Self-Sustainability

Forests and Fishery With many mountains, Taiwan has abundant timber. The Taiwan Forest Bureau, in charge of the national forest land, is responsible for the planting, protection, and logging of forests. The annual production of forest products, including plywood, reaches an average of about 1,200,000 cubic yards, exclusive of firewood. Fishery production has increased to over 650,000 tons annually. About 12 percent of this are produced by fish farming. The balance is caught in rivers and in coastal water. The warm currents in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast provide good deep-sea fishing grounds, especially for tuna. The Taiwan Fishery Bureau was established to help develop the fishing industry, and the number of fishing vessels also increase.

Bamboo Forest, Hsitou, Taiwan

Mining and Quarrying Annual coal production averages between 4,000,000 and 4,500,000 tons. Copper production is about 3,900 tons. Quarrying of marble exceeds 1,100,000 tons and of dolomite 55,000 tons. Annual production of crude petroleum is about 88,000 tons and that natural gas about 1,200,000. Salt production is located mainly on the southwestern coast.



Coal in Taiwan Resources Although more than 50 kinds of minerals have been found in Taiwan, total mineral resources are modest. Coal is the most important, reserves occurring near Taibei and in several other areas of the north amounting to about 254,000,000 tons. Deposits of copper and gold are found in Taibei area. Iron and sand reserves are small. Sulfur and sulfur-pyrite reserves amount to about 2,500,000 tons, with deposits in north of Taipei. Marble and limestone are abundant in Hualian on the east coast, which has reserves of 330,000,000 tons. Dolomite (limestone or marble rich in magnesium carbonate) is mostly deposited near Hualian. Petroleum, phosphorus, and natural gas exist in small quantities and occurrences of manganese, asbestos, talc, glass sand, and other minerals have been found. Salt is produced by the evaporation of seawater. Forest is most abundant in the high mountains. One of the natural resources of Taiwan is camphor laurel, from which a great deal of camphor is produced.

Vegetation and Animal Life Vegetation: There are green plants on the plains all the year around. As the climate varies with altitude, so does the natural vegetation. Stands of mixed bamboo, palm, and tropical evergreen grow in the lowlands; subtropical evergreen forests including camphor laurel are found from 2,000 to 6,000 feet; broad-leaved evergreen forests of the temperate zone are represented by cedars, cypress, junipers, rhododendrons, maples, and cryptomeria (Japanese cedar) from 6,000 to 8,000 feet; and coniferous forests are found above 7,500 feet.

Animal life: Similar to that in southern Chinese mainland, includes deer, wild boars, bears, monkeys, goats, wildcats, and panthers. Birds include pheasant, geese, flycatchers, kingfishers, larks, and many other species. Fish abound in the coastal areas.



