Download Climate and vegetation of Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia:
Climate and
Vegetation
Deserts
• Rub
al-Khali: desert located on the
Arabian Peninsula, approximately the
size of Texas
The local name is “the place where no
one comes out”
During the summer, temperatures on
the surface of the sand can exceed 150˚
As many as 10 years can pass without
rainfall
Semiarid Lands
• Located
on the fringes of deserts
• Summers
are warm-to-hot and enough rain
falls to sustain grass and low-growing
shrubs
• Crops
• Also
like cotton and wheat can be grown
suitable for pasture grazing for
animals
In Turkey, mohair goats graze on these
lands
Mohair goats
Coastal Areas
• Along
the Mediterranean coast
and most of Turkey, hot
summers and rainy winters
create a good climate for
growing citrus fruits, olives,
and vegetables
• Farmers
are able to grow
crops year round
Southwest Asia:
Human-Environment
Interaction
Scarcity of Water
• Drip
Irrigation: small pipes slowly drip
water just above the ground to conserve
water used for crops
Used by several countries in the Middle
East
• Desalinization:
ocean water
removal of salt from
Can be an extremely expensive process,
can’t provide enough water to meet the
needs of all people
Oil
•Oil
and natural gas do not
exist in large pools below
ground
The oil and natural gas are
actually trapped inside
rocks
Oil
• Crude
oil: petroleum that has not been
processed
• Refinery:
where crude oil is
transformed into useful products like
gasoline
• Pipelines
transport crude oil to either
refineries or ports where the oil is
picked up by tankers and moved to
other places for processing