L 1 - Physical Geography

East Asia includes counties of

China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan

East Asia is similar in latitude to

North America

5 of 6 major climate types found in this region except for

Tundra

The entire region heavily populated except

desertous regions in the north and highland region of Tibetan Plateau in the west

One of earliest civilizations was

North China Plain

Yellow River Civilization

emerged in the north China Plain around the Huang He River

Loess Plateau of China

provided soil fertility that made these civilizations possible

however, the area suffered major erosion because of deforestation, overuse, etc. Huang He River flows through this region

Loess

a fine, silty, wind-deposited soil that is fertile, but very easily eroded if not covered by vegetation

Deforestation

major cause of flooding

hill slopes become denuded when the trees are cut down for firewood

then, soil erodes off of them down into the rivers

Denuded Hills

heavily eroded hills where the topsoil has been washed away by rainfall

Desertification

can occur because of natural climate warming, but also because of overuse of agricultural land in drier areas, over-use of water for irrigation, deforestation, etc.

overuse is the main cause of this in places like the loess plateau in China

Great Green Wall

large tree planting projects meant as windbreaks to stop the spread of the Gobi Desert and to provide fuel for burning

Archipelago

a group of closely clustered islands like Japan

Mt. Fuji

the largest volcanic peak in Japan and one of tallest peaks in the world

Anthropogenic Landscape

a landscape completely altered in every meaningful way by human activity

if you can see no vestige of real ‘natural’ nature, a landscape is blank

literally, ‘human created’