Anthropocene

The notion that humankind has changed the world is not new. However, with terms such as anthropozoic, psychozoic, and noosphere proposed over the last century, the idea of humans as a new global forcing agent can be considered recent and closely linked with the proposition and dissemination of the term anthropocene. It was coined more than a decade ago by Paul Crutzen, one of the three chemists who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for discovering the effects of ozone-depleting compounds.

The term anthropocene first appeared in the paper titled “The Anthropocene,” published in the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme Newsletter in May 2000, where Crutzen and his colleague Eugene Stoermer—a professor at the University of Michigan—noted that many forms of human activity are now capable of undermining the natural environment. For instance, in the case in carbon and nitrogen cycles, the amount that is fixed synthetically competes with the amount that is fixed by the planet’s vegetation, land, and oceans.

In their paper, Crutzen and Stoermer argued for the appropriateness of the term anthropocene to characterize the current geological epoch, emphasizing the human footprints on the planet that have been seen in geology and ecology over the last decades. Two years later, in 2002, Crutzen restated the argument in a concise article titled “Geology of Mankind” in the prestigious journal Nature. According to him, the anthropocene could have begun in the latter part of the 18th century, based on analyses of air trapped in polar ice that showed the beginning of increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane at the global level.

After these two groundbreaking articles, the term gained popularity and began to appear more often in the scientific literature of a range of disciplines and topics, leading to a more profound and careful consideration of the term. Many consider that the term is not only vivid—as much for the public as for scientists—but that it was also coined at a time of growing realization that human activity was changing the Earth on an unprecedented scale, with changes that are now seen as permanent, even on a geological time-scale. These attributes influenced scientists to increasingly use the term anthropocene to denote the current interval of time, one dominated by human activity. However, many argue that the term remains informal and is not precisely defined.

Antarctic Ice Sheet

Ice covers much of the polar regions of Earth and is a critical component to the planet’s climate. An ice sheet is defined as a mass of ice that is greater than 31,000 mi. (50,000 km) in area, such as those of Antarctica and Greenland. Ice sheets should not be confused with ice caps, which are masses of ice covering less than 31,000 mi. (50,000 km) in area. It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of the Earth’s total ice mass is located in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, or 6.4 million cu. mi. (27 million cu. km). The Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf are the world’s largest, both found in Antarctica. Scientists are concerned that increasing temperatures of air and sea will cause significant melting of the world’s ice, including the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and cause sea-level rise.

Ice sheets, glaciers, ice caps, permafrost, snow, and sea ice are all components of the Earth’s cryosphere (portions of the Earth’s surface that are frozen over land or water). In the Southern Hemisphere, the Antarctic Ice Sheet covers approximately 98 percent of the Antarctic continent and is the single largest mass of ice on the planet. Ice sheets form as snow and frost build up in an area, compressing the previously fallen snow into ice.

The total area of ice sheets is changed regularly by melting, primarily where the ice comes into contact with water or warmer dry land at its base; and by calving, or the falling off of large pieces of the ice sheet, which become icebergs. The Antarctic Ice Sheet covers the major landmass of the continent in the eastern Antarctic and extends over the ocean in western Antarctica, where the ice sheet is as deep as 2,500 mi. (4,023 km) below sea level. The Antarctic continent is cold year-round and is as dry as a desert, with little to no annual precipitation.

Historically, the Antarctic Ice Sheet has experienced very little melting from the surface. The oldest portions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are estimated to be 15 million years old. Typically, the seasonal fluctuation that is experienced by the ice sheet is focused on the northern Antarctic peninsula and the northeastern regions of the ice sheet. Most ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is lost by calving of glaciers from the protruding ice shelves of the sheet. The total volume of the ice in this region is estimated to be 7.5 million cu. mi. (31 million cu. km).

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), also known as the West Wind Drift, is the only current that flows completely around the globe, unimpeded by continents. Famous explorers have often referenced the ACC in their navigational logs, including Edmond Halley (the first to note the ACC in a voyage from 1699 to 1700), James Cook, James Clark Ross, Sir Francis Drake, and James Weddell. The ACC is notably the roughest sea crossing for navigators, particularly the 497 mi. (800 km) wide Drake Passage extending around Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula. The role of the ACC as “mixer of the deep oceans” also has a significant impact on global climate.

The ACC, as the name implies, flows around the continent of Antarctica in an eastward direction driven by westerly winds through the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. The ACC is as deep as 6,562–13,123 ft. (2,000–4,000 m) and as wide as 1,243 mi. (2,000 km), accounting for the vast transport of waters, despite its relatively slow eastward current. It is estimated that some of the seawater of the ACC travels the entire circumference of the globe (24,900 mi.) in a mere eight years. For comparison, the ACC carries 150 times more water around Antarctica than flows through all of the world’s rivers combined.

While flow of the ACC is not blocked by any landmasses, it is severely constrained by them. The borders of the ACC are further defined by convergence fronts with significant temperature and salinity variability. The greatest temperature change is north of the ACC in the Subtropical Convergence (Front), where the average sea surface temperature decreases from 54 degrees F (12 degrees C) to 45–46 degrees F (7–8 degrees C) in the ACC and salinity decreases from 34.9 or greater to 34.6 or less.

The southern boundary of the ACC is defined by the westward flowing Antarctic Coastal Current with a surface temperature around 30 degrees F (minus 1 degree C). Mean ACC temperature ranges from 41 to 30 degrees F (5 to minus 1 degree C). Climate change and ocean warming will likely have a significant effect on the ACC, because of this typically narrow temperature range. Any otherwise small increases in sea surface temperatures may induce dramatic effects on the system.

