Impacts of Land Use Change on the Environment

7/29/2019 Impacts of Land Use Change on the Environment

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Impacts of

Land-useChangeon the

Environment

Geog 1 - THQ1University of thePhilippines, Diliman

September 6, 2013

Garcia, Mary Lance B.Tan, Mariel Adie P.


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IMPACTSOF LAND-USE CHANGEONTHE ENVIRONMENT

Land-use change is the alteration of landscape caused by human activity.

It is a wide-spread socioeconomic force these days driving changes and

degradation of ecosystems. Deforestation, urban development, agriculture, and

other human activities have very much altered the Earths landscape. Such

disturbance of the land affects important ecosystem processes and services,

which can have wide-ranging and long-term consequences.

I. Environmental Impacts of LandUse Change

Land use and land management practices have a major impact on

natural resources including water, soil, air, nutrients, plants, and animals

Run-off from agriculture is a leading source of water pollution

Draining wetlands for crop production and irrigation water diversions has

had a negative impact on many wildlife species

Irrigated agriculture has changed the water cycle and caused

groundwater levels to decline in many parts of the world

Intensive farming and deforestation may cause soil erosion, salinization,

desertification, and other soil degradations

Deforestation adds to the greenhouse effect, destroys habitats that

support biodiversity, affects the hydrological cycle and increases soil

erosion, runoff, flooding and landslides.

Urban development causes air pollution, water pollution, and urban

runoff and flooding

Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and alteration associated with urban

development are a leading cause of biodiversity decline and species

extinctions


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Urban development and intensive agriculture in coastal areas and further

inland is a major threat to the health, productivity, and biodiversity of

the marine environment

Farmlands provide open space and valuable habitat for many wildlife

species. However, intensive agriculture has potentially severe ecosystem

consequences. For example, it has long been recognized that agricultural land

use and practices can cause water pollution and the effect is influenced by

government policies. Runoff from agricultural lands is a leading source of water

pollution both in inland and coastal waters. Conversions of wetlands to crop

production and irrigation water diversions have brought many wildlife species

to the verge of extinction.

Forests provide many ecosystem services. They support biodiversity, providing

critical habitat for wildlife, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,

intercept precipitation, slow down surface runoff, and reduce soil erosion and

flooding. These important ecosystem services will be reduced or destroyed

when forests are converted to agriculture or urban development. For example,

deforestation, along with urban sprawl, agriculture, and other human activities,

has substantially altered and fragmented the Earths vegetative cover. Such

disturbance can change the global atmospheric concentration of carbon diox-

ide, the principal heattrapping gas, as well as affect local, regional, and global

climate by changing the energy balance on Earths surface (Marland et al.

2003).

Urban development has been linked to many environmental problems,

including air pollution, water pollution, and loss of wildlife habitat. Urban runoff

often contains nutrients, sediment and toxic contaminants, and can cause not


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only water pollution but also large variation in stream flow and temperatures.

Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and alteration associated with urban

development have been identified as the leading causes of biodiversity decline

and species extinctions (Czech, Krausman and Devers 2000; Soul 1991).

Urban development and intensive agriculture in coastal areas and further

inland are a major threat to the health, productivity, and biodiversity of the

marine environment throughout the world.

II. Land-Use Change, A driver of climate change

Changes in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Land-use change in the tropics, mostly deforestation caused by

biomass burning and conversion to agriculture is a substantial

contributor to global CO2 emissions. In the decade of the 1990s, about

1 2 PgC/yr rose to about 7 PgC/yr from fossil fuel burning.

Changes in Energy and Water Balance at Land Surface

Urban Heat Islands are caused by Urbanization which is a land-use

change that concentrates on energy consumption. Hence, there is

waste heat dissipation. It also removes vegetation and hence, removal

of heat by latent heat fluxes in evapotranspiration. Local Urban Heat

Island effects can be as large as 2-10C, depending on city size and

wind speed. Large-scale changes in land-use also causes imbalance in

energy and water. For example, a big part of a native woody shrubland

was converted into a wheat cropland. The shrubland would draw moist

air from the irrigated cropland and because it absorbs more heat from

sunlight it causes rising of air forming clouds. These clouds would now

increase precipitation over the native vegetation.


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III. Examples of Land-Use Change

China

For centuries, China has been the most populous nation on Earth. Today, its

populations impact on the environment is evident even in the most remote

areas. Chinas economic boom and industrialization affects the environment in

many ways. It is projected that by the year 2025, the nation will be the worlds

leading producer of greenhouse gases.

Habitat and Biodiversity Loss

Cause: Ill-planned hydrological engineering projects (which interrupt the

natural flow of rivers), conversion of wetlands for agriculture, and

unsuitable construction in flood plains.

