The Effect of Tectonic Plates
Venezuela lies in two different tectonic plate boundaries. Those plate boundaries are the South American Plate and the Central American Plate (Caribbean Plate). The boundary between the two plates is a convergent boundary. Convergent and transform boundaries cause the two plates to hit one another head on and side by side, forcing one of the plates to slide underneath and against one other. This causes many natural disasters for Venezuela, such as Earthquakes. In the past year, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has had a total of 41 earthquakes. These earthquakes can damage houses, trees, and buildings. They cause many issues for the citizens of Venezuela. These plate boundaries also create landforms, such as mountains. Parts of the Andes Mountains and the Merida Mountains are located in Venezuela (Earthquake Track, 2014). Other physical features in Venezuela include the Guiana Highlands, which benefit many Venezuelans. The Guiana Highlands carries and abundance of resources that citizens use, such as cabinet woods, balata, chicle, vanilla, insecticides, and medicinal plants. The crystalline rocks are home to many minerals, but these minerals are difficult to be mined due to the heavy vegetation. The Guiana Highlands are also a source of iron ore, gold, and diamond (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013, July). Climate Venezuela is mainly taken up by a tropical wet and dry climate zone, but in the south of Venezuela, there is a tropical wet zone, and in the north of Venezuela is an arid and semiarid climate zone. The majority of Venezuela that is in the tropical wet and dry zone receives an average of about 20-40 inches of rain per year. The tropical wet zones average around 40-60 inches each year. The arid and semiarid zones don't get much rain due to the heat, therefore, those zones receive an annual average of 10-20 inches or under. The climate of Venezuela creates deserts in the arid and semiarid areas. The Guiana Highlands, Orinoco Plains, and Maracaibo Lowlands, which are located in the tropical wet and dry and tropical wet zones, contain a variety of ecosystems, such as wetlands, plateaus, and savannahs. Due to the amount of precipitation, Venezuela faces many challenges. Floods have devastated citizens in Venezuela by destroying their homes and threatening their lives. Over 40 people were killed due to a flood in Venezuela (The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2005, February). As a result of floods, Venezuela experiences mudslides and rockslides (The World Factbook). People have adapted to the different climates in Venezuela by conserving and preserving the environment and decreasing vulnerability and forced migration. While migration is not yet considered a form of adaptation by the PACC, it will be in the future (Warn, 2013, November). People also adapt to the climate by wearing certain clothing that is appropriate for the weather, such as shorts and t-shirts when it's warm, or long pants and jackets/coats when it's cold. Climate has impacted the environment and the people that live in it greatly. In South America, global warming is an issue. This global warming causes a large amount of tropical deforestation. Trees cover nearly 40% of the land in South America, therefore, deforestation could wipe out 2/5 of the environment. Many people are searching for solutions to this issue, and one of those solutions is decreasing their global warming emissions and aiming to become carbon neutral countries (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). Ecosystem Venezuela is a country with a very diverse ecosystem. The different ecosystems vary depending on the location of the country. On the Caribbean and Atlantic Coasts, there are deserts. a mountain range, which is mostly composed of forests, lies by the Caribbean Coast. Located in northwest Venezuela is the Maracaibo Lowlands. The Maracaibo Lowlands is mainly flat land that slopes down slightly. Parts of the Andes Mountains occupy western Venezuela. The Orinoco Plains, much like the Maracaibo Lowlands, are near the center of Venezuela and never rise above 200 meters. The Guiana Highlands inhabit southeastern Venezuela, below the Orinoco Plains (International Youth Summit, 2008). The Guiana Highlands is composed of a variety of ecosystems varying from savannahs to forests to wetlands, and finally, to plateaus (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013, July). Venezuela is also home to over 600 types of vegetation, 332 species of reptile, 113 amphibians, 1,183 types of fish, 1,348 bird species, over 100,000 different insects, and 328 mammals. A few of the thousands of species that live in Venezuela are Eels, River Otters, Foxes, Porcupines, a variety of snakes, Ocelots, Dolphins, Capybara, and different types of birds. There are even four species that can be found only in Venezuela and not in any other place on Earth. Those species are the Rusty Flanked-Crake, the Fiery Squirrel, the Zulia Toad-Headed Turtle, and the Saberfin Killie (List of Countries of the World, 2012). Venezuela is in the top 10 most ecologically diverse countries in the world due to its abundance of plant, animal, and insect species, and its many different ecosystems (International Youth Summit, 2008). Natural Resources Venezuela's natural resources in the industries consist of petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, minerals, hydropower, electricity, and diamonds. Many of these resources are found in the Guiana Highlands (International Youth Summit, 2008). Natural resources in the agricultural fields are corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee, beef, pork, milk, eggs, and fish. Venezuela exports petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, and basic manufactures. Their exporting partners include the U.S., Netherlands Antilles, and China (The World Factbook). Petroleum (oil) is very rich in Venezuela, and it is mainly used for transportation fuels, such as gas, jet fuel, etc. Natural gas provides electricity and can also provide different fuels for people. Iron ore is used to create iron. Gold gives the citizens of Venezuela different metals. Bauxite can be used for the production of aluminum. Hydropower is an important resource in Venezuela. It can be used to make electricity, which is eventually used in dams. Electricity is used for many different things, such as powering various items in the home, powering electrical lines throughout the city, and much more. Lastly, since diamonds are a hard and durable resource, they can be used in tools such as saw blades and drill bits to strengthen the tool even more. Natural gas is a major contributor to global warming, which is why this causes issues for Venezuela. To make an attempt at decreasing global warming, people are aiming to become a carbon neutral country and lower their global warming emissions (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). Water Cycle Venezuela is a fairly water rich country, considering the fact that it is located in South America, which contains nearly 28% of the Earth's fresh water. Some of the major water resources that are in Venezuela are the Caribbean Sea, the Orinoco River, Lake Maracaibo, and Lake Valencia. The Caribbean Sea is located along the northern coastline of Venezuela. The citizens of Venezuela rely greatly on the Caribbean Sea, mainly for oil, transportation, fishing, and tourism. It is used to export oil and import goods from other countries. The Orinoco River is easily the third-largest river in South America. Lake Maracaibo is near the Caribbean Sea. Lake Valencia is the largest freshwater lake in Venezuela, but has poor water quality due to pollution. Lake Maracaibo contains some of Venezuela's most productive oil fields, which causes pollution in the lake (Jonas) Venezuela's Constitution states that all water is to be publicly owned, though many organizations take over and privatize many of the water sources (Library of Congress, 2014, September). The water cycle makes a great contribution to the climate and natural resources in Venezuela. It makes the climate very tropical and wet, which in turn, creates floods and gives Venezuela large amounts of rain. It can be very helpful, or it can be deadly, due to the fact that floods are a major natural disaster that occur in Venezuela. There are many water projects in Venezuela, such as cleaning the raw sewage and industrial waste out of the Guaire River in Caracas (News Editor, 2012, September). The biggest water project is working to restore drinking water that was not available to some areas in Venezuela. People dug 12 wells and made manual pumps to get the new drinking water (UNHCR, 2004, January). |
Click the following link to view an article about a flood in Venezuela:
http://www.ifrc.org/fr/noticias/noticias/americas/venezuela/more-than-40-die-as-floods-hit-venezuela/ |
The concept map above shows connections between people, the environment, and the country. It shows how each thing can effect another.