Albedo

Albedo originates from a Latin word albus, which means white. Albedo is the amount of sunlight (of all wavelengths) that is reflected back from an object or a substance. The more the amount of light reflected back, the brighter the color of the object. A lesser amount of light is reflected back from darker objects. The albedo of an object varies from 0 to 1. Black objects have zero albedo, while white objects have an albedo of one. Sometimes, it is also expressed in terms of percentage, 1–100. An ideal white body thus has an albedo of 100 percent, while an ideal black body has an albedo of zero percent. Some standard amounts of sunlight reflected from certain objects.

Usually, albedo is used in the field of astronomy to describe reflective properties of planets, satellites, and asteroids. There are two types of astronomical albedo: normal and bond albedo. Normal albedo is a measure of a surface’s brightness when illuminated and observed vertically, while bond albedo is defined as the fraction of total solar light reflected back to space and is a measure of a planet’s energy balance. The value of bond is defined over the entire range of wavelengths.

Surface reflectance values vary across the globe, mainly because of variation in the presence or absence of snow, ice, or clouds, which increases albedo values in those areas. The presence of ice and snow, for example, at the poles and the absence of snow and ice at the equator reflects the difference in albedo values at the poles and the equator.

The reflectance value (and hence the albedo value) changes with the change in dust concentration, thickness of the clouds (or amount of cloud cover), and zenith of sunlight falling in that zone, which is also reflected in seasonal variation in albedo value for the same region. This can be observed best at higher altitudes, where in winter the surface is covered significantly by snow (or ice), thus increasing the surface reflectance values; while in spring, when most of this snow (or ice) melts, the surface (bare soil) absorbs a lot more sunlight, thus decreasing the albedo values for the same place.

Albedo is an important concept in climatology. When albedo is expressed in percentages, snow has an albedo of 90 percent and charcoal has an albedo of 4 percent. When seen from a distance, the ocean surface has a low albedo as do most forests, while desert has one of the higher albedo values.

The role of the concept of albedo in climate change can be seen in the following example: Ice reflects back more sun radiation than water; with the snow cover getting smaller and the water in lakes (and seas and oceans) increasing, the amount of sunlight absorbed (and, hence, heat retained) is increasing, leading to further increases in the temperature of lake, sea, and ocean water. On the other hand, if more snow is formed, a cooling cycle starts. The amount of sunlight (radiation) absorbed or reflected back causes fluctuations in temperature, wind, ocean currents, and precipitation. In a way, the hydrological cycle changes with the fluctuations in temperature (which is related to how much evapotranspiration takes place). Also, the climate system equilibrium is dependent on the balance between the amount of solar radiation absorbed and the amount of terrestrial radiation emitted back to space.

Agulhas Current

The Agulhas Current is the major western boundary current of the Southern Hemisphere. It completes the anti-cyclonic gyre of the South Indian Ocean, and because the African continent terminates at a relatively modest latitude, it becomes a mechanism for the climatologically important inter-ocean exchange between the Indian and Atlantic oceans. The southwestward flowing Agulhas Current only becomes fully constituted along the east coast of southern Africa at a latitude somewhere between Durban (South Africa) and Maputo (Mozambique). It increases in speed and volume flux downstream. On average, its volume flux is 70 × 106 m3/s, with only small temporal changes. Its depth, by contrast, can vary from 6561 ft. (2,000 m) to the sea floor at 9,842 ft. (3,000 m) over a period of months. It is underlain by an opposing undercurrent at a depth of 3,937 ft. (1,200 m), with a maximum velocity of about 0.2 m/s and carrying about 4 × 106 m3/s equatorward.

An offshore profile of the surface speed of the current shows a peak of about 1.5 m/s close inshore, slowly tapering off to about 0.2 m/s at a distance of roughly 62 mi. (100 km) offshore. The temperature of its surface waters is about 11 degrees F (6 degrees C) higher than ambient waters and decreases from 80 to 71 degrees F (27 to 22 degrees C) from summer to winter.

Dangerous Semicircle

This term, now somewhat archaic, is given to that portion of a tropical cyclone in which the winds and rain are most intense. Primarily used by mariners, the term is derived from the practice of dividing a hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone into dangerous and navigable semicircles, or right and left halves, based upon the system’s forward motion. In the Northern Hemisphere, where tropical cyclones spin in a counterclockwise direction, an observer facing into the winds of an approaching hurricane will find the dangerous semicircle on the right, or eastern side, and the navigable semicircle on the left, or western side. The reverse is true, of course, in the Southern Hemisphere, where the clockwise spinning of a cyclone will yield a dangerous semicircle on the left, or western side, and a navigable semicircle on the right, or eastern half.

While in actuality both halves of a tropical cyclone are dangerous, the half that finds itself strengthened by both the forward speed of the system’s steering current and the storm’s own forward velocity will possess significantly faster winds and higher seas. For this reason, those mariners who have divided an oncoming hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone into dangerous and navigable semicircles have been better able to guide their vessels away from the storm’s most furious aspects, thus greatly improving their odds of surviving it.

Covalent Bonds

Recall that an atom is chemically stable when its outermost energy level is full. A state of stability is achieved by some elements by forming chemical bonds. A chemical bond is the force that holds together the elements in a compound. One way in which atoms fill their outermost energy levels is by sharing electrons. For example, individual atoms of hydrogen each have just one electron. Each atom becomes more stable when it shares its electron with another hydrogen atom so that each atom has two electrons in its outermost energy level.  How do these two atoms stay together? The nucleus of each atom has one proton with a positive charge, and the two positively charged protons attract the two negatively charged electrons. This attraction of two atoms for a shared pair of electrons that holds the atoms together is called a covalent bond.

Molecules A molecule is composed of two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds. Molecules have no overall electric charge because the total number of electrons equals the total number of protons. Water is an example of a compound whose atoms are held together by covalent bonds. The chemical formula for a water molecule is H2O because, in this molecule, two atoms of hydrogen, each of which need to gain an electron to become stable, are combined with one atom of oxygen, which needs to gain two electrons to become stable. A compound comprised of molecules is called a molecular compound. Polar molecules Although water molecules are held together by covalent bonds, the atoms do not share the electrons equally. The shared electrons in a water molecule are attracted more strongly by the oxygen atom than by the hydrogen atoms. As a result, the electrons spend more time near the oxygen atom than they do near the hydrogen atoms. This unequal sharing of electrons results in polar molecules. A polar molecule has a slightly positive end and a slightly negative end.

