The Impact of the Environment and Economy of Southern and Eastern Asia

Introduction

Children's Day is a national holiday in Japan. Since the 8th Century, the Japanese have gathered on this special day to celebrate the happiness of all children. Over the years, many other Asian nations have adopted this custom as well, each giving the day its own local flair. But no matter the variations, Asians are celebrating the very people who are universally regarded as the future of any nation. This holiday illustrates Asia's ties to the past but also reveals much about Asia's hopes for the future, which with careful administration will include an environmentally healthier and economically stronger continent to ensure that the happiness celebrated each year will be more abundant. In this module, you will study the ways and means Asia has used to manage its environment and economy.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Human Environmental Interaction -

Southern and Eastern Asia have a variety of geographical features that allow economic growth, but also develop environmental concerns. More than half of the world’s population is located in Southern and Eastern Asia due to growing populations in China and India.
Production, Distribution, & Consumption -

Southern and Eastern Asia are major economic forces in the world. China is known for its Communist background but is embracing a capitalist economy in modern years. India features a mixed economy with a strong economic output. Other Asian nations have a variety of economic types that continue to impact world trade.

Key Terms

Green Revolution - a series of initiatives between the 1940s and late 1960s that increased agriculture production worldwide, especially in developing nations
Three Gorges Dam - hydroelectric dam spanning the Yangtze River in China
Agrarian Economy - an economy based on farming
Pacific Rim - lands around the edges of the Pacific Ocean
Deforestation - the mass removal of trees from an area
Aftershocks - a series of smaller earthquakes that follow a large earthquake
Earthquake - the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves
Landslide - the sliding down of a mass of earth or rock on a steep slope
Seismometers - instruments used to measure the strength of an earthquake
Landmass - a large continuous area of unbroken land
Island - a body of land smaller than a continent and completely surrounded by water
Ring of Fire - the area in the Pacific Rim where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur
Monsoons - seasonal torrents of rain and snow in South Asia
Archipelago - a group of many islands
Subcontinent - a landmass or region that is very large but smaller than a continent; for example, India
Seismic - activity caused by an earthquake
Tsunami - a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large amount of water
Aquaculture - the farming of aquatic creatures
Typhoon - hurricane occurring in the western Pacific, chiefly between July and October
Quotas - the maximum amount of goods a nation allows to be imported from another nation
Human Capital - investment in humans; education, health, etc.
Entrepreneur - a person who organizes and manages a business or industrial undertaking
Urbanization - the mass migration of a population away from rural areas and into cities
Industrialization - development of large industries in a country or economic system
Manufacturing - the making of products in large quantities
Textiles - woven fabrics or cloth
Free-Market Economy - an economic system where consumers and their buying decisions drive the economy; also known as a Market Economy
Command-Market Economy - an economic system where all major decisions related to production, distribution and prices are made by the government or central authority
Mixed Economy - an economic system in which both the state and the private sector direct the economy; it's a mixture of free-market and command-market economies
Sanctions - coercive measures, usually economic, adopted by nations acting together against a nation violating international law; basically penalties used against a nation to get it to behave according to international rules
Gross Domestic Product - the market value of all goods and services produced within a country during a given period
Four Asian Tigers - a term used to describe the highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan
Outsourcing - the contracting out of a business to a third party
Offshoring - the relocation by a company of a business process from one country to another
Yuan - Chinese currency
Yen - Japanese currency
Raw Materials - the basic materials used to manufacture goods or products
Subsistence Farming - farming that only grows enough food for the farmer to personally use
Capitalist - person or philosophy that favors or supports an economic system in which private ownership exists and the market is driven by supply and demand
Communist - a person or philosophy that favors or supports an economic system where all major decisions related to the economy are made by the government or central authority; member of the communist political party
Special Economic Zones - geographic areas within a nation whose economy operates under its own economic regulations separate from the rest of the nation
Natural Resources - resources found in nature and used by people
Physical Capital - financial investment in an industry's infrastructure- buildings, machinery, transportation, etc.
Protectionism - government actions that restrict international trade within the government's nation in order to protect local industries
Monopoly - a company that has exclusive control over a product or a service
Population Density - the number of people living in a specified unit of area
Endangered Species - a species that exists in such small numbers that it is in danger of becoming extinct

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE