Resource Extraction from Tropical Rainforests
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| Environmental problems on oil from Ecuador |
We are going to use page 48 to 51 in the textbook, we are going to look at pressures on the world's rainforests, oil from Ecuador, and palm oil production in Papua New Guinea.
Activity:
1. Identify the features of tropical rainforests that make them 'fragile'.
2. Choose a fragile environment you have studied which has been damaged by resource exploitation. Explain the effect of the damage on the fragile environment. (5 marks)
Local Conflicts: Indigenous people will suffer the most from resource extraction. They depend on the rainforest to survive (e.g. fertile soil for crops). When large companies extract resources from the rainforest, the indigenous people are badly compensated and their standard of living will be affected. In addition local communities are not always informed of extraction projects.
ReplyDeleteSoil & Aquatic Pollution: Oil spills and toxic by-products are dumped near the site or stored in open waste pits, which pollute the land and water.
ReplyDeleteSoil pollution can arise from a number of sources, including when farmers use an excessive amount of fertilizer and other chemicals on their land. Often soil pollution arises from the spilling or leaking of waste into the ground, such as an oil spill, or seepage from a landfill or even radioactive contamination. Damage to an underground tank that is storing toxic chemicals can also be the source of the problem. Polluted soil can be a serious threat to humans who come in contact with the soil or eat food grown in it.
DeleteAir pollution: When some of the by-products of natural gas are burned in the open air, the flames produced pollute the atmosphere and possibly cause fires, which can threaten the lives of local inhabitants. If the air pollution is high, acid rain might fall, and that will also damage the whole forest.
ReplyDeleteAcid Rain will also disrupt the whole eco-system and cause the soil to be infertile. The rain will wash the nutrients away and instead is replaced by unsuitable acid.
DeleteCarbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in deforestation will also contribute to global warming and air pollution
DeleteBiodiversity: The loss of biodiversity in rainforests causes changes in the ecosystem functioning, ecosystems are affected by changes in the number and kinds of species.
ReplyDeleteReference: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution-overview/
ReplyDeleteSmog hanging over cities is the most familiar and obvious form of air pollution. But there are different kinds of pollution—some visible, some invisible—that contribute to global warming. Generally any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere that has damaging effects on living things and the environment is considered air pollution.
Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is the main pollutant that is warming Earth. Though living things emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, carbon dioxide is widely considered to be a pollutant when associated with cars, planes, power plants, and other human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas. In the past 150 years, such activities have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years.
Other greenhouse gases include methane—which comes from such sources as swamps and gas emitted by livestock—and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used in refrigerants and aerosol propellants until they were banned because of their deteriorating effect on Earth's ozone layer.
Another pollutant associated with climate change is sulfur dioxide, a component of smog. Sulfur dioxide and closely related chemicals are known primarily as a cause of acid rain. But they also reflect light when released in the atmosphere, which keeps sunlight out and causes Earth to cool. Volcanic eruptions can spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, sometimes causing cooling that lasts for years. In fact, volcanoes used to be the main source of atmospheric sulfur dioxide; today people are.
Industrialized countries have worked to reduce levels of sulfur dioxide, smog, and smoke in order to improve people's health. But a result, not predicted until recently, is that the lower sulfur dioxide levels may actually make global warming worse. Just as sulfur dioxide from volcanoes can cool the planet by blocking sunlight, cutting the amount of the compound in the atmosphere lets more sunlight through, warming the Earth. This effect is exaggerated when elevated levels of other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap the additional heat.
Most people agree that to curb global warming, a variety of measures need to be taken. On a personal level, driving and flying less, recycling, and conservation reduces a person’s "carbon footprint"—the amount of carbon dioxide a person is responsible for putting into the atmosphere.
On a larger scale, governments are taking measures to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. One way is through the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement between countries that they will cut back on carbon dioxide emissions. Another method is to put taxes on carbon emissions or higher taxes on gasoline, so that people and companies will have greater incentives to conserve energy and pollute less.
The local people and Indigenous rely on natural resources extraction. They cannot always get standard quality, it depends on the condition. When large companies extract resources from the rainforest there's a huge impact on the local people due to mass machine extraction, leading to huge crops loss or damage. (Rey)
ReplyDeleteHow it happens: Large companies build roads into rainforests for workers to come along and cut down the trees. There may also be settlers coming and burning down wood or getting trees for logs and other materials.
ReplyDeleteSoils: Trees are needed to hold the soil together. If the trees are cut down, nothing would hold the soil together. The forest will slowly fall apart.
Deforestation
Nutrients: Trees have to absorb the nutrients so that it does not get leached.
Rain: Since 80% of the rain is made by the trees in rainforests, deforestation will cause a decrease in rainfall.
Biodiversity: Deforestation will cause the degrading of biodiversity, since their habitats will be destroyed.
Air Pollution is created from burning fuels and has various consequences:
ReplyDelete-The pollutants can combine with the water droplets and create acid rain that can harm or kill trees and animals like fish
-It can sometime be in the form of particulate matter which can cause irritation to the eyes nose and throat