Ions

Sometimes atoms gain or lose electrons from their outermost energy levels. Recall that atoms are electrically neutral because the number of electrons, which have negative charges, balances the number of protons, which have positive charges. An atom that gains or loses an electron has a net electric charge and is called an ion. In general, an atom in which the outermost energy level is less than half-full — that is, it has fewer than four valence electrons — tends to lose its valence electrons.

When an atom loses valence electrons, it becomes positively charged. In chemistry, a positive ion is indicated by a superscript plus sign. For example, a sodium ion is represented by Na+. If more than one electron is lost, that number is placed before the plus sign. For example, a magnesium ion, which forms when a magnesium atom has lost two electrons, is represented by Mg2+.

An atom in which the outermost energy level is more than half-full — that is, it has more than four valence electrons — tends to fill its outermost energy level. Such an atom forms a negatively charged ion. Negative ions are indicated by a superscript minus sign. For example, a nitrogen atom that has gained three electrons is represented by N3‒. Some substances contain ions that are made up of groups of atoms—for example, silicate ions. These complex ions are important constituents of most rocks and minerals.

Isotopes

Recall that all atoms of an element have the same number of protons. However, the number of neutrons of an element’s atoms can vary. For example, all chlorine atoms have 17 protons in their nuclei, but they can have either 18 or 20 neutrons. This means that there are chlorine atoms with mass numbers of 35 (17 protons + 18 neutrons) and 37 (17 protons + 20 neutrons). Atoms of the same element that have different mass numbers are called isotopes. The element chlorine has two isotopes: Cl-35 and Cl-37. Because the number of electrons in an atom equals the number of protons, isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties.

Scientists have measured the mass of atoms of elements. The atomic mass of an element is the average of the mass numbers of the isotopes of an element. Most elements are mixtures of isotopes. The atomic mass of chlorine is 35.453. This number is the average of the mass numbers of the naturally occurring isotopes of chlorine-35 and chlorine-37.

Radioactive isotopes The nuclei of some isotopes are unstable and tend to break down. When this happens, the isotope also emits energy in the form of radiation. Radioactive decay is the spontaneous process through which unstable nuclei emit radiation. In the process of radioactive decay, a nucleus can lose protons and neutrons, change a proton to a neutron, or change a neutron to a proton. Because the number of protons in a nucleus identifies an element, decay changes the identity of an element. For example, the isotope polonium-218 decays at a steady rate over time into bismuth-214. The polonium originally present in a rock is gradually replaced by bismuth.

Littoral

THE WORD LITTORAL comes from the Latin root littus, or “seashore.” The littoral zone of a lake or ocean refers to the shallow waters closest to shore. In lakes, this is the zone dropping from the shoreline to roughly 10 ft (3 m) deep where there is enough sunlight for rooted plants to exist. Only in lakes with strong wave action will the littoral zone have algae instead of rooted plants.

Since the littoral zone is the interface between the lake and the surrounding watershed, it receives and accumulates sediment and nutrients that can support a wide variety of plants and animals. Plants include emergent wetland vegetation to submergent plants that may or may not reach the lake surface. This vegetation provides nutrients and habitat for fishes, birds, amphibians, invertebrates, and zooplankton.

Because of tides and wave action, the littoral zone of an ocean is subdivided into many parts. The supralittoral zone (spray zone) is found above the high tide mark up to the point that ocean spray cannot reach. This area usually receives only ocean spray, except for very high tides or storm surges that can inundate it. The intertidal littoral zone is bordered by the high and low tide marks. The sublittoral zone starts at the low tide mark and goes out to roughly 650 ft (200 m) deep, which is the average depth of the edge of the continental shelf. Numerous species live in these zones, each adapted to the abundance and presence of water they receive each day.

Littoral zones are the interface between land and water, and so they are very productive, meaning they support many plants and animals. However, these same areas are also easily altered by human development or pollution. For example, more people in the UNITED STATES are building homes on the remaining edges of lakes and rivers. Disturbing the soil to grade the lot and build the house causes erosion, which moves sediment into the water. Often, people will dump a load of sand on the littoral zone so that they don’t have to walk through plants to go swimming and so it will look neater. Piers built off of these lots can also damage the plants in the littoral zone. As houses age, septic systems start to fail and this nutrient-rich pollution moves laterally into the water, promoting eutrophication. Polluted runoff from driveways and lawns can also impair the waterways.

Coastlines in every country have been feeling additional pressures from growing cities. The more human activity near a coastline results in more damage to the littoral zone. In wealthier areas, beach replenishment (dumping new sand on the beach) buries the current plants and animals, and the building of seawalls and groins to protect one beach will disturb currents to more seriously erode the next unprotected beach downcurrent. The major problem, however, is pollution. Sewer pipes and polluted rivers both dump myriad pollutants into the littoral and sublittoral zones, damaging the life forms there.

Sometimes people hear about this type of pollution when local health departments close down shellfish beds after sewage pollution has been high (because of storm sewer overflows or treatment plant malfunctions). Similarly, each year more beachgoers arrive to find beaches closed where water quality monitoring has detected pathogens, particularly after rain events. Surfers on the west coast of the UNITED STATES have long complained of intestinal sickness and skin sores after spending time in the water near sewage and creek outfalls. There is increasing pressure on coastal cities to repair and upgrade their aging treatment facilities to solve this problem.