Effect: Habitat loss has left pandas clinging for survival, as large areas of

natural forest have been cleared for agriculture, timber and fuel wood. Of

all the species listed by the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES) as critically endangered, one quarter is

found in China.

Air Pollution

Cause: Coal burning and consumption, whose energy is used to power

factories in China. Though efforts have been made in improving energy

efficiency, 75% of Chinas energy production is still dependent on coal.

Effect: Respiratory and heart diseases related to air pollution are the

leading cause of death in China. The 2012 Environmental Conditions

Report found that only the air in 27 out of 113 key cities of China

reached air quality standards. China Daily said that at the beginning of

last year, more than 1 million square kilometers were covered in heavy

smog, affecting hundreds of millions of people.


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Water Pollution

Cause: Waste poured from factories and cities into Chinas rivers, turning

them into open sewers.

Effect: The 2012 Environmental Conditions Report found that 57.3% of

the groundwater in 198 cities was bad or extremely bad, while more

than 30% of the countrys major rivers were polluted or seriously

polluted

Dubai

The Dubai coastal expansion, a heady 14 billion dollar project consisting of 300

individual islands arranged in strategic formation may have done wonders for

their tourism rates, but not so much for the environment.

Destruction of Marine Life and Habitat

Divers are devastated to see that the typically crystalline waters of the

gulf of Dubai have been severely clouded with silt. Construction activity

is damaging marine habitat, burying coral reefs and oyster beds in over

two inches of sediment.

Soil Erosion

Because of the addition of these artificial islands, natural water currents

are disrupted, causing erosion over the beaches of Dubai.

Google Earth Engine

Recently, NASA released to the public a series of images captured by Landsat

satellites that date back all the way to 1984. These images, which can be

accessed through the Google Earth Engine website (earthengine.google.org),

portray the changes made on the Earths surface during the Landsat time-

lapse (1984-2012). Some examples of the places used:

Dubai Coastal Expansion


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Amazon Deforestation (Brazil)

Drying of Aral Sea (Central Asia)

The sea, which borders Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, has dried up

significantly since the 1960s. By 1997, it had shrunk to 10% of its

original size, ruining the once-robust fishing economy and leaving layers

of highly salted sand that winds carry to as far away as Scandinavia and

Japan, plaguing local people with health problems. These are caused by

the Soviet Unions desire to develop huge cotton plantations. The sea

level drops by an average of 31-35 inches each year.

IV. Analysis and Conclusion

Often, we think of possible solutions to problems arising in our

environment today. These may solve one particular problem but most probably

it would have a negative effect too. Land-use change could be a good solution

if used in the most helpful way and not in ways which could deplete our natural

resources. In conclusion, we must be mindful of how we treat our natural

resources. We can use them for our profit, but it should not be at the cost of

their destruction. There are a lot of things that can go wrong when we proceed

with building ill-planned infrastructures and we often choose to neglect these

consequences since they do not exhibit any signs of destruction until a long

time has passed. The cases we presented should be a lesson to all of us that

we must all be aware of the encompassing effect a single project can have on

the deterioration of a countrys natural resources and peoples health. In

problems as big as these, simply using recycled bags when you go grocery

shopping isnt enough. We must learn to think bigger. We think that the

biggest solution to this problem is education. Incorporating more of the

environmental sciences into our educational system will create more


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awareness amongst citizens and instill in their minds what they must do to

prevent these depressing impacts from ever happening to any country again.

In the same way, we must also strive to learn more about these factors and

their effects on the environment if we truly want to make an impact that will

last.

V. References

Wu, J. (2008). Land Use Changes: Economic, Social, and EnvironmentalImpacts. Retrieved fromhttp://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/article.php?article=49

World Wide Funds For Nature. (n.d.) Environmental problems in China.Retrieved fromhttp://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/

Duggan, J. (2013). Chinas environmental problems are grim, admits ministryreport. Retrieved fromhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2013/jun/07/chinas-environmental-problems-grim-ministry-report

Butler, T. (2005). The Price of The World: Dubais Artificial Future. Retrievedfrom http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0823-tina_butler_dubai.html
http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2013/jun/07/chinas-environmental-problems-grim-ministry-reporthttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2013/jun/07/chinas-environmental-problems-grim-ministry-reporthttp://news.mongabay.com/2005/0823-tina_butler_dubai.htmlhttp://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/china/environmental_problems_china/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2013/jun/07/chinas-environmental-problems-grim-ministry-reporthttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/chinas-choice/2013/jun/07/chinas-environmental-problems-grim-ministry-reporthttp://news.mongabay.com/2005/0823-tina_butler_dubai.html

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Impacts of Land Use Change on the Environment