The Adventures of Berg Canopy

Africa

As the second-largest continent in the world, Africa has several record-holding features that indigenous animals call home, including the Sahara Desert (Earth’s largest hot desert) and the Nile River (Earth’s longest river). Indeed, with the hot desert found in Africa’s top half, savannas in its middle and rainforests in its center and south, this continent is home to many of the creatures often highlighted in safaris, expeditions and other forms of popular educational entertainment. Africa is also famous for its Great Rift Valley, which is known as the Cradle of Humankind due to the evidence from hominin fossils that suggest evolution and modern human emergence.

Antarctica

The driest, windiest and iciest place in existence, Antarctica is the only continent not to have a permanent human population. Due to its difficult climate, establishing civilization or agriculture there is virtually impossible. Instead, several groups of scientists and researchers from different countries work in Antarctica to study fields like oceanography, geology and meteorology. The connection to water is crucial there because many native animals use the sea to survive.

Asia

The largest continent in terms of both land and population (approximately 30% and 60%, respectively), Asia is home to a varied topographical and climatic composition that spans more than 40 countries. The result is a diverse mix of natural features such as the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Dead Sea (Earth’s lowest point) and Mount Everest (Earth’s highest point), all of which boast an array of animals living in unique conditions.

Australia and Oceania

Being the smallest, flattest and second-driest continent on the planet, Australia contains a wide range of climatic and topographical features, including plateau, rainforests, a mountain range and the famous Outback, that allow for intriguing animals to live there. The numbers grow exponentially when considering Oceania, which includes the thousands of small islands located in the Central and South Pacific Ocean, especially Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Australia’s reputation as a living laboratory means the many native animals and physical areas, notably the Great Barrier Reef (the world’s largest coral reef), continue to fascinate scientists and researchers with their special characteristics.

Europe

Containing approximately 7% of the world’s land in an area only slightly larger than Canada, Europe is known for its panoramic blend of cultural, linguistic and historical developments that later involved colonizing countries in other continents. It also has an assortment of topographical and climatic conditions that impact life in different ways. Unfortunately, many local animals across Europe became either extinct or near-extinct as a result of human development, although certain creatures like the Mediterranean tortoise and the Eurasian lynx still exist.

Miscellaneous

When not exploring unique animals in exotic locales, Mr. Canopy enjoys both learning and leisure through other means. Documentaries as well as works of fiction pertaining to animals of the past (e.g., dinosaurs and extinct creatures), present and of legend (e.g., dragons) are among the mix of what can be found in this section. After all, science fiction and fantasy are fun!

The Americas

From the Artic Circle in North America to the Antarctic Circle in South America, the Americas encompass the expansive collection of cultures and climate zones that span these two continents. North America is the most diverse ecologically of all continents since it features almost all ecosystems, and South America is home to such unbelievable sights as the 15,000+-specie Amazon Basin and Angel Falls (the globe’s tallest waterfall). As with other locations, research continues to seek possibilities for these environments as threats like deforestation and habitat destruction for agriculture and settlements show no sign of stopping.