ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT

FORM FOUR GEOGRAPHY


ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT 
The Concept of Environment Environment Explains the meaning of environment This topic deals with problems that occur within our environment, causes, the effect on living things and how to mitigate these problems.
In this topic, we are going to deal with the sub-topic called environment conservation.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Concept of environmental conservation
This refers to the protection of the environment from being destructed through practicing various ways of environment protection such as destocking, afforestation, and planting of cover plants.

WAYS OF CONSERVING THE ENVIRONMENT
Destocking refers to the process of reducing the number of animals on the environment because when the number of animals increases on the environment, they can feed on all the plants which help to prevent soil erosion or landslides.

Afforestation and Reforestation refer to the process of planting trees in bare land and replanting trees in the presence of other trees.

Control industrial gases and industrial sewage system, the industrial location should be far apart from the water sources

Practicing proper irrigation skills. When irrigation is practiced improperly especially on the land with slope the water can wear out the nutrients and cause poor production.
Control of industrial fertilizers instead of depending on industrial fertilizer we can use manure since manure has no effect on the soil while industrial fertilizers add acid on the soil.

To control fishing activities, bad fishing methods should be discouraged for example charging and punishing for those who practicing bad methods.

Control construction of roads and buildings to avoid construction of building on steep slopes because this can accelerate soil erosion.

PRACTICING ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT AT SCHOOL LEVEL
This part is practically based on students in groups to practice various ways of conserving the environment such as planting trees, flowers, cleaning the environment around the school campus.

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF FAST RATE OF POPULATION AND URBAN GROWTH ON ENVIRONMENT
Population can be higher in particular areas due to the availability of social services, (food, shelter, hospital), good economic activities, agriculture, trade, good infrastructure, climatic condition. When the population is high, it can cause the following effect on the environment.

EFFECT OF FAST RATE POPULATION AND URBAN GROWTH ON THE ENVIRONMENT
 1. Soil erosion: This is because when the population increases it leads to the expansion of settlements and residences. People need to build houses which involves digging the land to set the foundation of the houses.
2. Deforestation: Occurs when the population increases and leads to the expansion of settlements and residences. People will cut trees in order to create space and for building.
3. Loss of biodiversity: This is due to risky human activities that endanger the life of organisms, for instance, using chemicals in agriculture and fishing and deforestation also cause biodiversity.
4. Desertification: Occurs when the bare land is directly heated by the sun.

5. Air pollution: The number of people increasing in an industrialized settlement, produces a large amount of gas.

DESERTIFICATION
Is the development of the desert-like conditions in regions that have experienced human disturbance such as deforestation, overgrazing, poorly managed agriculture. Although the extent of the world deserts expands and contract in response to naturally changes in climatic condition.
CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION
1. Overgrazing: Overgrazing was not a problem long ago because animals would move in response to rainfall. Now, animals can graze in a single area for a long time.
2. Farming of arable land: Farming of arable land is causing desertification worldwide. Farmers are clearing arable land and using it which takes away the richness of the soil
3. Destruction of plants in dry regions: This is causing desertification to occur. People are cutting down trees to use them as a source of fuel, once these trees are cut down there is nothing to protect the soil.
4. Incorrect irrigation in arid regions causes a build-up of salt in the soil. This is commonly used in poorer areas farmers use poor techniques because of lack of water.
5. Deforestation: Since this involves cutting down of trees without planting more trees causing the land to be bare that the soil can be easily carried by the wind

EFFECT OF DESERTIFICATION.
1. Soil becomes less usable, The soil can be blown away by wind or washed away from rain nutrients in the soil can be removed by wind or water. Salt can build up in the soil which makes it hard for plant growth.
2. Damaged loose soil may bury plants or leave their roots exposed also when overgrazing occurs plants species may be lost
3. Places that have war and poverty are most likely to have famine occur. Drought and poor land management contribute to famine. 
4. Food loss. The soil is not suited for growing food, Therefore the amount of food being grown will decline. If the population is still growing this will cause economic problems and starvation.
5. Desertification can cause flooding, poor water quality, dust storms, and pollution. All of these effects can hurt people living near an affected region.