Other laws now prevent ocean liners from dumping their sewage (treated or not) near shore, and only to dump treated sewage many miles out to sea. In some countries, laws require that ships not dump their waste oil or oily bilgewater close to shore or that only double-hulled oil tankers may enter port. Degrading littoral zones, particularly along oceans, damages habitat that marine and shorebird animals need, thus reducing this common resource both regionally and globally. The LAW OF THE SEA expects that signatories respect and protect these areas, but oftentimes little or no protection exists.

Lithuania

THE REPUBLIC OF Lithuania in northern Europe is a lowland country that borders LATVIA to the north, BELARUS to the east and southeast, POLAND and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad to the southwest, and the Baltic Sea to the west. Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy with the supreme council or Seimas serving as the legislature and the president serving as head of state. Its major cities are Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipedia. The Lithuanian countryside consists of lowlands and small hills and is dotted by 3,000 lakes. The climate is generally humid, with peak rainfall in August. Temperatures range from 23 degrees F (-5 degrees C) in January to 63 degrees F (17 degrees C) in June. The chief river is the Nemunas, which flows to the Baltic Sea.

Permanent human settlements in what is now Lithuania date to about 8000 B.C.E. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights were sent to Lithuania to convert the pagan population to Christianity. In 1385, Grand Duke Jogaila married Queen Jadwiga of POLAND, which began the Christianization of Lithuania and its special relationship with Poland. In 1569, the Treaty of Lublin joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland into a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to balance the growing power of Moscow. Thereafter, Lithuania joined Poland’s decline, ultimately culminating in the partitions by AUSTRIA, Prussia, and RUSSIA between 1772 and 1795.

Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire after the final Polish partition in 1795. The population was subjected to harsh policies forbidding use of the Lithuanian language, resulting in revolts in 1830 and 1863. In 1918, Lithuania declared its independence amid the destruction and chaos of World War I and the Russian Revolution. In August 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact split Poland and the Baltic States between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. In 1941, the Nazis invaded Lithuania, only to be reoccupied by the Soviet Union. After World War II, Lithuania was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In 1991, Lithuania regained its independence with the other Baltic States. The last Soviet troops withdrew from Lithuanian soil in 1993. Like its Baltic neighbors, Lithuania has taken steps to integrate into Europe by joining the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) in 2003 and the EUROPEAN UNION in 2004. 

Lithuanians make up 80 percent of the population, with the remainder consisting of Russians, Poles, and Belarussians. Roman Catholicism is the religion practiced by the majority of Lithuanians. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the state of Russians residing since the Soviet era poses a challenge for Lithuania. The Lithuanian economy has had to transform from a command economy under the control of Moscow to a free market economy. This process has been successful in bringing prosperity but has also created inequities in the standard of living. Lithuania’s chief exports are meat, milk, dairy products, and television parts, while remaining dependent on oil and natural gas from Russia.

Lisbon

WITH A metropolitan-area population of 2,682,687, Lisbon is the capital and largest city in PORTUGAL. It is located on the right bank of the Tagus River, where it forms a large estuary providing a natural safe harbor close to the ATLANTIC OCEAN. The city evolves over a series of hills and enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with mild winters and warm dry summers.

Lisbon was the capital of a worldwide empire for more than 400 years and is the main political, economic, and cultural center of Portugal. The origin of the settlement is remote. Occupied by the Romans in 205 b.c.e., the town was confined to old Castle Hill and the slope leading to the river. It was conquered by the Moors in 714 and recovered by the Crusades and the king of Portugal in 1147. Lisbon was promoted to capital of the kingdom in 1255, and thanks to commerce between the Mediterranean and northern Europe, it became a primary urban center during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Serving as base for the Portuguese expeditionary navies in the age of discoveries, the city benefited the most from this period and became a significant cultural and economic center: infrastructures and especially monuments were built, and the city expanded to the west. In 1527, Lisbon already stood out among Portuguese cities and gained importance at a European level. An earthquake in 1755 destroyed most of the city. The downtown area (Baixa) was rebuilt as a regular grid aligned with the river, replacing tortuous medieval streets and turning it into a hallmark of Lisbon for its unity and architectural value.

Until the development of railroad transportation, the river was the main thoroughfare for the transport of people and goods between the city and more interior areas of the country. During the 19th century industrialization, mass transit was introduced and larger factories were installed along the river, attracting peasants from the countryside and originating typical worker neighborhoods. At the end of that century, the opening of Avenida da Liberdade, a wide boulevard, changed the form of the city by directing growth toward the north. However, by 1940 Lisbon was still concentrated and close to the river. On the hill to the west, the 2,540-acre (1,028-hectare) Monsanto forest park was created on still undeveloped land.

After World War II, a sharp increase in urbanization pushed growth beyond the limits of the municipality, and toward the west and north along main transportation routes (especially railroads). Population of the city stabilized in the 1950s, and by 2000 only 20 percent of the population of the metropolitan area lived within city limits. In the 1950s and 1960s, new industrial areas were located in Cabo Ruivo and on the south bank, connected by a bridge in 1966. More recent transformations include the expanding network of expressways and construction of large peripheral shopping centers, underlining the ongoing strong suburbanization. Part of the east riverfront was rebuilt to replace heavy industry with an area of residential use.

Liechtenstein

ONE OF WESTERN Europe’s five microstates, the story-book principality of Liechtenstein is in reality one of the few “absolutist” states in the world, thanks to a favorable referendum voting extensive powers to the ruling sovereign in March 2003. His Serene Highness, Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein now has more political prerogatives than any other monarch in Europe.

Sandwiched between the Swiss cantons of St.Gallen to the west and Graubünden to the south and the Austrian province of Vorarlberg to the east, Liechtenstein’s history has naturally been closely linked to its larger neighbors. The family had served the Habsburgs in AUSTRIA for centuries, and in fact the family derives its name from its main castle just south of Vienna. Prince Johann Adam bought the county of Vaduz and the adjacent lordship of Schellenberg in 1699 and 1712, and the two territories were united as a fully independent member of the Holy Roman Empire in 1719. But the land itself was of secondary importance to the family: no sovereign prince of Liechtenstein even visited until the middle of the 19th century.

