World map of countries by trading status

A world map of countries by trading status, late 20th century, using the world system differentiation into core countries (blue), semi-periphery countries (yellow) and periphery countries (red).

European Distribution Center

A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to consumers.

Goods arrive and are stored in a distribution center in varying types of storage locations and containers suited to the product characteristics and the amount of product to be transported or stored. 

Another way to look at a distribution center is to see it as a production or manufacturing operation. Goods arrive in bulk, they are stored until needed, retrieved, and assembled into shipments. 

The following is a list of some of the names and characteristics of common storage containers:

• Shipping containers are used for the efficient transportation of goods. Standards specify the volume and dimensions of containers to facilitate efficient handling.

• Pallets are one of the most commonly used means to store and move product in a distribution center. There are many specialized devices used to handle pallets (forklift truck, pallet jack, and Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS). Pallets are stored on the floor, may be stacked, and may be stored in pallet racking.

• Cases and Cartons are boxes usually containing many items. In distribution centers there is a generally accepted distinction made between the terms "carton" and "case", although both are boxes. Goods are received and stored in cartons, while goods are shipped in cases. 

• Totes are reusable containers used to hold and transport goods.

The difference between deciduous and coniferous

Deciduous woodland
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off". Deciduous plants lose their leaves for part of the year. In colder lands, leaf loss coincides with winter. In warmer lands, such as tropical, subtropical and arid lands, deciduous plants may lose their leaves during dry seasons or during times when there are changes in rainfall. 

Coniferous woodland
Coniferous woodland, coniferous plants keep their leaves year round. Most plants in tropical rain forests keep their leaves all year, gradually replacing them as they fall with age. Fewer plants are green year-round in cooler climates, but conifers are dominant when the climate becomes too cold for broad-leafed plants. 

Whereas deciduous plants lose their leaves as an adaptation to cold or dry seasons, coniferous plants keep their leaves year round as an adaptation to low nutrient levels (so that they don't have to expend nutrients in the creation of new leaves). 

Mainport Rotterdam

Vessel arrivals (ships visiting the harbour of Rotterdam) 34.404 in 2010.

Annual cargo tonnage 429,9 million tons in 2010.


Wet bulk 209,4 million tons in 2010.

• crude oil and
• chemicals.

Dry bulk 84,6 million tons in 2010.

• coal and 
• ores.

Containers 112,3 million tons in 2010.

Fair trade

Fair trade is a social movement which tries to help people who make things in developing countries. 

The movement helps people to work in better conditions and helps them get more money for what they make. These things give workers the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future, and they help reduce poverty. The movement also tries to keep the environment the same.

Fair trade helps people in developing countries sell to people in developed countries. Things that are sold in international trade include handicrafts and other manufactured goods, agricultural products such as 

• grains, 
• coffee, 
• cocoa, 
• sugar, 
• tea, 
• bananas, 
• honey, 
• cotton, 
• wine, 
• fresh fruit, 
• chocolate, 
• flowers, and 
• minerals such as iron and petroleum.

Merchandise that has fair trade status can be given a fair trade certificate. This says it follows rules about fairness to workers and the environment.

The four earth spheres

The area near the surface of the earth can be divided up into four inter-connected geospheres, the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Scientists can classify life and material on or near the surface of the earth to be in any of these four spheres.

The names of the four spheres are derived from the Greek words for:

• stone (litho), 
• air (atmo), 
• water (hydro), and 
• life (bio).

Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. 

The Earth's hard, outermost shell. It comprises the crust and the upper part of the mantle. It is divided into a mosaic of 16 major plates. This crust is inorganic and is composed of minerals. It covers the entire surface of the earth from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. 

The water that covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface as oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. The hydrosphere also includes ground water, water that circulates below the Earth's surface in the upper part of the lithosphere. Ninety-seven percent of the earth's water is in the oceans. The remaining three percent is fresh water; three-quarters of the fresh water is solid and exists in ice sheets

Biosphere
The biosphere is composed of all living organisms. 

Biosphere is a total of plant life, animal life and all other factors that make up the earth. Plants, animals, and one-celled organisms are all part of the biosphere. Most of the planet's life is found from three meters below the ground to thirty meters above it and in the top 200 meters of the oceans and seas. 
Biosphere is the sum total of the ecosystems present in the world. In other words, biosphere is a global integration of all living beings, their interactions, interdependence and relationships.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our planet. 

The air of our planet is 79% nitrogen and just under 21% oxygen; the small amount remaining is composed of carbon dioxide and other gases. The atmosphere is the cover of air that stretches up to six hundred miles above the earth. If an aero planes passes out of this cover, it will be able to reach any planet without any difficulty, because gravitation does not exert its pull beyond this hemisphere

Additionally, there will be elements of the hydrosphere present as moisture within the soil, the biosphere as insects and plants, and even the atmosphere as pockets of air between soil pieces.

Sahel

The Sahel is a region in West Africa. 

It is a strip of dry land about 5500 kilometres long and 450 kilometres wide. The Sahel covers parts of (from west to east) the Gambia, Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria and Niger, northern Nigeria and Cameroon, central Chad, southern Sudan, and northern South Sudan. It lies at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and is located between the dry desert land to the north and the forest areas to the south.

Climate
The Sahel has a semi-arid climate. The temperature is high throughout the year. 
There is little rainfall in the Sahel (between 100-150 mm and 600mm). It is concentrated during summer months and can be unreliable. It may be very dry in some years, especially if a large area of low pressure, which brings rain, is not carried North over the Sahel by strong winds.

