Environmental Issues
Revision cards on the unit environmental issues
- Created by: Emma
- Created on: 16-05-10 20:17
What is an environmental issue?
Natural Environment is any part of the planet that ia already there, e.g. Land or Sea
Problems that we face:
- Global warming
- Recycling
- Animal Extinction
- Deforestation
- Pollution (Noise/Air/Sea)
- Land fill sites
- Desertification
Reasons:
- Population --> 0.5billion to 6billion in 2000 years --> world is over populated
- Technology --> more technological advances --> need more natural resources to provide energy
Uses of the Amazon
- An ecosystem is a mixture of plants & animals working together in a natural environment.
- Deforestation is the cutting down or burning of trees and plants over a wide area.
Actions in the Amazon:
- Logging
- Extraction of minerals
- Cattle Ranching
- Engineering projects
Groups in the Amazon:
- Researchers/Scientists - want to study life/ecosystems, against above actions
- Commercial companies - want to make money, for the above actions, expanding business, provides jobs
Rainforest depletion and how we can help...
Desertification --> habitats die --> more carbon dioxide released
- Stewardship = people who use natural environments understand what it needs to survive
- Sustainable development = making use of resources without harming environment
Stewardship:
- Yanomani, take what they need without damaging the rainforest
- Original and natural
- Hard to achieve
Sustainable development:
- Making some areas untouchable
- Governments need to restrict things to help their country
- Make use of the forest that you have already used
Case studies - ARPA and Stewardship
ARPA:
- Amazon Region Protected Areas program
- Agreement signed by President Cardoso, Brazil
- $81 million donated so far
- Used to buy surveillance equipment to stop illegal poaching and logging
- Allows endangered plants and animals to have a secure habitat
- Protects plants that make up half of our modern day medicines
Environmental Stewardship:
- New type of scheme
- Supporters farmers who make good use of their land
- Wants to - Conserve wildlife/Maintain landscape/Protect natural resources
- Farmers are given money or resources
How are natural resources exploited? Case study -
Aral Sea:
- used to be 66,100km squard
- Soviet Government cut off water supply from local rivers
- sea level fell by 14 metres
- climate change - winters warmer and summers cooler
- desertification
- diseases became more prominent from polluted water
Overexploitatoon of fish:
- there is now more demand for fish
- oceans are of ecological importance
- overfishing to make more money
- most of the fish caught are young, meaning they will not reproduce
- taking more fish than are able to produce in a given time frame
Pollution of the oceans
Pollution = Any substances in water, soil or air which damage the natural quality of the environment.
- Land/industry/domestic waste = sewage, agricultural waste, food and drink
- Atmosphere = vehicles/fires/gases/dust
- Off shore production = oil/gas extraction
- Dumping at sea = disposal by barges/ bilge/dreging/ships rubbish
- Marine transport = pleasure boating/cargo spills/oil leaks
Development of tourism
- Imporve lifestyle - more jobs/better health and education/expanding businesses
- Develop economy - raises wages/produces jobs/outside investment/ development in industry
- Protection of places of beauty and interest
Transport
- essential
- more air pollution/greenhouse gases produced
- changes to the ecology of the area
Accommodation
- costal areas that were mainly undeveloped until recently
- local people are often moved or left with little resources
- sewage is dumped in the sea
- builing that tourism demands creates pollution as well as water, electricity and plumbing having to be installed
Pressure groups
Union of Concerned Scientists
- experts in what they talk about
- from USA
- produce publications for the public and media
- hard to challenge them
Friends of the Earth
- first pressure group in UK
- campaign/fundraising/advertising
Greenpeace
- best known pressure group in UK
- make headline news with dramatic stories
- unusual and risky methods
Pros and cons of leisure and tourism
Advantages:
- money
- jobs
- investment
- increase property values
- improve lifestyle
- protect areas
Disadvantages:
- pollution
- destroy local area through building
- over crowding
- changing culture
Climate change
- Floods/heatwaves/gales/droughts/forest fires/snow have become more frequent since 1980's.
- Effects include ruined homes and businesses as well as people sometimes being left physically hurt.
Droughts in Southern Africa:
- short term = no water making it difficult to survive
- long term = crops don't grow, meaning countries have to import food
Slowing climate change;
- we should recycle/use less electricity/run eletric cars
- we need more renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels
- more nuclear power stations
More about Greenpeace
- International environmental organisation since 1971
Demonstations/protests:
- Against ESSO - large amounts of fuel are causing global warming
- Local issue - shut down SELCHP incinerator in South London for 4 days
- National issue - published 'zero waste' report for Britain to become rubbish free
- International issue - Greenland, visited isolated communities using dogs and sleds
Airplot:
- One of the biggest campaigns that they are working on
- Campaigning against third runway at Heathrow
- Have bought piece of land where the proposed runway is to be
- If the expansion took place, Heathrow would be the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK
National Parks
- Large area of the countryside that are protected, to preserve and care for the environment.
- Popular tourist destination, making lots of money
- Over 3500 footpaths that are used regularly, leading to erosion
- Orienteering leads to habitats being disturbed.
- Sometimes damage to lifestock and wild animals, such as glass scatterd across the park.
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