When the Holy Roman Empire fell apart thanks to Napoleon in 1806, Liechtenstein fell between the cracks and was not consolidated into one of the larger German states. Successive princes maintained their independence and forged a beneficial customs union with Austria in 1852. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, however, the princes turned west and formed a similar customs and monetary union with SWITZERLAND in 1923, which is still in effect today. The princely family still owns large estates in Austria and lays claim to numerous others in the CZECH REPUBLIC that were confiscated by the communists (equal to ten times the size of the principality itself). Still, the prince’s wealth is estimated at more than $2 billion.

The principality—15 mi (26 km) long, and an average of 4 mi (6 km) wide—lies on the eastern bank of the RHINE RIVER, between its emergence from the high Alpine valleys of Switzerland and Lake Constance to the north. Two canals running on either side of the river through this valley maintain its water levels to reduce risk of spring floods. The eastern third of Liechtenstein is divided from the rest by a range of mountains, forming the upper Samintal, or valley of the Samina River, which runs northward into the Ill in Austria, which in turn joins the RHINE just a few kilometers north of Liechtenstein. To the east and south of this valley rise the much greater Alpine heights dividing the country from Austria, including a number of peaks above 8,250 feet (2,500 m).

The main town, Vaduz, has a population of about 5,000. High above the town, the prince’s castle, dating from the 14th century, boasts one of the largest private art collections in the world and is a major tourist attraction. Much of this art collection has recently been transferred to Vienna’s newest major art gallery, the restored Liechtenstein Palace, opened to the public in March 2004. Liechtenstein itself has been transformed since World War II from a sleepy agricultural community to a modern industrialized society with one of the world’s highest standards of living. Revenue is generated locally through skiing and the sale of rare stamps, but it is the income from numerous so-called post-office-box companies, attracted by low business taxes, that has boosted the national economy (providing as much as 30 percent of state revenues). Concerns over tax evasion schemes and money laundering, however, have recently caused increased pressure from the EUROPEAN UNION and the principality’s authorities.

Libya

A RELATIVELY LARGE country, similar in size to the state of ALASKA, Libya largely consists of broad rolling deserts, barren rock inselbergs and immense dune fields or ERGS. It is a landscape of sandstorms; hot dusty wind, or ghibli; an expanding desert; and scarce water. More than 90 percent of the country is considered arid or semiarid. It primary cities are all located on the MEDITERRANEAN SEA coastline, which has facilitated its links across North Africa to Europe and western Asia.

Generally speaking, the Saharan plateau covers most of Libya. The exceptions are in the northwest corner in a region known as Tripolitania and in the northeast in Cyrenaica, Libya’s largest region. The Tripolitania region, which runs north to south, is a string of carefully cultivated coastal oases in addition to the triangular Al-Jifarah plain, and the Nafusah Plateau, 200 mi (320 km) of limestone between 2,000 and 3,000 ft (600 to 915 m) in elevation.

Libya has no perennial rivers, but there are extensive underground aquifers that support artesian wells and springs. Libya’s arid desert climate is moderated along the coast by the Mediterranean Sea. Precipitation ranges from 16 to 20 in (40 to 50 cm) in the northern hills to less than 5 in (12 cm) throughout most of the south, and to 1 in (2.5 cm) in the Libyan Desert.

Droughts are common, meaning natural vegetation is minimal. Libya’s principal mineral resource is its reserves of petroleum, Africa’s largest and among the world's largest. Since it earliest days as a major Phoenician and Roman territory on the North African coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Libya has been raided and colonized by Vandals, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and Italians until its independence in 1951. Only a few years later, the country changed dramatically with the discovery of enormous oil reserves. In 1969, a 27-year-old Muammar Qaddafi led a successful coup to gain control of the nation. Qaddafi has been victorious in removing any imprints of previous cultures to create a landscape from his own vision. Based upon his Third International Theory, he created a political system combining Islam and socialism.

Using petroleum revenues in the 1970s and 1980s to promote political ideologies (including supporting terrorist activities) throughout the region, Libya prompted the United Nations (UN) to impose economic sanctions after the Lockerbie terrorist bombing was suspected to have had Libyan ties. The sanctions were then lifted in April 1999 when Qaddafi handed over Lockerbie bombing suspects.

Liberia

LIBERIA, “LAND OF THE FREE,” in western Africa, borders the north ATLANTIC OCEAN, between CÔTE D’IVOIRE and SIERRA LEONE. It has 10 to 50 mi (16 to 80 km) of flat coastal plain that contains creeks, mangrove swamps, and lagoons. Beyond that, forested hills, from 600 to 1,200 ft (180 to 370 m) high cover the rest of the country, excluding the mountains in the northern highlands. The maximum peak in the Nimba Mountains is 4,540 ft (1,383 m). Six principal rivers flow to the ATLANTIC OCEAN.

Vegetation is predominantly forest, and the tropical, humid climate sees rainfall averages of 183 in (465 cm) on the coast and 88 in (224 cm) in the southeast. The dry season (harmattan, December and January) splits two rainy seasons. Cities other than Monrovia are the ports of Harper and Buchanan. POPULATION GROUPS

There are 16 ethnicities in Liberia, including the Kpelle, Mano, Baso, Grebo, Kru, and Vaj. Seventy percent are native, traditional religion practitioners, while 20 percent are Muslim and 10 percent Christian. Although English is the official language, the native languages are used commonly. The Americo-Liberians, a minority residing in the cities, tend to be Protestants.

Other population groups include Lebanese merchants and European and American technicians. Liberia was founded in 1820 on the Grain Coast; it was the gift of the American Colonization Society, which received it from the Cape Mesurado chiefs. The founders fought bloody battles with the indigenous peoples. Eighty-six freed slaves from the United States established Christopolis, later Monrovia, in February 1820. Approximately 15,000 freed slaves emigrated from the United States until the American Civil War. In 1847, Liberia declared itself an independent republic.

