Case Study: Glacial Retreat

Case Study: Glacial Retreat

PART A

1. Himalayas: due to the rising temperature in the Himalayas, the glaciers are melting at a faster rate than the rest of the world. Warmer summers and less snow in the winters will cause a negative mass balance and the glaciers will retreat.

    Glacier National Park: mountain snowpacks hold less water and melt two weeks earlier in the spring, this drastically impacts wildlife drinking water. Some of the parks glaciers might actually vanish by 2030, and if the climate continues, all of them could disappear as well.

    Antarctic Peninsula: warming has been much slower in spring and summer than in fall and winter, but has been sufficient at increasing positive-degree-days by 74%. Seasonal snow coverage has decreased, floating ice shelves have been lost, and glacier termini have retreated.

2. Social: over one million people in Bangladesh have been displaced due to rising sea levels. People depend on river runoff for water, and even transport. Years from now when glaciers melt even more, this will be an issue.

Environmental: sea level has risen by 6 to 8 inches over the last 100 years. Water is stored in glaciers, and the melted water helps maintain river systems. There will be an increase in river runoff, but a sharp decline of it once glaciers melt more.

Economic: ice will no longer be available for winter sports and game, and sightseeing. Less tourists will want to visit if there is not much to see, causing income for tourism to be very low in certain areas (where there are glaciers). Mountain/snow related jobs that people may have could be worthless and could cause them to have to quit their job, or their place of work goes out of business. This could be true for ski lodges, and hotels.

PART B

As stated above in the economic impacts, tourism would be a huge issue. Skiing, snowboarding, and sightseeing would be no more if the glaciers retreated drastically. People would lose their jobs and places would go out of business such as hotels and resorts.

PART C

Sea levels rising is really the only thing that may impact Vanuatu, but even so, the impacts may not be seen for decades or even centuries because of how far Vanuatu is from any glaciers. Sea level is reported to rise 60-70cm by the year 2100, by then you may be able to notice some impact on these countries further away.

    

Case Study: Desertification In Botswana

Desertification In Botswana

1. Desertification is when fertile land becomes desert and is dried out. This is usually caused by drought or deforestation. Sometimes even inappropriate agriculture can be a factor.

2. Most of the land surface in Botswana  is constituted for by the desert which doesn't hold surface water for longer periods of time. Underground water is not a necessity because of this. Botswana is around 600 square kilometers, and the Kalahari Desert makes up 70% of it. Drought is the main cause of the desertification, due to the fact that Botswana is fairly flat with no rolling hills to let water flow throughout the country with ease. Water gets absorbed into the ground too quickly.

3. Deforestation, poor cropping methods, improper soil conservation, and overgrazing have all had significant contributions to the desertification in this country. 95% of Botswana raises cattle and livestock for a source of income. This means that tons of the land is used for grazing, which has been a large cause for desertification. 75% of the country's human and animal populations depend on groundwater, but the drought has left an even bigger impact on the land. Groundwater is gathered by drilling deep holes, which unfortunately causes erosion of the land.

4. A project was designed in Botswana to battle desertification. The project covers steps to conserve the whole spectrum of local resources, including wildlife and products such as firewood and grass for grazing and thatching. All the local plans benefit from indigenous knowledge and traditional land management systems. They include fencing off parts of communal grazing areas to heal the land and control sand dunes. Some of their goals are to keep it as cheap as possible and introduce ecologically sound to make it socially acceptable.

Land Use and Agriculture In Your Country

Land Use and Agriculture In Vanuatu

1. One estimate, made in 2005, is that only 9% of land is used for agriculture. 7% of that land is permanent crops, and the other 2% is arable. Around 36% of the land is forests, the rest is classified as other.

2. Monoculture: The pros are that it reduces plant competition for nutrients, it costs less, and machinery reduces the amount of labor needed. Finally, it sells well in market for a high price.

The cons are that it relies on fossil fuels a lot, and can lower the amount of nitrogen in the soil, as well as let diseases spread easily through the plants. This method can even produce less food per acre.

Polyculture: The pros are that more than one crop can be planted in the same space. It reduces the chances that plants may get diseases. Animal wastes can be used to fertilize the crops, and the income for farmers is more stable.

The cons are that it takes longer to harvest all of the crops, and it requires more time to tend to all the individual types of crops. There can also be seed loss and higher up-front seed costs.

Slash and Burn: The pros are that if it is done in smaller areas it is not as harmful as doing it in super large areas. If slash and burn is done from decade to decade it can actually be good for the soil and environment. If used properly, it can be a good source of food and income. It also allows people to farm in places that it wouldn't be possible because of low soil nutrient content, soil infertility and ect.