IMPACT OF POVERTY ON ENVIRONMENT
1. Poverty influences environment degradation. Environment degradation is the process induced by human behavior and activities that damage the natural environment.
2. Poverty considered as a great influence of environmental degradation in many regions of the world, regional overgrazing has resulted in the destruction of grazing lands, forest, and soil
3. The carrying capacity of the natural environment has been reduced, As the people become poorer they destroy the resources faster
4. They tend to overuse the natural resources because they don’t have anything to eat or any means of getting money except through the natural resources so starting to depend more on natural resources
5. Due to the lack of sufficient income people start to use and overuse every resource available to them when their survival is at stake.

GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE
It is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years.

CAUSES OF GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE
1. Both natural and human factors change the earth’s climates.
2. Before human changes in climate, changes resulted entirely from natural causes such as changes in Earth’s orbit, changes in solar activity or volcanic eruptions.
3. Since the industrial era began humans have had an increasing effect on climate particularly by adding billions of tons of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 4. Most of the observed warming since the mid 20thcentury is due to human-caused greenhouse gas emission.

CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGES
Loss of biodiversity, since when climate change there is occurring of drought that can cause plants and micro-organismss to die.

Causes disease such as skin cancer, when the ozone layer is destructed it can cause the sun rays to penetrate directly to the earth surface since the ozone layer previously acting as a blanket to prevent the sun rays is now destructed.

Famine or hunger. It is difficult to practice agriculture when the climate is changing. it may cause drought making it difficult for plant growing.

An increase in sea levels since the climate change can cause the melting of ice due to the increase in temperature on the earth surface that causes increase in the sea level.

Loss of habitat for living organism since there are some living organisms living in cold areas or in ice so when the climate changes due to an increase in temperature those organisms fail to survive and die.

THE CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT
The term “environment” refer to the surrounding and the influence surroundings have on living things. Surroundings include the living and the dead things. Thus environment includes land, water, atmosphere and living things. In the environment, human beings are taken to be the centre because they influence the environment and in turn it influences them.
Simply environment includes everything surrounding us including ourselves.

THE COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT
Our environment is often divided into three components. These are the physical, the living, and the cultural environment.
1. The Physical environment consists of air, water, soil and rocks form the non – living or physical environment.
2. The living Part of the EnvironmentThe second component is the habitat which is the home of living things (all living things). The habitat provide conditions necessary for life to prosper. The various creatures depend on each other for survival E.g. animals depends on plants for foods, plants depends on insect for pollination and dispersal.
3. The Cultural Environment.
The cultural or human environment is unique for two ways:
1. People are part of the living environment.
2. People are capable of influencing each and every other part of the environment.
Thus the cultural environment reflects the impact of human being such as:
1. Homes, industries, ports, transport, and communication.
2. Their capability for agriculture.
3. Their capability to conserve or destroy the environment.

THE ENVIRONMENT AS A SYSTEM
The environment is made up of independent components and processes, hence what is part of the environment can relate to something else. The destruction of one of these means damaging a lot of others E.g. If we destroy a forest:
1. We destroy habitats for so many other creatures.
2. We are destroying natural cycles that involve the production or consumption of gases for sustaining life. 

Importance of Environment The Importance of Environment
Explain the importance of the environment
Therefore we should note that environment is a big system of parts, in which none can work alone. The environment is important for the following aspects:
1. General life support.
2. The environment contains ingredients essential for life, health and human welfare.
3. Supply of raw materials and energy necessary for production and consumption.
4. Absorption of the waste products of social and economic activities. This absorption is done through air, soil or water   

Environmental Problems Environmental Problems
Environment problems refer to the issue of harmful processes that are introduced or natural occurrences to the environment and make it unsafe for users. Environment management: Refer to the solution of controlling or conserving or caring for environment for future use.
The main environmental problems facing the environment are,
1. Pollution, including Air, Water, Soil, and Noise pollution.
2. Environment hazards which include, Floods, Drought, Desertification, Famine, and loss of Biodiversity both plants and animal (flora and fauna).
3. Global warming.
4. Global climatic change.

CAUSES OF VARIOUS ENVIRONMENT PROBLEMS
ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION
Environment pollution is problems which lead to pollution of the environment due to the addition of unwanted products or substances, these include Air pollution, Soil pollution, Water pollution and Noise pollution.