Until 1980, the Americo-Liberian or True Whig Party (TWP) ruled Liberia. The first president was Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-born. The government and constitution were modeled on that of the UNITED STATES. The republic traded with other parts of West Africa, but it modeled its style of living on those of the United States.

Modernization efforts led to a crisis of foreign debt in 1871. Conflicts with FRANCE and Britain led to losses of territory in 1885, 1892, and 1919. Liberia used the European rivalries and the support of the United States to remain independent. Still its exports declined and its debts rose, leading to foreign interference. Bankruptcy came in 1909. International loans saved Liberia. In 1926, Firestone, the American tire company, leased large rubber plantations. In 1930, the League of Nations investigated charges that Liberia was exporting labor, that is, engaging in the slave trade. The president resigned.

The new president, William Tubman, opened the country to international investment, allowed indigenes greater participation, and allowed the exploitation of iron and other minerals. Education, roads, infrastructures, and healthcare were improved. Tubman died in 1971. His vice president, W.R. Tolbert took over. A proposed increase in the price of rice in 1979 set off rioting. The TWP’s rule ended on April 12, 1980, when Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe, a native Krahn, pulled off a successful coup. Doe’s forces executed Tolbert and several other Americo-Liberians. Doe’s People’s Redemption Council promised a return to civilian rule, then began repressing the opposition and abusing human rights. Doe instituted constitutional changes, survived numerous coups, and saw flight of thousands of refugees to the Côte d’Ivoire. The refugees returned in 1989, led by Charles Taylor. The war waxed and waned until finally in 2003 the Taylor regime ended, and the country and government struggled to maintain the uneasy truce.

Lesotho

LESOTHO IS LOCATED literally within SOUTH AFRICA: This small southern African country is landlocked and surrounded on all sides by the Republic of South Africa. Lesotho covers an area slightly smaller than MARYLAND. It is the only country in the world that lies entirely above 3,280 ft (1,000 m) and more than 80 percent of Lesotho is 5,905 ft (1,800 m) above sea level. Lesotho is mainly mountains, hills, and highlands with plateaus. It has a very temperate climate, with cool to cold dry winters and hot, wet summers.

Lesotho has four major mountain ranges within its borders. The DRAKENSBURG MOUNTAIN range, the Central range, and the Thoba Rutsoa range are all in the central and eastern parts of Lesotho and the Maloti range is in the western region. Thabana-Ntlenyana is the highest peak in all of southern Africa. It is also called “The Kingdom in the Sky,” “The Roof of Africa,” and “The Switzerland of Africa.” Deep river valleys and canyons cut these mountains; the water that flows through these canyons is the major water supply for all of southern Africa. Many of the rivers on the southern part of the African continent start in these hills, including the Orange River and its many tributaries.

This water is Lesotho’s main natural resource. Lesotho is exploiting its water through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. This project is designed to capture, store, and transfer water from the Orange River system and send it to the Republic of South Africa. This project not only moves water but produces hydroelectricity as well. There are going to be approximately seven dams and two tunnels when the project is complete in 2020. With the first phase of the project already completed, Lesotho has become almost completely self-sufficient in the production of electricity. Already it has generated approximately $24 million annually through the sale of electricity and water to South Africa.

The kingdom of Lesotho is heavily populated especially in the western part of Lesotho where there is more arable land. There, the people raise crops of corn, sorghum, wheat, beans, peas, asparagus, tomatoes, and peaches. Most of the land is used for raising animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, and horses. These people, called the Basotho, are remnants of various ethnic groups made up mainly of various Bantu-speaking people and some of the original San or Bushmen who were Lesotho’s earliest inhabitants. The Basotho managed to fend off both the Zulus and the Boers in the 1800s.

On October 4, 1966, Lesotho gained independence. The Lesotho government is now a constitutional monarchy with a king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. Currently, the king serves primarily as a ceremonial figure with no executive power. However, all land in Lesotho is held by the king and is allocated to the Basotho people through local chiefs. Foreigners in Lesotho are strictly forbidden from owning land. Lesotho has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa; official languages are English and Sesotho, a Bantu language.

Lena River

THE LENA RIVER is one of Russia’s great northern rivers, draining an area of 899,641 square mi (2,306,772 square km) and encompassing a region rich in wildlife and natural resources, including one of the world’s largest deposits of gold. This is also one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet, with extremes of temperature and vast stretches of northern forests (84 percent). Few people live in the region and there is only one city in the entire Lena basin, Yakutsk, the administrative seat of the former Yakut Autonomous Socialist Republic and now the capital of a semiindependent Yakutia, renamed the Republic of Sakha in 1991.

The river, 2,850 mi (4,597 km) long, flows mostly through Sakha, but its origins are in the Irkutsk District, immediately west of Lake BAIKAL. Its tributaries have their headwaters in the autonomous republic of Buryatiya and the districts of Chita, Amur, and Khabarovsk. The river starts in the Baikal range, only a short distance from the lake itself, though the lake’s waters flow into the Angara River and into the Yenisey, thousands of kilometers from the Lena. It then flows north and east to be joined by its first major tributaries, the Vitim and Olekma, whose headwaters originate in the Yablonov and other parallel mountain ranges east of Lake Baikal (which are also the source of the headwaters of the AMUR RIVER).

The river then turns again north in a large arc, following the contours of the Aldan Plateau to the south, from which emerges the Lena’s largest tributary, the Aldan, and the Verkhoyansk Range to the east. This range of mountains forms a steep escarpment for over 600 mi (1,000 km), stretching all the way to the Lena’s delta on the Laptev Sea, an arm of the ARCTIC OCEAN.