Desertification
The Sahel is facing a big problem, Desertification. The distribution of rainfall in the Sahel region is uneven. The rainfall in the region has been below average since 1970. The Sahel is becoming drier on the whole. The problem of drought affects most of the countries. As a result, crops and animals die. 

Soil erosion
There is no vegetation to protect the soil, which is then removed by flash floods and strong wind. This leads to soil erosion. 

Deforestation
The population in the Sahel is growing. To meet the ever-increasing demand for firewood, a lot of trees have been cut down. More land has become barren. This is called deforestation. 

Overcultivation
Because people farm intensively in order to grow more crops, the soil becomes dry and infertile. If this process continues for a long time, no crops can be grown. This is called overcultivation. 

Overgrazing
People keep many animals for food. However, the grass cannot support so many grazing animals. This is called overgrazing. 

Deforestation

Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. The habitats of the animals are lost and many animals die. At the moment every 90 minutes the tropical rainforest in the Amazon will be 2.2 square kilometres smaller. That is about 270 football pitches.

Deforestation also results in global warming (climate change).

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but areas of the size of Panama (± 75,000 sq. km) are lost each and every year.

The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.

Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families. The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. 

Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.

Forests are often planted to protect against natural disasters. When forests are lost, very often the soil they protected is also lost. This loss of soil is often called erosion. We give out carbon dioxide when we breathe and plants and trees take it in by photosynthesis. 

Without forests rain falls scarcely on hot areas.

Erosion

Erosion is the process of natural forces moving rocks and soil. Rocks and soil can be referred to as earth materials.

The natural forces that make erosion happen are:

water	water	Happens when water moves the pieces of rock or soil downhill and carries small pieces of material with it.
	waves	Carry away small pieces of material. A wave can wash up onto the surface of rock or soil and then carry away pieces of material as it flows back into the ocean or lake.
Wind		Occurs when wind moves pieces of earth materials. Wind erosion is one of the weakest kinds of erosion. Small pieces of earth material can be rolled along the ground surface by wind. Very small pieces can be picked up and carried by the wind. Occasionally, wind can carry small pieces of earth materials over large distances.
Ice		Usually happens when a glacier moves downhill. As the ice of the glacier moves downhill, it pushes and pulls earth materials along with it. Ice erosion is one of the strongest kinds of erosion because glaciers can move very large rocks.
Gravity		Is the simplest kind of erosion. Gravity simply pulls loose earth materials downhill. Landslides are dramatic examples of gravity erosion).

Erosion is a geological process. Geology is the study of the structure of the earth and the processes that change the earth. Erosion occurs only at the earth's surface.

Most of the energy that makes erosion happen is provided by the sun. The sun's energy causes the movement of water and ice in the water cycle and the movement of air to create wind. If the sun did not provide energy for erosion, only gravity erosion would still occur.

Erosion can cause problems that affect humans. Erosion can also cause problems for humans by removing rocks or soil that support buildings.

Difference between low, middle and high altitudes

The next graphic shows the difference the low, middle and high altitudes.

Longitude

Longitude is a way to say where a place is on the Earth. 

It is measured starting from an imaginary north-south line called the Prime Meridian. (A meridian is an imaginary line drawn from the North Pole to the South Pole.) Longitude says how far east or west of the Prime Meridian any place is.

Longitude is measured using degrees, the same way an angle is. The Prime Meridian is 0° (zero degrees), and the farthest away is +180° eastward and -180° westward. 

Latitude

Latitude is a measure of the distance you are located from the equator.  

It is commonly shown as an imaginary horizontal line that goes across the earth on maps and is used along with longitude as a reference point to determine location. 

The definition of latitude is the angular distance north or south from the earth’s equator measured through 90 degrees. 

Lines of latitude form circles around the earth, with 0 degrees latitude being at the equator and 90° latitude representing the poles. 

For example:

• Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is located at approximately 52 degrees North latitude, Madrid, Spain, is located at approximately 40 degrees North latitude,
• São Paulo, Brazil, is located at approximately 23 degrees South latitude and
• Cape Town, South Africa, is located at approximately 33 degrees South latitude.

Albedo

The amount of sun's rays that is reflected by an earthly body is called albedo. The word albedo is derived from albus, a Latin word for white.

Albedo is a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed.  Something that appears white reflects most of the light that hits it and has a high albedo, while something that looks dark absorbs most of the light that hits it, indicating a low albedo.

It is the reflection of a certain area of earth, like snow and mountains, on the surface. 
For example, the albedo of snow covered mountains hurts the eyes. 

Material	Albedo values (% reflected)
Fresh snow	80% - 95%
Light roof	35% - 50%
Grass	25% - 30%
Bricks and stone	20% - 40%
Concrete dry	17% – 27%
Water bodies	10% - 60%
Forest	10% - 20%
Crops and grassland	10% - 25%
Dark roof	8% - 18%
Asphalt	5% - 10%
Earth’s albedo (average)	31%

The Coriolis effect

The Coriolis effect is a force that is found in a rotating object. Due to earth's rotation, the freely moving things in the Northern Hemisphere move towards the right and in the Southern Hemisphere they move towards the left. This is called the Coriolis Effect. This effect is seen on winds, ocean currents and airplanes.

The next video explaines the Coriolis effect.

The French scientist Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis first described the Coriolis effect in 1835 using mathematics.

The Coriolis effect can best be seen in hurricanes. In the northern hemisphere, or part of the earth, they spin clockwise, in the southern hemisphere they spin the other way. This happens because the earth spins on its tilt.

VIDEO: Coriolis effect