with toxic chemicals to control insects/weeds

*Organic farming – using natural substances instead of fertilizers and chemicals to increase crop yields

*Agricultural Issues

*Western Europe - Livestock crisis

*2001 – outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in UK

*Highly contagious among animals, harmless to humans

*Thousands of animals had to be killed

*Country’s livestock industry crippled

*Crossed to European continent

*Consumer panic – plummeting beef sales

*U.S. and other countries banned imports of animals, meat and milk from Europe

*Transportation and

Communications

*Network of highways, railroads, waterways and airline routes – best in world

*Modern communication systems – link most parts of Europe to rest of world

*Most transportation and communications system are government owned

*Standards and performance vary from one country to another

*Eastern Europe – improve less advanced transportation and communications systems to match quality of those in western Europe

*Railways and Highways

*Railroads – move freight and passengers

* Connect region’s major cities and airports as well as link natural resources to major industrial centers

* Provide easy access to downtown and suburban areas

*Bridges and tunnels carry traffic over/through barriers

* I.e. water, mountains, valleys

* Denmark & Sweden in 2000 – opened rail and road bridge

* Links Sweden to western Europe

* 1st time since Ice Age

* 1981 – France – high speed train

*Trains a grand vitesse (TGVs) “very fast trains”

* Fastest train in world

* Less damage to environment

* More economical than airline travel

*Other high speed lines in Germany, Italy and Spain

*Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) – high speed rail triangle linking Paris, Brussels and London

* Passes beneath English Channel

*Railways and Highways

*Highway system links Europe’s major cities

*Autobahnen – Germany’s four lane super-highways

*Among Europe's best roads

*Highest number of auto owners in world except for U.S.

*Other methods of transportation?

*Bicycles and motorcycles

*Seaports and Waterways

*Long coastline – seafaring tradition

*Handles more than ½ world’s international shipping at busy ports

*Major ports:

*London, England

*Antwerp, Belgium

*Genoa, Italy

*Le Havre & Marseille, France

*Odessa, Ukraine

*Gdansk, Poland

*Rotterdam, Netherlands – world’s largest port in:

*Surface area

*Amount of freight handled

*Number of ships docked at one time

*Seaports and Waterways

*Many navigable rivers and human-built canals:

*Rhine River & tributaries

*Carry more freight than any other river system in Europe

*Provides access to the North Sea for five European countries

*Kiel Canal – cuts across southern Denmark

*Shortens route between North Sea and Baltic Sea

*Main-Danube Canal – Germany

*Links hundreds of inland ports between North Sea and Black Sea

*Communication Links

*Bring information and programming to Europe

*International Telecommunications Satellite Organization

*Uses communication satellites (INTELSATs) to broadcast & receive television programs

*Eurovision network – links most of western Europe and Intervision network operates in eastern Europe

*Two networks sometimes exchange programming

*Communication Links

*Telephone & print media – vary throughout Europe

*High-quality telephone service not available in eastern Europe but available in western Europe

*Western Europe telephone systems:

*Extensive cable & microwave radio relay

*Fiber optics

*Satellite systems

*Western Europeans – lots use cell phones, e-mail and internet

*Government censorship of printed materials in eastern Europe

*Ended as democracy grows

*Section 2: People and Their

Environment

Terms to Know

Dry farming

Acid rain

Meltwater

Acid deposition

Environmentalist

Greenhouse effect

Global warming

Biologist

*Humans & Environment

*Face challenges posed by physical environment

*S. Europe – 40 million years ago

*Two tectonic plates collided

*Mountain ranges formed: Alps and Apennines

*Earthquakes occur frequently in: Italy, Greece and Macedonia

*Tectonic changes still taking place, earthquakes may follow

*Affect and affected by environment

*Low rainfall – S. Europe

*Meseta (Spain) – very arid, streams dry up, ground scorched, drought common

*Dry farming in area

*Way of farming in dry areas that produces crops without any irrigation and relies on farming methods that conserve soil moisture

*Delta Project

*NW Europe – violent Atlantic and North Sea storms

*Batter countries that border sea

* i.e. Netherlands and Denmark

*Sea travel hazardous along coasts

*1953 – severe Atlantic storm & North Sea heavy spring tide

*Flooded SW corner of Netherlands

*Killed 1,800 people

*Next 30 years – Dutch engineers carried out Delta Plan

*Project aimed to prevent severe flooding

*Dams and dikes built to seal off and protect Netherlands’ SW coast

*Floods

*Heavy rains lashed much of Europe

*Caused widespread floods and mudslides

*Extreme weather led to loss of life, property damage and disruption of transportation networks

*Why? Some scientists say….