This semicircular area bounded by the Aldan and Verkhoyansk highlands forms a sort of climatic vortex, producing some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet: -88.9 F (-67 degrees C). To the west the terrain is much flatter, with larger tributary rivers, notably the Vilyui, which extends far into the Siberian Plateau. From the confluence of the Lena with the Aldan, 800 mi (1,300 km) from the sea, the river becomes very broad, sometimes reaching 5 mi (8 km) across. The delta, covering 12,352 square mi (31,672 square km), is the largest in RUSSIA and third largest in the world. It is formed of numerous islets, marshes and sandbars. The largest islands (hundreds of square kilometers) are covered with damp, mossy tundra and frozen lakes that do not permit the construction of roads, so travel between the eight permanent settlements continues mainly by dogsled.

The river is almost entirely navigable, with an abundance of fish, but is frozen eight months of the year. Ice has been measured at 53 in (136 cm) in the south, and up to 90 in (231 cm) at the delta. Because the Lena is almost entirely fed by mountain snows, spring thaws can bring disastrous floods, followed by equally breakups of river ice, sizable chunks of which can destroy entire sections of the riverbank and any settlements alongside it. The annual flow of the river is very irregular, with 90 to 95 percent of all of its discharge in spring and summer, when its volume increases by as much as 10 times that of the winter months. This irregular flow has limited the development of hydroelectric projects in the Lena basin, though there are two large dam-reservoir complexes on the Vilyuy. The Lena was used as a highway for trappers and traders in Russia’s expansion to the Pacific coast, with its main town of Yakutsk founded in 1632.

Russia’s relations with the indigenous Yakut and Evenki peoples were not always harmonious, and the region saw a good deal of oppression, lawlessness, and unbridled greed in the race for lucrative furs. Another boom period followed in the 19th century, with the discovery of gold in the Lena valley near the confluence with the Vitim River. Privatization since the 1990s has returned the region to its “Wild West” frontier days, ruled by hustlers, speculators and black marketers. The 1 million inhabitants who live in the Lena basin are looking to their mineral wealth, still undeveloped because of great distances, difficulties building roads and buildings on permafrost, and difficulty getting water half the year.

Leeward and Windward

THE TERMS leeward and windward are used in a number of ways to describe specific places, physical features, and climatic processes. In one sense, windward and leeward generally refer to the location of a place relative to the prevailing wind direction. A windward location is one that is exposed to the prevailing winds. Conversely, a leeward location is protected from the prevailing wind.

For example, Concepcion, CHILE, on the west side of the ANDES would be in a windward location relative to westerlies moving inland from the PACIFIC OCEAN simply because it is exposed to the approaching wind. However, the east side of the Andes would be a leeward location because of the protection afforded by the intervening mountains. The windward and leeward designations illustrated here are equally applicable to orographic lifting, the process involved when winds strike the front face of a mountain, are forced up the windward face of the mountain and then descend on the leeward side. If the winds are laden with moisture and the mountain is high enough, the moisture carried by the wind may condense and produce precipitation.

The resulting precipitation will in the highest volumes on the windward side of the mountain and the leeward side will invariably receive a lesser amount. There are a number of places in the world where this process is clearly evidenced. Among them are the moisture-laden westerlies reaching the Pacific coast of WASHINGTON, which are forced aloft by the Coastal Ranges. The windward side of this region receives an abundance of rainfall while the leeward side on the eastern slopes receives little or no rainfall. A classic example of orographic lifting is found in the HIMALAYAS when the summer monsoons bring warm, moist winds across the Indian subcontinent and are then forced aloft by the imposing Himalayan barrier. Areas on the windward side on the mountains may receive as much as 100 in (254 cm) of rainfall. However, because of the great heights of the Himalayas, little or no moisture reaches the leeward side. So within a relatively short distance the climatic results vary from near tropical conditions to the true deserts of Central Asia.

The terms are used in a more formal manner to name particular groups of islands. For example, the islands in the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies all lie in the pathway of the northeast trade winds. This wind belt moves from approximately 30 degrees north latitude toward the equator where it meets its counterpart from the Southern Hemisphere, the southeast trade winds. Historically, British sailing ships entered the region with the northeast trade winds at their backs. The first island encountered on these voyages was usually BARBADOS, the island farthest east and most to windward.

The Windward Islands, as they came to be called, include Barbados, the Caribees (a cluster of small islands), DOMINICA, MARTINIQUE, GRENADA, SAINT LUCIA, and SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES. The Windward Islands, a former British colony, are the southernmost islands in the Lesser Antilles and were once collectively named the Federal Colony of the Windward Islands and later the Territory of the Windward Islands. The northern continuation of the Lesser Antilles includes islands that are farther downwind from the Windward Islands. First discovered by Columbus in 1493, these are the Leeward Islands, which includes ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, the British Virgin Islands, MONTSERRAT, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS, and ANGUILLA. A string of leeward islands is also found northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, and this group has become a national bird sanctuary.

In addition, the Society Islands in French Polynesia, a region east of the COOK ISLANDS in the South Pacific, are identified as leeward islands. Reference may be made as well to another use of the word windward. The narrow sea-lane separating eastern CUBA and HAITI lies in the path of the northeast trade winds. As such, vessels traveling between the ATLANTIC OCEAN and the CARIBBEAN SEA are using the aptly named Windward Passage. Those traveling through the pass from northeast to southwest have the advantage of the northeast trade winds pushing them along.

Lebanon

LEBANON, ONE OF the world’s smallest countries, is on the eastern shore of the MEDITERRANEAN SEA. SYRIA is its neighbor to the north and east, and ISRAEL is located to the south. Although a small country, Lebanon has a wide range of geographical regions. All of the major cities are located on the coastal strip. The Mount Lebanon Range located inland, provides majestic peaks and ridges. The Bekaa Valley, located parallel to the coast, is home to a multitude of wine vineyards.

Thousands of years ago, the mountains of Lebanon were covered with great cedar forests. Only a few cedar forests remain, but Lebanon is still recognized as the most densely wooded country in the Middle East. Many pine trees cover the mountain land, and fruit trees are present all across the coastal plain. The mountains are home to many different birds, including eagles, red kites, Sardinian warblers, and Scop’s owls.

