Europe

Many have said that Europe is more of an idea than a geographical place. It is on the same landmass as Asia, but its eastern border is undefined by any geological barrier. The “idea” of Europe was created by the ancient Greeks, who decided that two different sides of a narrow passageway called the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles) would be two different continents. The Europe-Asia border is an agreed-upon line that has shifted over time depending on the politics and cultural situations of a given time period. Europe is essentially a large peninsula with many islands filled with beautiful, diverse cultures, climates, and landscapes.

Europe is considered the “Old World,” where western civilization began. From the Stone Age to the Industrial Revolution, Europe has changed the entire world on a massive scale. Ideas and art created during Greek antiquity and the European Renaissance still define the western world today. During the age of exploration and colonization, Europeans changed the human history of many other continents and cultures. In a race to create global empires, European kingdoms displaced and impacted huge numbers of people in other regions of the world. In addition, they took their native animals and plants all over the globe, and in turn brought species they found in their travels back to Europe—hugely impacting our global ecosystem.

In Great Britain during the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution brought about radical and irrevocable changes to how we use our environment. New tools and inventions like steam engines, iron-making techniques, and the power loom changed how things were made. Assembly lines enabled mass production of goods. All over Europe, people left a life of farming to work in these new factories. Instead of people locally making their own clothes or tools, such goods were mass-produced and could be traded on a global scale. A rise in coal- and steam-powered engines greatly expanded global transportation. The Industrial Revolution transformed the way humans live and do business. More importantly, it redefined our relationship with the natural world.

Ecosystem of the Moorland of the British Isles

“Dark against the evening sky, the long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by jagged and sinister hills” is the landscape that set the scene for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. The iconic moors of the British Isles have inspired many great authors.

While this wet and hilly landscape may seem like a pure wilderness, in fact it was created by people. Although some of the moorland is a naturally occurring treeless bog, there is evidence that much of it was once an ancient forest. Many of those trees were cleared by ancient humans during Mesolithic times, and by doing so they created this new ecosystem. The moors are still used by people today to graze farm animals and hunt wildlife. Now the moors are preserved through a rich tradition of land management. Selective and targeted game hunting and managed wildfires help preserve the diverse patchwork of young and old ecosystems. This makes sure that the grasslands have a healthy regrowth period and remain viable for future grazing.

The Moorlands have many bogs—wetlands rich in peat, a thick mud-like substance. Peat is the first stage in the formation of coal. Over time, dead plant matter builds up in the bottom of a bog. They don’t completely decompose, but instead create peat. The deeper the peat, the more carbon-rich it is. All of that carbon packed into peat makes it a source of energy, helping fires to burn longer. Bogs also contain mosses called sphagnum, which keep the peat from being washed away. Sphagnum also naturally filters the water, creating cleaner fresh water for all! Wet bogs contribute to the carbon-rich soil that fuels this entire grassland ecosystem.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

People and animals depend on the moors as the foundation of their food supply. The bogs supply clean drinking water and provide rich grazing for flocks of sheep. The peatland that stretches across Europe is also an important global carbon sink. Carbon sinks naturally store carbon in places other than our atmosphere and are an important part of the carbon cycle.

Birds from all over the world migrate to the moors, such as the barn swallow, which migrates every year from Africa.

Peat bogs are “living landscapes,” constantly forming new hummocks (small hills or mounds) and hollows (ditches or craters).

Grouse, known as the king of game birds, is hunted when the population gets too big. This hunt is necessary to keep a balanced animal population, and game hunting gives rural communities another form of business, allowing them to continue to manage the moors.

Peat bogs are found throughout Europe, and peat has been used as a fuel source since the Bronze Age. It is still used in parts of Europe, including Ireland and Finland.

Sphagnum moss in bogs acts like a sponge and can prevent harmful flooding in nearby towns.

GREATEST THREAT

Overgrazing and poorly planned farming have started to dry up the moors. Global warming is also causing more out-of-control wildfires. To combat this, conservationists and land owners are working to mindfully allow the wetlands to fill with water, sometimes helping the process along by digging ditches with explosives.

Ecosystem of the Mediterranean Basin

“The birthplace of western civilization” lies around the largest enclosed sea on Earth, the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Basin encompasses twenty-four countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The sea seems unchanged by time, but in fact, it once dried up completely into a desert.

The amount of fresh water that the Mediterranean Sea receives from the surrounding rivers evaporates three times faster than it flows in. This makes the Mediterranean dependent on salty water flowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. Over six million years ago, tectonic activity caused the tips of Spain and Morocco to meet and fuse, cutting the Mediterranean Sea off from the ocean. The sun’s heat worked quickly, and within only two thousand years, all the water in the Mediterranean evaporated, turning the sea floor into a desert. Eventually, another earthquake broke Spain and Morocco apart again, creating the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean Sea was refilled. Today, underneath the island of Sicily, there is a massive underground salt mine of deposits left over from when the sea evaporated.