WATER POLLUTION;
Water pollution is the addition of an unwanted substance to the sources of water example River, Lake, Ocean, Dams, Swamp

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION.
1. Mining activities, due to the exploitation of minerals when rain falls it sweeps the soil to the source of water resulting in pollution.
2. Disposal of untreated sewage (effluent) into the water bodies from various sources e.g. Industrial wastes or domestic wastes.
3. Dumping of waste from the industries into the water bodies from various sources e.g. industrial waste.
4. Oil spills from the leaking oil containers of pipes during the transportation of such raw materials
5. Some chemicals and other waste from the farms can get into the water bodies through the surface run-off.
6. Volcanic eruption, Eruption of magma on the surface could lead to water pollution because it can flow to the source of water.
7. Testing of bombs.
8. Wind.
9. Use of chemicals by fishermen.

AIR POLLUTION;
Air pollution refers to the addition of unwanted substances to the atmosphere.
 
CAUSES OF AIR POLLUTION.
1. Industrial activities. These industries produce some gases which affect the atmosphere e.g. carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. 2. Automobiles, The presence of cars leads to air pollution due to the burning of oil which produces gases like CO2.
3. Casual burning leads to air pollution due to gases produced.
4. Mining activities lead to air pollution due to the dust moved by wind.
5. Construction activities also pollute the air by dust.
6. Agricultural activities.
7. Volcanic Eruption.

SOIL POLLUTION;
Soil pollution refers to the introduction or addition of any substance in the soil which is unwanted or harmful to plants and animals and has adverse effects on the soil quality.

CAUSES OF SOIL POLLUTION:
1. Poor dumping of waste products from various sources e.g. industries, homesteads.
2. Mining activities, lead to soil pollution due to the fact that when these activities take place they leave a hole to the land as the result of soil erosion.
3. Agricultural activities through shifting cultivation. E.g. the use of chemical fertilizers.
4. Acidic rain, this can lead to the killing of vegetation over which protect soil from destructive means.
5. Overgrazing leads to pollution of soil as the result of erosion caused by a large number of animals kept.
6. Deforestation due to the cutting down of trees.
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7. Monoculture which affects the fertility of soil due to the monotonous production of one crop.

NOISE POLLUTION
Noise pollution is any disorganized loud sound. A sound is a form of energy but when it becomes so loud it causes negative effects

CAUSES OF NOISE POLLUTION:
1. Automobile e.g. Dar es salaam there so many cars so it facilitates noise.
2. Presence of factories or workshops.
3. Low flying air crafts.
4. Homesteads like slamming of the doors.
5. Thunderstorms and explosion of bombs.

DESERTIFICATION.
Desertification is the process by which the deserts are encroaching on potential agricultural land
OR
Is the process in which the fertile land is demanded and degraded to initiate a desert – producing cycle that feeds itself and cause long term changes.

CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION:
1. Mismanagement of land leads to desertification.
2. Deforestation, meaning that cutting down of trees makes the land bare and as a result rainfall decreases because trees act in rain formation.
3. The scarcity of water, leads to the death of some flora.
4. Population explosion, this accelerates desertification due to cutting down of trees in order to establish settlements.
5. Global warming this is the gradual increase of temperature on the earth’s surface that kills vegetation and leads to desertification.
6. Burning of vegetation also leads to desertification.

DROUGHT
Drought is a state of an area facing prolonged dry weather without precipitation. OR it is a long period of dry weather when there is not enough water

CAUSES OF DROUGHT
1. Desertification due to long term changes.
2. Global warming due to high temperatures which leads to evaporation of water.
3. Population growth which leads to deforestation of trees which contributes to rain formation.
4. Casual burning of natural fire due to eruption of volcanoes.
5. Location of the place e.g. Lee ward side of the mountain, therefore, experiences dryness due to rain shadow effect.
6. Overgrazing, this leads to drought because the cattle will use all the water available for consumption and lead to the destruction of water sources.
FLOODS
Floods refer to the period of either high river discharge (when a river overflows its banks because of excess water) or overflow of water along the coast due to extremely high tides and storm waves
OR
Is the surface run-off of water from one place to another due to the influence of high rainfall.

CAUSES OF FLOODS:
1. Earthquakes below the sea tend to lead to the formation of large waves or tsunami.
2. Blocked up drainage systems in town or cities can also trigger the problem
3. Damming of the river by human beings or by lava spewed out during volcanic eruptions
4. The presence of many distributaries of the river can cause flooding.
5. Clearing of vegetation accelerates flooding because of the bare surface, water run faster.
6. Shallowness of the soil due to the presence of impermeable rock layers just near the surface.

GLOBAL WARMING
Global Warming is an unusual increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere caused by the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect occurs when the atmosphere traps and retains heat energy from the sun in the lower levels leading to the rise of temperatures.

CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
1. Greenhouse effect these are gases like CO2ChlorofluoroCarbons (CFCs). 2. Industrial activities produce gases like CO2CO, (Carbon Noxide).
3. Casual burning.

POPULATION EXPLOSION /POPULATION PRESSURE
Population explosion/population pressure refer to the increase of the total number of people in a given area compared to the resources available OR
It is the increase in the number of people in a geographical area compared to the resources available.

CAUSES OF POPULATION EXPLOSION
 1. Soil fertility: People tend to concentrate in areas with fertile soil because of high production than in infertile soil areas.
2. High birth rate this is due to increase of births in a given area without using family planning
3. Immigration: Due to incoming people from various parts, this is caused by civil war, hunger and famine.
4. High life expectancy.
5. Availability of social services like Water, Hospitals, Schools.
6. Mining activities eg Geita, North Mara, and Buswagi.
7. The presence of good transport and communications.

DEFORESTATION
Deforestation is the process of cutting down trees or is the destruction of the forest through depletion or disappearance of different trees species.

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
1. Population growth leads to deforestation due to the establishment of settlements.
2. Construction of roads and railways cause cutting down trees.
3. Source of energy eg charcoal, wood.
4. Industrial activities like mining activities.
5. Lumbering activities also facilitate deforestation.
6. Poor organized agriculture activities example shifting cultivation.
The Causes, Extent and Effects of the Loss of Biodiversity Analyse the causes, extent and effects of the loss of biodiversity ACIDIC RAIN 
Acidic Rain results from the solution of gases like carbon dioxide that reacts with water to form acids. Therefore acidic rain is rain containing more acids than the normal amount.

FORMATION OF ACID/CAUSES OF ACIDIC RAIN
It is formed in the air from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide which are emitted by thermal power stations, Industries, Motor vehicles, burning of coals and also industrialization.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY.
Biodiversity: Refers to a variety of species of living organisms both plants and animals (flora and fauna).
Loss of biodiversity:Refers to the disappearance of different plants and animal species in a particular geographical unit or community.
Ecosystem:Is a natural system in which plants and animals interact with each other and the non- living environment.

CAUSES OF LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Bush fires, this lead to the disappearance of plants and fauna because some of the fauna will die due to the fire and some plant also die and disappear completely.
Poaching, is the illegal killing of wild animals eg, killing of Elephants, Rhino and Zebra for various purposes.
Introduction of new species in a geographical unit, for example, Lions introduced to the place where there are herbivorous animals.

The Causes, Extent, and Effects of Pollution and Waste Mismanagement Analyse the causes, extent and effects of pollution and waste mismanagement Environmental pollution has become a serious problem since the commencement of the industrial revolution. Pollution is the contamination of the environment by solid, liquid and gaseous pollutants. The current increases in population are a major pollution causing factor. Environmental pollution negatively affects environments by increasing the loss of biodiversity.

Explain the causes, extent, effects of the fast rate of population and urban growth on environment Population can be higher in particular areas due to the availability of social services, (food, shelter, hospital), good economic activities, agriculture, trade, good infrastructure, climatic condition. When the population is high, it can cause the following effect on the environment.
 Soil erosion. This is because when the population grows high, it leads to expansion of settlement and residence because they will need to build houses which involves digging the land for setting the foundation of the houses.

Deforestation when the population is higher it leads to the expansion of settlement and residence. That people will cut trees in order to create space and for building.

Loss of biodiversity, This is due to risky human activities that endanger the life of living organisms for instance using chemicals in agriculture and fishing and deforestation also cause biodiversity.

Desertification is a condition where the land is bare that it allows the sun to heat directly on the land since there is no land cover

Air pollution since the number of people increasing on the environment improve industrialization. That will produce large amount of gases.

Examine the causes, extent, and impacts of desertification Desertification:
 Is the development of desert-like condition in regions that have experienced human disturbance such as deforestation, overgrazing, poorly managed agriculture. Although the extent of the world deserts expand and contract in response to naturally changes in climatic condition

Causes of Desertification
Overgrazing, overgrazing was not a problem long ago because animals would move in response to rainfall. Now, animals can graze in a single area for a long time.

Farming of arable land. Farming of arable land is causing desertification worldwide farmers are clearing arable land and using it takes away the richness of the soil

Destruction of plants in dry regions this is causing desertification to occur. People are cutting down trees to use them as a source of fuel once these trees are cut down there is nothing to protect the soil.