The cons are that deforestation can occur if this method is done before vegetation can grow back. Nutrient loss in soil can happen, and even biodiversity loss is a possibility if slash and burn is not perfected.

3. 80% of the people in Vanuatu take part in agricultural activities that range from subsistence farming to smallholder farming of coconuts. The most important agricultural product is copra. This is the dried flesh of coconuts, that is typically produced by individual households on large-scale plantations. Without agriculture, i imagine that Vanuatu would be in severe debt because they would lose a large chunk of their income.

Water Use In Your Country

Water Use In Vanuatu

1. I was not surprised that water was being taken from streams, but what I was surprised about was the amount of water being taken. I really thought that the water would be taken by huge drink companies such as Coca-Cola - certainly not Nestle. This makes me somewhat upset because they are just taking water from wherever they can to make a profit. If this keeps up for a long time, water may become scarce in some areas.

2. In Vanuatu cyclones hit frequently and can limit the peoples drinking water. In April there was one that hit and caused nearly half of of the people to lose access to clean water.

Groundwater drilling machinery is responsible for ensuring that rural communities have access to a fresh and clean water supply and that water resources, in these rural communities, are properly utilized to promote rural economic development. If these break down it could leave the people waterless for a while. Water pollution is also an issue in many urban areas due to poor sanitation systems.

Case Study: Land Subsistence in the American Southwest

Case Study: Land Subsidence in the American Southwest

a) Land subsidence is the lowering of the land-surface elevation from changes that take place underground. Common causes of land subsidence from human activity are pumping water, oil and gas from underground. These places can be; reservoirs, sinkholes, collapse of underground mines, drainage of organic soils, and initial wetting of dry soils. This actually occurs in almost every state in the United States of America. More than 17,000 square miles in 45 states have been affected by subsidence.

b) Land subsidence causes many problems, such as the following: 

          - Changes in elevation and slope of streams, canals, and drains

          - Damage to bridges, roads railroads, storm drains, sanitary sewers, canals, and levees

          - Damage to private and public buildings

          - Failure of well casings from forces generated by compaction of fine-grained materials in aquifer systems.

          - In some coastal areas, the effects of subsidence has made tides move into low-lying areas that were previously above high-tide levels

c) If humans cut down on how much oil and other resources then less land subsidence will occur. In some areas where ground-water pumping has caused subsidence, it has been stopped by switching to surface-water supplies from ground-water. Reducing water usage will also minimize subsidence. Determining what locations for pumping will also help reduce subsidence.

Deforestation In Your Country

Deforestation in Vanuatu

1) Logging in Vanuatu is a limited industry. There is some logging on the main Island of Efate and also Santo. Apart from that logging is very limited. 36% of Vanuatu is covered by forests. Vanuatu is utilizing more forests than is being planted and some of the customary landowners are developing their logged forest areas for other activities, like the rearing of cattle.

2) Unfortunately the environment is affected by deforestation; 13% of the 108 species of animals are endangered due to deforestation. If the amount of deforestation was reduced it most likely wouldn't be the end of the world. From an economic standpoint, Vanuatu would be relatively unaffected. Their main source of income is fishing, and tourism. To me this means that they can spare cutting down a few trees to save endangered species. Socially, there are no drawbacks, or perks to deforestation. If they stopped deforestation I'm almost positive that nobody would be affected by it because of how little the industry is.

3) Canada is a larger land mass and has way more forests than Vanuatu does. Canada's forests represent around 9% of the worlds forests. Canada also only produces around 2% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Even though Canada is larger, Vanuatu is endangering species that do not exist anywhere else. I feel that Vanuatu is the bigger threat because of this.

Mass Wasting in China

Mass Wasting in China

China is very prone to landslides, due to it being on shaky ground, so they should be more well prepared for these disasters, like the one in Zhouqu. The landslide made many people homeless, and unfortunately killed many people as well. The Ministry of Land and Resources said the landslide had been caused by many things; one being that the location was an area prone to geological disasters and that the effects of the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008 didn't help either. Zhou Pinggen, head of CIGEM’s geological risk survey and monitoring office had said that the majority of China’s counties do not have geological monitoring stations. Efforts have been made to help restore the regular way of life in the western part of China. A permanent water supply is being restored and should give people safe drinking water within five months of being completed. Zhouqu's main water supplies were cut after the mudslides, so emergency water containers had been used for a while after the disaster, but cannot be used forever.