Impacts on Land

1. Impacts on Land

2. Biblical Reference When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? Isaiah 28:21

3. Using Land Resources • How do humans use land? • Agriculture • Resources • Housing • How do these uses impact the environment?

4. Forest Resources • Wood and Paper Products • Furniture • Notebooks • Fuel • Clearing Land: • Housing • Farms • Malls • Highways

5. Deforestation • The removal of large areas of forests for human purposes • Approximately 130,000 km2 of tropical rain forests cut down per year • Home to almost 50% of the world’s animal species • Soil Quality: Roots are natural anchors • More Landslides • Air Quality: Photosynthesis • Increased CO2 in the atmosphere

6. Deforestation in Borneo

7. Agriculture & the Nitrogen Cycle • 6.7 Billion people eat a lot of food • Farmers use fertilizers with nitrogen to increase crop yield • Nitrogen naturally cycles through ecosystems • Living things use nitrogen to make protein • When they die, they release nitrogen into soil & atmosphere • Nitrogen makes up 79% of the atmosphere, but it can’t be used in it’s gaseous form • Bacteria convert nitrogen into a useful form for plants

8. The Problem… • Human activities have doubled the amount of nitrogen cycling in our ecosystem • Excess nitrogen kills plants and the organisms that depend on those plants • Fertilizers pollute drinking water • Nitrogen-rich runoff enters the oceans and affects aquatic organisms

9. Cycles Video

10. Other Effects of Agriculture • Soil erosion occurs when land is overfarmed or overgrazed Desertification: The development of desert-like conditions due to human activities and/or climate change • Land that has undergone desertification is no longer useful for farming.

11. Mining • Mines are essential for acquiring much-needed resources • Copper, Coal, Limestone, Cement, Sand, Gravel, etc. • Underground or surface mining • Mining disturbs habitats and changes the landscape • Runoff can contain heavy metals and pollute water supplies

12. Mountaintop Removal Mining

13. Construction & Development • Land, itself is a resource • Schools, houses, factories, malls, highways, amusement parks, etc., all take up space

14. Urban Sprawl • Suburbs started to grow in the1950’s • When they became crowded, people moved even farther out, resulting in Urban Sprawl Impacts of Urban Sprawl: • Habitat Destruction • Loss of Farmland • Light Pollution • Noise Pollution • Increased Runoff

15. Pollution Light Pollution: • Artificial illumination of the sky • Interferes with studies in astronomy Noise Pollution: • Unwanted or excessive noise from people, transportation or machinery • Long-term exposure can cause hearing loss or disrupt wildlife

16. Roadways • Disturb habitats and divert animal migration paths • Increase Runoff • U.S. • Nearly 300 million registered vehicles • Over 4.07 million miles of roads • 2.6 million miles are paved

17. Waste Management • 6.7 Billion people • 2.1 kg of trash per person per day • 230 million tons of trash each day

18. Landfills • Areas where trash is buried • Take up valuable land resources • Highly regulated • Covered by soil to keep it from blowing away • Special liners prevent from contaminating soil and groundwater supplies • Landfills can be capped and the land re-used for parks, golf courses and ski resorts • Methane is collected and used to generate electricity

20. Hazardous Waste • Trash that contains substances that are harmful to soil, air and water quality • Affects the health of humans and wildlife • Industrial example: • Medical Waste • Household examples: • Cleaning chemicals or electronics • Cannot be placed in landfills • EPA helps people safely dispose of Hazardous Waste

21. Positive Actions Government, Businesses and Individuals can work together to reduce the impact of human activities on land resources.

22. Protecting the Land • Yellowstone National Park was our first national park in 1872. • President Woodrow Wilson developed the National Park Service in 1916 • State and local governments created their own park systems • National, state and local parks protect wildlife habitats and allow people to enjoy the great outdoors

23. National Parks

24. Reforestation & Reclamation • Forests are complex ecosystems • Methods of saving Forests: • Select-Cutting • Only cutting down some trees in each area • Reforestation • Planting trees to replace cut or burned trees • Reclamation: restoring land disturbed by mining • Land is re-shaped, covered with soil and replanted with trees or other vegetation • Comes from Latin word, reclamare, which means “to call back”

26. Green Spaces • Areas that are left undeveloped amid the parking lots, streets, buildings and sidewalks of cities Benefits: • Provide recreational opportunities for humans • Provide shelter for wildlife • Reduce runoff • Remove excess CO2

27. How Can You Help? (Reduce) • Turn off lights • Turn down the thermostat • Use cloth grocery bags • Avoid single-serving items • Get rid of junk mail • Don’t buy bottled water

28. How Can You Help? (Reuse) • Use cloth napkins • Hold a yard sale • Visit a yard sale • Use the back side of paper for scratch work • Donate to Goodwill • Create a compost pile

29. How Can You Help? (Recycle) • Aluminum Cans • Newspapers • Phonebooks • Plastic Bags • Plastic Bottles • Yard Waste

30. Agree or Disagree? 3. Deforestation does not affect soil quality. • Most trash is recycled.

31. Pop Quiz Landfills do which of the following to control pollution? A. cover the landfill with clay and dirt B. line the landfill with sand or gravel C. monitor the quality of underground oxygen D. use groundwater to dilute liquid wastes

32. Pop Quiz Which of these describes areas where trash is buried? A. runoff B. landfill C. urban sprawl D. none of these

33. Pop Quiz Which of these is NOT an impact of urban sprawl? A. loss of farmland B. increase in runoff C. habitat destruction D. fewer cars on highways