Incorrect irrigation in arid regions causes a build-up of salt in the soil. This is commonly used in poorer areas farmers use poor techniques because of lack of water.

 Deforestation since it involves cutting down of trees without planting more trees causing the land to be bare that the soil can be easily carried by the wind Effects of Desertification

Soil becomes less usable, The soil can be blown away by wind or washed away rain nutrients in the soil can be removed by wind or water. Salt can build up in the soil which make it hard for plant growth.

Damaged loose soil may bury plants or leave their roots exposed also when overgrazing occur plants species may be lost

Places that have war and poverty are most likely to have famine occur. Drought and poor land management contribute to famine.

Food loss. The soil is not suited for growing food, Therefore the amount of food being grown will decline. If the population is still growing this will cause economic problems and starvation.

 Desertification can cause flooding, poor water quality, dust storms, and pollution. All of these effects can hurt people living near an affected region. The Impact of Poverty on Environment

Explain the impact of poverty on environment Impact of Poverty on Environment Include:
Poverty influences environment degradation. Environment degradation is the process induced by human behavior and activities that damage the natural environment.
Poverty considered as a great influence of environment degradation in many regions of the world, regional overgrazing has resulted in destruction of grazing lands, forest and soil

The carrying capacity of the natural environmental has been reduced, As the people become poorer they destroy the resources faster

They tend to overuse the natural resources because they don’t have anything to eat or any means of getting money except through the natural resources so starting to depend more on natural resources

Due to the lack of sufficient income people start to use and overuse every resource available to them when their survival is at stake.

Analyze the causes and consequences of global climatic change on environment Global climatic change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years.

Causes of Global Climatic Change
-Both natural and human factors change earth’s climates

-Before human changes in climate, changes resulted entirely from natural causes such as changes in Earth’s orbit, changes in solar activity or volcanic eruptions

-Since the industrial era began humans have had an increasing effect on climate particularly by adding billions of tons of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

-Most of the observed warming since the mid 20thcentury is due to human-caused greenhouse gas emission. Consequences of Global Climatic Change

 Loss of biodiversity, since when the climate change there is occurring of drought that can cause plants and micro-organisms die

Causes disease such as skin cancer, when the ozone layer is destructed it can cause the sun rays to penetrate directly to the earth surface since the ozone layer previously acting as a blanket to prevent the sun rays is now destructed

Famine or hunger. It is difficult to practice agriculture when climate is changing. it may cause drought making it difficult for plant growing increase in sea levels since the climate change can cause the melting of ice due to increase in temperature on the earth's surface that causes increase in the sea level.

Loss of habitat for living organisms since there are some living organisms living in cold areas or in ice so when the climate changes due to an increase in temperature that organism fails to survive and die. 

Environmental Conservation Environmental Conservation
Environmental Conservation Environmental Conservation refers to the protecting of environment from being destructed through practicing various ways of environment protection such as destocking, afforestation and planting of cover plants.

 Various Ways of Conserving the Environment Analyse various ways of conserving the environment Ways of Conserving the Environment include:

Destocking refers to the process of reducing number of animals on the environment because when the number of animals increases on the environment, they can feed on all the plants which help to prevent soil erosion or landslides.

Afforestation and Reforestation refer to the process of planting trees in bare land and replanting trees in the presence of other trees.

Control industrial gases and industrial sewage system, industrial location should be far apart from the water sources.

 Practicing proper irrigation skills. When irrigation is practiced improperly especially on the land with slope the water can wear out the nutrients and cause poor production.

 Control of industrial fertilizers instead of depending on industrial fertilizer we can use manure since manure has no effect on the soil while industrial fertilizers add acid on the soil

 To control fishing activities, bad fishing method should be discouraged for example charging and punishing for those who practicing bad methods. Control construction of road and buildings to avoid construction of building on steep slopes because this can accelerate soil erosion.

Environmental Conservation and Management at School Level
Practice environmental conservation and management at school level This part is practically based on students in groups to practice various ways of conserving the environment such as planting trees, flowers, cleaning environment around the school campus.
Responsibility of protecting our dear planet earth should starts from the domestic to international level. Schools have a very unique role in environmental conservation. Environmental management education should be incorporated in national curriculum. Also students should be nurtured to preserve environment form the primary level.