From: [|http://w]  Katia Lezine, Gracie N-M  ** Thunderstorms In-Class Project **  1.   What is a thunderstorm? Thunderstorms are large storms formed by cumulonimbus clouds. These clouds bring precipitation, lightning, thunder, and possibly hail for up to an hour. The conditions needed for a thunderstorm are warm, moist and unstable air, therefore, they are most common around the tropics. Thunderstorms can be dangerous, but often they bring no harm. 2.   What causes it/them? Thunderstorms happen when warm, moist air rises and condenses in the troposphere. More air then rushes in to the area where the condensed air used to be, causing the new cumulonimbus cloud to travel even higher. The cloud will keep rising until it reaches the very top of the troposphere. At this point, the cloud is so heavy with moisture that it will begin to give off precipitation- rain, snow, or hail. Lightning happens when liquid and ice particles in the cumulonimbus cloud begin to collide. These colliding particles will build large electrical fields. Eventually, the negatively charged particles will get so powerful that they will break through the air and travel down to Earth. The bolt is so hot that the air around it will rapidly expand, creating thunder. The lightning bolt will then move down in a series of steps, each about 200 ft. When it reaches the ground, which is positively charged, there is a massive electrical discharge. The positive charges on the Earth’s surface will fly into the air at an extremely fast rate. This discharge is the lightning bolt that you see. 3.   Is the storm associated with a certain front? Yes, thunderstorms are associated with cold fronts. When a cold front moves in, it pushes the warm air up very fast. This creates clouds very quickly, meaning more violent weather. 4.   Names of clouds present or that it appears to first occur in? Thunderstorms appear to occur in cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds are formed when warm, moist air rises and condenses in the troposphere. More air rushes in to fill the gap where the warm air was, and then rises and condenses, too. These particles reach the cloud, sending it higher into the sky. The cumulonimbus cloud rises until it reaches the end of troposphere, where it stops. That is where thunderstorms form. 5.   What kind of weather is seen with it? Rain, snow, hail, lightning, thunder and sleet are the main types of weather you see in thunderstorms. They can result in many other problems like flashfloods, tornados, hurricanes and blizzards. 6.   Other examples and names for them? Do other countries call them a different name? How are they named? Thunderstorms are named so because each thunderstorm has thunder in it. Thunder happens when a lightning bolt travels through the air, causing all of the air around it to expand because of its heat. This expansion makes a loud, booming sound- thunder. As for other names for thunderstorms, there are just a few. For example, some people call them “thunderheads”, or “t-storms”. However, there are four different kinds of thunderstorms. These names are not very commonly used, but still important. They are super cell storms, multi-cell line storms, multi-cell cluster storms, and single cell storms. Multi-cell cluster storms are the most commonly seen, followed by multi-cell line storms, or squall lines. Squall lines can bring very large sized hail and even tornados. Super cell and single cell storms are the rarest, and can cause great damage to property. 7.   Location of occurrence? Because thunderstorms only need warm, moist air to form, they can form anywhere. A thunderstorm is incredibly rare, however, in the polar areas because the air is so very cold there all year. Therefore, t-storms are most common in the tropics, where it is warm and humid all year. Our area, the middle latitudes, usually experiences these storms in the summer, when it is warmest. Mountain areas can also experience many thunderstorms if they have the right conditions. This is mostly because mountains get more heat since they are a higher altitude. They are also sloped, which can create updrafts. These updrafts can turn into cumulonimbus clouds. 8.   Cool facts about thunderstorms: ·  About 4,000 thunderstorms happen each day around the world. ·  Storm clouds can be seen up to 200 miles away. ·  About 80 people die every year from a thunderstorm in the U.S.     ·   The biggest hailstone that ever fell was found in Coffeyville, Kansas, 1970. It weighed 1.67 pounds and spanned over 5.67 inches. ·  Some lightning bolts move at about 100 miles per second. 

**Bibliography**

Source One:

DK: Guide to Weather Michael Allaby 2000; New York, USA p. 22-25

Source Two:

Weather! Rebecca Rupp 2003; North Adams, MA p. 98

Source Three:

FEMA: Thunderstorms and Lightning [|http://www.fema.gov] [[http://www.humanrights.cn/zt/03102407/200312003112485951.htm|

Source Four:

Encyclopedia of Earth: Thunderstorms Michael Pidwirny ]] [|http://www.eoearth.org] [[http://www.humanrights.cn/zt/03102407/200312003112485951.htm|

Source Five: ]]   Windows University: Thunderstorms [|http://www.windows.ucar.edu]    Source Six:  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Think Quest Library: Lightning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|http://www.library.thinkquest.org] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Source Seven: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Weather Questions: What Causes Lightning? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|http://www.weatherquestions.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Source Eight: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Wise Geek: What Causes Thunder <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Kat Yares <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|http://www.wisegeek.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Source Nine: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> NOAA; Severe Weather Primer: Thunderstorm Basics <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|http://www.nssl.noaa.gov] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> ww.humanrights.cn/zt/03102407/200312003112485951.htm