The climate in Lebanon is as diverse as the topography. Along the coast, hot conditions are prevalent during the summer, and cool, moist weather during the winter months. Snow and wind are common in the Bekaa Valley during the winter, and the mountains provide a typical alpine climate year-round.

The French created Lebanon in 1920. Originally, the Maronites, the largest religious community in the country, were placed in control of the government. However, to ensure the Maronites would remain loyal to the French, the French enlarged Lebanon to include mainly Muslim areas in the state. After this inclusion, only 30 percent of the population was Maronite. The tight grip of the French would last for decades, and the religious differences would last for the rest of the century.

In 1926, the constitution was passed; a single chamber of deputies was created that could elect a president. The president had limited authority to choose a prime minister and the cabinet. However, the French rule continued to control Lebanese foreign relations and the military. By 1936, French and Lebanese government officials signed a treaty that included a guarantee of fairness to all religious sects in the country. The Maronite Christian Emile Eddé was elected president and he chose a Muslim, Khayr al-Din al-Ahdab as the prime minister. This power sharing formula continued until the late 1980s.

The French left Lebanon after World War II, and for the next two decades, the Lebanese people tried to create a separate identity. In the early 1970s, many Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters infiltrated the country. They conducted raids against the Israelis from southern Lebanon and urged many Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to fight for their cause. By April 1975, tensions reached new levels as civil war broke out in Lebanon. The conflict sided the Christian Maronites against the Muslim Lebanese National Movement (LNM). The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) soon joined the Muslim forces. One year later, the Syrian army intervened and, with Arab League support, worked out a cease-fire. By October 1976, an Arab Deterrent Force, mainly of 40,000 Syrian soldiers, occupied Lebanon. However, tensions were still high.

On June 6, 1982, after years of PLO attacks, Israel invaded Lebanon with the goal of eliminating the PLO and creating a 25-mile security zone in southern Lebanon. The Israelis bombarded Beirut, hoping the Christian militias would seize control of the government. By August 1982, the PLO evacuated Beirut and took refuge in eight different countries. The Christian Bashir Gemayel was elected Lebanese president but was assassinated a few weeks later. The Israelis immediately returned to Beirut. A multinational peace force returned to the country and Amin Gemayel became president. In June 1985, Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon, but maintained a presence in the southern Lebanon security zone. The country remained divided for the next six years. On May 22, 1991, the Lebanese government signed a Treaty of Cooperation and Brotherhood. Syria was given control over Lebanon’s internal affairs and had around 16,000 troops stationed in the country. In 2005, under international pressure, Syria began to withdraw those troops.

Lebanon has attempted to pick up the pieces from the years of war. Muslims have been given a greater role in the government. Although the militant group, Hezballah still retains its weapons, most of the militias have been weakened or eliminated. The Lebanese armed forces have central government control over the majority of the country and Israel had withdrawn its forces from the southern security zone.

Law of the Sea

THE LAW OF THE SEA is a compilation of international and national laws regulating the demarcation of areas of maritime jurisdiction appertaining to maritime states. While its origins were military and defensive today it focuses on respective rights of resource exploitation—oil and minerals as well as fisheries. The importance of international innocent passage via geopolitical choke points and along multinational rivers also is relevant.

The oceans had long been subject to the freedom of the seas and innocent passage doctrine, a principle put forth in the 17th century designed essentially to limit national rights and jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow belt of sea surrounding a nation’s coastline. The remainder of the seas was proclaimed to be free to all and belonging to none. While this situation prevailed into the 20th century, by mid-century there was an impetus to extend national claims over offshore resources.

There was growing concern over the toll taken on coastal fish stocks by long-distance fishing fleets and over the threat of pollution and wastes from transport ships and oil tankers carrying noxious cargoes that plied sea routes across the globe. The hazard of pollution was ever present, threatening coastal resorts and all forms of ocean life. The navies of the maritime powers were competing to maintain a presence across the globe on the surface waters and even under the sea.

All maritime countries have claimed some part of the seas beyond their shores as part of their sovereign territory, a zone of protection to be patrolled against smugglers, warships, and other intruders. At its origin, the basis of the claim of coastal states to a belt of the sea was the principle of protection; during the 17th and 18th centuries, another principle gradually evolved: that the extent of this belt should be measured by the power of the littoral sovereign to control the area.

In the 18th century, the so-called cannon-shot rule gained wide acceptance in Europe. Coastal states were to exercise dominion over their territorial seas as far as projectiles could be fired from cannon based on the shore. According to some scholars, in the 18th century the range of land-based cannons was approximately one marine league, or three nautical miles. It is believed that on the basis of this formula developed the traditional 3-mi (4.8-km) territorial sea limit.

By the late 1960s, a trend to a 12-mi (19.3-km) territorial sea had gradually emerged throughout the world, with a great majority of nations claiming sovereignty out to that seaward limit. However, the major maritime and naval powers clung to a 3-mi limit on territorial seas, primarily because a 12-mi limit would effectively close off and place under national sovereignty more than 100 straits used for international navigation. 

In 1973, an international conference aimed at reaching an agreement was convened in New York. Nine years later in 1982, it adopted a constitution for the seas: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. During those nine years, representatives of more than 160 states sat down and discussed the issues and bargained and traded national rights and obligations in the course of the marathon negotiations that produced the convention.

Among the more important aspects of the convention are navigational rights, territorial sea limits, economic jurisdiction, legal status of resources on the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, passage of ships through narrow straits, conservation and management of living marine resources, protection of the marine environment, a marine research regime, and, a more unique feature, a binding procedure for settlement of disputes between states. In short, the convention is an unprecedented attempt by the international community to regulate all aspects of the resources of the sea and uses of the ocean and thus bring order to one of mankind’s very source of life.