Environmental Geography

Current Issues

N.d. Australia.comWeb. 10 Mar 2013. <http://www.australia.com/about/key-facts/australias-animals.asp&xgt;.

Australia is currently facing multiple environmental issues such as, soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices. Its soil salinity is rising due to the poor use of water quality. Desertification is also a significant problem because the are clearing out the land for agricultural purposes which threatens the natural habitat of many extravagant animal and plant species. In the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast which is the largest coral reef in the world, is being threatened by an increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site.

Physical Geography

(Picture taken from: http://ilmiaji.com/new-zealand-physical-features.php/ )




Australia is a country, an island and a continent, located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. Australia's mainland has a total coastline length of 35,876 kilometers with an additional 23,859 of island coastlines.Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on earth. Australia has no land borders. The northernmost points of this country are the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory.The western half of Australia consists of the Western Plateau, a region that is generally flat, though broken by various mountain ranges and surface water is generally lacking in the Western Plateau. In the Eastern Highlands, or Great Dividing Range, lie the eastern coast of Australia which separates the relatively narrow eastern coastal plain from the rest of the continent.
Between the Eastern Highlands and the Western Plateau, lie the Central Lowlands;off the eastern coast of Australia is the world's largest coral reef complex, the Great Barrier Reef.

Geology

August 2006 LIP of the Month. N.d. Large Igneous Provinces CommissionWeb. 10 Mar 2013. <http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/06aug>.

It is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as tectonic uplift of mountain ranges or clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in early Australian history when it was still a part of Gondwana.Australia is located in the middle of the tectonic plate, and therefore has currently no active volcanism. Minor earthquakes occur regularly, while major earthquakes measuring greater than magnitude 6 occur on average every five years. Australia's terrain is mostly low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast.

Bibliography

 "Australia Environment - current issues." Index Mundi. N.p., 26 07 2012. Web. 9 Mar 2013. <http://www.indexmundi.com/australia/environment_current_issues.html>.