Fertile soil and a mild climate have allowed people to thrive in the Mediterranean Basin for more than 130,000 years. While its landscape may seem completely natural, it has been heavily shaped by people over thousands of years. Ancient humans transformed and cultivated the land to the beautiful, food-producing landscape we see today. The region is rich with crops such as grapes, figs, olive trees, lavender, and rosemary. With easy farming and abundant fishing, it is no wonder the Mediterranean has been called paradise! Easy living meant more time for the people of the ancient world to create art and spread ideas. The influence of these ancient civilizations is still felt throughout the world today!

BIGGEST BENEFITS

There are over 22,500 plant species in the Mediterranean Basin, making it a biodiversity hotspot! The climate, vegetation, and great fishing made this region home to many great ancient civilizations. The art, philosophy, government, and architecture of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire still influence the art and culture in the western world today.

There is so much salt underneath the Mediterranean Basin that miners have sculpted a full-size underground church made entirely of salt. We could mine it for a million years and not run out!

In the basin lives the Barbary macaque, the only primate species in Europe.

Home to the world’s oldest sovereign state and constitutional republic, San Marino, which dates back to 301 CE.

Ancient Greek stories like the Iliad and the Odyssey describe the Mediterranean as a dark wine color. Historians have tried to figure out what this means; did the bright blue waters once look darker, or has human eyesight changed over time?

GREATEST THREAT

The Mediterranean Basin is visited by over 200 million tourists a year, who flock to beautiful locations like Nice, Barcelona, Sardinia, and Milos. This means that hotel construction and other development is a major issue. Very little of the Mediterranean Basin is protected and wildlife habitats are being destroyed. The sea is over-fished, and limited fresh water from rivers is overused. For centuries, the land of the Mediterranean has been managed by people without destroying it. Now countries in this region are coming together to try and prevent irresponsible land use.

Ecosystem of the Alps

Some places are so big they are hard to understand. The massive mountain range of the Alps is one of them. The poet and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “After looking at the Alps, I felt that my mind had been stretched beyond the limits of its elasticity, and fitted so loosely on my old ideas of space that I had to spread these to fit it.” This beautiful mountain range, with slopes of colorful wildflowers and tall snowy summits, is the largest in Europe, spanning eight different countries, from Monaco to Slovenia.

Although the Alps’ range is massive, its resources are not unlimited. Hunting and the expanding human population have caused large predators like bears, wolves, and lynx to become endangered. The resulting imbalance between predator and prey threatened the entire ecosystem. Conservationists and local governments created hunting regulations that protected these important large predators and allowed their populations to bounce back.

Millions of tourists travel to the Alps annually to see the majesty of the mountains, hike, ski, and perhaps let out a yodel. Although the Alps are still home to some of the largest stretches of untouched wildlife habitat in Europe, the density of human activity has also made it the most threatened mountain range in the world. Conservationists and local governments are acting now to preserve these important mountains and build in a way that won’t disrupt nature.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

The Alps have been nicknamed “the lungs of Europe” because the massive forests and grasslands found throughout the range are huge oxygen producers. Glacial melt from the mountaintops feeds Europe’s major rivers and seas. This fresh water also sustains the Alps’ diverse wildlife and its human population. Today around 20 million people living in these mountains are dependent on an agricultural economy sustained in the mountains’ pastures.

Many farmers on the mountainside still use traditional, sustainable techniques that date back to the times of the New Stone Age.

In the Alps, farmers now use guard dogs instead of guns to scare off large predators like bears and wolves. The dogs’ loud barks prevent dangerous contact between people and animals, and prevent unnecessary wildlife deaths. This helps keep the ecosystem balanced by maintaining the necessary large predator population.

Cold weather mountain plants have adapted to grow long roots that withstand harsh climate.

Impressive feats of engineering have allowed roads and tunnels to be carved into the mountains, making the Alps one of the most accessible ranges on Earth.

GREATEST THREAT

Climate change threatens mountain ranges all over the world including the Alps. As global temperatures rise, mountain glaciers melt, avalanches become more frequent, and cold-adapted animals continue to migrate farther up the mountains, displacing other wildlife in search of a cooler habitat. In the Alps, tourist-driven overcrowding and traffic, and unsustainable farming techniques are harming the wildlife and fresh water sources. Right now, conservationists and governments are identifying and protecting the parts of the Alps crucial for the health of the entire mountain range. There is also a rise in eco-friendly tourism and new sustainable architecture is being built.