Remember back in elementary school days, you are asked to memorize that there are seven continents in the world. And they are Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Oceania. You are even asked to do some worksheets to help you memorize all of the seven. Well, that number might change in the future. According to an October article in the New York Times, based on any maps, one can clearly see that Asia and Europe are connected, which is why they are often called Eurasia. If this observation is true, shouldn’t there be just six continents? Moreover, North America and Asia are connected by Bering Sea Shelf, which was once dry land 15000 years ago, and that was how prehistoric humans migrated transcontinentally. Looking from this perspective, aren’t Asia, Europe, and North America technically one continent? So we would end up with only five continents? The disagreement occurs partly because there are two definitions of continents：those recognized by cultures around the world and those recognized by geologists. Both of these two don’t offer clear cut explanations and definitions. One group of geologists even go as far to say that there are only two continents on Earth, Antarctica and everything else. If this train of belief becomes mainstream, imagine how we will all have to relearn everything.

以地理學的觀點來重新認識地球上七大洲，洲洲其實有相連。以前死背背那麼多… 反而越想越心酸?😭

Asia 亞洲
Europe 歐洲
North America 北美洲
South America 南美洲
Antarctica 南極洲
Africa 非洲
Oceania 大洋洲
Eurasia 歐亞大陸
Bering Sea 白令海

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EP186 | 🌍地理學家：地球上七大洲，根本沒那麼多！