*Natural climate cycle

*Global warming

*Pollution

*Europe’s high concentration of industry and population – devastating impact on land, air and water

* i.e. “black triangle” – central Europe – heavily industrialized area in Poland, eastern Germany and Czech Republic

*Soot covers ground, air smells like sulfur from smokestacks

*Before 1989 – eastern Europe – no laws to control pollution

*Communist emphasis on rapid industrial growth

*Pollution of air, water, soil increased

*Resulted in – harming public health

*Today – efforts to clean environment

*Too little, too late?

*Western Europe – serious environmental damage from dumping of industrial wastes in air and water

*EU – requires environmental protection and cleanup from members

*Acid Rain

*1960s – industries built high smokestacks to carry pollution away from industrial sites

*Worked locally but pollution from others drifted across national borders

*Pollution contained acid-producing chemicals

*Combined with moisture in air – created acid rain

*Effects – eastern Europe – severe

*Why? Lignite coal (brown coal) still main fuel source

*Found close to earth’s surface – cost of production low

*Burns inefficiently and pollutes heavily

*Result: acid rain ravaged 35 % of Hungary’s forests, 82% of Poland’s and 73% in Czech Republic and Slovakia

*Acid Rain

*Not limited to forests – falls on lakes and rivers

*Winter – snow carries industrial pollution to ground

*Spring – meltwater (result of melting snow and ice) carries acid into lakes and rivers

*Acid concentration builds – fish and aquatic life die

*20% of Sweden’s lakes have no fish

*1/3 rivers in Czech Republic and ½ in Slovakia – can not support aquatic life

*Acid Rain

*Auto exhaust – adds acid forming compounds to air

*Acid deposition – wet or dry acid pollution that falls to ground

*Harms natural environment and historic buildings

*Damage from acid deposition have hurt:

*Acropolis – Athens

*Tower of London – England

*Cologne Cathedral - Germany

*Air Pollution

*Traffic exhaust & industrial fumes – cause eye irritations and asthma

*Netherlands – people drive greatest number of cars per square mile in Europe

*High levels of air pollution – affect public health

*2000 – Swiss researches est. pollution from autos and trucks responsible for 6% of all deaths across Austria, France and Switzerland

*Eastern Europe – communist built factories – belch soot, sulfur and carbon dioxide into air

*Result? Poland, Romania and Czech Republic among world’s most polluted countries

*Life expectancy lower in area

*Cancer rates and birth defect rates – higher in area

*Air Pollution

*Air quality – global consequences

*Environmentalists: people concerned with quality of environment

*Studying effects of increased carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere

*Gases trap sun’s heat near earth’s surface and create greenhouse effect

*w/o greenhouse effect – earth so cold that oceans would freeze

*Burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) – raised amounts of carbon dioxide in atmosphere

*Increased greenhouse effect

*May cause earth’s average temp. to rise 2.5 to 10.4 degrees (F) by 2100

*Known as global warming

*Air Pollution

*Global Warming:

*Warmer global climate – melt polar ice caps and mountain glaciers

*Cause oceans to submerge coastal areas

*Weather patterns might change

*New extremes of rainfall and drought

*Global warming – big problem – but governments give less attention

*Combat with international cooperation

*Water Pollution

*Mostly in Mediterranean Sea

*Used for transportation and recreation

*Also used for waste disposal, dump sewage, garbage and industrial waste

*Past – bacteria in sea broke down most waste

*Now – growing population and tourism increased environmental problems

*Small tides & weak currents – keep pollution where people place it

*Mediterranean Sea – open to Atlantic at narrow Strait of Gibraltar

*Century to renew completely

*Water Pollution

*Contaminates marine and animal life

*Creates health hazards for people

*Mediterranean – overfished and cannot provide as did in past

*Small schools of tuna enter from Atlantic; disease claimed monk seals

*Seaweed and shellfish compete with foreign species carried by ships

*Affects rivers and lakes

*Danube River – affected by agricultural runoff

*Fertilizers enter river – encourage algae growth

*Algae – rob river of oxygen and fish cannot survive

*Water Pollution

*Raw sewage – dumped into rivers

*Warsaw – ½ of sewage treated

*Other ½ released untreated into Vistula River

*Western Europe – industries deposit wastes into Meuse and Rhine Rivers

*Eventually flow into North Sea

*Pollution levels – Netherlands to Denmark – doubled over last years