Environmental Issues

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

- 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

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

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

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 = 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

• 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

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

Advantages:

• money
• jobs
• investment
• increase property values
• improve lifestyle
• protect areas

Disadvantages:

• pollution
• destroy local area through building
• over crowding
• changing culture

- 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

- 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

- 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.