Chapter 13: Europe Today

1. Chapter 13: Europe Today

2. 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 Section 1: Living In Europe

3. 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 Changing Economies

4. 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

5. 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) The European Union

6. 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lacked modern technology • Fall of communism – 1989 • Moving away from command economies to market economies • Overcome outdated equipment and inefficient production methods • Retrain laid-off workers • Lost social “safety net” – provided by communist system • Free health care, child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 Eastern Europe

7. Industrial revolution = birthplace of modern industry • Large-scale manufacturing centers across Europe • Produce from computers to cell phones • Transportation equipment to packaged goods Industry

8. 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 Manufacturing

9. 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 Service & Technology Industries

10. 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 Agriculture

11. 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

12. 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 Farming Techniques

13. 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

14. 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 Agricultural Issues

15. 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 Transportation and Communications

16. 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

17. 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 Railways and Highways

18. 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

19. 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 Seaports and Waterways

20. 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

21. 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 Communication Links

22. Terms to Know Dry farming Acid rain Meltwater Acid deposition Environmentalist Greenhouse effect Global warming Biologist Section 2: People and Their Environment

23. 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 Humans & Environment

24. 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 Delta Project

25. 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 Floods

26. 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 Pollution

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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 Acid Rain

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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 Air Pollution

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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 Water Pollution